Flashlight for young children

Hi.
I am new here and I must say this is an incredible forum. Very informative. I found this site while I was searching for the best price on cr123 batteries. I found the answer to that here along with so much more. Keep up the good work. I wish I found this site years ago.
My question is what flashlight would be good for a three year old. The main uses would be for power outages and for camping. I would prefer the light use AA or AAA. It should also be easy to hold on to and Indestructible. I have not decided on a price limit yet so I would like to hear any suggestions along with where to buy them.
I hope my question makes sense.
Thank you

I think an Inova X1 would be a good choice. Cheap indestructable and easy to use. Runs for ages on 1AA battery.

probably should be:

LED
clicky
long running
not too easy to disassemble (?)
easy to find bats

i would think that a palight (the workman has a timer that shuts itself down after 20 mins, i think), but it does use 9v. runs a long time. not crazy-bright.

gerber trio?
UK4aaLED?
SL4aaLED?

Bob

Welcome to CPF! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

CMG/Gerber Infinity Ultra. $15 at Batterystation.com (I think you came from there?), machined from a solid block of aluminium, twist-on operation, not bright enough to blind people, but sufficiently bright to impress. Extreme runtime on alkaline AAs (12 hours full power, 3 days diminishing light), and of course, AAs mean you can use NiMH for unlimited light.

Do yourself and your child a favor, get LOTS of NiMH rechargeables. When I was a kid, I'd always pester mom and dad to get more batteries and they didn't want to spend money that they didn't have to. It'll save the kid a lot of frustration, and more importantly, save you a lot of whining - just hand him another NiMH fresh off the charger and tell him to return it to you when you're done /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinser2.gif

Even though my days of asking for batteries are long gone (I just send Paypal and wait for the package to show up), I love mine, and I still love my rechargeables /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Well my 2.5 year old found the Arc AAA red/green/blue pretty fascinating but ultimately not that useful, so I'll throw out my suggestions..

My first suggestion would be to second the Infinity Ultra - my son enjoyed his for quite some time although he ended up losing it (the small size and color can be an issue, definitely get a silver one that stands out rather than the green).

He now has one of the Xnova AA lights (using NiMH rechargeables since he is likely to fall asleep with it, etc... and burn through batteries) which has served him well. It's very inexpensive, quite well built for the price range and the slightly larger size makes it harder to misplace. Again it is in silver so it is easier to find when he drops it to go do something else.

The Lightwave 2000 is what I gave my nephew when he was three.

It has a very long runtime, is easy to operate, it's waterproof and indestructible.

[ QUOTE ]
ksbman said:
The Lightwave 2000 is what I gave my nephew when he was three.

oh, that is a great idea!
might give my niece one for x-mas. she keeps asking about a light for camping.

Bob

It has a very long runtime, is easy to operate, it's waterproof and indestructible.

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Gotta join the choir on this one...your kid won't be able to break an Infinity Ultra. Lose it's another thing, but it should be able to stand up to anything your toddler can dish out. Also, not TOO bright - kids that age will just stare into the beam.
Also, I've finally started paying attention to the Xnova - don't have one, but it seems like a great choice. I personally didn't like the X1's beam, plus the Xnova's price is hard to beat.

Easy answer. Dorcy AAA -- easy to use, nice runtime, inexpensive ($6 at WalMart) clever design, and fun for kids. Great for reading under the covers after "lights out". I've bought at least three dozen of 'em and given the majority away as gifts. Kids and adults love 'em.

Nothing wrong with the Infinity already mentioned, but the Dorcy costs a lot less, can be storebought, and I've found that it has more "delight" factor from recipients.

Dave

I'll also put my vote in for the CMG infinity line. They're waterproof, built like tanks and... Field tested with both of my children, 3 and 8. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Take a look at this light! No chance that a three year old could put this in its mouth!

Yeah, I had one of those when I was a lad. .

I have some experience in flashlights and children. I would say the Infinity is a great light. However there are several other lights especialy for younger users. Playschool, Little Tykes and Fisher Price all have good ones. I'd recomend one that takes a PR lamp and replace it with a 5mm LED replacement, I've had good luck with the Sino-Union 'bulb'.
My son has a Hippo light that laughs when turned on annoying for me but fun for him. The main reason I suggest the child lights is they are designed to keep the batteries out of mouths. If that isn't a problem I'd ditto the CMG/Gerber Infinity Ultra.

I kinda remember my granddad showing me something like this when I was a kid. It may not be exactly the same, I can't quite remember - it's been way too many years.

Sad to say, he passed on before I acquired my addiction to lights. Had he stayed another year, I would have loved to show him my KL1, Project C2-90, the Mag5W or my 6P with A19 and P91 and all 200 lumens of it.

[ QUOTE ]
avusblue said:
Easy answer. Dorcy AAA -- easy to use, nice runtime, inexpensive ($6 at WalMart) clever design, and fun for kids. Great for reading under the covers after "lights out". I've bought at least three dozen of 'em and given the majority away as gifts. Kids and adults love 'em.

Nothing wrong with the Infinity already mentioned, but the Dorcy costs a lot less, can be storebought, and I've found that it has more "delight" factor from recipients.

[/ QUOTE ]

Totally agree. Also a consideration: the Dorcy AAA is very lightweight with no sharpish edges like the infinity. The Infinity is a great light, but has a much more solid mass, re: a more formidable projectile when thrown, dropped or twirled on a lanyard by a 3 year old.

One other suggestion, YMMV: The PALight Workman or equivalent. Small, softer rubber shell, common 9V battery, always on feature, and best of all, it Turns Itself Off after 30 mins. Don't know about your kids, but mine often get one use from any flashlight despite runtime, because they put it down and leave it on somewhere in the house or outside.

I always recommend the CK Sauce Light Wand as a great kid (and adult) fun light. While it's not really a flashlight, it does run on one AA and I'll bet a three year old would love the changing (or constant)variety of colors. It is bright enough to work as a night light and shuts down after about 9 min. unless you override that feature.

Geoff

UK eLED

Runs on four AA's for 10-12 hours, bright yellow plastic to find it when they misplace it, rubber covered bezel in case they are inclined to bop a sibbling, Luxeon led so they wont break a lamp when they drop or throw it, too big to swallow.

Downside-switch is a stiff and would probibly require thum pressure to operate...or you could just twist head on-off.

Normally, I would recommend the Dorcy 1xAAA except kids that age (and for many years past that age - like until they're 20) can lose these things within the hour.

I just happened to come across this. GG is a good seller - although their shipping charges are a little high - and this light is big enough to maybe not get lost so fast. IIRC, little kids are NOT deterred by toys being larger as opposed to smaller.

The light should last a long time on 3 C cells and with the adapters included (each of which apparently lets you use 1 AA in place of a C), you could run it on your standard AA nimhs - probably still for a long time.

Just my 2 cents...

One more possibility - I have several Dorcy "Cool Blue" Leds - run on 4xAA batteries, mine was $10 and I've seen them listed as low as $6.50 each. Very sturdy, long battery life - my 2-year-old can turn the light on and off. It would be tough to break this one, it's larger and more brightly colored than an Infinity, so harder to lose, and isn't as formidable a projectile as the Infinity.

I'm in a similar situation as you and chose the Dorcy AAA like others have suggested. My niece is that age and she tied it to a string on her headboard so she could have it ready whenever she needed it. She knows how to turn it on by pushing the button, but we haven't shown her how to turn the cap yet, so the battery should last a long time. I suggest giving the Dorcy a try since it's so cheap and is really a pretty good light.