Looking for a flashlight to wear around my neck

Hi. I deliver pizza for my main job and bought a Surefire G2. I wear it around my neck on a strap with a homemade bicycle spoke lanyard loop. It rocks.

Anyway I've almost come to expect having a flashlight on me, so when I get somewhere the slightest bit dark I start clasping my chest trying to find my light....of course the G2 is too heavy, big and unfashionable to wear all the time.

I figure the best way to solve this problem is to buy such a light. It has to be small and light, not all sharp, facilitate lanyarding, and has to look cool. I was going to get a SF E1E but that's pretty expensive. I don't have a problem using 123 lithiums.

You really want to have a CR123 sized light around your neck all the time? That's what I call a flashaholic! .

Personally, I would think a very small light like an Arc AAA, Photon or Zinc-air Fire Fli would be most appropriate, but it sounds like you are looking for something brighter (and therefore larger).

The smallest and not superexpensive "bright" light would probably be the Jil Lite 1.3 at around $70. Note that it uses CR2 batteries which, while smaller, are lower capacity and slightly more expensive than CR123s.

A similar looking, but yet untested small CR123 light is called the Amilite T3 and it should be up on flashlightreviews.com pretty soon. Cost is $84 after factoring in shipping.

But perhaps my (and many others here) favorite light of the moment is worth a mention. The Fenix L1P. This light is actually smaller/thinner than many CR123 based lights with comprable (if slightly less) output on a AA battery (energizer e2 lithiums work best, NiMH rechargables are also good). Its got sleek and fashionable looks and the clicky button would likely be easier to operate on your neck than a twisty. One slight caveat is that the lanyard holes are very small and the included lanyard is just a wrist one- too short for a necklace. However, there are split rings that can fit in the holes available from Walmart so you could attatch a lanyard of your choice. The best part- its only around $45.

Welcome to CPF and hold on to your wallet!

I like the Arc AAA on a neck lanyard, but any thing bigger than that is too large for me. The Photon 2 is barely noticeable on a lanyard.

One of the guys I work with carries a MiniMag with a Sandwich on a neck lanyard and is very happy with it.

I'm sure you can find something between the Photon and your Surefire G2 that you'll be happy with. You might have to try a few lights just to see what you like. This isn't a case of what's best, it's just a matter of what you like.

This is a very good excuse to buy more lights.

Well I have to buy online, I was just not aware of any quality, small flashlights; I don't want a dimestore POS penlight.

Naturally I just jumped to the smallest surefire, since SFs are the only quality lights I know of.

Something Solitaire sized would be great, but solitares (and maglights in general) suck IME.

Try the Fenix L1P, small, decently bright (for a light that size running on AA), good quality.

I'll only go as big as a pre-Gerber Infinity Ultra around my neck. Anything bigger would be problematic.

I haven't tried it, but the $10 River Rock 2AAA might hang good if one could figure out a decent lanyard....

(edit - while in the garage finding my PT Blast, I found a cheasy neck lanyard that came with something. It has a very VERY thin light end loop. With the clip moved to the tail, the loop catches under the clip. Could be better, but it works!)

I'm looking to get a Fenix 2AA when they hit the mainstream, but a 1AA would be cool!

How about a Princeton TEC BLAST ??? 2 AAA batteries and plenty bright and small I use it as a keychain light. Also cheap, around $10 and water proof to about 100 meters !!!! Hope this helps. God Bless.

If you need light, check out this around the neck EDC:

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/93995&highlight=edc

ARC AAA-P

peak materhorn 1xLED lug body.

photon freedom.

CMG/gerber sonic

My modded 3.7v w/CS or 26K 5mm LED mag solitaire.(which is Much brighter then all the above.)

One of these are what i carry on a dog tag chain around my neck. I actually do carry a HDS B-60 on a wide lanyard (a U.S. Grand Prix one to be exact) and it's not bad at all. A lithium battery really helps keep the weight down too in the small lights. VDG

I think you'd really like an Arc AAA...a "premium" one, if you can get it...I've worn one on my ID tag chain for some time now and I don't notice it until I need it.

Affordable, small enough for around-the-neck wear and plenty bright for its size.

If you can bring yourself to pony up the cash (and since you're used to EDC'ing a G2 around your neck), you can't go wrong with a SF e1e or e1L...

JM-99

I normally have a Jil CR2 DD on a lanyard around my neck, it fits well beneath my t-shirt. Around the house, I sometimes have my ARC LSH-S on a similar cord, but it does not fit as well underneath a shirt, being noticeably bigger in length and diameter. I have worn lights from Jil CR2 up to Surefire M4 around my neck, but the Jil is the only one I bought specifically for this purpose.

I would imagine the new ARC AAA lights would be useful around the neck, especially the premium version, being slightly brighter, but these are in short supply at the moment, with whole threads on CPF devoted to the waiting time and position in line !

I suppose it dependds if th neck light is your main light, or a spare/ contingency light. Most of the time, I will have a much brighter Surefire within easy reach, but it's nice to have a light 'always there'.
:touche:

I wore the Fenix L1P around my neck camping.

It was great, I didnt even notice it was there,
Its a nice bit of light, and throw for its size, especially for a neck light.

You will have a hard time beating it for a small neck light.

~John

Oh yeah! I have a Blast somewhere and forgot all about it! (went to garage - found it)

I have NiCads that I got out of something in it and they haven't been charged in a while. Running some NimH on my Energizer 15 minute charger....

(I opened a new window to edit a prior post and there are already SEVERAL more posts while I compose this one!)

(with fresh alks, my Blast is pretty bright and white - waiting on NimH)

NimH may not have QUITE the punch of new Alks, but they ain't bad. I also have satin tape on my Blast.

jtice said:

I wore the Fenix L1P around my neck camping.

It was great, I didnt even notice it was there,
Its a nice bit of light, and throw for its size, especially for a neck light.

You will have a hard time beating it for a small neck light.

~John

Click to expand...

Your opinion doesn't count... of course you don't notice the L1P, look at what you normally carry!! :naughty:

Daravon, seriously, the L1P goes well on the neck if you're in casual/rugged garb or some uniform. It's a little big and heavy when you're dressed up. If you can survive a G2, you can definitely carry the L1P. And its output wif e2 lithiums is great!

I bought an arc AAA earlier today. Thanks for helping me spend my money. Do they make lithium AAAs?

Daravon said:

I bought an arc AAA earlier today. Thanks for helping me spend my money. Do they make lithium AAAs?

Click to expand...

Yes, Energizer only. Work great in the Arc. Seem to last forever.

Orb raw would be the ultimate....pricey though. Using the rechargable batteries you would eventually recoup the price difference of using primary 123 cells.:buddies:

Sounds like you will be using this light on numerous deliveries every night on a nightly basis so I would recommend you go rechargable.

One suggestion:
Keep your G2. Get a P90 lamp. Buy two 3.7volt li-on R123's and charger. Put the landyard on your belt loop and put the G2 in your pocket or a pouch on your belt. You will have a brighter light than you have now and you won't go broke buying CR123's. You can keep spare P60 with 6 CR123's in a spares carrier in the car if you blow your bulb or run down your batteries.
Oh, and when you get off work charge your batteries for the next day.

What about those chopped MiniMags that TrueBlue or H22A sell? You can outfit it with a drop-in pill LED from the Sandwich Shoppe. I wore the H22A 3[M]iniMag for about a week until I got a rash around my neck! It's about as small as the SF.E1e but brighter since it's running a NexGen750BB-TW0J.

Well, the Orb Raw and the JiL are also good choice as the others have mentioned. Hope you find what you're looking for and Enjoy!

"I deliver pizza for my main job....of course the G2 is too heavy, big and unfashionable to wear all the time."

PizzaBoy,

You came to the right place.

Fenix L1P. Attach split ring to base for neck lanyard. Run on Lithium AA to keep weight to a minimum.

Bright, light-weight, very sexy, yet low profile and subtle. You can always feed it Ni-Mh batteries if you want to go rechargable.

PizzaMan (aka TR)