Hi ETS community, i'm a long time reader, and have a question about LED lights in a personal survival kit. i know this is the place to ask and can trust your recommendations

basically, i'm looking for a small LED that will fit into my PSK. everything i have found so far has come up short of what i'm looking for. the biggest issue i've had is that alot of these smaller lights are the "squeeze to activate" type. this is no good, as i cram a lot of stuff into my psk, and having the light constantly activated will do me no good if the battery is dead when i need it. does anyone know of a small led, that has a removable battery, that would fit well into a psk? it would also be nice to have one that can be left on hands-free, so i can work on other things.

personally, i would feel much better with a light in my psk, as i am the kind of person who would obsess with building a perfect emergency shelter, only to find darkness creep up when i need to get a fire going. thanks in advance

I'd go for the Pelican L1 (Too tired and lazy to hunt down a link now, LOL, so if someone could help with that). Takes four 1.5V button cell batteries. A little obscure as far as a power source goes but should be small enough to fit in a PSK you had in mind. If you wanted to keep the keychain lights in a PSK another thing to try would be to open up the light, and flip the batteries to the opposite terminals so that they don't turn on when pushed.

Take a look at the photon micro-II. It has a continuous on-off switch and a squeeze switch. The squeeze switch is slightly recessed though, so it doesn't turn on too easily. I have one on my keys and in my pocket, rubbing up against my keys and pocket knife, it doesn't light up on its own.

Photon Micro II

Gerber Infinity Ultra if a AA light is not too big for your kit.

x2 for the gerber, or even the AAA maglight keychain model.

Welcome to the fire newguy! The choice of "just the right..." can be agonizing. Before I make a suggestion on a flashlight could you give me a better idea about the size you want? Are you looking for something that'll fit in an Altoids can or something larger like a Pelican case?

-Blast

Hi Steelie,


The Liteflux LF2 X Cree Q5 looks pretty good.

With a 10440 rechargeable cell the LF2 is twice as bright as a Maglite 3D flashlight.



http://www.lightreviews.info/liteflux_lf2_x/review.html

Welcome to the ETS Forum Steelie,

I have had a few small squeeze LED Lights on my keys (MEC Turtle, Inova Micro-light) but all have turned on in my pocket.

I was in a gas station about 6 months ago and saw a cheap small imported single LED light that had a stiff metal clip attached. I used the light for a while attached by the clip but the head was not adjustable for height so I replaced it with a Pelican. I then removed the metal clip from the first light and attached the light to my keys, it has worked great for this purpose because to turn it on you have to push directly on a large sliding switch, therefore it does not turn on in my pocket.

I would in no way call this a tough, waterproof, high-tech light but so far it has worked fine.

I saw this light on the internet advertised as a low-priced but quality unit, but I now cannot find the site, I will keep looking.

There is no name on this cheap little light, I think I paid $3.00 but on the net they were less than that.

Mike

From the human wave school of lighting philosophy, I got a couple dozen of these $1.50 lights from countycomm, in orange with the clip. They use 2032 (or 2016? can't remember) batts. Requires a small phillips screwdriver to change, but if you have a dozen, you're ok. they have a manual slide switch, not a squeeze switch. I stick several of them inside various bags for bag illumination.

http://www.countycomm.com/ARES%20SOLED.htm

Not that these take the place of a good, rugged light, but great for supplements.

Hey,

I found that little LED I mentioned on the internet at Country Comm seen here: http://www.countycomm.com/light10.htm

They have a few versions; with metal clips and without, or with different colour bodies/lights.

The one I bought at the Northern Ontario Gas Station was not called a Special Ops-LED like these but is identical.

As I said before these are not high-tech at all, they are just plain LED's for a dollar, but they do not turn on unless you want them to and they throw a beam as good as my Inova Micro-light.

Mike