Yukon_Jack
Enlightened
OK, I finally purchased the Costco 2AA 1 Watt LED flashlights. I bought 12 of them. Of the 12, three were obviously superior in brightness and color. Interchanging the bezels, I ended up with two (2) superior lights. Now mind you, all the light were plenty bright for a 1 watt. All had reasonably decent color, but a side by side comparison brought 3 out of 12 to the forefront.
I didin't find any of them what I would call real green, rather just a little yellower. Only one was a little blue/purple, but not bad at all. The most disturbing thing was the focus/beam/ring quality. About half the light had way too many rings. About 5 of the 12 had decent beam. 3 of them were superior enough I have no desire to modify or change them to after market reflectors.
OK, I ended up with 2 out of 12 Costco lights that I will keep for myself. I sort of did the same thing with the UK 4AA lights. I bought 8 of them and kept 2 superior lights. I also have 2 Streamlight Jrs. and both came with relatively good white light and good focus (although slightly square in shape.
I then did a comparison of the 2 best Costco lights, the 2 best UK 4AA lights, and the 2 Streamlight Jrs.
The Costco lights are way way brighter than the UK 4AA, absolutely no comparison. Whiter, brighter, bigger hot spot, and considerably more throw. Better in everyway.
Now, mind you, the Streamlight Jrs. are also brighter, whiter, with more thrown than the UK 4AA.
However, the Costco lights are significantly brighter then the Jrs. and a little whiter and have more throw.
The two "choice" Costco lights are obviously far brighter then the UK and significantly brighter than the Jr.
Other factors to consider. The UK will run at nearly full brightness for up to 11 hours compared to the 90 minutes of the Costco or Jrs. The Costco lights are way heavier and bulkier than need be and therefore are not nearly as easy to carry as the other two. Although plastic, I believe the UK is more waterproof and stronger design than either of the other two. The UK is the most compact 4AA I have ever seen. It is smaller and weights a whole lot less then the 2AA Costco.
So - if you have the inclination to buy a lot of Costco lights to pick the ones you like and have a list of friends to give the rest to, the Costco lights would be great for putting in your tool bag, working on the car in tight places, or just using around the house with regular batteries or rechargables. Yes - I have a need for such a light that is brighter for working on cars/motorcycles etc. But the Costco lights are just too heavy for an EDC.
The UK 4AA have such excellent burn time and are so compact and small (for a 4AA) that I think they are just an absolute bargain for things like putting lithiums in them and keeping one in the car/motorcycle/snow mobile. Plenty of light for walking out of the woods and/or working on the machinery. Also great for walking in the woods and around the house. However, I'm not in love enough with the design or the light output to choose this light for an EDC.
The Streamlight Jr. is probably the safest bet for a good quality 1 watt light. Two out of two have nice bright light with good beam. For a 2AA they are quite compact, A slightly smaller head than the minimag, but a tad bit longer due to the tail click switch. With lithiums, it is also light for an aluminum flashlight. It certainly does not have the burn time of the UK, but is a lot brighter. The Jr. is more of an EDC in my book, and is certainly the hands down choice if you don't want to go through the luxeon lottery.
As an aside, I finally also picked up the newest Sears 5 LED 4AA flashlight. It is obviously a DORCY/Turle type design. A long long time ago I got the Turtle 1 5mm LED light based on LED Museum's recommendation. Never have been happy with the too tight a beam on it. That light now has a EverLED replacement bulb in it and works quite well. The SEARS 4AA light in my view is a far superior upgrade work looking at for emergency light. Three function allow for using the 1 center LED for a spot light (claimed 155 hours same as Dorcy cool blue/Turtle) which is focused much superior to the 1 LED of the DORCY cool blue or the turtle. Another press of the SEAR's button gives you the four outside LEDs which give a excellent working/walking light with claimed 40 hours run time. The Sears light is totally waterproof and looks indestructable. I am sold on the Sears light as an emergency light. At this time I have been burning lithiums in it for several hours straight with no ill effect so far. "If" it were not able to utilize the lithiums I would drop my opinion way down as living in Alaska I have to have lithiums in my emergency lights. (This is one of the only reasons I do not rate the Streamlight 4AA 7-LED real high because it does not like lithiums).
OK - that is it for tonight. If you got the time to sort through the Costco lights, you will have a very bright 1 watt light that is real thick soft aluminum and excellent for anything except EDC and emergencies (because of the run time). The Streamlight Jr. is a much safer choice if you don't want to give a lot of lights away and is a great EDC in 2AA. The UK 4AA is a simply wonderful cheap survival light with the lithiums that you can store and forget. The SEARS 4AA is a super great emergency (LONG BURN TIME) survival light. It isn't as bright as the UK and does not have the throw, but what a great light if you have need for tremendous run time such as long term power outage, walking too and from the cabin to the outhouse at night, or just for a survival tool. At this time, I'm hard pressed to decide if I prefer the UK over the SEARS for really serious survival needs. It all boils down to the UK being about 1/2 the size and weight. It will fit in a much smaller survial package. If I were going hunting in Alaska for an extended period, having to carry the lights, I believe I would chose the UK 4AA and the Ultra G 1AA. Both use the AA batteries and if I needed light beyond the 11 hours or so of the UK, I'd have the 25 hours of the Ulta G which has enough light to walk out of the woods if need be. If I were aware of the longivity of the situation, I could utilize the Ultra G exclusively and have 5 AA batteries to go through.
Enough already /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
I didin't find any of them what I would call real green, rather just a little yellower. Only one was a little blue/purple, but not bad at all. The most disturbing thing was the focus/beam/ring quality. About half the light had way too many rings. About 5 of the 12 had decent beam. 3 of them were superior enough I have no desire to modify or change them to after market reflectors.
OK, I ended up with 2 out of 12 Costco lights that I will keep for myself. I sort of did the same thing with the UK 4AA lights. I bought 8 of them and kept 2 superior lights. I also have 2 Streamlight Jrs. and both came with relatively good white light and good focus (although slightly square in shape.
I then did a comparison of the 2 best Costco lights, the 2 best UK 4AA lights, and the 2 Streamlight Jrs.
The Costco lights are way way brighter than the UK 4AA, absolutely no comparison. Whiter, brighter, bigger hot spot, and considerably more throw. Better in everyway.
Now, mind you, the Streamlight Jrs. are also brighter, whiter, with more thrown than the UK 4AA.
However, the Costco lights are significantly brighter then the Jrs. and a little whiter and have more throw.
The two "choice" Costco lights are obviously far brighter then the UK and significantly brighter than the Jr.
Other factors to consider. The UK will run at nearly full brightness for up to 11 hours compared to the 90 minutes of the Costco or Jrs. The Costco lights are way heavier and bulkier than need be and therefore are not nearly as easy to carry as the other two. Although plastic, I believe the UK is more waterproof and stronger design than either of the other two. The UK is the most compact 4AA I have ever seen. It is smaller and weights a whole lot less then the 2AA Costco.
So - if you have the inclination to buy a lot of Costco lights to pick the ones you like and have a list of friends to give the rest to, the Costco lights would be great for putting in your tool bag, working on the car in tight places, or just using around the house with regular batteries or rechargables. Yes - I have a need for such a light that is brighter for working on cars/motorcycles etc. But the Costco lights are just too heavy for an EDC.
The UK 4AA have such excellent burn time and are so compact and small (for a 4AA) that I think they are just an absolute bargain for things like putting lithiums in them and keeping one in the car/motorcycle/snow mobile. Plenty of light for walking out of the woods and/or working on the machinery. Also great for walking in the woods and around the house. However, I'm not in love enough with the design or the light output to choose this light for an EDC.
The Streamlight Jr. is probably the safest bet for a good quality 1 watt light. Two out of two have nice bright light with good beam. For a 2AA they are quite compact, A slightly smaller head than the minimag, but a tad bit longer due to the tail click switch. With lithiums, it is also light for an aluminum flashlight. It certainly does not have the burn time of the UK, but is a lot brighter. The Jr. is more of an EDC in my book, and is certainly the hands down choice if you don't want to go through the luxeon lottery.
As an aside, I finally also picked up the newest Sears 5 LED 4AA flashlight. It is obviously a DORCY/Turle type design. A long long time ago I got the Turtle 1 5mm LED light based on LED Museum's recommendation. Never have been happy with the too tight a beam on it. That light now has a EverLED replacement bulb in it and works quite well. The SEARS 4AA light in my view is a far superior upgrade work looking at for emergency light. Three function allow for using the 1 center LED for a spot light (claimed 155 hours same as Dorcy cool blue/Turtle) which is focused much superior to the 1 LED of the DORCY cool blue or the turtle. Another press of the SEAR's button gives you the four outside LEDs which give a excellent working/walking light with claimed 40 hours run time. The Sears light is totally waterproof and looks indestructable. I am sold on the Sears light as an emergency light. At this time I have been burning lithiums in it for several hours straight with no ill effect so far. "If" it were not able to utilize the lithiums I would drop my opinion way down as living in Alaska I have to have lithiums in my emergency lights. (This is one of the only reasons I do not rate the Streamlight 4AA 7-LED real high because it does not like lithiums).
OK - that is it for tonight. If you got the time to sort through the Costco lights, you will have a very bright 1 watt light that is real thick soft aluminum and excellent for anything except EDC and emergencies (because of the run time). The Streamlight Jr. is a much safer choice if you don't want to give a lot of lights away and is a great EDC in 2AA. The UK 4AA is a simply wonderful cheap survival light with the lithiums that you can store and forget. The SEARS 4AA is a super great emergency (LONG BURN TIME) survival light. It isn't as bright as the UK and does not have the throw, but what a great light if you have need for tremendous run time such as long term power outage, walking too and from the cabin to the outhouse at night, or just for a survival tool. At this time, I'm hard pressed to decide if I prefer the UK over the SEARS for really serious survival needs. It all boils down to the UK being about 1/2 the size and weight. It will fit in a much smaller survial package. If I were going hunting in Alaska for an extended period, having to carry the lights, I believe I would chose the UK 4AA and the Ultra G 1AA. Both use the AA batteries and if I needed light beyond the 11 hours or so of the UK, I'd have the 25 hours of the Ulta G which has enough light to walk out of the woods if need be. If I were aware of the longivity of the situation, I could utilize the Ultra G exclusively and have 5 AA batteries to go through.
Enough already /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
