Last night when I was driving home I saw somebody standing on the side of the road. It was an older lady looking at her bicycle. I was thinking about stopping, just when she started cycling again.. I first thought she had some trouble with her lights.
So I got this idea about having a handful of (preferrably) AA flashlights at hand, (better than the Police eBay flashlights), but without breaking the bank. I'd like to have about 3-5 of these. Just for these kind of occasions where you can give them to someone without needing to receiving them back, but still knowing that they will be able to use them for a longer period of time.
What are currently "good" flashlights in the $5 range... (really keeping it below $7) $10 is above budget for these generic "gifts".
AA flashlights... AAA would be a second choice.
The next problem would probably be chosing the correct battery to give.. Eneloops would probably be thrown away when empty :(
But that's a discussion for anothe thread ;)
Ouch, it seems the average price of reasonable flashlights is about 10-15 usd.
(Where is the time an S2+ was in flashsale for 6,99)
I’d say Convoy T2 or something similar.
Otherwise you’ll end up with an SK68 or ‘police’ or ‘military’ light
Lumintop EDC01 AAA mini flashlights. I have bought 6 of them for gifts and are really good for the price. All of my friends use them on their keychain.
Got these before Christmas and had to return them.
The tint wasn’t good but wasn’t a deal breaker but…
Every one had emitter wayyyy off center and worst thing besides that was the bezels had very sharp tangs on them.
They would definitely rip clothing and tear skin.
Best SK68 clone in last year for me at least was the Hausbell from Amazon, they actually had nice creamy tint and good build quality.
Maybe I just got a good batch, but would buy them again and actually kept one. They are usually on sale at around $5-6 for 2. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01B4KTIEI/ref=sspa_dk_detail_9?pd_rd_i=B07BPL125Y&th=1
Yes, these work very well.
Still have about 15 of them.
Was a mod thread a few years ago and you can grind down the sliding bezel on the back part from the flute to the beginning of the groves and really pick up a wide flood.
And these things tolerate a 14500 with no issue.
Only real knock on them is the clip is nothing to brag about and the finish is pretty much just a paint, no big deal.
I'll second the Sofirn Sf10 and the $2 Zoomies with the 3 mode if possible .Fun to mod/ cut down and de-dome. I have some modded with emitters too nice for the light .
My non-a-holic friend went and bought a garbageSK68 clone after buying a good one from me years ago. He ended up coming back and apologizing for ever questioning my ability to know turkeys from turnips .
When a noob can spot a bad clone from 50 feet ..it's a bad light .When they are shocked with what 40 cri looks like vs 60...it's a bad light . When the emitter is so off center it shines back at you...it's a bad light .
Thanks for the suggestions.... The SK68 clones crossed my mind as well, buy impossible to know what you'll get.... But at only $1.50 a piece I wouldn't mind grabbing a few..
Are these all the usual blue emitters? I had some skywolfeye b13 in AAA 2.50eu shipped which were decent and reliable. Clips are really good! I usually keep one to hand out and dont mind when I dont get them back. Their AA zoomies are well built, too. But light is rather blue.
$5 won’t get you much. I’d say bump up to $10 and get a nice Jetbeam μ “mu”, for $10 on AliExpress. AAA, simple twisty 3 mode UI, no strobe, very bright, very well built.