New AAA on Ebay

You'll always be welcome here boomhauer, thanks for the visit!

I updated my reply with a few more interesting links, especially the Focalprice knurled carabiner model.

The focalprice unit looks exactly like a Tank007 E08, except for the generic led instead of a Cree, and is $10 cheaper. Since Tanks are generally one of the better quality budget lights, perhaps this cheapie is a goodie. Good find.

That appears to be a typo about the tail push button switch, doesn't it? The E08 is a twisty.

No, I believe the E08 is a clicky: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.26990

Don't mind me, I'm just having fun posting links. Smile

:) Enjoy, posting links is why BLF exists.

So how does the clicky work on the E08? Isn't there a metal post coming out the back for the carabiner clip?

That post should be the switch itself, which actually might not be the best design for a pocket keychain light if it is easily activated. The cheaper version might be a good test unit in this regard.

Hmmm, can't really figure how that would work. Do you push the post in?

That's my guess.

The fun thing about these lights is it doesn't cost much to find out. Much more fun than finding out that your multi-hundred dollar light does things in a strange way.

Just ordered one to find out. didn't create an account just in case they happen to be reading here. The anticipation is half the fun...

It may use some totally weird way of doing things after all. I spent a chunk of the late 70's early 80's selling used cameras and new ones if I absolutely had to. Most of the trade was in Leicas which were 10-40 years older than I was, but we traded in all sorts of incredibly expensive oddities. Most of the things were bought and sold in auction houses for 5 figure prices. I have a strange fondness for Arca cameras. They were unbelievably expensive (They were hand built in Switzerland after all) and did things in their own way. Most notably the film wind went from front to back unlike any other camera I've ever come across. They were also tough enough to knock in nails with though not may people were prepared to do that with multi-thousand pound (multiply by 2.5x for US dollars - and this was 1980, make that >$10,000 at today's prices) cameras.

Hasselblad cameras had a similar effect but they were just stupid. But cost even more.

I'm trying to order LF336B, LF591B, and LF592B, but PayPal is stupid and doesn't work very well with my shipping address country. So I'm waiting for FP to send me a manual invoice. They're fairly obliging in these cases at least, especially when a sale is involved.

Which is quite impressive given the cash amount involved. My organisation reckons that a manual invoice costs around $15 to generate. The labour costs here are a bit higher. At today's exchange rate the legal minimum wage is $9.25/hr. Anyone generating invoices earns at least double that.

Yes, it is incredibly easy and affordable to check out these budget lights. Sometimes, though, I drift back into "cheapskate" mode with these lights, and start debating to myself the relative merits of a $2.00 light before I eventually snap out of it and just buy the darned thing!

I have a fondness for the budget quest, as in my interest with wine. Years ago, I climbed the mountain and looked from the summit of my wine interests and, aside from some frugality imposed by current real life, what really satisfies me is that rare gem in a $10 bottle. Finding such a bargain makes it taste even better. I get a similar satisfaction with some of my budget lights, knowing that I got, say, 90% of the performance for 20% of the cost of an expensive flashlight.

I find satisfaction when I buy a light with a product description of Cree Q2 and I end up receiving a Cree Q5 :)

Better that way than the other way around :)

Here are some nice looking cheap 1xAAA flashlights at KD: http://kaidomain.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductId=10756

I don't like the moveable clip though, I'd prefer a captured clip.

These are the clickies I was referring to in the other thread. http://www.ledshoppe.com has these for $2.99/pc but I got some on their ebay listing for $2.28 (before the listing ended). Subsequently emailed them and arranged to buy 20 more for $2.20/pc. Nice little light - smooth, more floody beam than the mxdl twisty. Clicky feels really good. I actually like the clip, but I needed to stretch them out a bit for easier pocket holstering.

http://cgi.ebay.com/037-18-Aluminum-Compact-LED-Flashlight-/170524918514?pt=US_Flashlights

Maybe I'm just too picky, but I personally would prefer the MXDL brand like in the Kaidomain picture, although they're probably all the same. The eBay version above is a generic.

Well.. you won't find quality lights with XP-G R5 and HAIII from a brand manufacturer for such a low price. These lights all fall in the category: "I hope it's working and not too blue of a tint"-lights. So don't expect too much from sub 3 Dollar lights and there is a reason MXDL lights are not labelled Romisen. These are all mass-produced with virtually no quality control and just labelled MXDL or Whateverfire. It's more like gambling on a purchase.

True true!