Old Skool

I don’t know a lot about metals or metal working but with the 2 “vintage” lights I’ve purchased recently I’ve noticed a few difference between those lights and those of today.



With the first light I got the cyclinder is obviously a single sheet of metal (tin or aluminum I don’t know but maybe someone can help me here) and has a seam. The head and tail cap is seamless of course.



This is a 2 D incan made in Hong Kong in the 1960’s I think. It has a sliding switch on the side.



The second light is metal but doesn’t have a seam. Does this fact give any indication of the metal? Aluminum I think. It has a sliding switch on the side as well but no momentary as the first light has. The interesting thing here is the battery type. It’s incan by the way as well.



I think it uses a battery type called sub-C. I’ve never seen one and I don’t know how long they have been around but I can’t think of anything else size-wise. I put in a 18650 since it’s an exact fit and it burned out the bulb. I’m now using a bulb listed at 3.6V and it works great.



The cool thing about the second light is that it’s an inch shorter than a P60 host and much, much lighter. This light would be considered cheaply made I guess but in some ways it’s actually better than the heavy aluminum lights we are used to.



It’s more the weight of a AA Zebralight. I have both of the lights diffused since incan beams are just ugly especially lower output ones that are only going to be used up close. With the diffusion they are great howeever.



It’s interesting to consider the specs of the second light given what many people are looking for today at much higher prices. It’s a small and light weight light with a CRI of 100 and a warm tint, single mode with a useful output of about 30 lumens (guessing). I paid including shipping $3. Although I would have no idea as to how to get another one (ebay). When I bid on it I thought it used 2 regular C cells so the single 18650 fitting was just luck.



These old incans have virtually nothing to go wrong as there is no need for a driver and most use simple metal strips for switches and some have momentary switches as well and most all switches are side switches. They can be manufactured cheaply in China and you don’t have to do work on them yourself after they arrive. They are idiot proof if you will!



Does anyone know what the metals commonly used in these lights were. Does tin form more easily than aluminum or are most of them aluminum and the construction technique has more to do with pre-CNC machines?
I’d love to find another (2) sub-C made in HK retro light on ebay maybe with a bit more character than my second light and more like my first light.



Pictures of both are in this thread by the way: