Inexpensive Travel Lights

Since another post talked about travleing with lights, I wanted to hear opinions on what lights people fly with. I'm heading to Orlando for a week soon, and this will be my first flight since I've become a flashaholic. I'm a bit weary about some TSA guy taking a fancy to my L4 or even my Inova XO3, so I'm almost thinking about taking a couple of cheaper Xenons on me and packing the better lights in my checked baggage. My first two choices are: Dorcy Spyder and my Brinkmann Maxfire that I dropped a P60 into. Also, for good measure, perhaps a PT Rage or Blast, or even Attitude. Any thoughts?

1. Countycomm $1 keychain light or several, or Photon II (the high class counterpart).

2. UKE 2L, comparable to PT Rage but nicer/longer burning/etc. The Rage is a good light too.

I wouldn't bother with those metal 2L lights. Who needs the weight.

I do like having a PT Aurora these days. It can do about anything the Attitude can, and is handsfree to boot.

dorcy AAA
eveready 4AA 2LED lantern
UK4AA eled
UK2AAA eled
perhaps a 5mm LED headlamp
eveready arcwhite

Dorcy 1xAA is still a nice cheap light.

Or you could do what a true flashaholic would do and just buy another light when you get down there. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

For light I like the Dorcey and for an improvised yawara stick I like the mini-mag light.Either one is a good deal(read that cheap) and the TSA man wont fall in love with it.just my 2 cents.tom.

The ones I most use when actually at a travel location (as opposed to a "travel EDC") are the PALight and the Energizer 2LED 4AA folding lantern.

I think you have a better chance of losing the "better" lights if you check them in the luggage.
TSA screeners and airline employees are stealing lots of stuff out of luggage, saw video on the news recently of people rifling through bags.

if i were gonna take some lights somewhere i was more likely to lose them, i'd take a Streamlight Jr Luxeon, Underwater Kinetics 4AA eLED, and maybe a Streamlight 3C Task Light in my checked luggage.

i wouldn't take incandescents.

Jbroker83,
I also worry about losing lights or other things I carry. And I always thought that one of the best alternatives is to carry inexpensive decent substitutes. The choices you mentioned are decent quality for the price. A lot better than losing a surefire. If they were lost, it may not be too much trouble you can replace them at your destination (if you deemed it necessary).

[ QUOTE ]
JoeBob said:
I think you have a better chance of losing the "better" lights if you check them in the luggage.
TSA screeners and airline employees are stealing lots of stuff out of luggage, saw video on the news recently of people rifling through bags.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hi, Joe.

For real? In the past, I did once in a while travelled with blade in my checkin luggages--and TSA had opened my bags and caused delays of it's arrival to its destination. But stealing?? Wow, that's totally out of line!(Could that be the handlers instead of the security personnel?)

I did read in other posts that people take pictures of the content of bags(with a newspaper) before checking in, and thought that it was a great idea.

Also, I would like to suggest everyone travelling to look into this lock that Sharper Image had made--it is a 4 digits combination lock, but only the TSA has key to it. At least it will lower the chance of non-TSA people rifling thru bags for goodies.

Safe trips for everyone travelling!

I have seen those TSA approved locks in the stores, seems like a good idea.
Several TSA folks were recently caught on video stealing from luggage.
I carry on anything valuable, and secure my checked bags with brightly colored cable ties. So far, no one has cut them off, and the colors would make it less likely that someone would just happen to have the same color in their pocket to replace the tie.

although the title is inexpensive cause your afraid of losing them, ( i am too ) so i thought of this approach: since when i travel [and I do wish to travel with my lights damit!-]…….....i always take extra batts…….. so i found it convenient to put my almost dead batts in the brighter expensive lights.....( which i would not put into checked for fear of losing them ) ………..of course my bag is inspected but this avoids the "wow this is too bright" (a light to take on board concern ) which i have run into on several occasions....[especially with the 5 watt cyans)- in moon mode their more like indicator lights…..........just leaves the other question, why so many lights... [usually 6 or so on carry on]..but since I've been doing this that question isn't asked as much...

Come to think of it that's actually a great idea! I plan to fly with a U2, though.. so I can dial it down to 2 or 3 /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/evilgrin07.gif

For Surefires, you can knock 'em down using a wad of aluminium foil. No need to worry about sustained underdrive because it will only be turned on for security checks. A 2 or 3-cell SF will still light if missing one cell - won't be pretty but it will.

mini-mag w/sammie and Infinity. It'd still hurt to loose'em, but they're not as expensive. It seems that white LED's have less of a "wow" factor" for non-flashaholics I know.

I always travel with far too many lights, but I haven't had a problem yet with airport security people. Am I correct in assuming that you fear that someone will confiscate a light from a carry-on or pocket because it is too bright ?
Joe

Let me correct that, you're afraid that they'll take a nice light with the excuse that it's too bright ? Too bright for what ?

You might consider a SF G2 ($35) or the Sharper Image 1W Luxeon light ($30). Quality lights that you can count on, but don't break the bank.

Regarding carry on vs luggage. I would reduce the number of lights I take and take them as carry on. If you are traveling, you should be realistic in how many lights you really need.

My EDC pattern calls for only two lights, a bright light and a lower output light. In my case I use a SF M2 (but sometimes E2e) and a SF L1. This covers a whole range of lighting conditions and pretty much anything a trip can throw at me.

I would also make sure I don't carry on an overly conspicious number of spare batteries and I would probably keep those in my bag instead of my pocket. For example, I normally carry an OmniSeal ziplock with (6) 123A cells. I would probably stick that in my bag and limit myself to that number of cells for carry on. After getting through screening I'd transfer them back to my pocket.

While lots of people here have fretted over TSA and lights, I have yet to hear of a case where they have had an issue with a light and confiscated it. I think you are more likely to get hassled if you have a large number of lights (or anything else for that matter - if I had 5 PDAs, I'm sure it would draw attention), hence my suggestion on keeping it simple. Also, I think your best bet is to keep it stock (no foil, whatever). Be prepared to demonstrate the light upon request - don't leave the batteries out or whatever.

I'm also not in favor of the CPF member card idea. Basically, I think you are just drawing attention to yourself. After all, they are just flashlights. You have no reason to be defensive about it. And, if you are nervious, they are likely to pick up on it and you will be setting youself up for "special attention".

I would put fresh batteries in so you are prepared for any type of in flight emergency, and while on the plane, I would lean more towards brighter lights since any emergency isn't likely to be long in duration.

In regards to batteries in check in luggage, it has been suggested here before that you'd probably be best off with batteries in the original, sealed, factor packaging. This may not always be possible, but it will probably draw the least amount of attention.

-john