I just bought a few keychain lights for carry and obtained a dollar store keychain light, Energizer trailfinder, and a simple flat rayovac one.



I have had my eyes on the energizer light for a long time. Its big for a keychain light but a full metal body with a nice smooth round organic shape.

The rayovac Had a decent beam and brightness with expected halo and artifact issues as there is no reflector. Tho overall it is a useable and not to ugly to the eyes.

The dollar store light had a clean evenly dispersed beam of light tho dull.

The energizer how ever...dear god...

here it is about three feet from the wall



Not to bad right? alittle yellow around the edges but alota lights have that....K here it is up close against the wall.



My god what in the world just happened?! As Ugly as it is to look at up close it is just as bad at distances farther then 3 feet. Outside when finding my "trail" down the driveway the oval light with a ugly strange purple hotspot in the middle the size of a racket ball at say 6 feet ahead on the ground was sickening....Whats worse? the sickening dark yellow ring around it...even worse you want?! The useless artifact riddled oval halo of soft purple light around that..My God more? ANOTHER sickening dark yellow ring around THAT...How can it get any worse you say!?!? that strange shapeless outer halo that looks like the ring around a eyes pupil, yeah it doesn't look any better lighting up your peripherals.

While the energizer was the brightest it was only the brightest in a small near useless hotspot. The "flood" outer halo is so dull and heavy in artifacts it nearly distorts the ground your looking at, No joke.

This would not be such a big deal with me if I had not had such high expectations for a solid metal body 5$ keychain light. But when it is outdone By a 2$ plastic rayovac that feels like you can snap it in half its just annoyingly anger inducing.

That sucks. The only really super cheapo lights I use are the $.50 cent "fauxtons" I get ten at a time from DealExtreme. They're actually very nice little lights, and not just for two bits. The first day I had them I forgot one in my pants pocket and put it thru the laundry...well, even after being washed & dried it still worked!

My Ritter e-Pico lights still work great (on keychain and lanyard). And I got them for just $5 more than that crummy Energizer.

Flashlights/headlamps just aren't something I cheap out on. Amortized over years (I'm still using some lights I bought a decade ago) and emergencies and they are all a bargain.

Latest splurge was a new Petzl Zipka, using an REI 20% off coupon. That light will go with me on every evening dog walk and everywhere else I go - it fits so easily in a purse, pocket, on my wrist. Bright, versatile, long-lasting. I still have Zipkas from when they first came out a decade ago, but decided the new improved was worthwhile.

Cheap is so often not a bargain.

I've had several real Photons over the years and while the size was a real plus, was never really satisfied with the switches....granted they were exposed to the elements hanging on a key ring... especially with the ignition switch location on the HD Sportster...and all failed at some point

got good service from a Coast LED, but the batteries were as much as the light

in an attempt to eliminate switch problems went to a Gerber Tempo LED with a single AAA with twist cap

most recent EDC is a Fenix E01 LED which is about 50% brighter than the Tempo and with a lithium AAA is pretty light in weight

in an unsuccessful attempt to standardize batteries to AAs and Ds, just purchased a Black Diamond headlight, and earlier got the Sanyo Eneloop rechargables with Goal Zero PV cell and charger

wasn't successful with the standardization as a couple of the cheaper headlamps use AAAs and weapon's lights use 123s but I'm working on it

if you have an extra $55 burning a hole in your pocket, and have an older SureFire 6P incandescent... get the Malkoff drop in 200 lumen module... its pretty impressive...

The 4Sevens 1xAA Quark with 14500 lithium ion (rechargeable) battery in it = WOW! It will knock your socks off, both in brightness and price. I love mine. None of my keychain lights have lasted terribly long. And that includes an ARC 1xAAA, supposedly a very good light (no longer made). So I went to slightly bigger and more expensive lights. I'm much happier with now.

My Fenix LD01 has resided on my keychain for about three years and has worked flawlessly. Three light levels, allowing me to hike all night with it if necessary. Not the cheapest, but it is bright, light, and available when I need it.

I have an Fenix E01 1xAAA as my keyring light. I prefer a lighter keyring, so I usually carry it solo, just dropping it in my pocket. For a small light, these have a quality LED, a very good beam and use common batteries.

The Fenix E01 is outstanding, especially at its price. It has great runtime and is incredibly robust and reliable. I have one that I use for getting dressed in the morning while my wife sleeps, and several other secreted with various bits of gear. A number of people, however, don't care for its purplish tint.

I don't have a Fenix LD01 but by all reports its a fantastic light. While it doesn't have the runtime on low that you get out of an E01, there's something to be said for being able to produce 80 (emitter) lumens on a keychain light. It's also priced right for its performance.

The Quark AA is another outstanding light. I own an embarrassingly large number of Quarks, and my primary EDC flashlight is a Quark 123, sitting in my left front pocket. The only real downside of the Quarks is that they're too big for keychain carry, for me.

My keychain light of choice is the 4Sevens Preon ReVO, which is sadly currently out of production. It's small, light, has very long runtime on low and outstanding output on high (82 OTF lumens). I don't know any 1xAAA flashlight that performs as well.

I have no affiliation with any companies mentioned other than being a raging flashaholic.

The Quark MiNi 123 is another light I just drop in my pocket. For a 123 powered LED, it comes in a nice small package. With modes from 3 to 189 lumens (out the front), it's hard to fault.

Agreed. The only reason I don't have a MiNi is that I don't want anything that big on my keychain. For a pocket light, I prefer the push-button interface of the Quark 123.

I did buy and play with test a MiNi AA before giving it to my favorite brother in law, and I liked it a lot. He still remarks upon how useful it is.

Funny, if you had quickly flashed that photo in a game show, I would've blurted out "Crab Nebula"! It would make a nice special effect shot on a sci-fi movie.

Unfortunately, many of these cheap, tiny LED lights either use poorly QC'd components, like the LED, or don't go through much QC before being shipped off. But for $5, yeah, I would've expected something better than the Crab Nebula.

That Quark MiNi123 would be a most excellent light, IF it could use rechargeabled RCR123's. But it can't. What a shame. Buying primary CR123 cells just gets too expensive for me.

While we're talking 1xAAA lights, my latest pocket EDC light is a a Fenix E05 (just recently discontinued, I believe but some places still have stock). The flood optic on it gives a big, bright, even beam that is very useful for short distance lighting situations. Twisty switch, O-rings, not much to go wrong with it. Brighter than an E01, which can be too dim in situations where you have stray ambient light to compete with. Of course, you get shorter runtime than an E01, too.

My pocket AAA light has been a Fenix L0P SE (special edition) for more many years now and it has been flawless... I wonder what i'm going to upgrade it with if the need occurs!

There are some nice cheap lights out there, such as that Energizer one... enjoy!

same here