Florida is the land of the newlyweds, overfeds, nearly-deads and frequent (often prolonged) electrical outages. In addition to hurricanes, the Sunshine State has the most numerous and violent thunderstorms in the world. Everyone who isn’t out on the beach with their head in the sand and a lightning rod sticking out of their — back pocket — while meditating on the advantages of denial owns a couple of flashlights and (presumably) attempts to keep them in good repair.
Trouble is, electrical equipment that is seldom used involves maintenance, and who in the world is going to set up a maintenance schedule for a flashlight? I mean, that takes anal retentive into a whole new dimension, even without the lightning rod. No, what happens is the torches (as the Brits call them) get tossed into a drawer, where contacts slowly corrode and batteries — especially cheap carbon/zinc batteries — lose their oomph, leak, and destroy the light. Or, folks get the stick-’em-in-the-wall-and-leave-them-there rechargeables and stick them in the wall and leave them there. This slowly fries the batteries to the point of eventually having less power than it would take to give that stupid bunny a single good thump.
Then there’s the quality of the equipment to be considered. Emergency flashlights run the gamut, but in my experience tend to be either the low-end Eveready and Ray-O-Vac stuff from the supermarket or a three pound MagLite that someone thought looked reassuring. (We’re talking rank and file here, not flashlight freaks like me.) In addition to the maintenance, or lack thereof, these lights tended (until recently, at least), to be equipped with incandescent bulbs that not only deal with batteries like a thirsty wino handles a pint of MD 20-20, but also burn out at inconvenient times, such as when dropped while switched on.
That is no longer the case. By spending a few bucks more, a person seeking the light can enter the 21st Century and get equipment that virtually eliminates all the problems listed. When the power goes out, these folks will not fear the darkness. I refer, Grasshopper, to the recent advent of flashlights utilizing light emitting diodes (LEDs).
LED flashlights have been around for a few years now, but only recently have entered the realm of the non-geeky flashlight owner. The first ones produced only monocolored light, not white light, ran on peculiar batteries, and weren’t generally good for much beyond finding a keyhole in the dark. In the ’90’s a Japanese scientist discovered that if you put a fluorescent material on the emitting surface of a blue LED, it could be made to glow white instead of blue. These “white” LEDs pulled a battery down in a hurry with their requirement for higher voltages, and were a pain in the butt to keep feeding with those exotic batteries.
It needs to be noted right here that the big advantage of LEDs over incandescent lamps (bulbs) is their relatively low power requirement. Despite my remarks in the previous paragraph, most LEDs use roughly one tenth the power of incandescents, which waste about 90% of their energy in the form of heat. (Touch a burning high-output xenon lamp with your finger to see how it looks with a fingerprint welded to it.) On the other hand, LEDs produce mostly visible light, although rather less of it. That used to be a problem, but higher output diodes have arrived that do a good job in most applications that don’t require spotlights, and newer advancements yet have produced LEDs that are rapidly pushing into that category as well.
Another big advantage of LEDs is that, because they don’t literally burn themselves up, they last for about 10,000 hours of use as opposed to bulbs, which rarely make it past fifteen or twenty hours. They’re also virtually unbreakable. When LEDs first arrived, no one knew how long they’d last. They hadn’t been around long enough for anyone to find out. First estimates were about 100,000 hours, but the consensus is that 10,000 hours of good service is probably about the top end. That’s about fifteen months of continuous use, sufficient for most folks.
Enter the microchip (IC) power converter. This device, which takes current from a low-voltage cell and steps it up to the higher voltages where LEDs work best, revolutionized flashlights. They allowed manufacturers to make torches that were relatively small, used more powerful LEDs, and that ran on common, easily-obtained cells – AAA, AA, C and D — ordinary, garden variety, meet-’em-every-day “flashlight batteries.” All of these cells operate at a nominal 1.5 volts. Before the IC converters, if you wanted a brighter LED you needed to step up the voltage by using more cells (at least two), and a bunch of LEDs to produce the extra light. Some models use(d) as many as forty or fifty LED’s and six or more C-cells or else bulky and expensive rechargables.
Converters changed all that. It’s now possible to make — and ARC Flashlights does — an LED light less than 3 inches long the operates on a single AAA alkaline cell and puts out more light than a Mini Mag 2-AA cell light, (which is more or less the standard in small incandescent flashlights.) Not only that, but you can run over them with a truck and they won’t break. I had one, but gave it to my daughter. I will have another. They’re even brighter, now.
Until the past year or so, bright, high quality LED flashlights were scarce on the ground, and expensive compared to — say — the Mini Mag, which can be purchased at most of the big-box stores for under ten bucks, with batteries, carrying case, and an extra bulb. Good LED lights cost twice that, on average, with the top of the line stuff like the ARC in the $20-35.00 range and up. The top notch made-to-last-forever-and-survive-Humvee-stomping stuff still costs to high heaven, but prices are coming down and there are several good LED torches on the market for under twenty bucks, including one at $9.99 that’s an incredible buy. (Remember, here, we’re talking quality, reliability and long life — of the light and the batteries it uses. You have to figure on paying a little more, Skippy.)
In addition to “pure” LED lights, there are combo units that use LEDs for close-up work to save the battery, and (usually) xenon lamps for brighter, longer range needs.
My first LED light was a keyring light from Photon, and it’s still on my ring, working fine after several years. It’s bright enough to find your way down a path, even change a tire in a pinch, and is about the size of a quarter. ($7.99 – $15.00) When I gave the ARC to my baby I replaced it with a CMG Infinity Ultra AA (now owned by Gerber) that I’ve carried and used for about five years. It’s always in my right pants pocket with my Space Pen , medication tin and Benchmade AFCK mini , and is an excellent buy at about eighteen bucks. I think the LED has lost a little punch, but it’s still a faithful companion, and it eats less than an Indian.
During the hurricanes of ‘04 and ‘05, Michele and I used our lights (she has an ARC) extensively, performing chores, reading and for just general room lighting by aiming them at the ceiling and bouncing the light. After eight days without power, she was as sold on them as I am, trust me! A couple of weeks ago, in preparation for this season, we purchased an Inova X1 single AA light at Target. It out-performs our previous lights quite a bit, at the cost of some (but not much) battery life. I estimate the power at about 1/4 watt, and it will light up the bathroom sufficiently that you can shower, shave and do most anything but apply makeup.
I thought the Inova was the cat’s south end. However, I’d looked at a .5 watt light at Target at the same time we bought the Inova. Having passed it up as “too cheap,” I went back and got one to cover the low end market when I decided to write this article.
This little light, made in China and branded “River Rock,” kicks ass! It’s actually brighter than a 3 C-cell converted “regular” Mag Lite we have — quite effective out to 50-75 feet. Using 2 AAA cells at about 7 hours life at full power it’s still plenty economical to use, and at the price ($9.99) you can afford one to go with every pair of socks. Construction is black anodized aluminum, pretty sturdy, with a nice little clip for pocket or hat brim, and (like the Inova) a switch with button on the back end that you twist for constant “on” or push for signalling. Twisting it farther “off” makes it safe for carry without fear of running the cells down. This is definitely the unit I’d recommend for most folks. There are more powerful lights available in the $15 – 35.00 range, but this is all you’d need unless you’re goin’ coon-huntin’.
| From left to right: Photon (not on), CMG (Gerber) Infinity Ultra, US quarter-dollar, Inova X1, River Rock .5 watt (Target) Mini Mag not shown out of respect for its feelings.  |
Update: Since this was written, MagLite has come out with both a MiniMag LED and full sized MagLite LEDs and conversions. I have one of each, and they kick butt for brightness. Both are 3 watt Luxeon Star single LEDs that focus like a regular MagLite incandescent bulb, and both are much brighter than the old-style bulbs in their respective lights. I’m not really fond of the switch mechanism in the Mini-LED. When the batteries get low, it gets hinky. Either, however, is an excellent choice — although I’d prefer a less-powerful light for close up use.
A word about batteries (properly called “cells;” technically, a “battery” is two or more cells). Buy the cheapest alkaline cells you can find to power your LED flashlights. The additional capacity in a Duracell “Ultra” or other premium cell, while noticeable in a high-drain application like toys, is not much of a factor in LED flashlights and not worth the additional expense. The IC converters have circuitry that regulates voltage to get the most out of the cells, and most LEDs will produce useable light when the battery’s so low it will hardly move a voltmeter.
The exception is for units that will be stored for long periods, as in a car, and/or at extremes of temperature. For those, go with lithium cells (not lithium ion — different cells for a different purpose). You can get lithiums at camera departments, for roughly two bucks apiece. They operate at lower temperatures than alkalines, have a shelf life of up to ten years, and don’t leak as badly. As a bonus, they deliver power more evenly, and last a little longer. (They also die faster when they go; alkalines will continue to produce reduced light for much longer.) Definitely the thing, though, for that light that will roll to the rear of the glove box and stay there for a couple of years before you need it.
A newer “hybrid” Nickle Metal Hydride (NiMH) kind of battery has just arrived on the market. Currently sold in the US by EverReady and Hybrio, they combine rechargability with the long charge life of an alkaline. They are reputed to hold up to 80% of their charge for a year in normal storage, making it unnecessary to charge them before use. One of the big problems with rechargables has always been their tendency to discharge themselves. My limited experience with these new hybrids has been highly positive, and I recommend a few sets of them now instead of stocking AA and AAA alkalines for emergencies.
When you change the cells, wipe the new cell’s contacts and those inside the flashlight with a little WD-40 or silicone sprayed on a Q-Tip. Wipe any dirt and oxidation off the threads and o-rings too. A thin film is all you want. It will protect the surfaces from corrosion, make the screw threads operate more smoothly, and make you feel virtuous. We can all use a little of that, especially old spooks.
This has gotten toooo long. Hope you got something out of it.
