In article , Stormin Mormon wrote:
Photon had some that take watch batteries, and go on your keyring. I havn't
been rough on mine, so it has held up well.

I carry a blue one on my keys, and a red one in my shirt pocket. Red? Well,
my color vision is terrible, and it helps me to tell red and green.

After many years of using min mag lights, I got the Opalec conversion
www.opalec.com for about $28. Worth every penny. Batteries last longer, and
it's adequate for most uses. Opalec is useless for looking down into
keyholes (I'm a locksmith, not a burglar). But for most things the 3 LED is
OK.

The Luxeon lights, well, they now have a conversion for minimag. I'll buy
one someday, but for now the 3 LED is adequate. I got a couple Luxeon lights
for my tools, they are much brighter t han LED.

The only time LED is really a major advantage is for a frequent use light.
The light that gets thrown in your tool box, don't bother with LED
conversion. Filament bulbs are OK for that. though, now the prices are
coming down some.

If the flashlight has to survive rough treatment and/or be reliable,
then I consider these good reasons for LED.

Also, I would avoid cheaper flashlights with the slide switch. I have
found that even cheaper push-on-push-off pushbutton flashlights do better.

I use a filament bulb light (3D Garrity) for finding adress at night. The
LED won't focuss a spot like the old lights. So, if you were out on a search
and rescue team, the filament bulb would be good, cause it shines farther.

Try a Dorcy "L.E.D. super 1 watt" that takes 3 D cells! This projects a
narrow spot beam, even narrower than that of a "Mag Light".

Its only drawbacks:

a) It is a little large - comparable to a 3-D-cell "Mag Light"

b) It is a little expensive - $30 or $29.whatever at the Target where I
bought it - a few bucks more than a 3-D-cell "Mag Light"

c) There is no circuitry nor a resistor that I could find. However,
the LED is only moderately overpowered by fresh alkaline D-cells and
I expect it to last a few thousand operating hours in any normal use.
Also, despite lack of any additional electrical components or
circuitry, I expect output to fade more slowly as the batteries weaken
than with a 3-D-cell "Mag Light".

d) Focusability can "get stuck" and require brute force to restore - but
the package does not even indicate focusability, and when the
focusability gets stuck it's normally better focused than a "Mag
light" is when best-focused.

Meanwhile, I see a bit of truth to the claim of 300 hour battery life.
At 300 hours of running from the same set of batteries, I expect it to
still be glowing, and brighter than an idling cigarette. I expect a "Mag
Light" to fade that badly in about 1/8 or maybe only 1/10 as much time.

- Don Klipstein )