# What's so special about Dolphin torches?



## user1016 (Mar 26, 2010)

Lately my local Kmarts, Big W's and Coles stores have pulled Maglites from their shelves and replaced them with these stupid Dolphin torches. What's so special about them? My dad has one and the darn thing puts out barely enough lumens on a fresh set of batteries to compete with an incan Maglite Solitaire.

As far as I know, these are torches that are native to Australia as my American friends have not heard of it. They are basically these big ugly things and they sell for $20-30.

*[hotlinked image removed - DM51]*

Dolphins do seem pretty good in regards to doing their intended purpose, which is to be a safety/emergency/camping torch. It's got a bright yellow finish so it's easy to find, it can take a beating/being dropped, and it floats in water, but what I don't understand is how it takes a whopping big battery yet is still duller than a Mag Solitaire?

I believe someone here once put a Seoul P7 in one of these, sounds like an interesting idea.


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## kramer5150 (Mar 26, 2010)

They float and are shallow water submersible... can't do that with a mag.
The dolphin in some rendition has been around since the early 80s (IIRC).

thats all I can think of, having never actually owned one.


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## Burgess (Mar 26, 2010)

James Miller said:


> My dad has one and the darn thing puts out barely enough lumens
> on a fresh set of batteries to compete with an incan Maglite Solitaire.
> 
> . . . . but what I don't understand is how it takes a whopping big battery yet is still duller than a Mag Solitaire?


 

I musta' told you A MILLION TIMES . . . .

Don't exaggerate so much ! ! !


_


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## TorchBoy (Mar 26, 2010)

James Miller said:


> Lately my local Kmarts, Big W's and Coles stores have pulled Maglites from their shelves and replaced them with these stupid Dolphin torches. What's so special about them? ... what I don't understand is how it takes a whopping big battery yet is still duller than a Mag Solitaire?


I believe Dolphin torches and Maglites have been measured as having exactly the same intelligence, therefore can be accurately said to be just as stupid as each other. Dophins are rugged, waterproof and float. Some come with little stands so they can be placed on the ground or a bench and aimed where light is needed. They don't serve the same purpose as Maglites so I don't see why they would be replaced unless the Maglites just weren't selling well and the shelf space was wanted for something that would.

There is *no* torch duller than a Maglite Solitaire. :sick2:


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## TorchBoy (Mar 26, 2010)

James Miller said:


> As far as I know, these are torches that are native to Australia as my American friends have not heard of it.





kramer5150 said:


> The dolphin in some rendition has been around since the early 80s (IIRC).


Strangely enough they started in the USA, way back in 1965. http://www.dhub.org/object/112367,product+design


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## gswitter (Mar 27, 2010)

A variation is sold here in the US as the Energizer Weather Ready Floating Lantern.


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## Backpacker Light (Mar 27, 2010)

James Miller said:


> Dolphins do seem pretty good in regards to doing their intended purpose, which is to be a safety/emergency/camping torch.


 
Wait a minute, I do not own a Dolphin, but from what I thought I have read around here, don't they have great "throw"?

Isn't that what they are known for?


But if you are comparing it to a Mag Solitare, I am obviously wrong?? The Solitare has only a 12 inch throw.


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## garden (Mar 27, 2010)

They actually have EXCELLENT throw, I've lit objects as far as 400 metres away with one, but they're somewhat poorly made (Pretty hard to screw back the threads after opening, my one's bulb is misaligned with the reflector, etc.



kramer5150 said:


> They float and are shallow water submersible... can't do that with a mag.



Actually, you can fully submerge a Mag when all o-rings are lubriated. It is true that they can't float though.


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## JaguarDave-in-Oz (Mar 27, 2010)

James Miller said:


> Lately my local Kmarts, Big W's and Coles stores have pulled Maglites from their shelves and replaced them with these stupid Dolphin torches. What's so special about them?


do some research into the arrangements and deals that suppliers make to get their product onto the shelves of the top five major chain stores in Australia and you'll see that decisions to stock one over the other have absolutely nothing at all to do with whether one product is "better" than another. 

From a personal perspective, I have had a maglite since the early eighties but also had a couple of dolphins for much longer and I find the dolphin is a far more useful torch. You can set it down on something without it rolling off and smashing to the ground, it takes a single battery, it won't necessarily break anything it hits up against, it's far less likely to get stolen from the back of your ute, it's brightly coloured so it's easy to find when you put it down and can't remember where, it's got a nice little inbuilt handle and isn't slippery when wet like the maglite, it's made of impact absorbent plastic so is less likely to break a globe when dropped, it floats, it looks like a torch not like a policeman's baton and all sorts of other good things in its favour etc etc blah blah blah.


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## TorchBoy (Mar 27, 2010)

Backpacker Light said:


> Wait a minute, I do not own a Dolphin, but from what I thought I have read around here, don't they have great "throw"?
> 
> Isn't that what they are known for?


Depends how well we look after them, but yes, they "throw" quite nicely. For a large reflector they have a reasonably compact design, and have an appreciable effect when they hit their target, even from a distance. Having a easy to grip handle means one's aim can be very good. Good batteries for "throwing" have F cells in them, which have more capacity and are heavier than D cells.


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## yellow (Mar 27, 2010)

Joe Average uses his lights for 15 mins a year, so does not notice how crappy and expensive to run them on regular basis such superbright lights really are.
During these 10 mins, the throw is great.
they are a nice color
they are cheap

that a three finger sized 18650 light smokes them (for being around always, running longer, cheaper, more rugged, ...) is something they dont understand _or even need_! 
at least those "fancy small lights are way too expensive and the bigger the light, the brighter it must be"


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## yellow (Mar 27, 2010)

. .,


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## TorchBoy (Mar 27, 2010)

yellow said:


> that a three finger sized 18650 light smokes them (for being around always, running longer, cheaper, more rugged, ...) is something they dont understand _or even need_!


It wasn't that many months ago I found out that a 3x AAA light throws as well as my 100 W incandescent spotlight. oo:


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## user1016 (Mar 27, 2010)

I'm now feeling inclined to get a Dolphin.

Any Aussies out there able to point me in the direction of where I can get one cheap? I've seen them ranging from $20-50.


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## JaguarDave-in-Oz (Mar 27, 2010)

James Miller said:


> I'm now feeling inclined to get a Dolphin.
> 
> Any Aussies out there able to point me in the direction of where I can get one cheap? I've seen them ranging from $20-50.


You could try your local Kmart, Big W or Coles, they seem to be cheap there. Maybe even ask your father for a loan of his, that would be real cheap



James Miller said:


> Lately my local Kmarts, Big W's and Coles stores have pulled Maglites from their shelves and replaced them with these stupid Dolphin torches. ................ My dad has one


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## kramer5150 (Mar 27, 2010)

garden said:


> Actually, you can fully submerge a Mag when all o-rings are lubriated. It is true that they can't float though.



No way.
The switch boot cover has almost no seal and certainly is not water tight. I can remove mine with a fingernail pinch and light pull force. If you submerged yours, it was merely a matter of luck or limited time exposure that it didn't take in water.

IMHO they are rain / splash resistant, but submersible... no.


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## mrartillery (Mar 27, 2010)

kramer5150 said:


> No way.
> The switch boot cover has almost no seal and certainly is not water tight. I can remove mine with a fingernail pinch and light pull force. If you submerged yours, it was merely a matter of luck or limited time exposure that it didn't take in water.
> 
> IMHO they are rain / splash resistant, but submersible... no.



+1 I don't see a Mag being able to take submersion and still work


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## user1016 (Mar 27, 2010)

mrartillery said:


> +1 I don't see a Mag being able to take submersion and still work



Well I've showered with my Maglite 4D before and it's still the most reliable mag I've had out of my 2AA mini, Solitaire, etc. (This was during a period in which we were experiencing nonstop blackouts every hour or so for about 2 hours each, it lasted a week before Energy Australia finally got their bloody act into gear.) There was a malfunctioning breaker at the powerstation or something that kept kabooming.


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## jimmy1970 (Mar 27, 2010)

James Miller said:


> I'm now feeling inclined to get a Dolphin.
> 
> Any Aussies out there able to point me in the direction of where I can get one cheap? I've seen them ranging from $20-50.


 Coles has them for around $14 AUS. Although I have a shed load of custom/high end torches, a plain jane red dolphin torch is what I use in the boat. It is true that they stay put when you place them down in a rolling sea. Run time is poor though and they do tend to self discharge their cells when not in use.

James....


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## LukeW (Mar 27, 2010)

Oh man! I LOVE dolphins. They always bring back memories of beach trips and spearfishing. They're great lights, and they last forever. Sure, they're not the most powerful, but what they lack in lumens :candle: they more than make up for with utility.
Awesome lights. You can also try Bunnings Warehouse and other hardware shops.


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## TorchBoy (Mar 28, 2010)

jimmy1970 said:


> Run time is poor though and they do tend to self discharge their cells when not in use.


I got over nine hours from the alkaline batteries I used to get, with no noticeable self discharge. (I wonder how I'd tell anyway.) You may be able to tell if a battery has D cells instead of F cells by seeing where its centre of balance is.


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## user1016 (Mar 28, 2010)

jimmy1970 said:


> Coles has them for around $14 AUS. Although I have a shed load of custom/high end torches, a plain jane red dolphin torch is what I use in the boat. It is true that they stay put when you place them down in a rolling sea. Run time is poor though and they do tend to self discharge their cells when not in use.
> 
> James....



Yeah that's what I've noticed with my dads. Every time we get the ol' Dolphin out, the damn thing is putting out as much as a Mag Solitaire (No, really! No exag there, but it does throw more!)


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## ^^Nova^^ (Mar 29, 2010)

Woolies had them on sale last week for $10, reduced from $14. Bunnings has them also for about $14.

I bought one for $10 and am planning to add rechargeable batteries (hoping 5 C's will fit) and run the 4D mag bulb. Should run for a couple of hours and not be too hot and melt the reflector/bulb holder. I was going to go with a ROP low (3854L) but thought it may melt the plastic.

Does anyone know what are the best lantern batteries to buy? Do I just buy the heaviest ones I can find? They all have different codes on the side, I assume I can defferentiate the batteries this way?

Cheers,
Nova


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## WhatMACHI (Mar 29, 2010)

James Miller, you answered your own question already 

But yeah, they are a cheap light that is great for what its designed for.

Our family has had at least one of these in an easy to access place in the house for as long as i can remember. Its always been the "go to" torch whenever we needed light


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## Chrontius (Mar 29, 2010)

gswitter said:


> A variation is sold here in the US as the Energizer Weather Ready Floating Lantern.



That's the Dolphin Mk.5. I use a 4D Magnum Star in mine, but the Mk.6 comes with a bulb that's its match in every way save throw, where it beats the Mag bulb - so I'm told.

I'm also told that the ROP-Lo works well in them, but mine wouldn't focus in said Dolphin Mk.5. The Mag throws like a searchlight, on the other hand.


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## Juggernaut (Mar 29, 2010)

The newest models from what I’ve heard put out more light then the Maglite Xenon upgraded bulb, that combined with Energizer 4F Alkalines “best lantern battery you can buy” 26,000 mah with a less then 0.75 A bulb equals about 49/2 “reduction of capacity from voltage sag, like the Maglite” = about 75+ Lumens for 25 hours, granted output is far from regulated, (4+ hours over 50% output) isn’t all to bad for the price. So anyone complaining about this Water proof, floating, nearly indestructible, 400+ yard throwing, stock Maglite stomping, for ever running lights. Are either using horribly bad dead carbon zinc batteries and a Dolphin from the storm ages, or don’t know what their talking about! 
 
Sorry about my rant.


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## user1016 (Mar 29, 2010)

Juggernaut said:


> The newest models from what I’ve heard put out more light then the Maglite Xenon upgraded bulb, that combined with Energizer 4F Alkalines “best lantern battery you can buy” 26,000 mah with a less then 0.75 A bulb equals about 49/2 “reduction of capacity from voltage sag, like the Maglite” = about 75+ Lumens for 25 hours, granted output is far from regulated, (4+ hours over 50% output) isn’t all to bad for the price. So anyone complaining about this Water proof, floating, nearly indestructible, 400+ yard throwing, stock Maglite stomping, for ever running lights. Are either using horribly bad dead carbon zinc batteries and a Dolphin from the storm ages, or don’t know what their talking about!
> 
> Sorry about my rant.



Makes perfect sense as our Dolphin torch is yonks old. Will pop out to buy one of these new ones.

Where can I get them (preferably online stores as I live on an island and it it's effort to go to the mainland).


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## [email protected] (Mar 30, 2010)

ESIdirect has them for $16.61 AUD 

Otherwise you'll need to wait till you (or a neighbour) heads over to the mainland next


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## mvyrmnd (Mar 30, 2010)

Well, I can tell you what's so special about my Dolphin....

I've removed the chunky battery and replaced it with a 6xAA carrier, and soldered it to the points on the switch.

Then I bought a FM SS Bi-pin adapter with a WA1160 Bulb. It will also happily use a Philips 5761.

While it will only run for a minute at a time before the bulb carrier starts to melt, it's a fairly spectacular ~1000 lumens in that big reflector


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## user1016 (Mar 30, 2010)

[email protected] said:


> ESIdirect has them for $16.61 AUD
> 
> Otherwise you'll need to wait till you (or a neighbour) heads over to the mainland next



I'll definitely be getting a MK 4, anyone know where I can get the new Mark VI (6) online?


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## TorchBoy (Mar 30, 2010)

^^Nova^^ said:


> Does anyone know what are the best lantern batteries to buy? Do I just buy the heaviest ones I can find?


Well, the heaviest one would have to be the 5Ah SLA lantern battery http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=SB2498.


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## Juggernaut (Mar 30, 2010)

TorchBoy said:


> Well, the heaviest one would have to be the 5Ah SLA lantern battery http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=SB2498.


 
I have one of those, they are awesome for use in every day use lanterns when you want to only have that high peak voltage:thumbsup:. But their performance pretty much sucks:thumbsdow. A. They can blow some bulbs do to their little voltage sag and higher operation voltage “alkalines sag quite quickly to 4.8 volts to the bulb, while the SLA hit’s the bulb with about 6 “6.4 peak”. B. They have extremely limited capacity, mine runs a 1A bulb for about 2.5 hours. That’s like 2,500 mah, the same as a good NiMH AA battery! Also they are quite expensive even my “cheap” $20 one could easily be out performed by $10s worth of rechargeable NiMH AA cells.


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## TorchBoy (Mar 31, 2010)

Juggernaut said:


> They have extremely limited capacity, mine runs a 1A bulb for about 2.5 hours.


That sounds a little tired. Anyway, it's _still_ heavier than a few NiMHs.


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## Chrontius (Mar 31, 2010)

Juggernaut said:


> The newest models from what I’ve heard put out more light then the Maglite Xenon upgraded bulb, that combined with Energizer 4F Alkalines “best lantern battery you can buy” 26,000 mah with a less then 0.75 A bulb equals about 49/2 “reduction of capacity from voltage sag, like the Maglite” = about 75+ Lumens for 25 hours, granted output is far from regulated, (4+ hours over 50% output) isn’t all to bad for the price. So anyone complaining about this Water proof, floating, nearly indestructible, 400+ yard throwing, stock Maglite stomping, for ever running lights. Are either using horribly bad dead carbon zinc batteries and a Dolphin from the storm ages, or don’t know what their talking about!
> 
> Sorry about my rant.



So where can I find one of these epic bulbs?


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## kelmo (Apr 1, 2010)

The're tuna free!!!


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## Juggernaut (Apr 1, 2010)

Chrontius said:


> So where can I find one of these epic bulbs?


 
Their really not that amazing, just much better then what came with the old Dolphins and stock Maglites. I might be underestimating their performance, I thought they did over 100+ lumens, but I could be wrong. Their actual part number escapes me at the moment, but there is better bulbs out there, like what ever comes in the Dorcy Industrial Lantern, those are some of the best PR based bulbs I’ve ever used:thumbsup:.


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## alpg88 (Apr 1, 2010)

i think getting rid of mags was more political move than anything else.

in one of my lanterns mods, i build, i had to build nicd 6v battery,
i opened (carefully), rayovac zinc 6v battery, removed 4 f cell, cut dividers, and put in 10 sub c (5s2p) cells, they fit nicely there.


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## ericjohn (Apr 24, 2015)

I just had to revive this thread.

A fellow CPFer mentioned an American version of the Dolphin at Whale (Wal) Mart. I shop thdere enough and hadn't seen them at mine. Then, ironically on the same day there were flash floods in my area, I went there and saw them. 

150 Lumens Brightness, 365 Meter Throw and 35 Hour Runtime. $9.97+tax came out to $10.86. I bought one yesterday and I have been enjoying it quite a bit. It floats right side up in my bathtub. It's bright enough, I would say the muen value is correct.

The only thing is that, while the model number hints that it is a Dolphin DOLBLED2, the packaging and advertising here claim it to be a Weather Ready. 

I don't want to do the ruggedness test because I don't know if it is indeed as rugged as an Australian Dolphin. I messed up a different Eveready 6 Volt lantern from a 3' drop, so I don't want to risk it with this one.

The only other flashlight I have owned that was remotely close to a Dolphin was the Energizer 459, which was an explosion proof version of the Dolphin Mark 3. I didn't really get attached to it though.

I wish there was some information on these online but not yet.

Hope to see some more Dolphin flashlights (and their American counterparts) to come...


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## Jash (Nov 17, 2016)

I bought the latest Dolphin from Bunnings the other day for $20 (4leds producing a claimed 200 lumens), and I had two brand new 6v lantern batteries at home already. To say the least I'm quite impressed with the light, and it is by far the best Dolphin yet. 

The beam has a tight hotspot with a nice warm halo around it. In reality it's good up to 150m, beyond that and it struggles. Drawing a mere 260ma it should run for ages and ages and be a real good camping/power outage light. It's too big and heavy for practical use unless you're using it near deep water (floats).

*edit* After a year or so of semi-regular use for outside tasks (10-15 minutes a week) and camping a few times I’m still on the first battery showing 6.3v and it got left on by accident for about two hours one afternoon. That’s using an Energizer No.529 4LR25X battery. Supposed to have 50% more power than a regular alkaline. It should as it’s also about 50% heavier.


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## Howecollc (Apr 25, 2017)

Always been intrigued by these things from a looks standpoint. Before my brother left last November for a five month hike thru New Zealand I just casually mentioned to be on the lookout for them, mostly out of curiosity if they were as common as CPFers seemed to imply. Indeed, several times when he'd see one sitting on a shelf in a grocery store or the like he'd send me a pic. $20 US and the fact that he was willing to haul one back on the plane was too much for me to pass up.


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## LED_Power_Forums (Apr 25, 2017)

Mine here is sold under the eveready branding, which I got one some time ago, the micro dolphin 2xAA incan version. Advertised as using the brighter xenon bulb instead of the more common krypton. Intended to shelve it up as antique for nostalgic purpose. Day one when gotten my hands on it, tested it out for a bit and compared it to other high powered led lights. Second day when turned it on... farewell, sayonara. Bulb burned out. So that's only one day lifespan, awww...


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## Howecollc (Apr 25, 2017)

Maybe put 2 li-ion AAs in yours and overdrive a 5 cell Mag xenon bulb? Probably wouldn't run it for more than 5 or 10 minutes at a time to avoid melting the plastic reflector and bulb holder. Of course another $25 invested in the light might be a little impractical.

https://m.brightguy.com/Maglite/MagLite+Mag-Num+Star+II+Xenon+Lamp+LMXA501


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## alpg88 (Apr 26, 2017)

i had 3 dolphinns, 1 i ruined by doing exactly that, running 5 cell maglite bulb with 6xnimh cells, melted reflector. i converted it to led, other 2 are, energizer sea beam, aka dolphin of previous generation, and another is actual dolphin from australia, they are ok as far as actual illumination, reach relatively far, and best part they float. i had best results with radioshack hpr50, 5,2v 850ma, it has straight filament, and focuses the best. but since radio shack is out of business, i can't think where to get one now, most places that sell them online have wrong pic. the actual bulb envelope is not a rounded one like most bulbs but straight cylindrical. 
actually out of that class of lanterns, the best one would be old dorcy light with reflector like 6", once i installed rop ho bulb there, and used 6 nimh cells inside 6v battery housing, it put my 35w hid to shame, completely destroyed it. but in 5 min reflector was bubbling.


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## ericjohn (May 9, 2017)

In April of this year (2017), I acquired a NOS Eveready 208IND, with the original packaging. 

There still might be a few of them available on eBay, I'm not sure.

I don't know the exact date of production, but there is no bar code on the box. There is a date code but it is difficult to interpret. I'm guessing that it was made some time in the late 1960s or early 1970s.

In essence it is a stripped down Eveready All American lantern or Eveready Dolphin Mark 1 lantern.

It is yellow with black "trim." That is very different from the all red of the All American Lantern and the Orange Dolphin Mark 1.

The reason why I call it stripped down is because there is NO O-ring gasket where the lens and reflector assembly screw on. I would imagine a true Mark 1 Dolphin Lantern would have O-Ring Gasket and I know for a fact that the All American Lantern also has an O-Ring Gasket.

This means that while it MIGHT float, it's probably not entirely waterproof.

However, while I think it is/was foolish for Eveready to exclude this, the customers that this flashlight was marketed were probably factory/plant workers, farmers/ranchers, electricians, plumbers, custodians and various jobs of similar nature. It wasn't marketed to those working near water or on water borne craft. Yes it needed to be reasonably rugged and stand up to most types of potentially corrosive industrial chemicals. But those aforementioned occupations usually don't involve being submerged in water. It is NOT explosion proof either. There were postively two explosion proof American equivalents of the Australian Dolphin, both with the Eveready 459 model number. The first Eveready 459 was made in the 1960s and somewhat resembled the shape of the Dolphin Mark 1. The second Eveready 459 was made in the 1990s and still on some shelves of brick and mortar supply houses as late as 2011, it somewhat resembled the American Eveready Sport Gear Lantern as well as the Australian Mark 3 from 1988. 

Anyway...

It came with a standard PR13 bulb, which I upgraded to a KPR113. It can sure cast a long distance beam in this setup.

I mostly use it for feeding the stray cats that I take care of when visiting my in laws at night. LED's tend to spook many animals while incandescents appear warm and friendly to a domesticated animal or pet.

I've also used it to locate television cables and electrical wiring under houses and trailers when assisting friends and family with those sorts of tasks.

I seem to have a soft spot for vintage industrial flashlights, so even though this is old and very obsolete, I manage to find uses for it.

This light is one of the American Equivalents of a Dolphin Lantern, just stripped down.


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