Key chain Light

[Smashie]

Ok so I want a key chain light to backup my normal Olight carry or for occasions when I'm wearing smart clothes and having things clipped to my pocket or belt is not appropriate.
I've narrowed it down to 3 so far.





·         Nitecore Tube
·         Olight i3E EOS Silver
·         Fenix UC02 SS


All fit the criteria for size and weight being as follows
·         Tube      2.2 x 0.83 inches 0.34oz (9.6g)
·         I3E          2.38 x 0.55 inches 0.4oz (11.34g)
·         UC02     0.7 x 0.55 inches 0.65 oz. (18.4g)
Tube 1 UC02 0.5 i3E 0


Brightness, not as important as it’s only going to used to find dropped items or when my aging eyes fail to adjust to sudden darkness
·         Tube      24 and 1 lumen(s)
·         I3E          120 lumens
·         UC02     130 and 10 lumen(s)
UC02 1 i3E 0.5 Tube 0


Runtimes, not really that important as it’s a short use light
·         Tube      1 hr or 48hrs
·         I3E          1.16hrs
·         UC02     25min or 3hr 50min
I3E 1 Tube 1 UC02 0.5


Charge time (from dead)
·         Tube      1hr 20min or 2hrs (depending on source)
·         I3E          0 carry a spare battery
·         UC02     24 min
Spare battery is not an option so Tube 0.5 i3E 0 UC02 1


Looks, yes I think looks are important, I’m superficial like that.
They all get 1 for looks.


So the final scores are
·         Tube      3.5
·         I3E          2.5
·         UC02     4.0
So we have a winner the Fenix UC02 SS, usual caveat applies, I will from time to time swap them about whenever something shinier comes along.

[Aloha]

Well done 

I swore I was don't with "keychain" lights.  I was recently looking at the Nite Core TIP and Manker LAD  .  I can be a lumen ( person who takes money for physical exchanges ) so both appealed to me in that regard.  The both look great with the Manker edging out the Nite Core.   

[Gareth]

Damn, you've got me looking at 10180 lights again.

[jaya_man]

 I have the mecarmy illuminex on permanent keychain duties... looks similar to your uc02...


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[Smashie]

I have the mecarmy illuminex on permanent keychain duties... looks similar to your uc02...


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No surprise there as the UC02 is designed by MecArmy 

[jaya_man]

That's new info for me... Jetbeam mini-1, niteye and dqg comes to mind... seems generic in ui and usb charge


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[Smashie]

It surprised me as well

[AimlessWanderer]

Nice array of options there, Mark.  Nice appraisal too.

I have a Tube on my keys, a Klarus MI X6 Ti on my neck lanyard if I'm going lightweight, and when I'm wearing a suit I tend to have a AAA with pocket clip clipped to an inside pocket.

[ThePeacent]

The Nitecore Tube was really good,

the Nitecore TIP is AWESOME   

[Smashie]

The Nitecore Tube was really good,

the Nitecore TIP is AWESOME   

(Image removed from quote.)

I did look at the tip, but size wise it's getting close to the Olight S Mini and the mini packs 550 lumens

[Smashie]

Ok since I wrote this I’ve had to change my opinion as the Fenix UC02 has failed miserably and is going back.



It won’t hold a charge for a day and the cost of decent quality batteries for it are more expensive than this. The Nitecore Tip.

So this will reside on my keychain and will continue to avould Fenix as all the lights I’ve had from them have failed.

[Blackbeard]

That's odd, I've only had good experiences with Fenix, and I have a bunch of them. When I got my Jetbeam mini which is essentially the same flashlight, the battery failed as well within 3 months, a nice guy on CPF sent me a few and they seem ok, but I haven't used it much either and prefer the TIP & TINI for keychain as well

[zoidberg]

How annoying. My LD20 and E01 have been working hard for years now.

[Don Pablo]

Your Mileage May Vary? 

[ezdog]

I also have had a bunch of Fenix and not any trouble and 3 of them banged around in my pockets for years,long enough to rub most of the color off!

Those 10810 lights that were everywhere last year are all the same light it seems in one way or another and it seems to be just a bad platform for reliability in general as many say the same things seem to happen regardless of brand.

The other thing I notice about my own preferences in pocket is that the smaller the lights are the bigger that even small size differences seem in pocket.
So the Olight S-Mini is a small light for sure but if it seems big in pocket then smaller lights will seem MUCH smaller to me where with larger lights the small differences in size just do not seem as important overall again at least to me?

I also find that unless the pocket light is a Twisty it will turn on in my pocket sometimes,always has so far including the TIP even when locked out!

I pulled out the TIP Yesterday to show it to someone and it was dead again.