What's a good light to toss in car & forget?

What\'s a good light to toss in car & forget?

What would be a good light to toss in the car for emergencies, but can be fogotten about without trashing it? I've left AA light in the car only to find them ruined by leaky batteries, or dead. I'm thinking lithiums would be good, but I would want something with longer runtime (less light would be ok) than the Brinkman LX.

How about a Princeton Tec AA light with lithiums? Do the lithium AA's have the same 10-year shelf life as the 123's? How about run time?

Re: What\'s a good light to toss in car & forget?

Well, my recommendation was going to be the Brinkman Legend LX. If you're concerned with runtime, you could always keep some extra cells in the glove box. I keep 2-boxes of SureFire cells in the trunk at all times.

I currently keep the following in my 2003 Impala LS:

1. E2E with spare lamp and batteries.
2. M6 with spare lamp and betteries.
3. Legend LX with spare lamp and batteries.
4. ARC-AAA.
5. Optronics 2-million CP spot light.

Re: What\'s a good light to toss in car & forget?

I've had a generic 2D plastic drugstore light in my car for ages. I just happened to look at it recently and the expiration date on the Duracells is something like December 99, so the batteries are probably close to 10 years old, but it still works fine (probably lowered in capacity). I sort of remember, they were batteries I had around the house when I put them in the flashlight.

I may change out the batteries just on principle but I'm sure it will be fine even if I don't.

The light itself is intereseting because it has a small (1 cm diameter) convex lens molded into the center of the lens, that tightens down the hotspot and maybe gets rid of the hole in the middle of it. So the light has a very narrow beam and long throw, great for checking faraway house numbers, signs, etc. Not bad at all for a $3 light.

So at least with bigger cells like D's, I don't think battery shelf life is much of an issue. Just put checking the flashlight on the car's annual or 30,000 mile maintenance list and you should be fine.

Re: What\'s a good light to toss in car & forget?

i have a tec-40 in my car loaded with lithiums.

it is relatively inexpensive, tough, simple, and very bright.

Bob

Re: What\'s a good light to toss in car & forget?

a tigerlight /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

also, you should have a long rung light, like a 1w 3dcell.

you should already be carrying several edcs, so you won't need to worry about anything in between /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Re: What\'s a good light to toss in car & forget?

I thought the Tec40 blurb said not to use lithiums because they'll blow the bulb too quickly.

Re: What\'s a good light to toss in car & forget?

paulr you are probly thinking of the PT Surge.

Re: What\'s a good light to toss in car & forget?

Easy. UK 2L. Small, light, fairly bright (slightly less than E2E), VERY waterproof (two STIFF o-rings). VERY sturdy. (2) 123A cells and longer runtime (listed as 3-4hrs) than a SF E2E. Also fairly inexpensive ($26).

It's only weakness is the beam isn't wonderful, but it is passable.

-john

Re: What\'s a good light to toss in car & forget?

anything with lithiums. until recently i always had a streamlight or tigerlight rechargable.

Re: What\'s a good light to toss in car & forget?

I will second John N the UK2L would be great for this. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Re: What\'s a good light to toss in car & forget?

I going to add another vote for the UK 2L.It is a great light.

Re: What\'s a good light to toss in car & forget?

UK 2L is my favorite light, I carry one in my belt pack and it's great because of its compactness and light weight.

In a car the small size isn't so important, and the 2L is kind of expensive compared to a conventional light. As mentioned I currently have just a $3 plastic 2D light in the car. If I wanted to spend $25 for a car light I'd probably get either a PT Surge (brighter) or a 4D Mag (long runtime and can double as attitude adjustment tool if needed).

But yeah, if you don't mind spending the $$, the 2L is very easy to throw in the glove compartment, in fact small enough that it might be hard to find in the glove compartment after you've put it there.

Re: What\'s a good light to toss in car & forget?

I also suggest the UKE 2L for glovebox or in the door. Get a bright bodied version and put a Photon3 & Glowring on it. With Li batteries you'll have 5-10 years of non-use out of them.

Al

Re: What\'s a good light to toss in car & forget?

Not to disparage the UKE 2L in the least, but yet another alternative might be the PT40. In fact the PT40 is probably what I'd choose if I were facing this question right now. It's a little bigger than the 2L but costs $10 instead of $25, uses four AA's instead of two 123's, and uses standard PR bulbs (cheaper and easier to keep a few spares in the glovebox).

I also have a couple of FRS walkie talkies in the car (powered by AA's) and used to have a small transistor radio (powered by two AA's). I like using the same type of battery in everything I can, so I can swap batteries around between devices if needed.

Really I think this concern over 10 year shelf life is misplaced. I'd say put fresh cells into your emergency lights once a year (say on New Years Day) and cycle the old cells into your everyday-use lights. In fact I'd go cycle the cells from my 2D light right now, except I don't have anything else that uses D's. Maybe I'll just go put a spare pair of D's in the glovebox, which unfortunately is getting pretty full.

Re: What\'s a good light to toss in car & forget?

Paulr,

I disagree because (IMO) you can't really toss-and-forget an alkaline light. They don't last long enough and are too likely to leak.

The Surge (while a nice light) can't take Li batteries and the cheap 2D is problematic for the same reason as well.

I also don't really trust the reliability of most cheap (~$3) lights, but YMMV. For $15-25 you can get some really good lights (PT, UK, Streamlight), all worth depending on IMO.

On the other hand, you *can* get "D" Li cells. They are awfully expensive (best deal I've found is $17 ea) and 3V so you need to use a dummy cell or compensate with a different voltage bulb.

Of course, the upside of the D cells is the much larger capacity. In fact, I do have an emergency light in the house which is a 2D cell with a LEDcorp LS bulb (rated for 4 cells) with two 3V Li cells.

Would I do this again? Not with an unregulated bulb. I have contemplated something like a 4D Mag with Wane's Wizard sandwich which then should be able to be left with Li cells, but then run alkaline when needed.

The cool thing about something like the UK 2L (or similar) is that if you sold your car in 10 years, it is likely the light is still ready for use, even with no maint.

Cheers,

-john

Re: What\'s a good light to toss in car & forget?

Paulr,

I agree, the PT 40 would also be a good light. Of course I'd put Li batteries in it!

As for switching the batteries every year. My problem is I'm not that organized!

-john

Re: What\'s a good light to toss in car & forget?

[ QUOTE ]
rycen said:
I going to add another vote for the UK 2L.It is a great light.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have given at least a couple of dozen 2L's as gifts to family, friends and colleagues. I tell them "it's a great glovebox light" and I always include an extra lamp and two SF 123's.

Many of them end up in purses, pockets, packed in luggage for trips etc. and I have yet to hear a single negative comment about them. Of course as Flashaholics we know that the beam is not Surefire-perfect, but the average person views the 2L as an almost miraculous light. They are simply not used to this amount of light coming out of something so tiny. Many say they are amazed at how long the light will burn.

The 2L (along with the ARC AAA) comes as close to being the perfect gift as anything I've seen in any category, though Photons also make excellent, useful gifts.

Brightnorm

Re: What\'s a good light to toss in car & forget?

You may actually want to consider at least a CMG Infinity Ultra with a Li-AA in the car. Maybe a PM6 would do in front of an LX...

Re: What\'s a good light to toss in car & forget?

the pelican M6 and surefire G2 would be good candidates too i think /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Re: What\'s a good light to toss in car & forget?

The Infinity Ultra wouldn't be a bad idea as a suppliment to the primary light.

The downside of the G2 is that it isn't waterproof.

-john