LED Flashlights

[Jim Koepke]

A friend of mine is a flashlight fanatic. He gave me a Maglite that he converted. It is a two C-cell type and throws a great spot for distance.

My thoughts on this are that there are different types of duty the LED flashlights perform. The multiple LED types usually do not throw a good spot for distance. They are great for lighting up wide areas at short distances.

Then there are the more modern high powered single chip emitters that are great for distance but my not be great for trying to read in bed.

I still have a couple that Costco sold years ago. They were some of the early consumer priced single chip units at 2/$30. They use 2-AA batteries and are great for a bright beam. The main problem they have is a bad solder joint on the switches circuit board. I have taken mine apart and fixed them more than once or twice. My friend had problems with the switch failing. I don't know if he tried taking his apart, but he is even more of a taker aparter and fixer upper than me.

I think his current preference is for models that use the LED "chip" made by Cree.

jtk

[Bryan Morgan]

What are your opinions on LED flashlights? There is a wide range of prices I see. Want one that is bright but do not want to spend $300. More like less than $100.
Any experience with changing the bulb in Maglites to LED?

I used to think theres no way LED could be very bright... man was I wrong. I put a Lumaforce Tac5 on the forend of my AR15 and man is that thing ever bright. It has multiple settings but the brightest lights up my whole backyard. Way beyond any Maglite I've ever owned and its tiny. I don't know how long the battery lasts. It still has the one it came with in there. The light was about 50 bucks with the rail mount.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

I own a 4D maglite and my kids dropped it and the light broke. Tomorrow, I should have an LED replacement bulb for under $20. Lots of money considering the cost of the flashlight. On the other hand, it is rated at 140 lumens and should have great battery life. As a side note to understand options, I could have spent closer to $80 for a 600 lumen bulb. Ponder that for a moment, 600 lumens. So, what do you give up when you go from 140 lumens to 600 lumens?

1. Battery life. Normally this is not something you lose when you move to an LED, but that is a lot more light.

2. The 600 lumen replacement replaces the reflector as well, a common issue when you use a replacement. Used an LED replacement on a 2AA maglite and it produces decent light, but you cannot focus the beam. You get what you get and nothing else. I mean, you can control which setting, on this 600 lumen beast (4 settings I believe), but you cannot change how that light is distributed.

TerraLUX makes a few different 2AA LED lights. One has 220 lumens and one has 300 lumens. One item of note is that the 300 lumen variety provides a wider field of view than the 220 lumen light. So you should check things such as:

What features and modes are supported? Do I care.... When I had an extended power outage (more than one week) I setup an LED lantern in the hall between the bedrooms so that my young children would be able to see if they got up during the night. I did not desire a high output device. On the other hand, with the young children I did not think that I could ask them to choose a mode in a light. So, you may want fancy modes on your light, but not one that you give to your child.

How are the controls used? There is a light listed as a tactical light, but it does not have a momentary on switch. Your only choice is "click" and on and then "click" and off. This is not what you usually desire a tactical light (the noise or an inability to easily do a short flash).

If you have a replacement bulb, what else will you replace? On one light, I had to replace the bulb and the reflector. I have a replacement that comes with a replacement end cap, but I found their end cap to not work well so I do not use it.

How much light might you need / desire? If you really want to go for the big output thing, think about the Fenix TK41, which uses 8 AA batteries and puts out up to 800 lumens. If you value run time over size, they almost make a 4D cell version (TK60). Note that on full output, the AA version runs for only a couple of hours. It also has a 10, 108, and 335 lumen mode for run times of 240 hours, 27 hours, and 7 hours. The recommendation from those that own both is to purchase the TK41 unless you really need the extended run time and size is not a problem.

If you really want small, the maglite XL200 is pretty highly rated.

[Jim Stewart]

I have several LED lights. The most amazing one is a small 21 led (I think...just got my knee replaced and cannot get to the shop) from Lee Valley for $7.95. The thing is just amazing. I use it to mark dovetails and to start cuts. I also have an LED jewlers lamp that I like. The LV is the most useful of the two in the shop. If you are looking for a larger light I am not experienced. I too have maglights that I might convert to LED someday.

Jim

[Steve knight]

the better single LED lights are going to be the brightest. but they will need good rechargeable batteries or you won't get much of any life out of any standard battery.

[Rick Potter]

I have several of the little ones, and was impressed enough to get a 3 D cell Maglite. It it brighter than my old 3 cell maglite, but it is made of thinner material. This probably makes no difference but I thought I would mention it.

Last year I bought several 2 D cell Duracell lights. They absolutely blow away the LED maglite, with 3 D cells, I have. They only cost $13 at Costco, although my last visit there I could not find them.

Rick Potter

[Tom Winship]

I went to lowe's yesterday and bought a 2D LED Maglite. It is plenty bright for me. Now I will se about battery life.

[David G Baker]

Steve K,
I accidentally left one of my LED flashlights on for over 2 weeks, (it was one that had two settings a bright and a dim), on the dim setting. The batteries are still strong as they were when they were new. In my experience the batteries last much longer than in standard flashlights.

[Rob Lindquist]

An easy to pick up LED light is a Coleman found at nearly any store, incuding Walmart. They have the "CREE" LED I believe and are super bright, they have several models and the brightest I think I remember as 220 Lumen, for under $30. I bought two, one around 150 lumen and one 220, they have both been used a lot bowhunting and gun hunting deer since September, and including a week long trip to Canada. The brighter one says 6 or 9 hours, but I have used it more than that, and the kids play with it too. The less bright model was a longer run time, but still very bright. We were able to find our way in a boat in the dark with foggy conditions, it is amazing actually.

I am very impressed with them after seeing my dads I bought some, and everyone I hunted with has purchased them. Another one that gets good reviews under $30 is at Archerytalk.com, one of the forums there talks about it and I dont recall haveing anyone say anything bad about it, once the received it.

[Bryan Morgan]

LED flashlights are awesome, a hundred times brighter then a normal flashlight!
i have about twenty or more of these flashlights i got for free from HF with
coupons i had. http://www.harborfreight.com/3-1-2-h...ack-97036.html
but check out all the other cheap flashlights they have available at the next link.
http://www.harborfreight.com/catalog...ord=flashlight

and just for a super cheap aluminum light these little buggers work great, so i
can only imagine what a good quality maglight could do?

i place these little ones all around my house, garage and workshop in case power
ever goes out im only a few steps away from one wherever im at.

Attachment 218013

Haha Same here. I have them everywhere. They aren't too bright, but for free I'm not complaining.

[John alder]

I can't agree more these little lights are amazing.Harbor freight is opening many new stores on LI NY and giving them away free with a coupon.I know many will say they sell cheap stuff but if you get it on sale at big discounts I say why not.

[Tom Winship]

I have a $30 HF chain saw blade sharpener. Down here the charge from $4-$8 to sharpen a chain. Worst case, sharpen your chain 8 times and you have paid for it, disregarding the time and gas it takes to get it to the sharpener.

[Larry Frank]

My son has a couple of LED lights for cave diving. These are very bright LEDs and have a strong spot. Some are rechargeable and others us batteries. They also seem to be very tough and take abuse. Of course, they are waterproof down pretty deep. At least deeper than I am certified to dive.

[jared herbert]

I have the maglite 3d cell flashlite. I bought an led conversion bulb from gemplers. All you change is the bulb. I could have sworn that the bulb came in a maglite package but it was a couple of months ago and I dont remember for sure. It works good. Havent used it long enough to judge battery life but it is bright. Jared