My son is going into some theatre work and a little while ago 'killed' his minimag AA light again. I should say that 'he' didn't kill it... minimags just fry on him.....no joke-they just die. Multiple leaking BRAND NEW batteries! So I went to wally world....found a $3 Ray O Vac (standard denial-no connection) AAA 'keychain' light.

Now I carry an ARC (also standard denial-no connection).....wouldn't trade it....but I'm not spending $35 on a light for him until I know something that 'small' won't get lost....

The $3 little thing is really nice. Decent beam. Standard battery size that's easy to get. Inexpensive. Seems durable. Check it out.

DealExtreme has the TK-703 Cree lights for $10.96 free shipping. This is an awesome light, good throw and bright....no affiliation, just a satisfied user. Gonna get three more as standard issue for my other kits.

The TK-703 looks nice and I may buy one myself, but for longevity I'd have to suggest the Fenix E01 with many sources, and non-affiliated but personal favorite is: http://www.batteryjunction.com/fenix-e01.html $12.50 plus shipping, but look around you may find a better deal. Not very bright, but brighter than the mini-mag I'm sure, and I've given away more than 20 as gifts and I've seen or heard of none of them dying.

First of all, NO ALKALINES. NOT EVER.

DealExtreme sells a nice Romisen RC-G2 for $12.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.3609

The Fenix EO1 mentioned is another great choice.

A Streamlight MicroStream might also be a good choice.
Runs about $20 and uses AAAs.

O yes! I should have mentioned the Lithiums as well - I'd suggest Lithium Primaries.

I have several different models of Fenix lights, and I find the twisty actions to be much too stiff on all of them. Very difficult to operate one-handed. I also can't stand the beam pattern and color on the E01's.

Then I got a Maratac AAA flashlight from Countycomm.com, and find it is smaller and much smoother to operate than the Fenix lights, much brighter than the E01, and only $22 (+S&H). I wound up buying several more to use on various PSK projects. Very happy with them.

No relationship with Countycomm except as a satisfied repeat customer.

The first thing I do when I buy a cheap light is remove o-rings, remove factory grease, and re-grease.

I also have and enjoy a Maratac equivalent.

[censored]" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MINI-MAGLITE-LED-U...=item3f00e399b8


Did mine, white light, focus-able, drastic increase in battery life. The unit's are not cheap but, and it is a big but, the increase in battery duration (reduced running costs) make it an economical buy.

The maglites are 1960's tec. Great build quality, but the life expectancy of the bulb is 2.5hrs. Which, interestingly, is the expected life of the batteries.



Usual disclaimers about no association, blah, blah, blah.

The 2AAA mag is a nice compromise in size. Surprisingly I carried one in my pocket for years, many batteries but never blew the bulb. I've dropped them, the but the only bulb I ever had to replace was one that went through the wash and a lead rusted afterward.

LIDL in the UK are selling mini maglites for £8.99 tomorrow. Check the web in case your branch varies.

Heresy I know on a site like this; but the little keyring LEDs from bargain shops are all i ever use. the back up maglite stays as back up. Because the cheap one have never let me down. And at that price I can attach them to every zip in sight. Nice to have them on the sleeping bag inner, sac inner top and tent zips. They are 2 for a pound at poundland.
The Sock

I either go with a fenix EO1 for aaa cell, or the gerber infinity for aa cell. Been using both for years. No complaints for their intended uses.

I might get one if LIDL were stocking the LED versions but if they are the standard incandescent bulb versions I really wouldn't bother considering what is available for the price.

http://forums.equipped.org/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=187161&page=1

For virtually the same cost your can get the TANK007 TK-360 Cree Q2-WC 3-Mode 150-Lumen LED Flashlight (1*CR123A)

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.19183



Some of these little LED keychain lights are actually very good and are virtually disposable items at $0.45 each.

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1100

They are very useful items to attach to tent zippers, pocket and bag zippers etc and forgotten about.

INOVA micro. $5 at Academy, Target, close to that anywhere else you find them, and three settings: press/hold ON, "click" ON/OFF(with 2 different brightnesses), and "strobe."
uses a button battery, but you gotta give somewhere.

+1. I bought ten for $4.50 with free shipping. The first day I had 'em I left one in my pants pocket and accidentally ran it thru the washing machine, but it still worked! All ten worked fine and they're surprisingly bright. You may not want to trust your life to a 45 cent light but they're great for general use. I keep one on my keyring and a couple on various zipper pulls. So far none have failed.

+2 I have a Photon Freedom as my "serious" button light, plus a MiniMag with an LED replacement bulb in my bag. I also have several cheap "Fauxton"s scattered around everything else I carry. A new battery for one of the cheap ones will probably cost more than the light did.

The orange-bodied white-LED-lighted keychain lights sold by countycomm.com are among my favorite inexpensive lights. At $1.20 each, he can buy a bunch and afford to lose a few of them.

http://www.countycomm.com/orngled.htm

They also have a clip-on version for $4 each.

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

My slightly higher-end choice would be the Fenix E01 for abt $12.50 (at brightguy.com).

One of these arrived this morning in the post. It is slightly larger than a Fenix P1D SE being about 10mm longer but with the same diameter and the quality appears to be very good (Type III HA according to the specs on the packaging). Amazing value at $13.50 including shipping.

It has 5 modes - same as the Fenix P1D SE but has an extra feature over the Fenix as it can be used in a candle mode, much like a Maglite when the optics are removed.

So if anyone is looking for an EDC CR123 based flashlight at exceptional value for money then the TANK007 TK-360 may just fit the specification.

The packaging also says the TK-360 is also an explosion proof design

http://www.tank007.com/view_products.asp?id=338

Don't know if it has been mentioned yet, but the Streamlight Nano is a great little keychain LED. 10 lumens with an 8-hour run time. You can pick up a three pack on ebay for about 12 bucks.

E