Which workshop flashlight?

Need some help please. Somebody decided that he/she likes my MiniMagLED that was used in my vehicle repair workshop and stole it. :hairpull: :whoopinhoto of it can be seen in post #1 of this thread. This light was heavilly used and managed to stand up to the tough demands.

I basically need a light to replace this one, but do not want to spend as much as I did on the stolen one (risk that it may dissapear again). It cost approximately $40 when it was purchased. I also do not want to let my staff use one of my existing lights because they are too bright and power hungry.

My needs:
- Would prefer a single or two AA light (I have many of these batteries and a good quick charger)
- 30 to 50 Lumens will be more than sufficient
- Price range in the area of $15
- Single mode
- Fairly good battery life (used to change batteries once to twice per week) (therefore high efficiency required)
- Fairly rugged to stand up to the demands

I have looked at the flashlights reviewed under BessieBenny's Sticky, but have not found anything suitable. Willing to modify a light if needed. I know I am asking for a lot from a budget light and will appreciate recommendations.

Tks
Johan

Go to dealextreme.com, and they have free world wide shipping.

Check THIS thread. It gives a pretty good comparison of the budget lights.

Tekno_Cowboy said:

Check THIS thread. It gives a pretty good comparison of the budget lights.

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As mentioned in my last paragraph, "I have looked at the flashlights reviewed under BessieBenny's Sticky, but have not found anything suitable."

CRESCENDOPOWER said:

Go to dealextreme.com, and they have free world wide shipping.

Click to expand...

I have spent some time on DX & KD to search for suitable lights, but would value inputs from CPF members more than a review on their site. Most of their suitable lights are also very power hungry with higher output than required. The answer may be to mod/tweak one of their lights to a lower output.

Perhaps a Streamlight 2AA ProPolymer. 25 lumens for 18hrs. @ $17.95. I'd think it might work.


Features of Streamlight ProPolymer 2AA LED flashlight:
- 0.5 watt bright 30,000 hour high flux LED; no need for replacement bulbs
- corrosion and impact resistant
- waterproof and O-ring sealed (not dive rated)
- powered by 2 ea AA alkaline batteries, included
- up to 18 hours of run time
- unbreakable polycarbonate lens with scratch resistant coating
- integrated pocket clip
- limited lifetime warranty from Streamlight
- assembled in USA

Safety Ratings for Streamlight 2AA ProPolymer LED:
UL Listed
Class I, Div 2, Groups A, B, C, D
Class II, Div 2, Groups F&G
Class III, T4C

Looked @ the Streamlight on their homepage and agree that it should do the trick. Also does not look like a light that other people may want to steal.

EDIT: This also made me think of the Energizer 2AA LED Hardcase. How does it compare to the Streamlight?

Currently, I've got three Romisen MXDL RC-G2 Cree flashlights in my shop, and I love 'em. They're inexpensive ($11.30 from DealExtreme), rugged, bright, and efficient. And if someone walked off with one of them, I wouldn't be upset.

A half-dozen Eneloop AA batteries keeps all three flashlights ready to go. I use the white, plastic Sanyo charger that came with a four-pack of Eneloops I bought at WalMart, and it works fine. It's also easy for others to use when it's needed; you don't have to be a rocket scientist.

I'd prefer a little more flood from the Romisens, but that's what the fluorescent drop lights are for.

Think I should go for 1 x Romisen MXDL RC-G2 and 2 x these cheapies @ $3.45 each. Just hope that their output will be sufficient. The runtime is quite important for me and a bright light with 1-2 hours runtime will probably get abused by the guys. I needed to constantly remind them to turn the previous light off.

CampingLED said:

As mentioned in my last paragraph, "I have looked at the flashlights reviewed under BessieBenny's Sticky, but have not found anything suitable."

Click to expand...

Sorry, my bad. I was considerably less than fully awake when I posted that.

The RC-N3 might be good. The runtime is over 3 hours on 2 good NiMh batteries and you can also get it at Shiningbeam and the shipping is faster and customer service is better then DX(they ship from New York). I think they also have a coupon for CPFers, I think it is "CPF".

Exit32, I just need to confirm something that is worrying me about the Romisen MXDL RC-G2 Cree flashlight. It seems that it is using a Cree P2 emitter which is quite inefficient compared to the higher bin (Q5 & R2). I have a spare Q5 on a star that has a slightly damaged lens. Is it easy to fit it in the RC-G2?

The RC-G2 doesn't use a star, it uses a P2 emitter on a round board.

You might be able to trim the star down to size.

Thanks Gunner12. That is how I damaged the lens of the Cree and how it ended up as a spare and unused LED. It slipped out of my hand when I was trimming the star to make it fit in my quad Mag mod.

Spoke to the boss of the person who I think took the MiniMag and he also suspects his employee. He will keep a lookout for me.