Greetings and Salutations....

On Wed, 18 Aug 2004 07:18:21 GMT, Bruce L. Bergman
wrote:

On Tue, 17 Aug 2004 17:53:26 GMT, (Rex B) wrote:

On Tue, 17 Aug 2004 17:22:40 GMT, "Jerry Martes" wrote:
|| I have built several conversions of old flashlights to accept LEDs. They
||all work. But, the light I carry in my pocket is a Coast LEDLenser V^2.

Which one?
Coast lights are jewels. Nice just to look at.
Texas Parts Guy

No Coast lights for me, thanks - I want something that takes AA, AAA
or another commonly available anywhere and for cheap battery.

All the Coast flashlights I've seen take proprietary (odd)
batteries. Fry's Electronics sells Coast lights, but not the special
batteries they require - I take that as a bad omen.

Yea...I agree that can be a real problem. I have never
had a good feeling about things that use propriatary parts (which
is one reason I *really* dislike Compaq/HP systems) and am a tad
nervous about buying tools from HF.

For work, I have a Black Diamond 4-white-LED headband light that
takes three AAA's. And a three AA hand LED flashlight from REI, not
sure who made it - CMG, I think. The Pelican four AA at Costco looks
good, I'll probably grab one for the toolbag because it's a plastic
case.


Last year or two, "Maglite" clone flashlights, with 4 white
leds started showing up at the hamfests. They started out at $20
each, then, of course, dropped a bit. I picked up a couple when
they hit $10 each, and, have seen them a bit cheaper. They use a
couple or three AA cells, and have pretty good life, especially with
LiNh batteries in them. And...for the quality...are surprisingly
cheap.
I agree though, with other posters who have discussed the
problem of the diffuse beam. That is less of a problem for me,
actually, as most of the time I am using them in fairly enclosed areas
(computer cases, etc) but, when wandering in the woods in the wee
hours of the morning, it can be a slight problem. The pool of light
just does not reach that far out. Plenty bright inside the pool,
but, not much good for bushbeaters.
I REALLY like the little, 1 LED lights that use several AAAA
batteries. Light, easy to poke around, and VERY bright. Also, they
do have surprisingly long lives, and, since I have a Batteries Plus
store or two here in Knoxpatch, easy to find batteries for. Still
has the "diffuse beam" problem, but, are so bright it hardly matters.
Regards
Dave Mundt