Subway EDC suggestion for non-flashaolic?

My stepfather rides the D.C. Metro system daily to work and back, the route is completely below-ground what would be a good EDC recommendation for a non-flashaholic?

A little background:

He's a high-end audiophile, so he does have at least one "gear obsession", and might be amenable to an EDC item. However, he's also an environmental lawyer for a liberal "social justice" firm based in D.C. That means he sort of schizo, and varies between the typical "man's man" attitude, laughing and telling stories about pranks, fireworks, wild stories as a kid, (The kind of person who would sort of like gear/EDC stuff). Then turns 180°
to the other end of the spectrum where he's got the "Kum-by-yah nothing baaaaad will happen if the people just come together", and that terrorism will be "fixed" by electing a liberal Democrat, or even better Ralph Nader (I'm not kidding) in 2008, stereotypical liberal attitude. (My apologies if you're a non-stereotypical liberal. However, on many fronts he is.)

So any suggestions for a good "subway light"? Since this is a non-flashaholic, I've got some basic criteria in mind:

- No mods. He's not going to do them, and being five states away, with four daughters aged one and under, (yes, you read that right, two sets of twins eleven months apart...), I'm not going to be doing any mods for him either.

- Be small enough that he's willing to put it in his briefcase and leave it there, and inconspicuous enough that he won't worry the other "sheeple" in his work circle will notice it and think he's "paranoid".

- Be available in mainstream retail: Target, Wal-Mart, K-mart, Home-Depot, Costco, Sam's Club, Sears type stores etc., so no "M@g with drop-in XYZ, Nuwai this, or Surefire that!" type suggestions, please. I'm thinking something common, probably from Garrity, Dorcy, or Brinkmann, or some other mainstream brand I'm guessing. (Gasp!) maybe even a stock M@g, if someone can make the case as to why it's his best fit.

- Use "regular" (to the non flashaholic) batteries, this means AAA, AA, maybe even a 1-2x C. CR123 despite it's increasing mainstream popularity is probably a no-go, since the non-flashaholic won't "go through the hassle" to find the $1.25 ea. CR123 deals on-line. His world only knows the name-brand 123's for $5 ea. in the stores.

- Runtime is probably more important than throw or brightness, since if there's an emergency or power failure, it will be very dark, and there's a possibility that he could be stuck for several hours.

Your thoughts?

My immediate thought was just get him a Dorcy 1AAA for six bucks at WalMart. See how he likes it. Probably all the light he's likely to need.

Geoff

A keychain LED light. It will be more accessible than anything in a briefcase. An Arc AAA would be great but something like a Photon would be fine.

Unless he has a phobia about darkness, several hours of runtime probably aren't needed either. If he has to walk somewhere to get out of the subway, a light is invaluable, but it doesn't take hours. If he's stuck for hours in the dark, it will probably be in one spot, so he can turn off the light.

1# would be a Photon for his key ring. Always there. Bright enought to get you out of anywhere. #2 would be any of the various 1-AAA or 1-AA LED lights out there. Gerber, Dorcy and Arc come to mind.

In my experience it is almost impossible to get a non flashaholic (strange as they are)to reliably EDC a light. You can give them the most perfect EDC for their situation, but if it's back on the dresser with the spare change it's useless.

Also, in an emergency, accident or evacuation situation a briefcase might not be available.

Have to agree with paulr on this one. Some manner of decent key chain light is best. I have a Photon Freedom on mine and I think is is a good choice. Always there, easy to click on and uses an easily available battery.

I would feel naked if this was my only carry light or light within easy reach, but that just means I am normal. (around here) /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Mark

I've given out dozens of cheapo coin cell lights to non-flashaholics and they're always appreciated. The main drawback is non-flashaholics don't figure out how to replace the batteries. That's the main advantage of an AAA light. However, you can always supply spare coin lights.

Buy him a Photon Freedom and one of the PT Attitudes Sigman is selling over on B/S/T Lights. He can put the Freedom on his keyring, and the Attitude is basically indestructable, good light output for a long time, small enough to drop into a jacket pocket, runs on cheap batteries and it can be had for $10 delivered.

The new Photons are good enough that a non-flashaholic can get away with it as his sole EDC? I had already recomended them to my mom for his keychain regardless, but was looking for a second hand-held light as the "main light" for his bag. She admitted to me they both worry about him riding the subway, so I may have more fertile ground here than I thought. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

But if the Photon is that good, perhaps I'll just let my recomendation stand at that, and just order him one.

IIRC, the Freedom has all sorts of brightness levels, strobe, and flash modes, no? That would be overkill, and also potentialy confuse him at a bad moment. (I also don't see it on their website, what gives? A CPF special for us?)

Is there a more basic on-off Photon that still has the enhanced white LED? They list a Photon Ultra Bright II that presumably has a better LED, aside from the fancy modes, would it be the same as the Freedom in performance?

How would the stock Dorcy AAA stack up to that? Besides the obvious such as size, and AAA vs coin-cell, I mean.

I really wouldn't worry about those fancy Photons. The cheap clones that KevinL is selling for $1.25 are fine.

The Dorcy AAA puts out about the same amount of light as a Photon, but for much longer on a cell, and uses easier-to-find batteries.

Do a little experiment if you have a 1-led light like a Dorcy. Go into a pitch dark closet and count to fifty slowly (get a little bit dark adapted). Put your finger over the front of the Dorcy so it's completely covered, and turn it on. Then uncover just a tiny amount of the light, so you're letting maybe 5% through. You have a light that's 20x dimmer than a full strength Dorcy AAA and you should find it still lets you easily look around the closet.

Yeah, the new Photon LED's (Nichia CS) are brighter than the old, but for this kind of purpose, the old ones are fine.

If you really want extreme runtime in a keychain light, get a Photon with a yellow led. These are dimmer but use much less power and have more battery capacity (one big cell instead of two small ones). They will run for several days nonstop.

I would buy the Photon II as a gift because it is a time tested product. But as for myself I have a cheap keychain light with a 26000mcd white LED.

What the heck, get both a yellow and a white! They are small, light and no one notices them on the keychain.

I agree a light on a keychain is the only way to ensure that he will have it in an emergency. The Dorcy AAA is wonderful but a little big for a keychain and will require some means to keep it from unscrewing itself off the keychain (I use a bit of clear plastic tubing stretched over the tail and rear body). If you're not going to change the batteries for him, get him a stack of the keychain LED lights you sometimes find at 99 cent stores. He can toss them when they're done.

If you can stand to order a light through the mail, the smallest 1xAAA lights might work. For economy, I would pick this one from Emilion. It's $2.50 although shipping is like $5 so you need to get several to make it worthwhile. I have one and it seems rugged and bright enough for subway emergency use.

Hmmm. Maybe a bag of the $1.25 keychain lights. That way he could pass out one to everyone on the subway car, so he won't get mobbed... The lib in him would like that. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

But the best advice you've all given is that the really little/inexpensive lights will suffice. In hindsight, it makes perfect sense. If it's dark enough to need a light, the little ones perform ably.

As I'm a fairly converted Surefire addict, I'd sugest a SF E2e as it's bright enough, has an hour plus run time, and is more than durable /tough enough for briefcase/pocket carry. Don't forget extra batteries, given the 1 hour run time....

The E2e is my favorite light, but I don't see your stepdad carrying one. Early in my flashaholic days I gave several close relatives E2es, they all languish in drawers somewhere.

Coinlights, now that's the ticket. In an emergency, he'll be glad to have it, and he won't be thinking, "boy, if I only had a Fenix with 1W Luxeon, then I could really light up the tube tunnel."

I've been using one of the countycomm tough lites with one of those new Nichia leds in it. It's a lot brighter than any other single 5mm LED I have (CMG, arc, photon, dorcy) and comes apart really easily for battery replacement.

An AAA would be easier to swap out the battery of, but I dunno if you want to invest in a new Arc AAA for him, or if it would be too big to carry. That's what's on my keychain in my briefcase, an Arc AAA with N tail.

But there is the Fenix....
daloosh

I never liked the CC tough lights. They have no constant-on so you have to keep squeezing to keep them lit. They are confusing to operate because they have this big round button but don't light when you press the middle of the button like it looks like you're supposed to. (You have to press the front edge of the button). They're not waterproof. And they're kind of bulky. I like the Photon II clones a lot better.

Countycomm also has those slide switch lights. I used to like those but their problem is turning on by accident if you bump them. For emergencies they're fine, just put a piece of scotch tape over the switch til you need the light. But people with lights on their keys tend to want to use them.

If you don't want to spring for an Arc or Peak 1AAA light, there's always that Emilion version, or the CMG/Gerber Sonic, or the M*g Solitaire (incandescent).

The E2e is a flashaholic light, sorry. But for a light of that type you might also consider the UK 2L (lighter and longer running, though less bright), the Nuwai Q3 (uses just one 123A cell, and LED so no bulb to burn out), or the E1e/KL1 (rich man's version of Nuwai Q3).

Arc AAA or Peak Matterhorn is the best bet if you want to give a nice semi-expensive gift. Photon II or clone is handy alternative if you're keeping expenditure low.

Being an environmest would probably mandate rechargables if he is using it or lithiums if it is just going to be carried and not used.

The Dorcy AAA is probably the best easilly avaliable. Get a four pack of lithiums and if he starts to really use it he can get a couple rechargables.

A Gerber SONIC might be ableto be found as a combo pack with a knife so that might be a choice.

A $3.00 keychain light at Target would also be OK but from the environment POV would not make since due to the short run time and desposiable concept of most of the keychain lights.

wwglen

He would like the Longbow Micra it looks like a Gadjet

- For the briefcase: Another vote for 1 AAA Dorcy + extra spare battery + a few keychain lights .

- Keychain light for the key chain.

As a veteran of the Washington DC Metro system - a different observation. In the last decade I have never heard of a stopped train in a tunnel lasting longer than 60-90 minutes. After that time the fire crews have worked their way down into the system to lead an evacuation (barring some calamity of unmanageable proportion). I'd suggest a small light in his briefcase of common battery that be found anywhere (e.g. AA). If he carries any kind of MP3 player, radio with removeable batteries etc. - I suggest that they share the same battery type to support an extended outage. The light should be damn near impossible to turn on accidentally - even with briefcase abuse over time (no accidental dead battery).

I suggest augmenting that light with a keychain light. A keychain light is good - and likely to alwyas be with him - but it would be nearly useless in a Metro tunnel.

A CMG Infinity Ultra or other 1xAA could be nice for the briefcase.

If he'll carry it in the briefcase, I suggest an AA Mini-mag with an Opalec Newbeam in it. It's not really a "mod" to install it, it's only marginally more complicated than changing the lamp. It puts out plenty of light to walk around by in the dark, although it won't light up the whole subway tunnel, and it will run well over 8 hours on a pair of AA alkalines.

If that's too big, how about an Infinity Ultra? But at that point you'd get just as much light from an ARC AAA on the keychain and it would always be with him. I've carried one for a couple years now, it's really not that big in the pocket.