"Find Me" blinker on a LED Flashlight?

It takes what... a couple mA into a red LED a few tenths of a second every 5 seconds? Battery should last years in this mode. I've seen it in incand. at the store (Sears?) Why are none of our LED manufacturers doing this?

For a direct drive battery to LED, solder 100kΩ-150kΩ resistor across the switch.

0.04ma approx, give you nearly 2 years, non blink, low light

The "Blinker" is the only thing I like about the Nite-ize IQ switch.

HDS U60s have a locator mode taht does just that.

Inova 24/7 does that also.

JNewell said:

Inova 24/7 does that also.

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Ditto. It's one of my favorite devices. I don't have much use for the "SOS" blink mode though. If I was lost I think the continous blink would be fine and I'd switch to the rapid Amber/Red/White alternate if I know a search plane/boat/heli was near. That would be hard for them to miss.

The only thing that would make this a better light is if that was user programmable.

Is it a special action to put the flashlight in this mode, or is it automatic when you shut the light off?

EngrPaul said:

It takes what... a couple mA into a red LED a few tenths of a second every 5 seconds? Battery should last years in this mode. I've seen it in incand. at the store (Sears?) Why are none of our LED manufacturers doing this?

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The Eternalight series has this function, and I also have an old PAL-light that has a low-level steady "ON".

Perhaps putting a PR-base dropin into one of those incan's will do the trick for you?

Here is the one I'd like to try with an EverLED or a MagLED dropin:
Energizer "Find Me"

personally I find the blinking led annoying...

any light i have with the blinker is either modified so either the light doesnt come on or something covering the diode...

if i wanted something to have the "find me" option...i'd invest into tritium... since I sleep with flashlights in my pocket...i dont need that extra option either

The Rock River 1xAA at Target does that. So does the Safe Light Super Bright flashlights.

Superbright
https://edcdepot.com/merchantmanager/product_info.php?cPath=5&products_id=92

Oh I completely misunderstood you. I thought you meant a light with a rescue beacon. You meant a light with a light so you can find the light. Yeah I'd go tritium for that I guess.

As mentioned before, the HDS EDC U-series has the blinker/locator feature. Never had to really use it, but it's blinking just in case I do need it.

If you go with tritium, make sure it's stuck in an area where it won't break if it hits the ground.

bitslammer said:

Oh I completely misunderstood you. I thought you meant a light with a rescue beacon. You meant a light with a light so you can find the light. Yeah I'd go tritium for that I guess.

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No, the 24/7 does have a "find me" blinker. If you turn the bezel halfway between any two clickstops it will blink the red LEDs once every 10 or 15 seconds or so.

JNewell said:

No, the 24/7 does have a "find me" blinker. If you turn the bezel halfway between any two clickstops it will blink the red LEDs once every 10 or 15 seconds or so.

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I saw this but thought of it as more of a error indicator but you're right I'm sure that would work.

Like others have said, Trituim! No batts, 10-15years of bright glow!

That's great. How much does it cost and where does it come from?

I live near TMI, I should be able to get 20 years out of the tritium...

EngrPaul said:

That's great. How much does it cost and where does it come from?

I live near TMI, I should be able to get 20 years out of the tritium...

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LOL well then what do you need a light at all for?

As I see it either;

A) Everything including the critters around you should already glow.

B) The leftover readiation should have given you super powers like night vision.

EngrPaul said:

Is it a special action to put the flashlight in this mode, or is it automatic when you shut the light off?

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Once you activate the HDS blinker mode, it's automatic when you shut the light off.

The PT Apex (I got it yesterday… it's awesome ) has got sort of a locator blink mode on the battery indicator when it's turned off. It blinks green every 3 seconds. (I suppose it will start blinking orange and red as the batteries wears down.) I don't know how useful this would be though… the headlamp would really need to be positioned correctly for the indicator to be seen.

Humm…. or maybe it's just a battery indicator. :shrug: ....

aceo07 said:

As mentioned before, the HDS EDC U-series has the blinker/locator feature. Never had to really use it, but it's blinking just in case I do need it.

If you go with tritium, make sure it's stuck in an area where it won't break if it hits the ground.

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And make sure you have several vials on there facing in all directions as the glow is quite weak and you'll have a pretty hard time finding the light if the tritium vial(s) is facing down.

I use the locator on my HDS U60 just because I know the moment I turn it off I'll manage to drop it somewhere and never find it again.