# Does anyone remember this old Garrity flashlight from the '90s?



## ericjohn (Jul 12, 2011)

First time poster/Long time flashlight lover.

I am also new to CPF

I had several of these as a kid growing up in the 90's and early 2000's-The Garrity Mini Rugged Lite-the model number was R300G.

This was my favorite flashlight when I was a kid. It came in Orange, Blue, Yellow and Green-my favorite was the yellow.

It was made of a hard plastic and had rubber shock absorbers on the slide switch, head and tail end.

I think it came on the market in 1994 and I bought my first one in 1998.

I have searched for it many times on the internet, but to no avail. The only places that still have them are overseas. I have petitioned Garrity (now Duracell) many times to bring it back, but they basically shrug me off.

Just wondering if anyone remembered it or knows how/where I can get one. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.


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## DM51 (Jul 13, 2011)

Is this the one you mean?


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## ericjohn (Jul 13, 2011)

DM51 said:


> Is this the one you mean?


 
negative. the model i am talking about was mostly yellow and had rubber shocks on the head switch and tail.

pretty much resembled an industrial flashlight.

it also came in a 6v. lantern, 4AA 2 way flashlight (PR 35 bulb), 1AA model (R100G), and a 2D model (R500G)

It might have been and I'm not really sure the predecessor to the less rugged G-Tech series.

I really miss that flashlight and wish I could find one somewhere.

*sigh*


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## LEDninja (Jul 14, 2011)

:welcome:

All the Garrity tuff lights I remember have full body rubber. The rest do not have rubber at the ends.

From your description they sound like equivalents to the Dorcy floating lantern series. The 2AA are long gone (the reflector does not focus properly and the head assembly tends to disintegrate every time I change batteries). The 4AA seem to be on clearance.







-

You must really like the flashlight. I did a quick google and the first 20 hits are you asking this question all over the internet.


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## ericjohn (Jul 14, 2011)

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.254013784613291.85736.100000140158264&saved









in the link above i put some pictures of this flashlight on my facebook page. both of them are the orange flashlights


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## tjswarbrick (Jul 14, 2011)

ericjohn, 
None of your pictures are posting.
Before I became a CPF'er, I had a few Mags from the '80's and '90's. My wife has 2 or 3 Garrity's lying around. I have no idea what model or series they are from,
I replaced the batteries early this year - still work. Good thing - otherwise, I was all set to throw 'em out. IIRC, they are brighter with better throw than the old rayovac's and energizer's (which I had to chuck due to burned out bulbs and corroded/leaky batteries.) Nothing like my modern LED torches, though.
Now, there's one by the front door, and one by the back, for use by NFP's (the rest of my family, sadly) in case of power outage. I'll take a look at them tonight, see if I can get any model numbers, and maybe snap a couple pictures.


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## gtjonathan (Jul 14, 2011)

ericjohn,

Immediately after reading your description, I became reminded of this funny looking greenish-tealish flashlight that I used to play with when I was maybe 5 years old. 

It look a couple hours, but I found it.











Not surprisingly, the alkaline cells inside have leaked. The light is not working at all, but I suspect after cleaning the alkaline stuff off the contacts all will be well.

Thanks for the memories, and for prompting me to finally make an account on CPF


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## ericjohn (Jul 15, 2011)

gtjonathan said:


> ericjohn,
> 
> Immediately after reading your description, I became reminded of this funny looking greenish-tealish flashlight that I used to play with when I was maybe 5 years old.
> 
> ...




Yes, Oh my God that is it.


Are you willing to sell/trade?


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## gtjonathan (Jul 15, 2011)

I am not too interested in trading. I might sell it, but you'd have to make it worth the trouble. You can email me your offer(s) at jonothon [at] rocketmail.com (I'm a new CPF'er so I can't yet PM)


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## DM51 (Jul 15, 2011)

gtjonathan said:


> I might sell it


Batteries included? LOL

I've edited your email address to replace @ with [at], as otherwise it risks being harvested by spam bots.


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## StandardBattery (Jul 15, 2011)

I like the color of that light.


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## ringzero (Jul 15, 2011)

gtjonathan said:


> ericjohn,
> 
> Immediately after reading your description, I became reminded of this funny looking greenish-tealish flashlight that I used to play with when I was maybe 5 years old.
> 
> It look a couple hours, but I found it.





I had one just like that, but it vanished years ago.

Still have that Garrity model in the green color in the 2D version. Mine's been dropped many times and slammed around in a toolbox for years but still works fine.

Installed a NiteIze luxeon dropin, which produces a somewhat ringy beam with a bit of throw. Seems to run forever on 2D cells. 

.


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## ericjohn (Jul 16, 2011)

i liked mine with the original KPR104 bulb. It had very good throw and a very tight, yellowish white beam spot. i know duracell bought out garrity and all garrity flashlights are no longer in production, but i wish duracell would bring back that model; especially for industrial, tradesmen and DIY uses.


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## ebow86 (Jul 17, 2011)

This era of budget flashlights have a certain niche for certain people. Budget type lights like the garrity and EverReady's from the 90's seem to be a vastly overlooked generation of lights, not many collectors are looking for lights from this era.


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## ericjohn (Jul 19, 2011)

I found a good picture of it on ebay a while ago. The only thing that prevented me from buying it is that it was in the UK and it would have cost an arm and a leg to ship it.







I hope the picture posts, I am having so much trouble with it.


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## ericjohn (Aug 30, 2013)

Just scored another one off ebay. I am on Cloud 9. It's the one that's my favorite color (the yellow one) too.


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## ampdude (Aug 31, 2013)

DM51 said:


> Is this the one you mean?



I remember having one of those 2AA's around back in the day, I don't remember whatever happened to it though. I still have an old larger 2D version I keep in the garage with a Mag xenon lamp assembly and a couple of 2AA>1D adapters inside.


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## LuxLuthor (Aug 31, 2013)

ericjohn said:


> Just scored another one off ebay. I am on Cloud 9. It my favorite yellow one too.



LOL! Good for you! I'm still trying to figure out why you are so in love with that light.


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## dudemar (Sep 2, 2013)

Probably brings back a lot of good old memories. I remember buying a bunch of Coleman flashlights at Target when I was a kid. Came in a 5 or 6 pack and had AAs, C and D cell lights. One was a miniature Coleman lantern that ran on button cells. That was by far my favorite.


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## braddy (Sep 2, 2013)

Is part of the appeal because it is sturdy plastic?

I prefer plastic or polymer to metal, on a flashlight, at least for the small ones.


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## ericjohn (Sep 4, 2013)

LuxLuthor said:


> LOL! Good for you! I'm still trying to figure out why you are so in love with that light.




Sentimental reasons. When I was 7 (August 1994); I had an Eveready IN215 (2 AA Industrial.) That sealed the deal for my interest in pocket sized flashlights. Then for Hurricane Erin (which did not hit here) my dad bought the 2 D model; the IN251. I used my aforementioned light until the bulb burned out a year later (September 1995.) We went to Whale Mart to buy a replacement bulb, but my mom decided not to (for whatever reason.) Instead, she decided to buy a Value Pack of those Eveready Economy flashlights for me and my brother. Those were the brightly colored 2 D Eveready's with a white switch. In the summer of 1996; I bought a Brinkmann 2 AA pocket flashlight. It was hard plastic, black and had a GITD head that you would twist on and off. The bulb burned out that following fall and I don't know what happened to it. It is another rare flashlight, that I have been searching for, for years, but no luck. Another year later (around the time when Princess Diana was killed) I tried looking at Wally World for another one of those pocket sized industrials, but they only had the D sized models. I settled and bought it. That was NOT an Eveready, but a Rayovac. That following summer (June 1998); I first saw the aforementioned Garrity light. It was marketed for kids because it came with stickers and the smaller 1 AA keychain flashlight (which is also very rare.) It was a replacement for my pocket sized flashlights and in those cool "industrial" colors. I immediately fell in love with it and I had bought several more over the years. I now have two and I am holding on to them. The one I recently purchased came in broken. The switch mechanism was literally bent out of shape. By the grace of God; I was able to bend it back through trial and error. It came with a strange PR4 bulb that was apparently made in Holland. When I get the chance; I am buying several KPR104s. I also want some KPR103s and KPR102s, but that is going to have to wait.


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## ericjohn (Sep 4, 2013)

dudemar said:


> Probably brings back a lot of good old memories. I remember buying a bunch of Coleman flashlights at Target when I was a kid. Came in a 5 or 6 pack and had AAs, C and D cell lights. One was a miniature Coleman lantern that ran on button cells. That was by far my favorite.



I vaguely remember those...


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## ericjohn (Sep 4, 2013)

braddy said:


> Is part of the appeal because it is sturdy plastic?
> 
> I prefer plastic or polymer to metal, on a flashlight, at least for the small ones.



I was always enjoyed flashlights that could be carried in the pocket. I guess it is the appeal and the sturdiness; among other reasons. I bought my first Garrity in June 1998 and it wasn't until October of 1998 that I discovered Maglites (and not until December 2005 that I bought a Mini Maglite.) Before then; I didn't know about metal flashlights, so plastic was all I bought. My 2AA Brinkmann was made of some kind of polymer, but I can't remember much about that one. I haven't been able to find one since the bulb burned out and I lost it.


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## ericjohn (Sep 9, 2013)

And I score; yet again!!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/140920654642?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

I am on a ROLL!! Second one within three weeks. 

I feel like Tim Tebow feels when he makes a touchdown!


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## ericjohn (Sep 13, 2013)

This is a picture of the second one I scored off of ebay. This was the photo it had while displayed on there and it came in the mail today. In the past I said that these were marketed to children and not really tradesmen, well this picture shoots my theory of that down. It looks like it was initially marketed as an industrial flashlight, but somehow it was also marketed to children. Pretty rare occurrence, don't you think? The graphics on the packaging look more vintage and manly than the "sunshine" packaging emblem that Garrity had around ~1998. According to several articles I read; the first Garrity Rugged Lites came out in 1994 and I think the graphics here affirm that.

I like these vintage Garrity flashlights, this line and the 1990's Tuff Lite line. The G-Tech, IMHO, appears to be the direct descendant of the Rugged Series, which I think they are just, OK. There was a line of Tuff Lites that came out around 2004 and they leave something to be desired. Later on there was another line of Tuff Lites that were much better. All the grownups in my neighborhood had the "classic" Tuff Lites. 

I look into the reflector of all my Mini Rugged Lites, while they have KPR104s with fresh batteries and think to myself "They are not a bright as they seemed when I was 11." I remember posting how flashlights have become brighter and the human eye has become less sensitive to light, but that is a whole other discussion.


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## socom1970 (Sep 25, 2013)

EricJohn, I agree with you about those Garrity lights. I have one of the yellow 2AA lights also. For all the crazy lights I have, thousands of dollars worth, that little yellow Garrity is beautiful. 

Well made, great switch, rubber armor on front and back, and reliable ever since I've had it. Even came with a yellow plastic belt clip/ring so I could belt carry it. With a 30 lumen eveready led drop-in from wally world installed, it is a great little light.


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## ericjohn (Sep 26, 2013)

socom1970 said:


> EricJohn, I agree with you about those Garrity lights. I have one of the yellow 2AA lights also. For all the crazy lights I have, thousands of dollars worth, that little yellow Garrity is beautiful.
> 
> Well made, great switch, rubber armor on front and back, and reliable ever since I've had it. Even came with a yellow plastic belt clip/ring so I could belt carry it. With a 30 lumen eveready led drop-in from wally world installed, it is a great little light.



Awesome; finally there is someone who is likeminded on those awesome Garrity Rugged Lites.

I never tried the LED dropin on any of mine, but 30 lumens sounds pretty damn good. I like the KPR104 that comes with it but an exact replacement is hard to find.

Tell me all you know about your Garrity; like where did you get it, when, what kind of batteries did it come with and did it come with any other lights?


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## SeberHusky (Dec 13, 2013)

Just as FYI, a white vinegar soak for 5+ minutes and some sandpaper will chew off all that corrosion.


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## Wolfrocket (Jan 24, 2021)

ericjohn said:


> Awesome; finally there is someone who is likeminded on those awesome Garrity Rugged Lites.
> 
> I never tried the LED dropin on any of mine, but 30 lumens sounds pretty damn good. I like the KPR104 that comes with it but an exact replacement is hard to find.
> 
> Tell me all you know about your Garrity; like where did you get it, when, what kind of batteries did it come with and did it come with any other lights?




Do you know what type of lightbulb they take. I found a blue/black one in my fathers toolbox after he passed and want to keep it. Looks like the lightbulb is missing. Thanks


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## bigburly912 (Jan 25, 2021)

Wolfrocket said:


> Do you know what type of lightbulb they take. I found a blue/black one in my fathers toolbox after he passed and want to keep it. Looks like the lightbulb is missing. Thanks



Your answer is in your quoted post. KPR104. Thread is almost 10 years old I doubt you will get an answer from any of those guys. : D


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## bykfixer (Jan 25, 2021)

Wolfrocket said:


> Do you know what type of lightbulb they take. I found a blue/black one in my fathers toolbox after he passed and want to keep it. Looks like the lightbulb is missing. Thanks



Top Bulb dot com carries them. KPR104. About $3 plus shipping.


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## knucklegary (Jan 25, 2021)

bigburly912 said:


> Your answer is in your quoted post. KPR104. Thread is almost 10 years old I doubt you will get an answer from any of those guys. : D



I made same mistake first experience with forum threads. Not looking at dates.. No biggie


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