Inexpensive emergency lights

[e_dogg]

Thanks for saving me from Ultrafire danger.

I didn't know that DX has a new US-based site that seems to have faster shipping estimates.

Would this be the ticket? http://www.dxsoul.com/product/sipik...ght-black-1-aa-1-14500-901039585#.VhQ-BvkzaUm

 

[KeepingItLight]

I am still on a quest for an emergency car light myself.

For the time being, I have reserved 6 of the 1xAAA BLF 348 Special Edition flashlights. They are cheap, single-mode, stainless-steel, custom flashlights based on the SingFire 348. SingFire is doing a custom run for BudgetLightForum that uses a 5000K Nichia 219B emitter. Output is expected to be only about 40 lumens on 1xAA, higher on Li-ion 10440. The price of the BLF 348 is $6.99 USD.

The group buy for the BLF 348 is now closed. Flashlights should be shipping within weeks. Although it is too late to get in on the group buy, it is expected that extras will be made. Those should be available to the general public shortly after the group buy is completed.

My plan is to install Energizer Ultimate Lithium primary batteries in a couple of my BLF 348s, and drop them in the center console of my car.

For changing a flat tire or looking under the hood, I have decided that a headlamp may be better than a flashlight. With this is mind, I am looking at throwing a Nite Ize Headband in with the flashlights.

Although 40 lumens should be more than enough for changing a flat tire, I am not convinced it is enough for walking along a highway or other emergency uses. I am determined, however, to stay with AA or AAA lithium primaries for my emergency car light.

So the quest continues.

 

[Timothybil]

Interesting - Amazon says it's Li-ion: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OZJ79R4/?tag=cpf0b6-20

For my emergency kits, I really want something that I can just toss in and forget about for a year (I check expiration dates annually). So maybe that's not the ticket if I have to check every few months...

For a small light like the Tube that is stow and forget, I would say go to Battery Junction and get some of their Titanium Innovations button cell lights. A couple of lumens output, 2016 cells (I think, could be 2032), and can sit for years without losing power. A bigger light than those would be the Microstream or a Terralux Lightscribe 80. It is two AAA, forward clicky, single level about 70-80 lumens. They also sell for around $20. BJ used to sell two for $25, but don't any more.

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

I meant to reply this morning and I see you have many suggestions, but I'll throw my two cents in anyway.

The Mini Mag Pro+ is a good choice, two levels and very reliable. You can get it in red so it is easily visible where ever you store it. I have one as the emergency light in my glovebox.

Another great light that has already been mentioned is the Microstream, but also check out the Protac 1AAA. It is brighter and within your budget, and can be easily programmed for different outputs. I ordered a second one in August from Amazon and it came with the Microstream 2-way clip, so it can double as a headlamp when used with a baseball cap. (At least one headlamp, or a light that can double as one, is a good idea in an emergency kit.)

Finally, the Coast HP1 is surprisingly well made for only $10, and is a decent short range thrower with a great flood feature. It's only a single output, but has a good runtime with an AA lithium, which is what you should have in an emergency light anyway.

I buy most of my lights from Amazon, I get free shipping as a prime member.

 

[e_dogg]

Orders placed! Thanks all!

I wound up ordering the following:

• Eagletac D25C Ti from GoingGear for the wife's car (a little over budget at $40 but still a great price). I like the bright silver color to make it easier to find and the reports of durability. Also I like the CR123 battery for storage and power longevity.
• Olight T25 XP-G2 from Amazon for my workbench ($35). Even though it's a hair over my budget, I've always wanted to try out an Olight. I figure I've got a bunch of LSD AA rechargables so I'll just use those in here.
• 4x Sipik SK68's from DXSoul ($6.31 each). Hopefully these guys have faster shipping than DX but I'm not in a huge hurry. I chose the more expensive blue color to make them stand out a little more in the emergency packs. I'll keep lithium AA's in these and check them yearly.
• 1 Nitecore Tube from Amazon to play with ($10 including a USB cable).

 

[more_vampires]

$6.31 isn't bad for a Sipik. If you're patient, look hard, and don't mind 2 months from China they can be had on sale for as little as $3 without bulk discount.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...he-Most-Overpriced-Budget-Lights-in-the-World

Gotta be careful. Some people want $150 for a budget light like that.

 

[e_dogg]

$6.31 isn't bad for a Sipik. If you're patient, look hard, and don't mind 2 months from China they can be had on sale for as little as $3 without bulk discount.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...he-Most-Overpriced-Budget-Lights-in-the-World

Gotta be careful. Some people want $150 for a budget light like that.

DXSoul showed shipping in ~15 days. I think it's like a US based site, and maybe US based warehouse for DX. So I'm hoping for a shorter wait. But if it winds up being a month, so be it.

They had the black Sipik SK68 for $4.xx. I decided I wanted the blue instead and was ok with an extra few bucks for the more visible color. Unfortunately, red was sold out.

Now - $150 for those lights?! Uhm...yeah, no. I found them on Amazon for $15 and thought that was way too much.

 

[more_vampires]

Oh yeah, $10-$15 on Amazon, really common. I guess they're hoping the buyer doesn't know what it is? Oh well. Enjoy the Sipik, one of the best values in flashlights IMHO.

 

[Balog]

I believe that these are essentially the same as the Sipiks. I ordered it a couple days ago, we'll see how they turn out.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/171156675763?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

 

[beaconterraone]

I'm sure this isn't going to be a popular suggestion, but for emergency purposes, I always recommend Maglites. Always.

Standard Maglite LED 2 AA in this case. Well less than $20 including tax, each.

If you want it to be there, ready for you, you don't screw around with third-rate lights, or worse.

 

[Lynx_Arc]

Personally I would toss in a few of the cheap Rayovac 2AA LED lights for $1.50 at Walmart at that price with batteries you can use, abuse, and dispose of them and not worry about the loss. You can afford to give these away and use cheap leak prone batteries in them from all your other stuff too. They run for about 20 hours off the heavy duty batteries included in them

 

[e_dogg]

As a follow up, I received my Amazon package yesterday! In it was the Olight T25 and the Nitecore Tube.

My initial impressions of the Olight are disappointing, though. In terms of build quality and beam, it seems like a really nice light. But I don't like the UI at all. I thought that it was more of a progressive twist to change brightness instead of the 1/8th inch back and forth to change modes. And I don't like that it always cycles through to the strobe setting, which I'll never use in my garage. I'm thinking that it might get returned.

The Nitecore Tube is a pretty neat little light. I'm still not quite sure how or where I'll use it, though. The low brightness seems great for reading things in the dark. And the high brightness seems like it will be useful for general lighting in confined areas (e.g. insight a car or closet). It might wind up living on my keychain or zipper pull of my jacket.

 

[Wolfy1776]

The advantage of the Tube is in an extended power outage you can recharge it many times from a portable battery pack.

 

[e_dogg]

The advantage of the Tube is in an extended power outage you can recharge it many times from a portable battery pack.

I understand that. I think I'd rather have a pile of lithium batteries on hand instead, though. It's been my experience that the portable battery packs tend to discharge by themselves pretty easily. I don't feel confident just letting them sit for years without being topped off every few months. That makes it not a very good emergency light for me.

 

[KeepingItLight]

I think I'd rather have a pile of lithium batteries on hand instead, though. It's been my experience that the portable battery packs tend to discharge by themselves pretty easily. I don't feel confident just letting them sit for years without being topped off every few months. That makes it not a very good emergency light for me.

We think along similar lines. I have a Nitecore Tube clipped to the key fob in my daypack. I carry an L3 Illumination L11C Nichia 219B in the bottom of my pants pocket. Those are EDC lights, not emergency lights.

As I wrote above, for my emergency car light, I am determined to use Energizer Ultimate Lithium batteries. It might be AA or it might be AAA, but it will be lithium primary. My plan is to check them about as often as I check my spare tire. That's once a year, or so.

 

[e_dogg]

Another update...

The Eagletac D25C arrived today. What a cool little light! It's super light and the shiny Ti finish will make it easy to find in the center console. I almost wanted my wife to hate it so that I could keep it for myself.

The UI isn't too bad to use. I think my wife is going to just keep it simple and switch between moonlight and turbo modes by dialing the head. I also showed her how to change the brightness by tapping lightly on the button and that didn't seem to interest her too much. It is a little too fiddley. Though she did say that it reminded her of the Maglites she used to have. :shakehead

The Olight T25 is getting returned to Amazon. And I jumped in on the Olight S1 group buy posted in the group buy folder.

 

[RickZ]

Interesting - Amazon says it's Li-ion: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OZJ79R4/?tag=cpf0b6-20

For my emergency kits, I really want something that I can just toss in and forget about for a year (I check expiration dates annually). So maybe that's not the ticket if I have to check every few months...

li-ion and li-po are fundamentally identical. All capacitors will self discharge, and topping them off will reduce the capacity anyways.

Lithium are good for the military and cold, but even if you still have a few, they are extremely expensive in a pinch, in a short-term emergency, used as a backup to something els, lithiums add significant reliability, but, alkaline or at the best AA powered flashlights have extreme usefulness in a long term emergency.

 

[jmwking]

li-ion and li-po are fundamentally identical. All capacitors will self discharge, and topping them off will reduce the capacity anyways.

Lithium are good for the military and cold, but even if you still have a few, they are extremely expensive in a pinch, in a short-term emergency, used as a backup to something els, lithiums add significant reliability, but, alkaline or at the best AA powered flashlights have extreme usefulness in a long term emergency.

Store your emergency light somewhere at hand with a lithium primary. That way you can find your cheap alkalines in the closet/drawer/garage - without having them leak and destroy that emergency light.

-jk

 

[e_dogg]

Another update:

I received the Sipik SK6 lights today. That shipping time wasn't too bad from DXsoul.com. Except one of them is DOA. The zoom doesn't quite work right and there's a rattle inside. So it seems that there's something broken with the lens. We'll see how they handle the RMA on a $6 light. But otherwise, I think they'll do nicely in my little emergency packs.

Looking forward to getting the Olight S1 and checking that out!

 

[RWT1405]

You feel free to use your alkaleaks RickZ, They've ruined far too many flashlights and other devises, in my life.

For my flashlights I use, and will continue to use, lithium primaries.

I would recommend against long term storage of ANY devise, with alkaleaks installed.

If, you still feel the need to use alkaleaks, let me at least recommend that you store them separately, and not in, your flashlights or other devises.