What a bout feeding the said flashlight with a nearly empty alka ?
You could buy a Lumintop Tool for example and give the TV remote batteries a “new” life :partying_face:
- programmable AAA? look at skylumen ToolVN with driver VN2 (programmabkle to any (number of) modes with any lumen you want) -> it is a little bit pricy by the way
btw: using an empty battery to decreasing the brightness of common AAA-lights (A01, Tool) is not an option, cause the light will be in heavy daily use (reading under the blanket for hours )
That’s what I do with my “bobofett” light. Eats dead AAs that won’t even power an optical mouse. It’s a “moonlight” light, but that’s fine late at night.
If your handy with soldering & modding, a simple resistor would work in any good solid 2-AA flashlight to lower its output to non-blinding levels. a 100 ~ 150 ohm 1/4 watt resistor soldered in one of the LED leads would bring a low-cost 10-dollar (but tough) hugsby XP2 down to 10 to 20 lumens, (or any low cost LED light) and increase the run time by days. Add a coule rechargeable AA cells and kids are happy for days between charges. Also as Jerommel mentioned, some frosted scotch tape on the lens will help reduce the blinding beam to a floody glow.
reading under the covers with a flashlight, I would also consider warm tint and high CRI
not a fan of diffusers, or any system that shines light on my eyes when Im trying to light up a book page
it might also be useful to find a light that is USB rechargeable
for a simple answer to your wishlist, I agree the Fenix E01 is a contender. It happens to have one of the most disgusting tints of any of the options, but you did not, yet, specify tint and cri goals
I would rather give them a good 3 mode Tool w Nichia, and teach them how to change modes responsibly… YMMV
Go to fenix official website. Select AAA flashlight from their list within your budget. I am a big fan of fenix and i will not recommend any other brand over fenix.
Fenix E12 flashlight (130 lumens) would be great choice. https://theeffectiveguide.com/best-aaa-flashlight/ However, I have found there a few good aaa flashlight list.
or stick with a maglight solitaire, 2 lumen single mode,
and skip all the talk about LED, CCT, CRI and PWM
the Nitecore tube has some good points, but, would you give your kids a light that is strobing their brain, at any speed?
at 1.06 in this video you can see the tube PWM https://youtu.be/0i-EoDToHZM?t=1m6s
maybe the Made in USA maglight solitaire has everything you need
the kids can each have a different color
Maybe you could tighten the tailcaps enough that they won’t be able to eat the batteries
Plus I have faith that the kids can learn safe operation of flashlights, and will enjoy being included and trusted, to use flashlights, like their Hero Dad does
I think its really cool that you are thinking about what to give them
share your outcomes
in led lights, PWM is hard to avoid, but I have managed to find a few lights that don’t use it
I think there is a nice soothing effect to be had from a warm incandescent tint late at night before sleeping
the cool white end of the spectrum is not as good to helping a kid get ready to sleep
I just gave my partners nephew a Hugsby XP-2 its a tad bright but hes good he doesn’t shine it in peoples faces. He is turning 4 soon. My niece and nephew think its funny to shine lights in my face lol I guess i also do the same to people and i am how old lol it must run in the family