I'm looking for a tiny flashlight to put inside my cigarette pack sized psk/first aid kit. Opinions on the best one?

Photon 2

Here's a review that was done on this site.<br><br>http://www.equipped.org/led_lights.htm<br><br>

I agree with Chris on the Photon 2. I have carried mine on my keychain in my pocket for over 2 years - it is reliable and seemingly indestructible. I use it regularily and I am still on the original battery! <br><br>I chose the green for it's 200 hour battery life - mine came with the large single cell - the greens are now sold with the 2 smaller cells making it much brighter but cutting the battery life to under 20 hours. However, you can still retrofit the green with the single larger battery to get the 200 hours.<br><br>I don't have a Photon 3, but people I know who do have one, say the increased complexity has sullied the perfection of the Photon 2's design - especially concerning are accidental turn-ons that sap battery life.<br><br>The Photon 2 is one of my all time favourite tools - highly recommended!

ARC AAA- waterproof, batteries easy to obtain and easy to replace, bright and long battery life. Pete<br><br>http://store.yahoo.com/flashlight/<br><br>Great prices and service at this site:<br>http://www1.ecxmall.com/stores/texastacticalsupply/Search.bok?category=Led+Lights<br>

I'm about to purchace a photon 2 (at last!), but I have also been looking at the 0-4 mini task light. the waterproof spec seems nice but.... it's not as slike looking as the photon 2. <br>does water damage the photon? would I have to be worried about geting it wet? <br>of couse I don't go jumping into the water with my clothes on very often. but it would be pain if the light failed after a light dunking. <br>has any one here got an 0-4 mini task light? if so please tell me what you think of it<br>cheers<br>-james

I have never had any problems after accidental immersions of my Photon 2, though I have usually unscrewed it and dried it out before too long. On the photonlight.com website's message forum, Brian Avery has described a way to properly waterproof them and I have quoted him below (though, I haven't gotten around to doing it to mine yet).<br><br><br><br>--- Quote from Brian Avery of photonlight.com forum:<br><br>: what kind of store sells silicon dielectric <br>: grease so i can waterproof my p3? <br><br>I got some good stuff at a local diving supply store. It even came in a small <br>key-chain sized tin (very appropriate, I thought). <br><br>You can probably also find something in the plumbing section of your local <br>hardware store. <br><br>Just look for 100% pure silicone grease. <br><br>-Bryan<br><br>: What exactly do you apply it to on the photon <br>: light, and how do you apply it? I'm just not <br>: familiar with this material or how it's <br>: used. <br><br>Basically, you want to fill the inside of the light with the grease. Cover the batteries completely and around the edges where the battery cover closes. If you want to go all the way, you can even lift up the circuit board a bit and get some of the grease in under the button, but this might be overkill. If you get too much in there, you might have a little trouble with the switches. With mine, the on/off switch was not working reliably and it would turn itself off and reset itself as soon as I let go of the rear button. After working the button for a minute or two the grease got worked around enough inside the case that it was not getting in the way and the light worked fine after that. <br><br>Right now, the light has been sitting in a jar of water for about a month, but I think it is still water-tight. <br><br>-Bryan <br><br>

I agree that the Photon is the way to go. I have had a P2 for a couple of years and recently bought a P3 even though there were some quality control problems with P3s for a while. <br><br>It seems the problems are mostly ironed out now and my P3 works perfectly and is a terrific light. If you are considering the Photon, don't rule out the P3. It is water resiatant, easy to turn on and off, and has some neat "modes," some of which are very useful. For instance, the medium and low modes really extend battery life and are less disruptive to night vision. The flashing modes could be good as a distress signal or hazard light. It is possible to accidentally turn one on, but I haven't had any problem with that and it doesn't seem like there is any problem with the design that would make that too likely (unless you are really rough with it, such as putting it on a huge nest of keys and throwing the keys around a lot). I highly recommend the P3.<br><br>By the way, a P2 can survive a dunking in water, but you should open it up and dry it out afterward. The silicone grease trick mentioned in this thread is intended for the P3 to enhance it's water resistance. I don't think it would work well on the P2 since the case is open. <br><br>These are definitely not the most powerful lights you can get, but they are the tiniest and have a completely useful level of light output (assuming you are not trying to illuminate anything further than about 20 feet). They are perfect for a small PSK or for everyday carry in a pocket.

I think a good choice thats different from others would be the AAA flshlite by maglight. Its indestructabile but you pay for it in weight. There nice though and Mine has lasted a couple years. plus there is an extra bulb in the handel. and when you are in a crunch for a fire starter just break the glass bulb leaving the fillament in tack. Then turn it on and light a small pile of steel wool kept in your kit.<br><br>ballonman

I would avoid the Maglite Solitare. It is dim and runtime is a bit iffy. A much better light (already mentioned here) is the Arc AAA light:<br><br>http://www.brightguy.com/detail.tpl?cart=10334628042680&sku=ARC3AW<br><br>Review:<br>http://ledmuseum.home.att.net/arclight.htm<br><br>The Arc AAA is about the same size as the Maglite Solitare, also uses a single AAA battery, but is waterproof, more rugged and uses a bright white LED. Puts out similar light to the Photon II.<br><br>While a bit bigger, the Infinity Ultra would be a nice choice, especially if you load it with a lithium battery (in addition to giving you a 10 year shelf life, the lithium battery reduces weight quite a bit). <br><br>The Ultra takes a single AA battery, is very rugged, waterproof and also puts out similar light to the Photon II. The upside of this light is that it has a very long runtime (~25hrs):<br><br>http://www.brightguy.com/detail.tpl?cart=10334628042680&sku=CMGULTWB<br><br>Review:<br>http://ledmuseum.home.att.net/infultra.htm<br><br>While the Photon II is light, bright and has a good shelf life, the inability to handle water seems a drawback. Battery changes are a bit problematic as well. One thought might be to lightly vacumm pack the light and then you would have a waterproof version of the Photon II - just use it through the shrinkwrap! Another issue might be accidental activiation.<br><br>The Photon III has been reported to have some reliability problems but it does deal with water and battery changes better.<br><br>Also, check out the flashlight discussion forums at:<br>www.candlepowerforums.com<br><br>-john

Just curious, Ballonman... have you ever done that?<br>Made a fire from the filament of a maglite bulb?<br><br>But even if you could, why not just short the ends of the battery with the steel wool, rather than ruin a bulb? I'm not too confident that a AAA battery would be sufficient, anyway. What has been your actual experience with this?

My favorite is the Buck 2xAAA in a side by side config. This light is about the same size as a Micra folded. Rugged, waterproof and very bright. The In-line configured model has a tip which sucks up light and glows in the dark. Also has a pocket clip. Both lights activate by rotating the head( no switches to break). We use them a lot in the Arctic because they don't freeze to your skin in minus 40.

Mariner, I'm curious about your experience with LED flashlights in arctic temperatures. Theoretically the light shouldn't degrade as much as a standard bulb in extreme cold. But "theoretically" doesn't mean much in the face of actual experience. Do you have any observations?

LEDs are OK except when you need a lot of light to put a new piston in your ski-doo when your are a million miles from nowhere. Two Batteries give much more light then LEDs. The only use we have for LEDs in the Arctic is to show you where to put the key during our periods of 24 hour darkness. And thats after drinking 65 rums and coke.<br><br>Our experience has been that for real light go with double AA or D size batteries as a minimum. Single battery anythings will not give you bright light. They do power clocks really well. Don't forget this is an extreme enviroment. LEDs may work well for less severe applications without technical work.<br><br>Mariner.

For what it is worth, many of the new LED's are in fact multi-battery systems, including C and D size. Many of the newer Luxon-Star (LS) LED's are brighter that conventional bulbs, with superior battery life and no bulb failure. Soon there will be even more powerful LEd's, so don't count them out for harsh conditions or where significant amounts of light are required. Pete

Note the original poster said the PSK in question was very small - I would assume size is a significaint issue for this application.<br><br>For a extreme condition light (esp in 24hr dark) it would be understandable the selection would be different.<br><br>The other thought is that lithium batteries should work better in cold environments. <br><br>Of course small (coin type) cells just don't have enough juice in them (for primary lights in exterme conditions). They make both AA and D size lithium batteries, although the D cells are 3V so you would need to intermix a dummy battery ( http://www.hdssystems.com/ActionLightAccessories.htm#DummyBattery ) to get the correct voltage for most lights.<br><br>In regard to D cells working best, it isn't supprising -- an AA cell has 2,850 mAh in it where a D cell has 18,000! A coin cells like the CR2016 typically has under 90mAh.<br><br>The gotcha is the D cells output a lot of their power at very low voltages - a regulated light seems the optimal way to resolve this. Blackdiamond makes regulated headlamps, although they don't have any that take D cells directly (NxAA and rechargable). However, the regulated light advantage still applies with other alkalines like the AAs.<br><br>A light to check out for extreme use might be the ARC LS. Very sturdy, bright LED (similar to 10-14 "normal" LEDs), is regulated and takes a variety of battery configurations (1xAA, 2xAA, 1x123A). http://store.yahoo.com/flashlight/arcls.html<br><br>Regarding single cell lights, I would submit that the current crop of single cell, LED lights like the ARC AAA and the CMG Ultra DO measure up. The ARC AAA and CMG Ultra are both as bright as a Photon II because they are (more or less) regulated lights.<br><br>Which of course dosen't mean you want to change a piston on your snowmobile in 24 hour darkness with one, but on the other hand, a full 17-25 hrs (CMG Ultra) of Photon class light when you don't have anything else is a big win IMO. And it's small enough to always live in your pocket, or tiny PSK. They are tough as nails and very reliable. <br><br>I'd be curious how the UK 2L would hold up to very cold conditions. It's quite a sturdy little light, VERY waterproof, runs on 2 x 123A cells and runs for 3 hrs. It's beam isn't great, but not horrible either. I'd certainly recommend it for almost any other emergency kit w/o question.<br><br>http://www.brightguy.com/detail.tpl?cart=103371491286155&sku=UND12005<br><br>-john<br><br><br>3V Lithium D cell:<br>http://www.hdssystems.com/LithiumBattery.htm

Lots of good points, JohnN - I know you recommended www.candlepower.com forums earlier in this thread - I just must warn anyone who has a latent flashlight obsession to think carefully before entering the candlepower site! It is extremely addictive, and you will hear about flashlights you never heard of before (eg: the ArcLS), that all of a sudden you now know you must have. <br><br>I have seen the light!

I wish you would have posted this warning earlier, i am now the proud owner of an ArcLS. If anyone is looking for a recommendation for a small BRIGHT led flashlight the ArcLS is it. It is not inexpensive however, but it is well worth the money.

Send me one and I'll let you know. Wind chills up to -90C. Ambients at -50C.<br><br>Mariner.