New here, Looking for a great keychain light.

HEy guys, my first time here. I hope i can ask questions like this (dealextreme is down so i cant browse there).

Anyways I was reading reviews from flashlightreviews.com and they are now shut down. I want to get a replacement for my el-cheapo dorcy 1 AAA keychain light.. I dont want those plastic diamond shaped things, i like something that runs off an AAA or possibly AA battery, and i dont wana spend 40+ bucks on a keychain light.. From his review site i had it narrowed down to [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Nuwai X-1(best price 22.99) or [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Civictor V1 (29.99 and hard to find). I choose these two cuz they contain luxeon I led's which i'm under the impression are MUCH brighter than regular .5mm led's ..[/FONT][/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Then i found this site and read a tiny bit about the cree XR-E, seoul p4 and rebel.. these are supposedly new led's that are significantly brighter or more effiecent then the Luxeon 1 bulb? [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] since i'm looking at spending around 20 ish bucks (or a few more if its worth it) is there something i can get from deal extreme or some other place that might be much better than the 2 i narrowed it down to? I want bright, and hopefully a little further throw then this dorcy had (at about 3 or 4 feet i wasn't getting much light) but with 1 battery so it fits on a keychain, i dont mind 3 inches long and 4 will probabaly be fine too, but anything past that is going to be too big and bulky on my keychain i suspect..[/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The battery life of the 2 i narrowed it down to was about 1.5 hours (sometimes 2, but nearly dull at that point).. Sorry to ask a question that might be asked alot.. [/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Thanks for any replies.[/FONT]
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It's more money, but the Fenix L0D-CE is the ticket.

Are the 17-25 dollar ones on deal extreme just cheap junk then? I saw them once but at that time i thought 25 for a little key light, was way to expensive, now i'm thinking i can stretch that if it will be much better than this dorcy.. but 50+ for the fenix.. i'm not sure I can justify that

Streamlight KeyMate. Small, aluminum body. Really tough. Stupidly bright for it's size. Was going to be my light of last resort, but I use it more often than I expect because I always have it. Beats the heck out of a 2AA Minimag too.

L0D CE is whats hanging on my keys....freakin awsome:rock:

But hey, I can only tell you that it is worth the extra money for me, maybe not for you.

Good Luck

Sorry I can't comment on them since I have not tried them. Many people have though so you will get some responses.

I'm just very happy with the L0D-CE, I really didn't want to pay that much, and only did it when someone gave me a gift certificate for almost 1/2 the cost. Now that I've got it however I have 4 different Fenix lights, and some others. I got hooked on some better lights. I agree though it sounds expensive.

A less expensive light you might try is a Gerber Sonic. I have wanted to try it, but have not yet. Others can comment on it or search cpf for reviews.

Try to understand the brightness level you need.

How about the Streamlight Microstream.
Not sure what emitter it uses, ideas anyone?

Costs $16.50 here:
http://www.brightguy.com/products/Streamlight_MicroStream_LED_Flashlight.php
Runs on a single AAA cell for 1.5 hours regulated.

If you're willing to invest a little more ($40-$50)
Slightly more versatile options have been reviewed here:
http://www.light-reviews.com/reviews_aaa.html

Some of the DX lights are crap, but most of then above $12 are pretty good.

Too bad the DX site is down but the Ultrafire C3, SAIK RC-A2 Cree, MTE Seoul, and a few others are pretty good and bright AA powered lights. Run time is between 1.5-2 hours, even longer if you count the dimming tail of light. Bump up th price about $10 and you could get the Jetbeam CL-E V2.0 or the Lumapower LM31. Both are better then the DX lights.

IMO AA lights are a bit too bit for key-chain use, AAA lights are better at that.

:welcome:

x2x3x2 said:

How about the Streamlight Microstream.
Not sure what emitter it uses, ideas anyone?

Costs $16.50 here:
http://www.brightguy.com/products/Streamlight_MicroStream_LED_Flashlight.php
Runs on a single AAA cell for 1.5 hours regulated.

If you're willing to invest a little more ($40-$50)
Slightly more versatile options have been reviewed here:
http://www.light-reviews.com/reviews_aaa.html

Click to expand...

I have the Microstream. Great light but you have to lock it out with the tailcap, otherwise it comes on at the lightest touch of the rear clickie. I killed a couple batteries before realizing what was wrong, now it sits on my dresser. Sure puts out the light though!

I have been carrying the Streamlight KeyMate for a couple of months now and love it. Always with me, easy to turn on, bright enough for most purposes that you would want a key-chain light for. Your choice of colors for the LED; I ordered the Titanium, but received the Black version, and the wear is showing. Didn't bother me enough to send it back. And the price is reasonable.

Joe

I've had a Fenix E0 on my keys for over a year now and it is holding up reasonably well. The other Fenix AAA lights are good too but over your preferred price range.

This light started shipping from Kaidomain... $15 FREE Shipping AAA - SSC P4. It supports NiMh rechargables as well as 1.5V cells.
http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=169698

Looks pretty nice, but it is only single output level (high), so the runtime is short. Still it looks like a nice light.

I carry an Arc AAA-P on my keychain and I absolutely love it. It is not as bright as some of the lights with Cree's or Seoul's in it but it runs for a long time, will work with almost completely dead batteries, is the perfect size for keychain carry, is waterproof and is has the highest quality look and feel of any of the AAA lights that I have seen.

It just plain exudes quality and I feel confident that it will work every time I need it even if it is wet, dirty, banged around or whatever else might occur.

If I need more light, I bring a more powerful light with me but I am never without my Arc AAA-P.

Right now, you can get an Arc with the newest 5mm LED in it and it puts out a minimum of 9 lumens but typically puts out around 11 lumens and it costs around $44.

Or, you can get the AAA-P in camo and spend around $24 from what I have seen.

Good luck on your purchase.

The $24.95 AAA camo was a 1-week special, they're up to $34.95 now. I bought one but sold it almost immediately. Worked great, looked dorky (per my tastes) because of the camo. I'd stay with the plain HA finish. You could also try the Peak Matterhorn series that are very similar.

As Goatizzle says, these are excellent quality, very simple lights that don't try to be output champs. If you want high output, go with a Cree or Seoul, but you'll get less runtime, and less quality unless you spend quite a lot.

The ultrafire 602c to be had from Kaidomain and DX comes with an SSC P4 and is very bright. Run time is short though, I run it on a 10440 lithium Ion rechargable and get approximately 20 mins. Quality control on these lights is not the best though. I have had 2 that would not work properly when they arrived at first. I was able to fix one and had to send the other back. I have had one on my keychain for over 6 months (the old luxeon one) and love it, but you play the quality lottery with them. I tend to have better luck at DX than Kaidomain.

Reviews

Dorcy AAA baseline
Note there is a new model.
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/107794

Nuwai TM310H
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/99836

Fenix E1
Hint The E0 in the review is roughly the same brightness and tint as the Dorcy AAA Gen 1.
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/136124

Fenix L0D CE
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/150892

Fenix L0D RB 80
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/174515

you can get the Nuwai TM-310H here

You can get the Fenix AAA lights here. CPF discount code CPF8 gets you 8% off on orders over $20

The Fenix lights are more reliable than the lights at DX / Kai.

I got 1 of the 1st Cree 1AAA lights from DX. It was intermittant and died within a week.
My Ultrafire 602c worked but 1/2 of my batteries won't fit. It is suposed to be one of the better lights at DX

Review Ultrafire 602c
Read the whole thread especially flashcrazy's fix to the battery fit problem.
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/172973

Have a look at some of the peak lights Peak LED Solutions price go from about $30 up, there is a Christmas special at the moment 20% off, wide choice of metals to choose from and top quality, no messing with multiple modes.
Norm

Norm said:

Have a look at some of the peak lights Peak LED Solutions price go from about $30 up, there is a Christmas special at the moment 20% off, wide choice of metals to choose from and top quality, no messing with multiple modes.
Norm

Click to expand...

But i would have to decide on a power level before purchase which is worse.

To get significantly brighter than a Dorcy AAA in the AAA battery size that fits a keychain means a Baltic P4 at the higher power levels.
http://www.peakledsolutions.net/Products/Baltic_HA.html

Can someone provide a comparison such as
Baltic P4 XLR = L0D CE ??? level
Baltic P4 HP = L0D CE ??? level
Baltic P4 UP = L0D CE ??? level
Baltic P4 SP = L0D CE ??? level

LiteFlux LF2 deserves a mention; $45 shipped worldwide and I have read many positive reviews. Personally I prefer LF2 over LOD-CE due to its much-higher pulsing frequency.

Photon Freedom Micro is a cool keychain light. Comes in many flavours and costs around $10-$12 a pop. Look it up in www.photonlight.com