Recommend me a flashlight.

Let's say i want a flashlight, preferably LED, that is small (i'm used to a Maglite Solitaire), moderately light, and white. Has to have good build quality, naturally. Further preferences include a price below $ 20 shipped.

The keychain type lights are not in contention here. I'm looking for a solid AAA or AA light that can be carried around and be used to illuminate anything from an engine bay to a darkened parking plot to the road in front of me as i walk home from work at 4AM.

What you got?

If you want something as small as the Solitaire, you can get a CMG Sonic for under $20 shipped, but I recommend spending a few bucks more and getting an Arc AAA ($25 or so unless you're lucky). If you can stand something bigger, try a Princeton Tec Attitude, which uses four AAA's ($15 from TTS). If you don't mind an incandescent, my favorite small one is the Princeton Tec Blast ($6.50 from TTS), which uses two AAA's and has a handy built-in pocket clip. It's not a runtime champ, but it's quite bright for its size, and works fine on NiMH AAA rechargeables. It's at least 5x brighter than a Solitaire.

An Arc AAA would be just right, except its a little above $20... But its built to last and is rugged as anything. Throw of light is good enough for a small sized light like that, and is enough to illuminate the path to see where you're going, while providing a good amount of flood.

Else something bigger but below $30 (I think) will be the Streamlight 4AA 7Led... Worth taking a look at, IMHO. Else another possible candidate would be a Streamlight TT 3AA, although I have no idea how much they are... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif

Have fun looking!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

The Ultra G might be just what you are looking for. It is Type III hard anodized, runs on 1 AA battery, and only cost $18.00.
oldgrandpajack

ARC AAA. CMG Infinity Ultra.

Or perhaps....

The little Dorcy 1AAA LED light that is starting to show up at a lot of Walmarts.

It is nowhere NEAR the build quality of the other two. But it ain't gonna break too easy. It IS a VERY decent amount of light for what it costs!

It isn't waterproof, but probably fine in rain.

Did I mention it's CHEAP!

well.. the Arc AAA is a keychain sized light.. but it's practical uses go way beyond sitting on your keychain..



and this is what the beam looks like..

you can see it's real small but it's bright enough to use walking or whatever..

Oh, forgot about 1 more little fella, real cute and bright too... the UKE 2AAA, or the UKE 2AAA eLed... both are under $10 I think.

paulr said: ...try a Princeton Tec Attitude

Yes!

Compact, durable, highly waterproof, bright, smooth beam, comfortable plastic body, fits great in the pocket or hung from a lanyard. If you have to clench it in your teeth to light up an engine bay...WAY more comfortable than any metal light!

Plus it will interchange light heads with a PT Rage...those two make a great, light weight combo pair! Attitude for long lasting led light and the Rage for a 1 hour blast of REALLY bright light in an extremely compact form factor.

You can run either or both on NiMH for practically no cost for batteries after the initial purchase.

if you got by with a solitaire, you will be floored at how bright the aforementioned lights are.

if you want small and LED, the arc aaa, or infinity ultra are excellent (about 25 lux).

step up some in size, and you get into attitude (about 50 lux). it has a crazy long runtime.
the rage is the same size as the attitude, but uses a powerful xenon lamp to make 400 lux.

the blast is a little keeper too--half the size of the rage. not sure of the lux readings, but it is plenty bright for most tasks.

most of the LED lights will have a bluish beam.

Bob

The Arc AAA and CMG Ultra are about as bright as a Solitaire when the Solitaire has a brand new battery. But the LED lights will stay that bright for hours and hours while the Solitaire goes dim and yellow pretty fast.

The Blast is great. (You meant to say it's half the size of the Rage). It's actually lighter than a CMG Ultra because it's made of plastic instead of metal. It's completely waterproof and is quite a bit brighter than a 2aa Minimag. It blows the LED lights we've mentioned out of the water. Its main drawback is limited battery runtime compared to the LED lights: around 1.5 hours on alkalines, a little bit less on NiMH.

There's also a 2aaa side-by-side UKE incan light the same size as the 2aaa eLED, i.e. a little bit smaller than the Blast. I have the penlight version of the UKE (same bezel, just a different battery holder) and it's nice, again much brighter than an LED light. But I like the Blast somewhat better despite its slightly larger size. The Blast's relatively big (about 0.8") reflector makes it seem a lot more powerful.

Mark-

I noticed you registered back in April, that means you've been reading the board here right?

What do you think fit's your needs, we can then refine that for you.

The ARC-AAA and Sonics are not in contention here right as you've said no keychain lights. That means you have to move one step up and that step up kills your $20 delivered limit in my opinion. I've got some great possiblities but you have to up your limit to $35 delivered.

GregR

Double_A, i did register back in April, but was on a hiatus for most of the time, which means i'm not very up to date on the good (better?) flashlights available now. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

By keychain lights i meant stuff like the Photon whatchamacallit that is just an LED with a button cell in a plastic housing. I meant that i wanted a traditional flashlight. Sorry if i didn't make myself clear enough.

paulr, could you tell me where i could get the Princetons you described (and look at photos)?

oldgrandpajack, could you tell me the same for the Ultra G?

Mark: You can have a look at the manufacturer's website.

www.princetontec.com for the Princeton Tec stuff.

www.cmgequipment.com for the Infinity Ultra and Sonic.

www.uwkinetics.com for UKE eLED.

Some of the online retailers will also have descriptions, photos and prices. www.glowbug.com www.brightguy.com and so on.

You can find these two cheaper if you really look around...but BrightGuy usually has a really good selection and good pictures and data on the products.

PT Attitude $17.75 @ Brightguy

PT Rage $10.50 @ Brightguy

BlindedByTheLite: I don't mind folks on the forum hotlinking to pics from my site, but please have the courtesy to throw in a link or give credit. Thanks! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Here is the review that Blinded's pictures come from:

http://flashlightreviews1.home.att.net/reviews/arc_aaa-p.htm

Enjoy!

I have a question, all. If i were to take a massive leap in budget, would the Arc LS "second" be a good buy for $ 50? Are there any other lights that can compare for that price? (Small, light, bright and long running)

Try the 1AA 3LED Dorcy or the 2AA 4LED Dorcy. Cheap and bright. Check out Craig's site for reviews:

http://safeco2.home.att.net/dorcy2.htm

http://safeco2.home.att.net/dorcy3.htm

I have the 1AA 3LED light and I use it preferentially over my more expensive Arc AAA due to its brightness and convenient tail cap switch.

[ QUOTE ]
Quickbeam said:
BlindedByTheLite: I don't mind folks on the forum hotlinking to pics from my site, but please have the courtesy to throw in a link or give credit.

[/ QUOTE ]
sorry sir! i meant to let them know it's a Quickbeam shot.. i just forgot where i was in a hurry. wont happen again!
-Ryan /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ohgeez.gif

Mark, the Arc LS Second at $50 is a great buy if you want an Arc LS. Or if the LSL-P First is still available at $70, you could go that route. However, it is definitely a flashaholic light, so you may or may not think it's worth that much money. In terms of size and brightness, it's about the same as the incandescent PT Blast, which is $6.49 at TTS ( www.texastacticalsupply.com ). It also uses CR123a batteries, which you'll have to order by mail (Arc sells them for $1 each) unless you want to pay a fortune for them (you can buy them at camera stores but expect to pay over $5 instead of $1). However, it's an LED light with good machined aluminum construction and is technically very sweet. Some day all small flashlights will probably use LED's instead of incan. So buy the LS if that kind of thing appeals to you, but understand, you're paying a pretty big early adopter premium.

The ARC LS second now puts you in a different league altogether. No matter what you get, you won't be disappointed. But, you won't know what you'll be getting until you get it. If you do go that route, be sure and get at least 5, if not 10 cells at $1 each. The shipping is the same and if you buy them in a retail store, you'll pay at least $6-8 for each one.