New cheap lights I've found lately...

The_virus

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May 13, 2004
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Ottawa, ON, Canada
I was at Wal-Mart a few days ago and saw a line of flashlights by Rayovac that I've never seen for sale before. They're called "Long Range LED" and come in three sizes.

- 1 AA w/2LED ~$15 CDN
- 3 AA w/4LED ~$25 CDN
- 6 AA w/7LED ~$35 CDN

Each LED has a collimater lens above it, as part of the main lens. I bought the smallest and biggest one and was pleasantly surprised. The 7LED one is the nicest of the the two. It produces a great spot that's surprisingly bright for LEDs, but then again the collimaters are helping a lot. Nice throw, went 50 feet to the end of the driveway easily. It's got a Mag-like switch on the body, with large grooves running lengthwise for grip. It's got a tailcap that's a little bigger than the body so *gasp* the light can stand on it's end very securely. That's right, a large light that stands up! Many lights can do this, but kudos to Rayovac for doing it right...the head is not rediculously unbalanced compared to the "foot".

The 1AA shares all the features of the larger light, just with fewer LEDs. This one is a lot dimmer, and actually kind of disappointing in that regard. It's still a decent thrower, better than any bare 5mm light. I think one LED would have been a better design choice for Rayovac to go with on this size. The beam on the 1AA has the LED contacts in it...you can clearly see two dark lines appearing from the side and almost connecting in the middle.

These lights are really well designed though in my opinion. Besides the tailstand feature I mentioned, the lens is also well protected. There's a good 7mm distance from the lip to the lens. The 5mm LEDs each sit in their own reflectored "pot" sticking out from the flat reflector behind them. I don't know everything about such things, but I'd say these look like good mod candidates.

A Mark's Work Wearhouse I also saw a new version of the Dorcy 2AA. Instead of bare LEDs it has a magnifier lens and I presume a single 5mm LED. Another minor difference is that the finish is reflective aluminum like the 2AA 1w, not the usual silver matte of the LED lights Dorcy is usualy known for. Oh yeah, it also came with a holster. I also saw this same light sold under the Craftsman name at Sears in red aluminum. I hadn't been into Sears for a while but it appears they now carry Dorcy lights, I picked up another 1AAA there for $12 CDN.

So for all you bargain/mod hunters keep an eye out for these! Note: The stores I visited were in Ontario, Canada.
 

LEDninja

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Jun 15, 2005
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Hamilton Canada
Does the beam have that annoying feature of a blue ring around a yellow spot?

The Walmart I visited has in addition to the lights you mentioned the same lights in "industrial" style - yellow body. rubber grip, lug for a lanyard or hang up hook on the tail. These will NOT stand up by themselves. IIRC same prices.

They also brought in a couple of North49 lights a while back:
5 LED 4 level (1/3/5LED/blink) headlamp 3AAA (~C$15 but I do not see them anymore)
6 LED 2AA HIDDEN tailcap reverse clicky (sign says C$15, I was charged C$12, now they are clearing for C$10)
Both lights have a nice white beam - no angry blue, no ugly purple.

There is a real cheap looking 4 AA 1 LED at both Walmart and Zellers for ~C$13. Yuk! i'd pay the extra two bucks for the Dorcy 4AA 1 LED floating lantern (cool blue)..
 

The_virus

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Ottawa, ON, Canada
LEDninja said:
Does the beam have that annoying feature of a blue ring around a yellow spot?

The beams on both have a blue ring, but it's in the corona not the spot. For some strange reason Rayovac put blue rings around the edges of each collimater, as you probably saw on the lens in-store. These blue rings appear to be projected in the corona of sidespill. You can see the LED contacts projected in both spots too...but on the 7LED model it's less obvious. The bonds all face toward the centre of the spot so it looks like intentional swirls in the beam.
 

LightObsession

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Nov 12, 2004
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LEDninja said:
The Walmart I visited has in addition to the lights you mentioned the same lights in "industrial" style - yellow body. rubber grip, lug for a lanyard or hang up hook on the tail. These will NOT stand up by themselves. IIRC same prices.
)..

I saw these yellow lights with tail clips at my local Farm & Fleet store in Urbana, Illinois. I'm glad that you took the initiative to buy some and check them out.
 

onthebeam

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Aug 14, 2005
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The Craftsman you mention is only $7.79 in the US this Saturday. Now that I"ve read it's a Dorcy AA, I may go over and pick one up. My Dorcy "Sam's Element" 3AAA lights are incredible, not-regulated but extremely white and bright. In fact, brighter than my Peak Caribbean, and brighter in the spill and almost as bright in the spot of the ProPoly AA Lux.
 
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