Keychain Lights

I remember, back in the day, when I considered a Maglite Solitaire to be the best keychain light money could buy. How wrong I was. Has anyone else notice that performance of the Solitaire depreciates with age (and not just because of the batteries)? I reckon the conductive paths deteriorate. Added to the fact that the beam was very anaemic and pretty useless.

Now, fast forward to today, I have a Fenix P1D-CE on the keychain, and I cannot describe what a fantastic lighting instrument this is! I was somewhat of a MagLite Collector before, but it is almost embarrasing to see the 6D trumped by a torch smaller than one of its D-sized batteries.

It just amazes me how far technology in this field has moved on. I am considering some kind of modification to the 6D as soon as I have the funds. Any LED suggestion????

LED for a 6d? No. Too many volts unless you're running dummy cells. Then what's the point?

I have a 6D that I'm looking at doing something to as well, as soon as money permits.

One option, if you are up to a little modding, is to use one of ModaMag's sinks https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/142148 the Shoppe also has them. With three or four Cree XREs, XR19 reflectors and a suitable regulator, it would be a pretty bright torch. The main downside the cost of converting it, still I think the output would be quite formidable, as would the runtime.

Andrew

I started off with a M@Glight Solitaire, then upgraded to a Photon, then to an ARC-AAA,
from the ARC to the Fenix EO and now to the LOD-CE.

I also started out with a Maglight Solitare. It's funny I still see them on people's keychains. Even the copies of the Photons work better than the Solitare ever did.

Did you know that the Maglite Solitaire retails for £9.99 in the UK? That's just under $20.00!!!!!!! Rip-off or what?

Sharpdogs said:

I also started out with a Maglight Solitare. It's funny I still see them on people's keychains. Even the copies of the Photons work better than the Solitare ever did.

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Amen.

Now I won't buy ANY Mag, even if it's "decent" just b/c it is a Mag.

So what IS the best 'budget' $15-20 keychain light currently available?

For under $20, my favorite is the Photon Freedom. It's probably overkill but I carry 3 Photon keychain lights. A Photon Freedom on my keychain, a Photon II around my neck and another Photon II attached to Leatherman P4 which resides in my Mission wallet.

https://edcdepot.com/merchantmanager/product_info.php?cPath=5&products_id=69

"which resides in my Mission wallet."

Mission wallet? Is that code for man purse, or is it made by some Itallian guy named Mission?


:huh2:

http://www.bladeart.com/mission-tac/mission_wallet/mission_wallet.htm



Its a front pocket carry small wallet. There are several compartments for stuff. I carry two small Fenix lights, pen, cc & cash.

oregon

Not quite - the TerraLUX TLE-6K2 MaxStar5 is regulated and has a buck circuit so it drops right into a 6D mag. 100+ lumens and will 30 or so hours of steady output runtime for $24.

carbine15 said:

LED for a 6d? No. Too many volts unless you're running dummy cells. Then what's the point?

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I wouldn't think of a led mod for a 6D mag unless it was a really stupendous multi-led mod along the lines of Elektrolumens' XR-E Stunner, or the Inretech Mega-whatsit of eons gone by (review). There really need to be an enormous amount of photons coming out to make all that flashlight and battery mass worthwhile.

cdosrun said:

I have a 6D that I'm looking at doing something to as well, as soon as money permits.

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And I have several 3D's that I got for real cheap on clearance ($5-$7 each)

They are still waiting (from over a year ago) for the prices of worthy LED drop-ins to fall to at least the price that I paid for the flashlight itself. Not sure if that's ever going to happen.

MikeSalt said:

I remember, back in the day, when I considered a Maglite Solitaire to be the best keychain light money could buy. How wrong I was. Has anyone else notice that performance of the Solitaire depreciates with age (and not just because of the batteries)?

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No, actually I hadn't noticed that.

I have four Solitaires purchased right before Christmas 1990, and they all work just fine after lots of use and abuse outdoors. One has been on my keychain every day for over 16 years and it's just as useful as when it was new.

I have several LED keychain lights now that get rotated for keychain carry: Fenix E0, Gerber Sonic, Streamlight KeyMate, and various coin cell LED squeeze lights.

However, I always carry the Solitaire because I trust its reliability. And, I must admit, for its sentimental value.

ringzero said:

I have four Solitaires purchased right before Christmas 1990, and they all work just fine after lots of use and abuse outdoors. One has been on my keychain every day for over 16 years and it's just as useful as when it was new.

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If my Arc-P AAA fails within five years, I think I'm going to try the Solitaire for my keychain.

I can't believe that mag has not produced a better solitaire LED yet. The Minimag AA LED is a definite improvement. Hopefully we will see a solitaire LED this year. I would get one for sure. The solitaire was my first keychain light.

For under $20, my favorite is the Photon Freedom. It's probably overkill but I carry 3 Photon keychain lights. A Photon Freedom on my keychain, a Photon II around my neck and another Photon II attached to Leatherman P4 which resides in my Mission wallet.

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I used to carry a Freedom for about 3 straight years but got fed up with:

A) having the thing come on in my pocket and drain the batteries down
B) Entering commands to change the light back and forth between momentary mode (where [A] would not apply) and the full-featured mode.

I have since purchased 20 clones from Dealextreme, and some 50Cd LEDs to drop in. I used these to replace tons crappy $0.99 incandescent flashlights we had all around for looking around behind computers, or behind dark corners etc. They're actually significantly brighter, and cheaper. On one (a transparent one) I sanded down the LED completely flat and use that as a wide flood for reading (even, no hotspots) or lighting a dark room up. I have another normal one, and I'm about to get a package of red LEDs to drop into a third one to use while preserving night vision, so I'll be carrying three on my keychain.

20 clones, and replacement LEDs for every single one of them was actually cheaper than the freedom was back in '03.

carbine15 said:

LED for a 6d? No. Too many volts unless you're running dummy cells. Then what's the point?

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Do a Two-Cree mod!

Quantumstate said:

Do a Two-Cree mod!

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If I'm going to be hauling around something as heavy as a 6D, it better be at least a Seven-Cree as far as I'm concerned. 6D NiMH batteries could probably pull it off.