LED light false economy?

Here's my question, I think a Green trek-7 would be cool, and I was thinking about ordering one.

Then I think, a mag-lite costs $20, and gives out plenty of light, yeah, OK, maybe the Trek-7 might actually pay for itself 5 years later in saved battery and possibly saved bulb costs. But by then I'm sure I'll have other lights.

So then I think why bother buying a trek-7 at all?

DaveH

Just think,

we are all wasting our money, just like buying computers.

A year or two from now, Nichia and others will have even better LED's and the 5600 mcd will seem like a match. I have white LED's that are two + year old technology and one 5600mcd diode blasts away 3 old diodes easily. Good thing my flashlight conversion was easily reversible.

I think we are all having fun. My thought is to just buy and make LED lights that allow for easy replacement of the diode, that way I can upgrade in the future.

Wow. That sure puts things in perspective. I better cool down. My credit card was starting to melt taking it in and out of my wallet everytime a new bulb or LED flashlight is discussed.

Just curious about how much some folks on this board may have invested in LED's say in the past year.

Me? Oh, I think about $130.00 That's 2 months!!

Yikes!!

To be honest I don't know how much I have spent and I really don't even want to know, I probably could have gone to Hawaii or someplace warmer than here anyway I have a lot.

fellow flashaholic

Brock - http://www.uwgb.edu/nevermab/led.htm

Well,...Hmm...if I try to justify all the money I have spent it would be...impossible. Lets face it, anything more than a two dollar flashlight from thriffty-mart and a Bic lighter is wasteful, just ask my wife if you don`t believe me. And anything you get today will be old tomorrow...just like my wife. But when I consider some people sink thousand of dollars into building a faster motor that they will never race, or collecting tons of very worthwhile owl cookie jars (wife) or spending gobbs of money on clothes to impress women that could care less (younger days, I`m pretty ugly) somehow having fun with LED lights doesn`t seem to so bad. They are not a investment in your future though...don`t spend beyond your comfort level Don`t do as I do ...DO AS I SAY... KB...flashaholic
WHO STARTED THIS HORRIBLE GUILT TRIP ANYWAY...I SAY WE HANG E`M FROM THE LANYARD MATES... REAL HIGH!

<FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">This message has been edited by KenB on 01-03-2001 at 07:12 PM</font>

Well, for me, longevity and reliability are good points. I'm sure you've heard the joke about a flashlight being a holder for dead batteries, right?

I've got several cheap-o conventional flashlights that belong in the trash. When they even work, they flicker with a bad yellowish light, and are worth less then the batteries they rapidly consume. So I'm willing to spend a little more for reliability.

I've even got a nice 4D maglite that's dead (bad switch). I might gut it for my own version of the "Edwood SunBlaster".


"Mall*Mart: Your Total Source For Cheap Plastic Crap"

Yah, I've tried to justify this before too, and for me it always comes back to the reliability. With an LED flashlight you pick it up and know it's gonna work, no worry about if the bulb has burnt out or batteries are dead. If you're hiking through the woods at night, by the time you realize the batteries are dying in a standard flashlight, it's too late to do anything; you've got minutes. LED, you see it dimming ***LONG*** before it becomes unusable. The way I see it, you're not necessarily paying for brightness or even long battery life per se, as much as peace-of-mind (a valuable commodity--just ask anyone who pays hundreds of dollars for a security system). (Oh yeah, and did I mention they're fun too!!!!)

they're just cool toys. isn't that enough for justification?

With the LED lights your also getting the reliability, durablity, and light weight. I can't say too much about the higher end, very bright lights since most of the LED lights I use are small personel lights. Compare the $20 PAL against a $9.00 AAA Mini MagLite. In just one battery change of the PAL light, you'll have gone through probably 15 sets of AAA's. Neither are going to light up a sign a 100 yards away, or determine if that shape is a person holding a gun or a bush (that's what SureFires are for ), but for reading in a tent, or lighting up a path when your eyes are dark adjusted, and avoiding detection for military users the LED light can't be beat. Almost forgot about battery weight when your far from home. It's easier to pack a small LED light and an extra battery than all the extras you'd need for even a AA Maglite.