Light Question for theatre use.

Hello All,

I'm looking for a light that's under $20 USD, that'll be used to light up tickets in a dark theatre from arms length away. I need to buy 6 of them, and they should be able to stand up to some abuse (they might be dropped/stepped on.) I'm not sure brightness is a concern as 30+ lumens would be ideal for our situation. One last criteria is that it must be shaped like a flashlight (no photons/fauxtons, as these need to be able to be inventoried with other equiptment, and photons will get lost ). Ideally, I'd be able to pick these up in a B&M store, but online would be acceptable if necessary.

So, with all that in mind,

Any ideas?

Thanks,
-Max

never thought i'd recommend 'em, but here goes . . . .


Nite-Ize 3-LED modules in Mini-Maglites



Get 'em at Wal-Mart. $9 for the Mini-Mag,

and $5 for the Nite-Ize modules.


Batteries included.


Plenty bright in a dark theatre, to see tickets & such.


And plenty rugged and durable, too.


Plus, they don't have an exotic, "hey, steal-me" image.

:wave:
_

Its funny because on Thursday night I went to a Broadway play, "Mel Brook's Young Frankenstein" and the ushers all had some sorta orangish safety flashlight. The kind you'd see construction workers or safety personnel use.

Any 2-AAA pocket light. Streamlight MicroStream or Stylus comes to mind.

In a darkened theater, 30 lumens is going to be pretty bright. Closer to 5 lumens might be a better. The Inova X1 v.3, even whith its shorter runtime should fit your needs and you can pick them up for $20 at Target.

You might check out the Task Force 1AA, 1 watt from Lowe's. It's rated at about 25 lumens, has an optic so it's somewhat focussed, tail clickie, fairly pocketable, and is only $16. Nothing too special about it, but its ability to keep burning on worn out batteries, and even fire back up after turning off with those dead batts. It's able to drain a battery better than any other light I own, and won't suddenly shut down like many lights these days. I only wish it came in black, instead of just blue and red.

Geoff

+1



If you want to get real crazy... add in a clickie

Burgess said:

never thought i'd recommend 'em, but here goes . . . .


Nite-Ize 3-LED modules in Mini-Maglites



Get 'em at Wal-Mart. $9 for the Mini-Mag,

and $5 for the Nite-Ize modules.


Batteries included.


Plenty bright in a dark theatre, to see tickets & such.


And plenty rugged and durable, too.


Plus, they don't have an exotic, "hey, steal-me" image.

:wave:
_

Click to expand...

I was at a theatre, my 9.5lumen Arc-P was far too bright...youre looking for something that gives maybe 2 lumens....

Crenshaw

Thanks for all the replies. Would you recommend a 2-stage light? one "low" and one "high"?

Thanks
Max

Unless you want to go for A2s, every other dual level light is still going to be pretty bright in low and will mess up your dark adapted vision.

Maybe this would do(they don't have to water resistant do they?)

I usually try not to post things clearly stated as not wanted by the OP, but have you considered how many fauxtons you could by for 20 bucks at DXs site.. (40pcs) They would certainly be bright enough, perhaps you might choose a color different than white. Feel free to disregard this post, I just wanted to mention it..
EDIT: Otoh DX added a penlight style light running on 1xAAA to his inventory lately, I have one underway and could post some details in 1-2 weeks..

If the ushers are there to do double duty...Like help people out in the case of an emergency then a dual stage light may be in order.
A trip to the flashlight isle at target will yield several choices. I recommend that you go there and buy a couple different lights and try them out. Save the packaging so you can return the ones you don't like back to target.
They have a good selection at target.
I agree that the INOVA X1 V3 may be a good choice. Try it. It is important that the people who are being issued the lights feel comfortable with them so make sure that they are in on the selection process.
Yaesumofo

since a lot of tickets would need to be checked, i think it is critical to have a forward clickie that would allow a fast way to temporary turn the light on.

a twistie would take to long to quickly check a ticket stub so maglite for me would be out.

the pelican MityLite can be found for $15 to $20 dollars and uses conventional AA batteries. http://www.pelican.com/lights_detail.php?recordID=2340

if the output of the MityLite is too much or the cost is too much then an alternative could be the Lumens Factory Penlite sold for $3.
http://www.lumensfactory.com/cart.php?cat_id=4&PHPSESSID=6586a1186d4a5cb66591ca10868563fe

I'd think about getting some of those 2xAA PR2 based plastic lights from Ray•O•Vac and them dropping SMJLED PR2s into them. I'm not sure but I think they could be put together for under $20 each.

Advantages:

Anything you get must have a "wand", "cone", or some sort of diffuser.

How about an Energizer AAA LED Penlight? You could buy several for $20 and still not worry too much about losing a few. They have about the right amount of light I would want as an usher. Easy to carry and use and battery cost and life aren't too much of a problem. Just a thought.

Hello Max,

I have several of the Lumens Factory Penlights and love them. However, when the lamp burns out, I think it is more economical to recycle them. I have three of these, use them all the time, and only have had 1 lamp burn out. The grandchildren love to click them off and on, so I know the switches will last...

With this in mind, if you need 6, I would order 12. LF may toss a couple extra in the package for good measure. Stock up with a brick of AAA cells from Costco and you are good to go.

I think it would be a great match for what you are trying to do.

Tom

Edit: I forgot to mention that a possible downside to these lights is that the switch is a reverse clicky. This limits momentary use with a partial press, but I have found the switch reliable enough to withstand lots of clicks. As far as light output goes, I am getting around 40 lux at 1 meter with partially used batteries. ENDEDIT

Along the penlight line, I just had another idea. The Rayovac 1AAA model found at Walmart for about $3 might work, too. It has a very focussed beam which would not bother folks on a dark theater, but should work fine for checking tickets. Here's an old pic.



Geoff

What about the Gerber Infinity Ultra in red or white? Long battery life, rugged, not too bright and uses AA.