Expensive batteries, or The Final Revenge of the Les Stroud Engage Multitool

[Lynn LeFey]

There was a little flashlight that came with the Les Stroud Engage multitool. Once the worthless whistle was removed from it, it was actually a neat, super-tiny little flashlight. I ran it for maybe a total of an hour run-time or so, and now the batteries are dead.

It runs on four LR621 cells. On Amazon right now, I can get a 20-pack for about $5.50. That means it would cost me $1.10 in batteries every time i wanted new ones in this thing. Which is every hour of run-time.

Orrrrr... I could buy a 55 cent Fauxton, that will run about 2 hours. Mmmmm? Tough one.

I would also like to take a minute to compare that to the flashlight in the Bear Grylls Survival tool pack, called a 'Gerber Tempo'. That one uses a AAA and runs... Well, I don't know. Mine still has the original battery it came with, and probably has 2 or 3 hours of run time on it. It's supposed to get 4 hours from a single AAA. Then, I'll have to pay a whopping... I dunno, $1 for an 8-pack at the dollar store for more batteries. Which, by the way, the batteries are available at the dollar store, or gas station, or anywhere.

I just got a 10-pack of LR621s from ebay for $2. That will give me two... AND A HALF... battery replacements. The flashlight is the smallest functioning flashlight I've ever seen, and just for that novelty feels like it's worth a couple dollars in batteries, but man... disappointing.

EDIT: The LR621 battery is also known by a bunch of other names, like AG1.

[gregozedobe]

Orrrrr... I could buy a 55 cent Fauxton, that will run about 2 hours. Mmmmm? Tough one.

I think we are the resident MTo fauxton fans 

If you want longer runtime in a fauxton then you can swap in a red or amber LED and run it on a single CR2032 - but you can also expect a significant reduction in illumination. 

I have also put various multi-coloured LEDs in fauxtons fas a cheap "party" light for children of all ages (drunk adult seem particularly enamoured), while single coloured flashing LEDs work well as a flashing collar attachment to help you keep track of your free running dog at night.

[Grathr]

Did the flashlight survive the explosion or did it hide to avoid getting sent to a war zone?

[Aloha]

I only buy "expensive" batteries that can be recharged.  I say it should give it away and get yourself something rechargeable.