Howdy,

I'm in the market for a new LED flashlight, but would like one that uses aa batteries and is nine to 11" long. Is there a site with comparisons?

Also, with so many leatherman styles available, has someone written up a table of which tool has what?

thanks,

TRO

Leatherman web site has comparisons of all the tools.

Also maglite with led drop in module is what would fit your bill.

Second the Leathermen web site.
Just got this led for my mag-light works great. The 2 d cell drop in is amazing.

C Crane Company has a really decent led light, the cc trek, that uses 3 AA batteries. I've had one for years and it's still a good light. Haven't looked in awhile, but they use to offer it as a "kit" (as a project for boyscouts and other organizations) where you could save 6 or 7 bucks (by screwing the cap on I guess). They also have a wide variety of LED replacement bulbs, including the Luxeons.

ccrane.com

Try looking at the Streamlight Twin Task series.

Here is a link ot the "D" version
http://www.brightguy.com/detail_int.php?Sku=STR51001

It features a single Xenon bulb surrounded by standard LED's. So you can choose which light you want.

I have the 2x123 version, and it is a very useful and versatile light. It rides in the emergency kit in the family mini-van.

Also note that there are some knock-off versions of these same lights if you shop around. In fact, I suspect that Streamlight buys these from some Asian company, and you can buy the exact same light with somebody else's name on it. So the posibility exists for some cost savings.

I have the full D-cell version of that Streamlight. It's a nice light, but the Xenon isn't as bright as it could be. It's nice having the combo for LED runtime and you can switch between Xenon, 5 LED and 10 LED. It's a moderately expensive light and I don't think that the LEDs are the brightest either. It is constructed well, but the main bulb did come lose right after purchase. I dug in and reset it and all has been well since.

It's not a bad light, it's just not a stellar light.

I have the 1L TwinTask, and I like it. I wish it had an end clicky, but that's pretty minor. If I had to make a real grumble, it's the bulbs- they start off great, but they dim noticiably over time.

If you like Mag products they are coming out with a line of LED flashlights "shortly." The release date keeps changing, but it should be in the next few months.

http://www.equipped.org/shot_show_2006_LED_flashlights-4.htm

Look for the MagLite section on that page. Here is a picture.

http://www.equipped.org/pp/pic10320.htm

A fully regulated, 3W Luxeon sounds good. Who knows if it will be?

The Streamlight ProPolymer Luxeon gets good feedback.

http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/streamlight_propolyluxeon.htm

I have a Fenix L2P which I really like, though it's shorter than what you mentioned. They are high quality and affordable, though a lot of Americans are turned off by the fact that it comes from China. I like to support American business, but couldn't resist the L2P and L1P.

Take a look at the Flashlight Reviews site I linked to earlier in this post. The LED Museum is another good review site.

http://ledmuseum.home.att.net/ledleft.htm

LED technology is progressing so rapidly right now that something better will be out in a year no matter what you buy. More manufacturers are also realizing that the general public is not going to buy CR123 battery based lights, so more and more AA, AAA, C, and D cell powered lights are showing up.

This is a change. Mag must have hired an engineer.
I thought that the entire company just consisted of manufacturing and lawyers. <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

Their sales have most likely nose dived. So they either get with the program or go out of buisness. I brought an Aurora 1.5W L.E.D. torch (lenser type) from Maplans last Saturday. Very powerfull. Amazingly so for its size and price. Cost me £21.00), single CR123 battery, Burn time of a couple of hours. Weigh's a couple of ounces. 4" or so long. Acceptable build quality. I only use it - under most circumstances - for a few seconds or a minute at a time. So I expect that the battery will last for a year or more. If I need to use a torch for a long time then its Tikka XP time.....

harrkev,

I know what you mean. Success through crushing small competitors is not my idea of good business, at least not from a consumer's point of view. Some companies fear competition though. I've read that they have been biding their time on the LED market, waiting for the technology to improve, and maybe that's true. Maybe. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

It's a classic problem in business. Mag is dominant in incandescent lights, where one set of attributes are valued. A niche market appears using an inferior technology. Gradually the technology gets better, to the point that it is adopted for the main market as well.

So seeing as how you're dominant in the field, in the early stages of the transition you position your technology favorably against the new tech. Later, when the new tech has advanced enough you enter the market yourself.

When? Well you'd think that making the jump early (or alternatively Mag having a separate line of LED lights) makes sense. But in my business classes I'm learning that it isn't necessarily the case.

If you use your dominance in the profit-generating cash cow, you can build a nice amount of capital that wil finance the transition. A new product line is expensive, and in a rapidly developing tech your investment in people and equipment may have to be thrown out anyway.

So you wait for the market to develop to just past the early adopter phase, then leap in with a product that learns from the mistakes of the early entrants in the field, without wasting capital and brand equity on making your own mistakes (though obviously you'll do that too). You also get to lead the vast majority of the market into the new sector at a time when they're starting to consider switching technologies also.

If the technology is complicated or "sticky" enough that you can't quickly produce your own, you can also acquire the top or second player in the field. They'll have already sunk most of the costs of designing the product, setting up production, and learning from their mistakes. But they haven't seen much revenue at this point and their capital is probably running out. So you buy them out just when their investors are at their most nervous, then pump marketing dollars into the product, which now has your brand and is earning cash for your company, then ride the growth.

"Getting in on the ground floor" has its advantages, but it isn't as strong as it seems. The risk with the above is that you wait too long or squander the profits you make during the transition, but Mag isn't necessarily being shortsighted at all.