What light did you carry today?

dks · **Reply #540 on:** November 04, 2012, 07:52:15 PM

I went to a nearby festival on my bike and stayed there later than I expected so it was dark and I had none of my bike torches on my bike.

Luckily I had my Tank007 EO9 on my keychain.

I used some of the leaflets they were giving out to secure it to the bicycle clamps set up for bigger torches.

Worked fine, nice bright beam, good spread!

Gallows · **Reply #541 on:** November 06, 2012, 12:28:24 AM

I usually have a Mini-Maglite on me but I recently picked up a Streamlight Strion and it blows the MM out of the water with it's light output.

Millhouse · **Reply #542 on:** November 08, 2012, 11:06:37 PM

Actually went out with 5 lights tonight:

ITP A3 on keyring
Jetbeam IIIM in jacket pocket

In bag

Surefire 6PX
Fenix PD32
Fenix LD25

Nikos · **Reply #543 on:** November 08, 2012, 11:14:07 PM

Still a Preon ReVo SS S3 in my pocket, plus a DQG AA CREE XP-G R4 (iirc

) in my bag.

Gareth · **Reply #544 on:** January 15, 2013, 10:21:56 PM

Shocked to see this thread unused since November!

Anyway, I've been using my Fenix E05 as a tiny pocket torch, but the big sucess story of my trip away has been my ThruNite T10.

It's super-low firefly mode has been just the thing while reading in a hostel bed without disturbing anyone else, and the high has been more than enough to light up a path late at night.

enki_ck · **Reply #545 on:** January 15, 2013, 10:34:31 PM

For me the last few months have been a ITP A3 in SS on the keychain and a 47s Quark 123 tactical in my coat pocket.

Heinz Doofenshmirtz · **Reply #546 on:** January 15, 2013, 11:35:59 PM

Quote from: Mr. Whippy on September 12, 2012, 05:15:52 PM

Quote from: Heinz Doofenshmirtz on September 11, 2012, 05:56:52 AM
Quote from: Mr. Whippy on September 10, 2012, 10:40:51 PM
Quote from: Heinz Doofenshmirtz on September 10, 2012, 10:11:16 PM
Took my daughter for a walk yesterday evening, and took one of my HCRI Quarks along, used a 123 body with it for the first time. (I'm an AA and 18650 guy... not really into CR123's). I really liked how well the finger-ring thing that comes with the small Quarks worked with the 123 body; much more secure fit than with the AA body. The smaller size was also nice too. Not that I'm planning on going with more 123 based lights, but the little Q123 configuration was a nice size, and did everything I needed.

Heh. I'm a CR123 guy. Really like the cell. But, I've been carrying a MiniMag Pro+ for the last several weeks and I've been very impressed by this 2XAA light.
Even though I've argued that the 123 format is pretty much 'legacy' at this point, I won't argue with the compactness advantage it has.

Still, I can't ever see myself buying any light that exclusively uses 2 or more 123 cells. I'd rather have 1x18650, and get aprox. 50% more run time than 2x123 primaries, or 75% more than RCR 16340's. 18650's just leave 123's in the dust.

Why would CR123 be legacy? Denser energy seems like it would be more popular not less. Or are you saying rechargeables are replacing primary cells...

Nate, I consider the 123 format "legacy" for two main reasons.

1) Expense; yeah, you can buy in bulk online and get prices that approach those of top AA primaries, like L91's, but in general, you're going to pay more per cell for a 123 primary than an L91. I've looked around, and found place to buy L91's in bulk too, at the same price, or less than, 123 primaries in bulk.

2) Form factor limitations; the AA format is pretty much taking over in all kinds of electronic devices, although not so much so in high end torches. You can scavenge AA's from most any device now days if circumstances call for it. In general, I consider a quality 1xAA torch to be more useful than a 1x123 torch. For example, a Quark AA can use alkies, L91's, nimh's, 14505 primaries, or RCR's. But put the 1x123 body on it, and your power source options drop dramatically. To me, that additional flexibility you get from being able to use any cell with an AA form factor.

And in general, yeah, I prefer rechargeables over primaries. I do carry a pair of L91's and a pair of L92's in my EDC bag, as they're lightweight and invaluable when needed, but in general I prefer to be greener and go with nimh's whenever I can. In the long run, the cost is much, much less as well.

Of course, the best of both worlds is a torch that can use either AA OR 123 format cells... I've had my eye on a Zebralight SC80w for a while, but just haven't had the funds to get one. (And it's not like I don't already have more torches than I need.

) I had an older RRT-0 with the AA extension tube, but ended up trading it because the beam profile didn't suit my needs very well. Eventually I'll find a torch with an emitter and beam profile I like, that will be able to use both formats, and have enough to buy three or five of them, and then I'll be a happy boy! (For a while anyway!

)

nuphoria · **Reply #547 on:** January 15, 2013, 11:48:55 PM

Pocket = Jetbeam TC-R1

Keychain = Quantum DD

Bag = Zebralight SC600W

Sorted

gregozedobe · **Reply #548 on:** January 16, 2013, 02:41:54 AM

Some options for those wanting to spend less:

Keychain (moderate budget): Photon Freedom Micro with white LED and covert nose

Keychain (Cheap and Cheerful): Fauxton

nuphoria · **Reply #549 on:** January 16, 2013, 11:36:40 PM

Fauxtons are great - got them hanging all over the place, especially inside all my bags

Last time I ordered a load from DX, they worked out around 30p each (50c), which is cheaper than trying to get replacement batteries around here!

JAfromMn · **Reply #550 on:** January 17, 2013, 12:19:51 AM

Zebralight Sc51w today with a thruenite Ti firefly that always rides on my keychain.

gregozedobe · **Reply #551 on:** January 17, 2013, 10:32:41 AM

Quote from: nuphoria on January 16, 2013, 11:36:40 PM

Fauxtons are great - got them hanging all over the place, especially inside all my bags

Last time I ordered a load from DX, they worked out around 30p each (50c), which is cheaper than trying to get replacement batteries around here!

Unfortunately DX seems to have withdrawn all their fauxtons from sale. I have a batch on order from fasttech.com to see what they are like.

nuphoria · **Reply #552 on:** January 18, 2013, 12:09:14 AM

Quote from: gregozedobe on January 17, 2013, 10:32:41 AM

Quote from: nuphoria on January 16, 2013, 11:36:40 PM
Fauxtons are great - got them hanging all over the place, especially inside all my bags

Last time I ordered a load from DX, they worked out around 30p each (50c), which is cheaper than trying to get replacement batteries around here!

Unfortunately DX seems to have withdrawn all their fauxtons from sale. I have a batch on order from fasttech.com to see what they are like.

Yes, I realised that last time I looked. There are a few other sources but not at that price.

enki_ck · **Reply #553 on:** January 18, 2013, 12:23:14 AM

Quote from: nuphoria on January 18, 2013, 12:09:14 AM

Quote from: gregozedobe on January 17, 2013, 10:32:41 AM
Quote from: nuphoria on January 16, 2013, 11:36:40 PM
Fauxtons are great - got them hanging all over the place, especially inside all my bags

Last time I ordered a load from DX, they worked out around 30p each (50c), which is cheaper than trying to get replacement batteries around here!

Unfortunately DX seems to have withdrawn all their fauxtons from sale. I have a batch on order from fasttech.com to see what they are like.

Yes, I realised that last time I looked. There are a few other sources but not at that price.

I ordered from lightake a couple of times. SKU: 26390, $4.71 for a 10 pack with a 5% discount code (RETAILMENOT)

nuphoria · **Reply #554 on:** January 18, 2013, 12:44:38 AM

^ That there is the right price

gregozedobe · **Reply #555 on:** January 18, 2013, 04:53:32 AM

Quote from: enki_ck on January 18, 2013, 12:23:14 AM

I ordered from lightake a couple of times. SKU: 26390, $4.71 for a 10 pack with a 5% discount code (RETAILMENOT)

What were they like ? I found the were DX ones pretty good, with the occasional dud battery needing replacement.

enki_ck · **Reply #556 on:** January 18, 2013, 01:10:41 PM

One out of ten is usually a dud.

Now is the worst time to be ordering something from China. New year is near.

ICanFixThat · **Reply #557 on:** January 19, 2013, 04:30:16 PM

Did some work on the car and the head lamp worked so well as usual I stuffed it into my coat pocket even though I always have one in my carry bag as well. I love Zebralight headlamps, they are just the best for doing chores after dark.

prime77 · **Reply #558 on:** January 20, 2013, 10:43:29 PM

Carrying my trusty E2D Defender with Veleno drop-in

AimlessWanderer · **Reply #559 on:** January 21, 2013, 01:01:27 AM

Been toting the Zebralight SC30 around all weekend trying to get to "make friends" with it. It's had a fair bit of use too, nipping out to the car for stuff out of the boot (boot light doesn't work), up and down stairs instead of putting the landing light on, and yesterday I turned on the kitchen light and the bulb blew and tripped out the lighting circuit, so I had to go down into the cellar to reset the breaker

I'm still unsure of it, but I've decided to give it till the end of the first battery and take it from there

gregozedobe · **Reply #560 on:** January 22, 2013, 09:39:20 AM

Quote from: gregozedobe on January 17, 2013, 10:32:41 AM

Unfortunately DX seems to have withdrawn all their fauxtons from sale. I have a batch on order from fasttech.com to see what they are like.

They came in today, here are my comments:

I ordered 30 fauxtons from fasttech.com on 10 Jan and they arrived 22 Jan 2013 (Hong Kong -> Australia). They were packed in std (unpadded) ziplock bags inside a padded envelope, quite adequate for the (relatively light) contents.

I ordered 3 x 10 packs of 22,000mcd keychain lights with white LEDs:

SKU 1040705 - 22000mcd White Light LED Flashlight Keychains - Green body (10-Pack) $3.99
SKU 1040702 - 22000mcd White Light LED Flashlight Keychains - Purple body (10-Pack) $3.99
SKU 1040700 - 22000mcd White Light LED Flashlight Keychains - Red body (10-Pack) $3.99

The purple bodied lights were excellent (all 10 worked properly straight up), but I had to put new batteries in 2 of the green-bodied lights, and 7 of the red-bodied lights needed new batteries.

Of the 9 dud lights, 6 batteries were completely dead, 10 had only 10% charge (according to my ZTS battery tester), and 2 had 100% charge.

2 lights had significant amounts of corrosion on the bent LED leg (both where they were bent, and also on the end where they were cut shorter to fit the light).

Once I put new batteries in and scraped off the corrosion all lights worked very well (as you'd expect, there really isn't much to go wrong with only 2 batteries and one LED). I have told Fasttech about the issues, and will report their response.

They all use 2 x CR2016 batteries (I'm not certain, but I seemed to remember when I ordered these it stated 2 x CR2025 in the product description, but now it is correct).

Summary: Buy the purple ones, not the red ones (but it would be a good idea to have some spare batteries anyway, just in case). This is the best price (10 pack) I have found recently for these type of lights.

David · **Reply #561 on:** January 22, 2013, 04:51:18 PM

Surefire 6P

Gareth · **Reply #562 on:** January 22, 2013, 07:55:25 PM

7 out of 10 gregozedobe?

Flipping heck, I'd have been properly brassed off if I'd ordered 10 lights and only 3 of them worked properly.

2 or 3 duff perhaps, but not 7.

Anyway, today I made do with my ThruNite T10.

enki_ck · **Reply #563 on:** January 23, 2013, 09:20:49 PM

As I passed the postman when going to work I had (who had my SC51 with him

) I carried a Quark 123 tactical in my coat, a ITP A3 SS on my keychain and a Zebralight SC51 in my bag today.

Heinz Doofenshmirtz · **Reply #564 on:** January 24, 2013, 02:03:56 AM

Today it's my HCRI Q-mini AA in my pocket with my Squirt S4. I love the warm tint of the HCRI emitter. Now if I could only get an EagleTac D25A with that emitter!