Good light: Gordon Mini 9 LED Flashlight from Harbor Freight Tools

Essentials

This is a 9 LED, 3 AAA flashlight, costing $3.99 at Harbor Freight Tools while the offer lasts.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93712

Construction

The light consists of a black anodized aluminium cylinder, knurled and ridged for a comfortable grip. The head and tailcap both unscrew revealing nicely machined threads and rubber o-rings for sealing. The 9 LEDs are arranged in a symmetric pattern on a reflective metallic backplate and are protected behind a plastic lens. On the tailcap sits a protruding rubber click switch. Attached to the tail by a split ring is a small lanyard that was too small to go over my wrist, so I had to wrap it round my fingers. The light takes 3 AAA cells which are held in a caddy.

Inside the head a metal retaining ring holds the LED module in place. This can be unscrewed allowing the flashlight to be completely disassembled.

Handling

Dimensions are 4 inches (102 mm) long by 1 3/16 inches (30 mm) diameter. The largish diameter allows it to sit comfortably in the hand, but it goes in a jeans pocket with no problem. When loaded with three rechargeable AAA cells the light weighs about 4 ounces (107 g). The tail click switch is quite stiff to operate, but that perhaps has the benefit of preventing accidental activation. Due to the protruding switch the flashlight will not stand on its tail for room lighting, which is a pity.

Operation

There are no modes, just on and off. The light is very bright and slightly bluish in tint. The beam is what might be called a directed flood; there is no spot as such, just a bright pool of light that fades to the edges. The beam pattern is smooth and circular with no artifacts. When filled with Rayovac Hybrids fresh out of the pack it was brighter than a River Rock 1W LED (Luxeon), which in turn is brighter than an Inova X1. Pointed at the ceiling of a large room it provides plenty of light to see by and just enough light to read by. Outside it floods a wide area in front and around making it easy to see where you are going.

I measured a current draw of 0.75 A, suggesting a run time of about 1 hour (though I have not done an actual run time test). The LEDs are directly driven with no regulation, so the brightness will doubtless fall off as the batteries drain. Rechargeable cells may give a more regulated output than alkalines therefore.

Conclusion

This is a very nice light that performs well above its $3.99 price.

+1 Mr. Happy.

Harbor Freight stores (another amazing example of the Chinese production cost model) have had these more than a year. I got about ten last fall for gifts. IIRC, the pricing was $5 with a coupon. I cannot go into Harbor Freight without buying something. Used to work about a mile away from the Richardson store, and as a result have a gigantic collection of C clamps.

This type of light triggered interest for me about two years ago - they showed up at Tanner's (in Farmers Branch - a surplus electronics store, very geeky and fun) in several batches with important variatons - some were pretty good, others were instantly flakey and fell apart. Huge variations in LED output and color. This basic design of 3xAAA light was pretty amazing to me when I first saw it, like my reaction to seeing a Photon "Microlight", hard to resist.

The metal work on these "Gordons" is good, and they have held up OK. I'd say they are better than all the others of this type I have owned, but they are not 100%, the main weakness being a bunch of series connections that all have to work at low resistance in the battery circuit (carrier springs and contacts).

Also, inside the head there is an aluminum ring that tightens against the round circuit board the LEDs are soldered to. Each of the LEDs is soldered into a ring pattern, with the clipped lead and the typical through hole solder joint being forced by thread engagement against the ring as it seats all nine (or whatever) of the soldered leads on that ring, You have only soft base metal against aluminum, with no spring. In time, that sort of electrical connection is bound to become high resistance. I have found that taking these lights apart, cleaning the joints and ring with DeOxit, and retightening carefully is needed a few times a year.

These are handy bedside lamps, and I use them all the time - good pattern for looking under the sink, etc. They have enough throw for most any indoor task, and burn OK on cheap alkalines.

Good buy, I think - and they are probably still in Harbor Freight retail stores, too.

I wonder if this DX variant at $2.85 shipped is better...

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.46

For about a dollar more, you get TWO of the SAME light, but TWICE as bright at 180000 mcd

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1255

I have one of the "cheaper versions", they have a thin bezel around the lens and you can't separate the head.
Got it from here

It's quite bright, but sometimes you need to shake it to get it to light up because the battery cartridge doesn't make proper contact with the front spring. The spring is not aligned with the nib of the cartridge.

Totally ate through batteries too, and i haven't got any more AAAs to replace them yet.

The best 3AAA 9LED light I think you can get is the Garrity plastic light at Walmart. It has a resistor to save the LEDs. It costs more like 7 bucks but I think they are worth it.

I have some ultra cheap 3AAA 9LED from a dollar store that feel good but one has already lost one LED.

This type of light is quite useful when you don't need a light cannon....

I got my samples at a local retail store, so instant satisfaction and no shipping costs.

Regarding the possible intermittent contact problems, a little silicone grease applied to the various mating surfaces may help to prevent oxidation and high resistance developing. On the other hand, the ease of disassembly allows such problems to be fixed.

The battery caddy is of very good construction. The cells make tight contact inside it and there is a long, spring-loaded "prong" at the positive end to make contact with the LED module. It doesn't look like there should be any problems in this area but experience will tell.

It also has a nice open design for anyone who wanted to mod it. There is plenty of space at the LED end for a custom replacement to be put in and the battery tube is about 23.5 mm in diameter and 55 mm long, which may allow for other power sources. A cell the size of a long sub-C should fit. Not sure if there are any LIons that size?

I think this is the same light offered for free, good until 12/31/10.

They are not worth it