Reading Light

My bedside lamp is too bright for my wife to sleep.
Do you have any suggestions for a nice reading flashlight. Should have a very even spread of dim light without much of a hot spot. Fairly small and run on common (AAA or AA) batteries.
Oh yeah, and the wife wants it to have a twist switch (I told you she's a light sleeper!)

I've had this one for a month now & like it: http://www.ledwholesalers.com/store/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=94
Sorry, click switch though.

A few lights come to mind that I've used. The old CMG Infinity (not the Ultra), which might be hard to find, is dim with good flood for reading. One of the Eternalights, with their adjustable levels works well. And almost any headlamp with multi levels or low output may work the best. I've recently been using a low powered Gerber Tracer headlamp that works great.

Geoff

I sometimes use my Fenix L1T on its low setting

I think a Fenix EO would be good for AAA or a Gerber Infinity Ultra for AA. Both are twisties and have long runtimes with a flood and no real hotspot due to lack of reflector.

I have been using a "cats eyes" (3 - 5mm leds) attached to a ball cap. I found it at Wally's World for $3 in the clearance rack (cheaper than the watch batteries that came with them.)

I want to get a wall or headboard mounted led soon as I find wearing a ball cap to bed slightly annoying (I am always adjusting how it sits on my head to keep the light on the page). My other head lamps are way to bright.

Good luck, and share what works.

I know this is not AA/AAA, but I like to use SureFire L1s for reading at night.

The low setting is about right, and provides a loooong runtime.

I have 2 (almost 3) L1s: an old-style white, a Milkyspit L1 modded with an amber LED, and a green one on its way.

Amber is a soft, unobtrusive color to read by. It should be good for reading in camp, being less bug-attractive, but I have not had much of an opportunity to test that out. The regular L1 lasts about an hour on high and something like 80 hrs on low. This amber Milkyspit mod lasts 3 hours on high, so should last a good long time on low.

I like reading by green light. It seems to be easy on the eyes. Text is in sharp focus, better to my eyes than red or especially blue. (But some people see better with blue. It depends on your eyes.) Green LEDs tend to be a little brighter than other colors, which can be either good or bad according to your situation.

I use SureFire's F04 beamshapers on my L1s for reading. It produces a very wide and even beam. That and the L1's regulation give an extremely high quality reading light for the duration of the battery's life.

Scott

I read almost every night with my Fenix LOD on low (advertised 4.5 Lumens, 8.5hrs). That's just about right for me and I love that I can bump it up to 12 or 30 lumens if I need it for another task.

My personal favourite is a Gerber Infinity Ultra.

I've tried a Minimag w/Nite Ize but found it too bright and blotchy, and also a Dorcy 1AAA, which also has a swirly beam. The IU is good enough for most indoor tasks, tho' a poor choice when following a trail at night!

If you can put up with a headlamp, it'll work well plus it will give your wife something to laugh at (as if any of 'em seem to need encouragement). You might not really need too much light, btw, so lower power and/or adjustable are things to consider. I have several headlights that I use for different hands-free tasks and have tried them all for reading in bed. The good old Petzl Tikka is the one I seem to go to most often since it is light weight, bright (but not too bright), and affordable. Seems to be built for reading in bed. I'm over 50, have bifocals, and can use it with or without the red filter accessory to read without wearing glasses or holding the book too close.

I recently bought a Princeton Tec Quad headlamp specifically for reading (after doing some research in the headlamp forum, and reading some reviews) and it works quite well for that purpose. I find it useful for many other things also. It has 4 5mm leds and runs on 3 AAA. It's lightweight, small, and tough. It has 3 brightness levels. It's regulated on all levels. It works with glasses. About $30.

Arc AAA premium works great as a reading light for me...

John F

Thanks for all the suggestions so far.
I'm not too sure about the headlight. I've never used one but I get the feeling that everytime I look at someone I'm going to be shining a light in their face. Or do you soon learn to move your eyes more than your head?

Most headlights are now adjustable as to the up or down angle of the light. There's very little chance of zapping someone with the light is it's adjusted so that you can read in bed.