Owned one of these years ago and it was a great EDC back in the day. Durable and really performed well for what it was; I relied on it many times. Back then I didn’t know the first thing about lights and got a green LED version since it advertised longer battery life. Now I’m considering picking up one again, but this time with the covert nose and most likely in either orange or yellow. These colors offer narrow beam profile with decreased night vision disturbance compared to white as well as the bonus of running off a single, yet higher capacity, CR2032. Thoughts?
Also, I’m looking at the Micro Light II Pro version as it offers the increased water resistance of the Freedoms as well as constant on function without extra modes and complications. A low mode would be nice, but I prefer a simple UI in this style of light.
I have four of the initial production models, two cool white and two warm whites… As well as one of the newer blue ano warm whites on the way. Great little light!
Have had a few of these. I lost my Freedom Micro. It had the ramping UI, with PWM on the lower levels. It came with a necklace holder, and a clip. Now that I remembered the necklace I have an idea where I lost it
The yellow had long run time. Not sure what ones, but I remember you could 2032 some of the 2x 2016 lights for longer run time but less output.
Odd that you should post this, just unintentionally “found” my old Photon a few nights ago. Ugly blue beam,
but it was a lot of fun. Momentary switch only. Attached was a similar “dollar store” light that has a switch, and a surprisingly creamy-white beam. Just happened to have a pack of 2032s around and…I really like it! Very handy & lightweight, doesn’t roll away, comfortable in my mouth if I’m using both hands, and most importantly, doesn’t disturb the wife when I’m wandering around in the middle of the night. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve got several nice AAA lights that I adore. Ask yourself what you’re most like use of this light will be. A Photon (or similar) might be a perfect fit!
If you happened to have gotten any of the Yuji 5mm emitters when there was a group buy going around or before Mountain Electronics sold out of them, they work pretty well on a single CR2032 in my opinion, due to the low forward voltage of the Yuji. They don’t have a narrow beam, but the warm version should also reduce the night vision disturbance.
They are usually pretty easy to swap into coin cell lights like these.
In mine, I measured about 13mA on a fresh CR2032, which should be around 4 lumens. A covert nose will probably reduce that a little bit.
Edit - just checked again and Mountain has them back in stock.
