Flashlights for Children

Wat lights do you give your children when a light is needed?

My sons (7 and 9yrs) have with them LM3xx series lights when we go out for our regular walks at night and lately they have been complaining that theirs aren't as bright and dull after comparing with my GL3. Been thinking of getting a couple of G2s or something similar for them as their main light with the LMs as back up. Wat do you guys think?:thinking:

Sean

Knowing how kids use things maybe get them some cheaper but bright lights from Dealextreme and possibly get ones that use rechargeable batteries (but you'd likely need to be in charge of that - no pun intended) so you don't end up going broke on batteries. There's a lot of Cree type lights there to choose from between $10 and $25 that will get you some serious brightness without needing incandescent (think no more buying bulbs).

deal xtreme with cree mod. i think a project with the kids will be fun and memorable

G2 with BOG 3 watt drop in - runs 4 hours regulated. I've seen a few and all were very white and nearly as bright as the P60. It's expensive for a kid's light ($60 all in if you shop carefully), but the G2 will not show scratches, will not scratch most things, and the LED will take abuse. It's a seriously "cool" light too!

W.

G2's are great. Since its a tough light by nature and kids will just bang it, scratch it, drop it, and it will still be indestractible (except the bulb from burn or drop).

A kinda expensive thought, but this is really something that will stay with them for a really long time: 2 G2's (I would opt for black color as kid's property) , 2 G2-Body extenders, 2 B65 batteries, and 1 charger to share.. That takes you around 140$ or less for two wonderful rechargeable lights and spares you away the fear of rechargeable 123-type batteries. All Surefire quality, all fun..

Let us know what will be your choice for them! :twothumbs

Come on Sean, it's pretty difficult to find a real dark spot in S'pore. You find one, report it and gvmt will fix it.
What's actually going on is that your kids have become flashoholics and need their annual lumen increment

My girls (now 4 and 6) have solitaires in their favorite colors (pink and yellow), and the older one now has a yellow powdercoated minimag. All of them have SMJLED upgrades and are plenty bright for anything they need to do while camping or playing in the yard.

The solitaires are great with the SMJLED pill.

schiesz

Martin said:

Come on Sean, it's pretty difficult to find a real dark spot in S'pore. You find one, report it and gvmt will fix it.
What's actually going on is that your kids have become flashoholics and need their annual lumen increment

Click to expand...

True, but you still can find certain areas with a little darkness around where I live. Chinese garden and Jurong Park to name a few.

That's what i gather. They were complaining ever since we tested their lights against mine. I had mine changed every couple of months and they had been stuck with theirs longer.

I'm considering G2s because of its weight, colour and indestructability and I can use a cree module (cheap from some sourses) for longer run time. Don't really like rechargables, disposable are find with me. Had bought about 36 CR123s since last dec and have quite a few lying around waiting to be used.

Sean

Energizer Hardcase series may be the one to check out.

well If your kid is reliable and will not kill/lose the G2 mod I am for it too. After all It will want a light "just like dad's" and because of this it is hard to fool kids on a lesser one.

Anothe option may be this (2003L Model). I always though is the perfect light for kids' camping
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/aitec_pro-tech.htm

hope it helps, kostas

Looks like G2 will be a one way road for this!


kosPap: oraies oi foto poy exeis sto link soy. An kai leipoyn oi Firewind (!!) (Erxontai nea yorkh ton septembrio)

We get some of our products from this company, they are great to deal with. They a sent few samples of these http://www.suncompany.net/details.php?ID=186. Definitely not a Surefire but bright enough for using around the house, short walks, etc.

Been letting my son (7 yrs old) edc'ing the Liteflux LF2 SSC. Its small, practical and can be fed with rechargeables such as Nimh. Its programmable and a two stage output that can be configured. At $45 I thinks its a wortwhile investment. It also have the necessary fucntions such as strobes and SOS which can be useful for the child to learn and use.
I had him the Photon Freedom Micro but that particular light is not that bright compared to the LF2 which IMO should only be as a backup.

Thanks guys for the input.

Right now I'm thinking of modding their LMs with seoul or cree. Am now doing a lot of reading up to find out how to go about it.:thinking: This will be my first mod job. And if I fail then I'll think of buying a new light for them.

Sean

Anything cheap and plastic as It would get lost, stolen or broken at school

I'm with Torch Boy. I wouldn't give children any light over $20 because kids are prone to lose or abuse things ... even by accident.

Last summer, I bought my niece and nephew each a set of cheap Dorcy incans (2AA & 1AAA) then got them 1AA-12LED lights from DAE for Christmas.

If they express an interest in something a little brighter and/or more serious, I think I'll look for a decent 1 watt LED ... the Lowes Husky 3AAA 1watt lights are good candidates ... provided I can get them for under $10 again. Maybe I'd splurge and get them 3AA MagLEDs if I can find them on sale for $15.99 again.

I see there are plenty of folks here, however, that would think little of spending $50+ on a light for children.

Oh well, too each their own.

(Oh, and there are a number of threads here on lights for children ... try "children" in the search feature ... or even "responsibility."

I wouldn't rather spend more money for something reliable that may or may not help your children in a situation. I'd rather have them loose a light than a limb

KoiSG said:

..when we go out for our regular walks at night..

Click to expand...

If I understand Sean correctly, these lights will not be EDCed and not taken to school, they will only be used during family night hikes.

KoiSG said:

..Been thinking of getting a couple of G2s or something similar for them as their main light with the LMs as back up..

Click to expand...

These new lights shall be brighter and may be bigger than an EDC. At the same time, their reliability is not an issue, as they are backed by the LM3xx EDCs.

With this requirement, I propose a mirror lamp (20, 35 or 50 W IRC) + a 14.4 V NiMH or NiCd racing pack constellation as this would
a) satisfy the biggest lumen hunger and
b) be a nice weekend project,
c) is cheap to make and cheap to fix.
I bet when the kids see how bright this actually is, and when they built it themselves, they will not complain abt weight.
A useful host might be a Chinese metal headlamp (I saw them at marine shops in Batam) with a separate battery pack.
Since your kids are boys, I can imagine that the racing packs will have many other uses and will be a good investment.

considering the safety issues surrounding lithium cells, I would not hand them to kids. If something were to happen, kids might not know what to do as well as an educated CPFer would..

I would go with either a 3AA mag LED, or a 2C magled, and get some rechargable NIMHs for them, so they can play with em for hours and not cost you an arm and a leg and a left tes.....

the 2C advanced auto parts 3W would be a good choice too imo.. I'm going to try a Seoul swap on mine someday.

Why not the 5-LED Xnova 1AA from Dae at QualityChinaGoods.com? Pretty nice light for $5, uses easily replaceable batteries. Comes in fun colors and really isn't a problem if lost. It's also really easy to twist on.