Disappear-in-the-pocket light

I carry a v10R as my EDC, but when I say carry, I mean, I drop it in my briefcase when I go to work, and in my pack when I'm hiking, and in my jacket pocket when I'm out-and-about. But I also like to carry a light on me... not on keys, not in a jacket pocket, but in a jeans pocket. But I'm a bit tactile-defense, and if I'm going to carry something in my jeans pocket, it needs to be vanishingly, don't-even-know-it's-there small. Minimally, I also need it to have a low enough low that if I drop something under my seat at the movies, I can turn on the light without causing a riot. On the other hand, it needs to be bright enough so that if I am looking for something in a dark room (or a bar, or whatever), I can find it.

My first perfect light was the Photon Rex: http://edcforums.com/threads/review-of-lri-photon-rex-and-solar-charger-usb-accessory-pack.76913/ (sorry coudln't find a review at cpf)

Old light, old LEDs, but the features are dynamite. Low enough low, high enough high, awesome interface, and absolutely disappears in a pocket. Alas, I found a few times the light's button got activated while in my pocket, so I had to look at a light with a different interface.... though I like this light so much, sometimes I still carry it, hanging from my belt loop.

I next looked at AAA twisties, but I do think most are marginally too big (I can feel them in my pocket; tactile-defensive, remember!) until I eventually stumbled across the Klarus MiX5: http://www.klaruslight.com/products/Flash_light/74.html

You'll note it's a AAAA light, not a AAA, but I decided "what the hell, it's even smaller than AAA and will disappear in my pocket even more". And so it did, I carry it from a P-7 suspension clip on my pocket edge. It completely disappears, I can't feel it at all. But low is okay, and high very respectable. Still not thrilled about the weird battery size, but bought a bunch of AAAA pretty cheap (not motivated to break open a 9V myself), so no worries.


Alternatively, the new version of the DQG AAA looks really really good. Thicker -- and thus more noticeable in the pocket -- than my Mix5, but still wonder if it will disappear completely hanging from the P7, and there's something to be said for AAA.

Anyway, that's it. Always open to whatever you're using, if you think it's a better solution than the ReX or MiX5 (or DQG)... or whatever carry solution you have, if you think it's better than the P7

Streamlight Microstream or Thrunite Ti, with a nod to the T10 as well. For an AA light, the T10 weighs almost as little as some of my AAA lights.

I carry a Peak Eiger QTC. Mine has the "pocket" body meaning no extra space wasted on a lanyard ring etc (plus it tail stands). It has the QTC pill so it's infinitely variable output and it's one of the Oveready special editions so it has the Nichia 119 High CRI LED so it has a great tint. I tried to carry the same light in a stainless steel Peak body but it was too heavy. In aluminum with a 10440 it weighs almost nothing.

Hope that helps.

Racer said:

Streamlight Microstream or Thrunite Ti, with a nod to the T10 as well. For an AA light, the T10 weighs almost as little as some of my AAA lights.

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+1
Ti is plenty small for me. Don't feel it - sometimes I can't even find it in my pocket. Available with superlow-low Firefly mode, and Hi is quite decent for AAA. I just ordered 3 more - one for every keychain, and one for my GHB backup-to-the-backup.
Runs on eneloops or lithiums.

The Klarus Mi10 (AAA) is about the size of a AAA cell. It has a moonlight low low (2 L), 20 lumen medium, and 80 L high....super useful for what you describe. If you wouldn't notice an AAA cell in your pocket, this will pass muster as well.

Mines been beat up by my keys for quite a while now....and has never missed a beat. It runs ~ 66 HOURS on low, great in an emergency power outage scenario.

2 L is fine for seeing where your movie ticket fluttered down to w/o competing with the movie for attention, or for navigating to a rest room in the dark, etc...and 20 L is fine for walking on a camping trip to the latrine, reading a map, etc. 80 L will light the room reasonably well, I shine it at the ceiling to show the entire room at once for example.

Its mostly a flood pattern, as most wee lights provide, which is perfect for close range work, providing a nice even pool of light. Throw is limited to maybe 20 yards, beyond that, stuff's out there, but dim.

Thanks guys. Of the AAA lights mentioned, I think the Mi10 (and Mi6 -- same size) is a few mm shorter and thinner than the Thrunite etc., so that's what I'd lean towards, even with the Thrunite's superior high. The Mi5 AAAA that I have is still 5mm shorter than the MI6 & 10, and 2mm thinner, with about the same top end high. Maybe not enough difference to be worth having to stock AAAAs, but not sure. The DQG III AAA is another 7mm shorter still, though about the same thickness as the Mi6/10.... thanks for the advice so far, will look them all over, though I don't see a real advantage in performance over the Mi5, though if those AAA lights also disappear in the pocket, I could get away from AAAA and run AAA alk or lsd

The difference between say the AAAA and the AAA is run time...you get more hours of use with the larger cells. Being able to run 66 hours on a single AAA cell is very handy, and for a small, in the pocket light, its nice to know that if you NEED it, it can DO it.

TEEJ said:

The difference between say the AAAA and the AAA is run time...you get more hours of use with the larger cells. Being able to run 66 hours on a single AAA cell is very handy, and for a small, in the pocket light, its nice to know that if you NEED it, it can DO it.

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nice one, you're quoting manufacturer specs. i myself own 3 different klarus lights, brand new Eneloops and a C9000 charger. my friends as well. my friends and i were not able to confirm the runtime data of any klarus light. you can safely substract ~35% of the claimed klarus runtime data to get the real runtime data (on standard Eneloops).

or klarus uses special cells (e.g. 3000mAh AA, or 1200mAh AAA) to do their runtime tests, which would explain everything.

my advice: never quote manufacturer's runtime data unless someone on the WWW has confirmed it by actual real life tests and measurements. to cut the whole story short, the 66 hours are plain wrong. you will get more like 45 hours. with 1xAAA Eneloop.

shelm said:

nice one, you're quoting manufacturer specs. i myself own 3 different klarus lights, brand new Eneloops and a C9000 charger. my friends as well. my friends and i were not able to confirm the runtime data of any klarus light. you can safely substract ~35% of the claimed klarus runtime data to get the real runtime data (on standard Eneloops).

or klarus uses special cells (e.g. 3000mAh AA, or 1200mAh AAA) to do their runtime tests, which would explain everything.

my advice: never quote manufacturer's runtime data unless someone on the WWW has confirmed it by actual real life tests and measurements. to cut the whole story short, the 66 hours are plain wrong. you will get more like 45 hours. with 1xAAA Eneloop.

if you dont believe me, do the runtime test yourself and report, thanks. (i believe my friends who did the runtime tests.)

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I got 68 hrs from an energizer lithium AAA at 2 lumens.



I was hoping for 72 hours even...but it dropped out at 68.

And, sure, run time is going to be limited by the mAh your cell has to work with, regardless of the light.

TEEJ said:

I got 68 hrs from an energizer lithium AAA at 2 lumens.



I was hoping for 72 hours even...but it dropped out at 68.

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energizer lithium dont count

(hehe.. )