3-LED batonlight came today

hmmwv

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Oct 27, 2000
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155
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Santa Clara, CA USA
As expected, I got great service from brightguy - and received my 3-led batonlight today. Here's some preliminary notes for the inquisitive out there -

1 - the head assembly does unscrew (clear lexan) - it is sealed with an o ring greased with silicon grease.

2 - after unscrewing, a small (3/8" dia, or about 1 cm) pc board comes out - the 3 leds are soldered to the pcb, one lead of each is soldered to the center terminal, the other is soldered to the ring terminal, thus all 3 leds are in parallel. The PCB touches the first N cell and forms the positive connection. The PCB has a ring around it that contacts the barrel. Simple and elegant design.

3 - the tube is hollow - 3 N cells fit nicely down the tube. No other batteries would work in this configuration, AAs are too large in diameter. If you decide to try rechargable N cells, you will likely get a substantially reduced light output - this is clearly a 3-N alkaline flashlight.

4 - the "tailcap" is actually about 1" (3 cm) long - the last 1/3" or so is a swivel for the keychain and has no electrical function. Idiots like me will sit there and try to unscrew the swivel until they figure out that the joint is an inch down the barrel, and that the swivel doesn't unscrew for a reason. Duh...

5 - the tighter you screw down the "tailcap", the easier the pushbutton on the end works. Unscrew it a full turn and the pushbutton doesn't work at all (locked out)

6 - since the whole light can be field stripped in under 30 seconds, it lends itself nicely to someone with a soldering iron, LEDs, and a desire to change the design. Just remember that the two LED terminals have 4.5V across them with 3 ea. N cells. The LEDs are in parallel, the N cells are in series.

7 - with new N cells, it runs 195 - 205 mA for the 3 LEDs - that's almost 70 mA per LED! Yes -- it's very bright for a 3 led light. The lexan lens tends to diffuse the light and improve the beam quality, a la surefire. No rings, no hot spots, no dark spots, no 3 images from the 3 leds - just a nice white spot.

7.5 - well - it's not pure white - it's the standard nichia blue-wite-purple color - you've grown accustomed to it in LED lights by now so you know what to expect.

8 - the light *IS* a kuboton - if you don't know how to use one, you should buy a book and practice. You'll find that this is a very "daily carry" light.

9 - the negatives:

9A - seems like the screw on tailcap is pretty loose - it may turn on accidentally - will check this over the next week
9B - If it unscrews, the button on top no longer functions - If this becomes a problem, I'll drill and tap the tailcap and insert an allen setscrew to keep it in position. This would mean using an allen wrench to change the batteries, but I'll consider other alternatives first. This is only as a last resort if the end cap comes loose after daily carry on my keychain.

The Positivies

10A - Beautiful finish - quality workmanship!
10B - Just the right size
10C - really bright for an LED light
10D - Something that will end up on my keychain
10E - made out of metal, not plastic I don't consider lexan plastic - too strong!
10F - o-ring seals everywhere!
10G - MADE IN THE USA - not some china shop
10H - lifetime warantee
10I - plenty of room in the LED compartment for those of us who wish to experiment
10J - serial numbered
10K - long runtime, cheap to operate.

I'll post pictures of it disassembled later on - I highly recommend this one!
 

Badbeams3

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Sep 28, 2000
Messages
4,389
Mine came to, right on time. And I must agree with everything Hmmwv said. The only thing I might add is that its operation ( on/off ) is VERY smooth. Also the ring to attach the keys is a nice, sturdy black ring. So far it is comfortable in my pocket but only time will tell for sure.

The beam is very nice as well, not a tiny little spot but a medium type which I prefer. The secondary beam area is quite useful as well.

First impression is this is a very nice light, and if I had it to do all over again I would buy it again. A high level of quality. I second the high recommendation.

Serial # 001913...Darn I was hoping our little group of flashaholics would be the first kids on the block with them...guess not.

<FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">This message has been edited by KenB on 01-23-2001 at 08:45 PM</font>
 

DavidW

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Joined
Aug 2, 2000
Messages
1,793
Location
Central Florida
I figured mine would arive mon/tue. No go
frown.gif


Great initial review
icon14.gif


------------------
"A knifeless man is a lifeless man"
-Nordic proverb
 

Brock

Flashaholic
Joined
Aug 6, 2000
Messages
6,346
Location
Green Bay, WI USA
Hey I got #001623 from Brightguy. I was really worried at first, I tore it open and turned it on, nothing. My first thought was I had a defective unit, but thought I should check the batteries first. I took them out and the first two were in + side up (toward the LED's) and the last was - side up. I reinserted them and Yaaaaaaa! It works. This is definetly going to replace my lightwave 2000 for normal task uses. My only slight irritation is the light ring that sends light well off to the sides, nothing a little electrical tape or black fingernail polish can't fix. Yup, electrical tape works great and you can't even see it. Maybe Streamlight will make a "glare guard" for this light similar to the one that is made for the stylus.

This is a nice light, well worth the price. It is about the same in brightness as the lightwave, but just a tad more spread out. It is the same length as a 2 AAA mini mag, and the same thickness as the head of the 2 AAA mini mag the length of the Batonlights body. It probably weighs about the asme as a 2 AA mini mag. Very nice beam for walking at night. I wonder how it would look with a clear lens?

Wow, just checked the power draw, I got 225mA, thats 75mA per LED. That almost seems to high for the battery supply, I would have thought it would drop more than that with the load of the three LED's, hummmm. No wonder it is so bright. Well we will see how it holds up.

At work I usually carry a white Photon II on my keys, a UKE 2 AAA, and a Surefire D2. I am going to replace the UKE 2 AAA with the batonlight, this light should actually do a better job up close.

Brock
 

DavidW

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Aug 2, 2000
Messages
1,793
Location
Central Florida
WOOHOO!!! Just got mine about 15 minutes ago. #1655. It is a nice and bright LED light. 2 quick observations. If it was mentioned before I didn't pick up on it. The lens is frosted. Second, the LED's are slightly different colors. On mine one has a bluish/purple tint to it. The other two have a greenish/yellow tint.

------------------
"A knifeless man is a lifeless man"
-Nordic proverb
 

hmmwv

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Oct 27, 2000
Messages
155
Location
Santa Clara, CA USA
Earlier I had mentioned that the tailcap seems to be a very loose screw fit - hard to set it "just right" and have it stay that way when your keys are hanging off it and it gets shoved in your pocket.

Well - came up with a fix for that problem today - wrap about 3 turns of teflon pipe tape around the threads (be careful not to get the tape on the shiny part at the end of the barrel or the light won't work since that's part of the electrical circiut) - this "snugs" up the twisting so that I can leave my screw cap set where I like it (it affects how much pressure is used on the end button) - and it stays set even after getting tossed around.
 

Badbeams3

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Sep 28, 2000
Messages
4,389
I bet they come up with a thicker "o" ring to solve this concern. Would not help us though, I have not found this to be a problem...yet. Wonder why mine is in the #19hundreds when every one else is in the #16`s. Also, like Brock, I wonder what these would do with a clear lens.

<FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">This message has been edited by KenB on 01-24-2001 at 04:07 PM</font>
 

hmmwv

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Joined
Oct 27, 2000
Messages
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Santa Clara, CA USA
the O ring would be so much more elegant than my teflon pipe tape!

Someone's going to look at this and say, "Hummm. bet it doesn't leak any more!"
 

e=mc²

Enlightened
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Oct 2, 2000
Messages
537
Location
NJ - Land of malodorous \"earl\" refineries!
Hmmwv, thanks for the tip on the teflon tape, works like a charm. I love the degree of snugness it provides, yet maintains the smoothness when rotating the tailcap for steady on mode. BTW my cereal number is 001838 since we all seem to be sharing that little tidbit.

Regards,
Ed
 

paranoid9999

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Jan 25, 2001
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Location
Hawaii
Just got 2 Streamlight batonlights and I immediately compared them in total darkness to my trusty Photon Microlight II (whtie. I am so impressed! I was worried about performance but it such a good un'. I think I'll buy more Streamlight products, perhaps the Ultrastinger. My only small gripe is that as a kubaton, it is awfully small..even for me. I have the smallest hands.
 

SteveY

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Joined
Aug 24, 2000
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Location
singapore
Can anyone point me to a dealer that sell batonlite besides bright guy because its freight charge to Singapore is US43 when other stores like lightings and ledlite etc charged between US15 to US20.

Unfortunately, there other stores does not stock the batonlite currently.

Thank
 

Alan

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Jan 31, 2001
Messages
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Hong Kong
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by SteveY:
Can anyone point me to a dealer that sell batonlite besides bright guy because its freight charge to Singapore is US43 when other stores like lightings and ledlite etc charged between US15 to US20.

Unfortunately, there other stores does not stock the batonlite currently.

Thank
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

They provide very good service and plan to hand carry to you.

Sorry, just couldn't resist:)

Please let me know if you get one with reasonable overseas shipping. I want to get 2 batonlites too.

Thanks.

Alan
 

DavidW

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Aug 2, 2000
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Location
Central Florida
I just checked several online dealers. It seems only Botach and Brightguy are currently carrying the Baton Light.
 
D

**DONOTDELETE**

Guest
...(this is so silly
smile.gif
my Baton light serial number is 002055.. and the Stylus at the keyboard is 106640..
(what could this this mean?)
rolleyes.gif
 

DavidW

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Aug 2, 2000
Messages
1,793
Location
Central Florida
I don't know. Maybe it means we're lemmings? (If you were referring to listing s/n for no apparent reason.)
 
D

**DONOTDELETE**

Guest
well you know it's a myth about the lemmings--
committing mass suicide-- their populations may grow to mass quantities occasionally, and a few may fall off the cliff face where they may live, giving the impression that they're all following each other off the edge -- but don't believe it...
 

DavidNL

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Joined
Jul 12, 2004
Messages
9
Location
USA
I've run mine with just 2 aaa batteries, of course dimmer light, but convenient.
 
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