I have a couple of 1xAAA lights, including an ITP, an Ultrafire 1-mode, and soon a Tank007. I really like the tiny lights, as they’re a lot easier to actually EDC (I’ve mostly been carrying the ITP, hung on a belt loop), and the others on keychains.
However, I’ve noticed that these tend to get banged up, especially around the bezels and tubes, and especially when on a keychain. I already lost a couple of Coast AAAs (one of the free G10s, and the earlier, smaller one), I think because I had them on a keychain, and the lights inevitably were the first thing to hit when I put the keychains down, and I really don’t want to (esp.) have the ITP die on me.
So I was wondering if any of you all have seen anything like a rubber slip-on type cover that might work with 1xAAA lights like these? And, maybe more difficult, something that would protect the “front-end” of the lights, without degrading the output?
Believe it or not, for now, I’ve been wrapping various rubber bands around the bezels and bodies, but they look plug-ugly :(, and I hate them, but rather do that than take the chance of damaging the lights.
Thanks for the suggestions. I have been thinking about heat shrink. Regarding heat, I rarely use these on high, except to surprise myself :)… Mostly for poking around dark areas behind cabinets, etc., and low/medium modes are usually good, whereas high is usually too much glare, so even if the heat shrink hindered heat dissipation a little, it should be ok, I think. Plus, worst case, I can cut it off.
Ouchyfoot, thanks for the link for the holsters. I hadn’t seen those before. Do you happen to know what the other side of the holsters look like? None of the pics show that. Does it have like a flap that would allow it to be slipped onto a belt? I don’t use a carabiner on my belt.
Tsellers, the lanyards are nice, but they look almost as big as the lights??
I don’t think I have the patience to weave them myself, but I do like the concept. Going to try and get my spouse to take up a new hobby, told her as she doesn’t have any forums to hang out in she needs a nice hobby, like paracord sheaths…
Wondering of the 3mm cord would be better for lights than the 4mm.
If it weren’t for the potential heat problem, I would recommend Plasti-Dip. I don’t think that would be prudent, though, except for perhaps at the very tip of the light.
That (Plasti dip) sounds interesting. Did some googling, and it’s a heat insulator (i.e., would probably prevent heat from the head being dissipated), but I’m thinking of maybe just spraying a small area around the front of the bezels, which I think take the most beating.
I’m assuming that I’d want to disassemble the head before doing that?
You know, it’s funny how a question about rubber covering turns into a search for a new light :)… Seems like the stainless is hard/impossible to find nowadays :(…
That model for 18650 lights probably would not hold a AAA light, but I do have the Nite-Ize headband, and use it often while camping. http://www.niteize.com/product/Headband.asp
But the point of the thread was “spur of the moment” usage put the light into your mouth to hold it, and user’s devised a rubber mouth-piece on the light.
I’ve been thinking of trying some of these, to put on the bezel part of my ITP and Illumina Ti, to at least protect the fronts. Then I could just pop them off when I needed to use the lights:
One problem with cheap lights is they usually come with fairly thin Type II anodizing. When it wears down as your light bounces among your keys and other pocket items your light can start to look like it’s been through a war.
One solution is to remove the anodizing. Bare aluminum has a classy silver look once you polish it up. And while softer than anodized aluminum, scratches in bare aluminum usually look much less noticeable because the scratch is the same color as the surface.
Best way I’ve found to remove anodizing is to immerse the aluminum body in Greased Lightning for 20-30 minutes, then rinse and dry.
