Life gear 1aa...

connortn

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Sep 19, 2005
Messages
119
Location
East Tennessee
I've been searching the forum for a runtime on the Life gear single 1aa flashlight sold at Targets. I wonder also if anyone has tested this 1aa for out the front lumens instead of estimating it? I purchased a couple lately and have had one of them on for over 6 hours with a regular alkaline energizer and it's still impressively bright. I estimated the brightness to be at about 40% of an identical one I had with a fresh battery of the same type. I first noticed a slight change in brightness at about 3-4 hours into the test.

This flashlight is a bit bigger than most 1aa lights at about 4.25" by 1.0" OD. It's size looks like a 2 cell 123 flashlight and feels really good in the hand. I find almost all other 1aa lights too small to comfortably hold on to. I guess it's different if you plan on carrying it 24/7, but that's what my photon keychain light is for :)

I would appreciate any info on this light and if anyone has found a diffuser that fits on the front. A friend has a small single cell surefire that uses a 123 cell. He has a diffuser on it that also prevents the light from rolling when laid on it's side. I'll try to run him down and see if it will fit on the Life gear.

Is there a way to replace these reverse clicky switches with a forward clicky? Seems like I came across something like this before, but not for this particular flashlight.

Additional info: Since first listing this post, I have completed a 10 hour runtime on this light.

At 7 hours, my estimate would be about 10 or so lumens in brightness as it was about equal to my photon freedom. Different beam, but brightness very close. At 8 hours, it was down to about half that, or around 5 lumens. I could still walk about freely in the home with only this light with no problems.

At 9 hours, I would estimate it at 2-3 lumens. I could still navigate with it in the house. It was dim, but it would be much better than no light at all if one needed it!

At 10 hours, it was probably 1 lumen or less. I think a match would have been brighter, but it's supprising how bright a match can be in complete darkness. After turning the light off, I could not get it to come back on, even after waiting an hour or so to see if the battery would heal its self a little. It must have really drained the battery of every last ounce of energy. I may run another test with an E2 battery and see if it does even better.

I liked the slow drop in brightness for a useable light. I do not like having a flashlight suddenly go dead with little or no warning. I can see using this flashlight for 7 to 8 hours before needing to change batteries. Not that I would, but I certainly could if the situation was not iffy.

Thanks...

C.
 
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