Hey guys, I’m lookin to put together a list of lights with the features in the title, I find they’re the best lights for loaning out to friends and family who might not “get” multiple modes / more in-depth UI’s. I have a fenix E21 but its about at the top of the price range for lights I’m welling to hand out as loaners. I know about the quark tactical (and turbo) series but if $32 is almost to expensive ~$70 is way to much. I’m not worried about my friends walking off/loosing them, I’m more worried about the other girls in my daughters Girl Scout troop or random neighbors during power outages, these lights will mostly be ran on alkalines with maybe the most used running eneloops, it does not need to run on 14500’s because I would never be handing out Li-ion lights to random people or kids.
If you have a suggestion please post it below and I’ll edit the list so all the info is together. I’m going to include the quarks because they can be had used for about $35-40 quite often, I’d like to put a ~$50 cap on the suggestions tho (but again if its a common light that can be had used for under that even if the MSRP is higher that’s fine too) my main concerns are head-twist for mode change so that the button always does the same thing (turns the light on or off). It is extremely simple for everyone to use that way and takes no explination.
Fenix E21
Quark 2AA Tactical & Turbo
Kalarus P2A
SolarForce T2 (but head loose is 2 modes)
…
While not a twist head to change modes, I’ll get the Rayovac 2AA Indestructible to use as loaners. They’re cheap ($14.99 at the local Home Depot), robust, and simple to use. One just has to press the switch to turn it on in high or low. You can easily find reviews on how much abuse they can take and still work. Plus it has a more than decent return policy.
Using my poor vision, the high of the Rayovac is not as bright as the high on my E21, but it’s fairly close. The low is also lower than the E21, which I much prefer.
Guys I appreciate the suggestions so far, I have looked every one of them up. My biggest concern (other than runnig on 2AA alkaline/NiMH’s) is the head twist from one mode to the next (e.g. Head tight = high, head loose = low) the main people I will be loaning these to are 8-12 year old girls and their parents who mostly know nothing about lights and who are unlikely to have experienced a multi-mode light before. I need a mechanical operation [a head twist] for the mode change, if the button switches modes they’re likely to never figure out the sequence and never know what mode it’ll be in when they push the button next. No matter how simple it is to us its likely to be to much for them. If it can only come on at one specific brightness with the head tight, or one other pre-defined level with the head loose almost everyone will be able to understand that and know what to expect when they pick it up.
Another thing is thes girls arnt going to notice the difference between very similar size/shape lights, if there are a few different ones laying around the camp you would be surprised how many people think they’re all the exact same light, that’s another reason why I’m looking for lights that operate the exact same way, they wouldnt be able to reconize “ok this light works like this while that one there works like that”, to them they all look the same, a metal tube about the same size with a button at one end and a lens at the other.
About the only other option I could consider would be if the head acted like a controll ring (either infinitely adjustible or preset “clicks”) but to maintain similarity it would need to be the whole head, not just a small control ring (and I doubt that exists in my budget).
I actually really like this light and even tho head loose is 2 modes it would still be almost perfect but I think its just a little more aggressive looking than the other couple options, a little to “agressive” for the intended users. I think I might pick one up to check out and maybe designate it for my daughters only and let the E21 I usually give them get bumped down to loaner status.
Dont hate me for this but a little bit of pink paint to cover the stainless head should be suffice to make it more friendly looking lol. I do wish it was all black from the factory, it would make it less agressive looking too, that SS just stands out to much.
I just thought of something, is there any way to make a “hi/lo ring” for a dereelight javalin with a single mode drop it, something like Malkoff uses? It’s a pretty simple concept using a resistor to lower output from a single mode driver but would it be possible to rig it up somehow? Does anyone Know if their head threads are anodized?
That would easily allow for me to upgrade the lights down the road while still offering the specifics I need now.
I thought I’d update, I was really having a hard time deciding but I needed to get something because of our upcoming family camping trip for my birthday, I needed two lights so out daughters didnt fight over who gets to hold the one, I checked amazon and they had two E21’s on sale for $25.80 so I went with it. I was really liking the T2 for this purpose except for the stainless “strike” bezel, I still may pick up a T1 for a tool box light, for the price it looks to be a great light.
Thank you for all the suggestions, if anyone knows any more just post here and I’ll still update the list, this UI is just so simple I love it.
