# Streamlight Key-Mate mini review



## kodiak (Jan 4, 2003)

flashlights.com for 12.95





I really do like this flashlight, 1 LED/smooth reflector.
Size and housing: barrel over half an inch dia., bezel dia. is about 3/4 inch, overall length is 2 and a quarter inches. Well made,light-
weight aluminum housing. Nicely placed knurling. Rotating bezel switch (perfect resistance). O-ring sealed weather resistant.
Comes with very nice quality neck/wrist lanyard. Integrated spring steel pocket clip for bezel down carry, swivel snap hook attached with split ring.
Beam: Bigger and brighter hot spot than my Infinity Ultra. Longer throw. Good usable spill light. Some rings but still good beam. Package claims 33' throw on fresh batts., 20' throw after 1.5 hours, 10' after 2 hrs., 6' after 24 hrs., 3' after 96 hrs. (I'm sure this is debatable).
Batteries: Uses (4) L44 alkaline batteries. $.50 a piece on the net. 
Overall impression: Well built. Nice size (would like to compare with Arc AAA, but do not have one



)Very bright for about an hour (short bright run time but many hours of usable light).
Maybe someone can move a picture of this light to this thread.


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## Empath (Jan 4, 2003)

Moving to the LED forum


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## kodiak (Jan 5, 2003)

Sorry, I thought I was on the right forum. It was late.


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## bteel (Jan 5, 2003)

I have several of these and really like them. I have a pic comparing ARC AAA, Photon, KeyMate and Surerfire E2E. But my image server is down, so I can't upload.


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## kodiak (Jan 5, 2003)

Is the Arc AAA brighter than the Key-Mate?


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## bteel (Jan 5, 2003)

Starting both with a fresh battery, they look about the same. The keymate appears a bit brighter, because of the wider beam, I think.




I got a couple extra for $12.95 + shipping as well. [email protected]


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## brightnorm (Jan 30, 2003)

> Originally posted by bteel:
> *Starting both with a fresh battery, they look about the same. The keymate appears a bit brighter, because of the wider beam, I think.
> 
> 
> ...


<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">bteel,

Could your Keymate batteries have been depleted?
I tried my new Keymate against three Arc AAALe's with fresh batteries. The Keymate was at least 2-3x brighter than the ARCs. I was very impressed.

Brightnorm


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## Kiessling (Jan 31, 2003)

mine are brighter than the arc, too. especially the blue one burns like hell ...
bernhard


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## Roy (Jan 31, 2003)

Here is the Key-Mate alongside an ARC AAA-LE






Beamshot of Key-Mate on left and ARC AAA-LE on the right.








The color of the beamshots is correct, the Key-Mate is blue when compaired to the ARC AA-LE.


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## Roy (Jan 31, 2003)

I also added a runtime plot of the Key-Mate to the Reviews Forum.


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## txwest (Feb 2, 2003)

I just bought 2 of these from Bright Guy ($9.50) & received them yesterday (1 black/1 titatium color). I am very impressed. The output is a little on the blue side, but if you've used led lights very much, you sorta get used to the blue tint. I really like the design, the construction, the clip in the side, and the price. These are brighter than the ARC AAA with new batteries. I'm sure a little run time will cure that. I couldn't get anyone to tell me what battery it uses, other than the SL part #, so I ordered a couple of packs with the lights. For those of you that haven't gotten one yet, it uses (4) LR44's. The SL batteries are $2.25 for a 4 pack. One of the places I buy knives from sales laser pointers that use LR44's. They sale the LR44 in a 3 pack for $.99. I think they are one of the cheapest button batteries around.
If I were buying a small light to give someone as a present, that isn't a light enthuseist, it would most likely be this one. As much as I like my ARC AAA's, a lot of the quality & features that make it so great, would be waisted on a lot of people. Also, I have had a fair amount of electrical contact problems with my ARC's. TX
PS
It might have been better to move this thread to the Reviews section.


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## StoneDog (Feb 4, 2003)

Does anyone know if the little 12v batteries (don't remember the model # - used in a number of Solitaire mods) will fit in place of the 4 button batteries?

Jon


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## txwest (Feb 4, 2003)

Jon,
It's a 21/23 & about 1 cell longer (5 cells long). Outside diameter is slightly smaller. TX


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## RossB (Feb 4, 2003)

Mine arrived today. 

*WOW*. This thing *overpowers* my old, non-SE AAA, even allowing for the crud and scratches on the AAA's reflector & LED. So, I tried it against an Attitude with about an hour of runtime. I'll be doggoned, the Keymate held its own against 3 LED's. Of course, that won't last



. And the *cost* - less than half the AAA. that compensates for the battery price. All testing conducred with the Mk I Human Eyeball.

So... guess I'll have to order a bunch of L44's to keep it fresh - this level of light in this size - I am _impressed_. And, you rats, you cleaned out Brightguy's stock of titaniums, so I had to settle for black. Instead of the keyring, I hooked it to the Schrade ToughChip for offside pocket carry, so it won't have to commingle with pocket change. 

Good job, Streamlight.

RossB


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## txwest (Feb 5, 2003)

RossB,
The batteries can be pretty cheap. I bought some 3 packs of LR44's for 99 cents. But I also saw someone selling a 3 pack of LR44's for $10. Pretty big difference. Another place has 50 for $8 + $5 shipping. This place also has a good price on the CR2016 & no extra for shipping. Then you can get silver-oxide (more mAh) 10 for $4.50 inc shipping. These are bulk packed, so you won't know the exp date. I'll probably give 1 pack of 10 a shot to see how they compare to alkalines. TX


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## tylerdurden (Feb 5, 2003)

Some guy on ebay is selling 60 LR44 for $6.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2301396206&ssPageName=ADME:B:LC:US:1


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## txwest (Feb 5, 2003)

The ones on ebay are bulk, & unknown brand. The ones I mentioned show to be Maxell, packaged with exp date. TX
http://as-seen.bizhosting.com/index.html


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## tylerdurden (Feb 5, 2003)

well, what do you expect for $0.10 each?





Even if they only last 1/3 as long, you come out ahead.


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## RossB (Feb 5, 2003)

You know what's the most fun? While they're thrashing those $100+ Surefires and Arc LE's on the other threads, we're talking about a $10 item here. 

Oh, yeah, thanks for the battery pointers.

RossB


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## revbnc (Feb 6, 2003)

Hello,

I am new and this is my first post. I have however been reading posts for a couple of months. I am ordering 6 of these all titanium for the myself and the guys at work. Its funny how you can influence others about purchasing something you have an infatuation with. Thanks all for your great input on all lights.


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## bucken (Mar 15, 2003)

Finally got around to picking up a keymate today. I've gotta say that this little light, as purchased, is probably the brightest single 5mm LED light I've ever seen. But wait... It gets even better! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

My keymate seemed to have a problem switching ON and OFF. I could tighten the head to a point where it turned ON, but then even the slightest movement either tighter or looser made it turn OFF. I was thinking about adding some aluminum foil under the batteries to make a more secure connection. When I removed the batteries (4 buttons in a plastic tube), I noticed that there seemed to be plenty of room for an extra battery. So, instead of adding a piece of foil, I added an extra battery. The result was really AWESOME!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Does anyone know how difficult it might be to change the LED? I have some extra 9200 mcd's, and the way this keymate lights up now, I know I'll probably burn up the LED 
sometime soon. But, after trying it with 5 batteries, I ain't NEVER going back to 4. If worst comes to worst, I guess I can always get a replacement (<$10). Has anyone else tried this? What do you think?

The photo shows Arc LE (w/ fresh battery) on the LEFT, Keymate (overdriven) on the RIGHT.


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## Drakonchik (Mar 15, 2003)

[ QUOTE ]
barrel over half an inch dia., 

[/ QUOTE ] 

Would this thing fit in the Flashlight Friend accessory for the Mag2AA? Or if the diameter is less could you shim it up?

What I'm thinking is you could marry the Mag2AA and the Key-Mate together tail-to-tail in the tube. Then you'd have a Mag2AA with a tail-light. Might be good for walking along roads. You could link up the two tails with something simple like a piece of wire and there would be no chance that either flashlight would slip out of the tube.

Or if someone could give me the exact diameter of the Key-Mate I can measure the tube and see if we can create a fit.

Anyone?


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## txwest (Mar 15, 2003)

The smooth part of the head on the Key-Mate is the same diameter as the body of the MagAA.
TX 

Bucken,
I put the extra battery in mine & it doesn't come on at all. (yes, I put it in the right way)


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## bucken (Mar 15, 2003)

txwest,
Just to be sure, the +'s in mine are all facing toward the rear, and the -'s all toward the head. 5 batteries JUST fit in the length of the plastic tube. When I took mine apart to check, I noticed that there is now a slight dent in the battery (- contact) where the head tightens down into it. I've had mine running for several minutes at a time now, and so far, it seems to be holding up really well. Oh yeah, and it's STILL unbelieveably bright. FWIW, my LED is white.


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## kodiak (Mar 16, 2003)

I love the five battery idea. The battreies differ in thickness by up to .007 thou. That will make the diference weather it will light or not. You need to use the smallest thickness(.202 thou.)or there abouts.


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## Minjin (Mar 16, 2003)

This sounds very much like the small Pelican LED light. Any direct comparisons between the two? How about durability/waterproofedness of the Keymate?

Mark


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## Illuminated (Mar 16, 2003)

Pelican LED L1's I've bought have a tendency to develope cracks in the bezel...or at least the "Browning Odessy" versions have.

John


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## txwest (Mar 16, 2003)

Bucken,
It must be a battery thickness problem on mine. As I said, they are in correctly for polarity (or it works in reverse polarity with 4 batteries /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif), but it still doesn't come on with 5 batteries. TX


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## larryk (Mar 16, 2003)

Tried 5 batteries in mine also, and it does not work. Larry.


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## bucken (Mar 16, 2003)

When you try 5 batteries, are you getting a dent in the battery closest to the head (see pic)? If the dent is too deep, then the LED lead may not be making good contact. You might try a tiny folded-up piece of aluminum foil between the battery and the LED lead in the head. Be sure to keep it small, though, so as not to short out against the sides.


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## Gene (Mar 16, 2003)

I'm one of those rare members here that has never been impressed with the ARC AAA other than it uses the single AAA cell. It's always seemed "bland" especially compared to my ARC LS1 and has never seemed THAT much smaller to me because I always carry my LS1 with the "twistpack".

These little guys though seem neat and exude more quality to me than the ARC AAA. I don't have one because I didn't like the 4 button cells but the more I look at these, the neater they become! 

Like RossB said, it's refreshing to see so many posts about a $10.00 light!


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