Shopping for local budget lights: The results

Gentlemen,

Due to the chineese new year in full swing and me needing a quick fix, I decided the other day to go look around at the local hardware and thrift stores just to see what was available for budget lights. I found 3 ( 7 lights total...see below).

The first one I bought were these:

This is the standard 3aaa 9-led el'cheapo flashlight for $5 for a 2-pack. After a few minutes of playing with them, and then disassembly, I've come to the conclusion that there are absolutely no redeeming qualities about these. Crappy output considering the size, bad build quality, terrible clicky, and I think one of em bit my dog when I wasn't looking. There is absolutely no potential for mods with these and their best bet is to start an enterprising new career as a landfill additive. I have always seen these things while standing at various store check-out lines and was curious....I'm curious no more.

Next up we have these:

I picked these up at Dicks Sporting Goods, 3 for $5. Despite the packaging and labeling, these should be easily recognized here. It's none other than the BLF Delight, also known as the Powerlight, MXDL 1W, and a myriad of other names. For $1.68ea, I thought I'd give them a try. They are 1AA with a no-name generic led, and are actually quite dim (guessing 10lumens?). Despite that, they barely sip any power from the battery, are disturbingly light, small in size, and have a decent reverse clicky. After taking one apart and looking at the modability, I got as giddy as Boaz at a nitecore convention . Look for a future post on modding this one!

Last but not least, I found this two-pack:

Yup, the good 'ol 2aa mini maglight in all it's incadescent glory. Best part is, it was $7 for the two pack at Lowes hardware store! These were specifically purchased with modding in mind. Future revisions aside, I was pleasantly reminded how nice the beams are on these. Yes, the output is dismal, but what they do put out is nicely focused and very warm. At at $3.50ea, it was a steal. I considered a nite-ize or terralux mod, which is easy, but overpriced for what one ends up with, and not my style. I'll have to give their future some more thought.

So, get out there and see what's lurking around the local stores near you! You may find a decent deal on a user or a modder, but one thing for sure is, the shipping will be a heck of a lot faster than anywhere online

Mini mags cost a fortune here : $7 for 2 , Damn !!! thats a good deal ...

A couple of $5 emitters , a bit of gluing and soldering and you'l have some nice flashlights .

The lower 48 gets all the good deals. :(

mini mags also cost a fortune here

a twin pack the same as match got for $7 are £20 = $32 in my local costco and thats cheap for here

Slander i say ..(maybe as a settlement I can get a 9 led light)

Nice find with those Powerlights! Good price too, especially for a local offer. I'm really looking forward to seeing your mods of that one!

Quick correction-- The MXDL 1W that you linked to is actually quite a different light. It disassembles at both the head and the tail, whereas the Powerlight only unscrews at the tail. And the size of the MXDL FN-1W is considerably smaller than the Powerlight. It also costs more, and feels slightly more expensive.

Hmm...the dimensions on the three I got are 94mmx19.7mm, and the head and tail both unscrew. As a bonus, the clicky is recessed enough to tailstand.

Huh, interesting. My MXDL is about 92mmX19mm, so it's negligibly smaller, but I guess not as much as I thought. Nice that yours unscrew at the head and the tail, the original Powerlights from DX and KD didn't.

Another difference in these may be the light output. I think you said yours put out about 30lm, where these are probably closer to 10lm. They draw ~200ma at the tail on a fresh alkaline. Btw, I had a bit of insomnia last night, so the mod is complete. I'll post it up this afternoon.

Great! Looking forward to your next episode. ;-) Thanks.

Thanks for the detailed review and clear pictures

:) whatever,i just pay attention on what i eager for, boring for too much choices!