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