i'm a mechanic in a bike shop and can get along fine most of the time with the standard flourescent lights hanging over our heads. but, i do have a need for some extra light several times a day. i recently purchased a UniqueFire S10 which i really like, but it's way too much light for close in work on shiny bike parts. i also have an iTP A3 EOS Upgrade and it'd be fine except that i keep that attached to my keys and it costs more than i think i'm willing to let roll around with the solvents and greasy fingers down in the dungeon.
my ideal light would be a 3-mode (high/medium/low -- not nec. in that order) with high being in the 120-150 lumens range. then a usable medium and low for close-up work. i'd prefer a 1*AAA-size, but a 1*AA would work too. i'm leaning toward a Trustfire XP-EF23 even with it's useless strobe. i also like the programable Akoray 106 3-mode for all it's features, but it's sitting on the outside of my $$$ budget. i'd like to stay as close to $10-12 as possible. good durability is a must. run time is not so important as i'll probably keep a couple NiMh or LiIon batteries and a charger on my bench. small is good, but no bigger than a 1*AA-size. if i had to choose, a tail-clicky would be best since who knows what will be on my fingers slipping and sliding on a twisty light.
anyone else have a favorite work light that's stuck around thick and thin? thanks in advance for suggestions!
Get yourself the Ultrafire C3 Stainless Steel from Lightake. It is a great light but it might need some slight mods to be perfect but it has a beautiful beam and nice tint with well spaced modes. As far as light output it isn't a flame thrower but it isn't dim by no means. The driver will fry with 14500's but if you want to run it only on those then they will work but it will no longer work with regular batteries.
It is Stainless Steel so no worries about banging it around the shop in oil and stuff.
Hi, I repair water fountains, tea boilers and the like (I also race a sidecar - windle F350 chassis with a 500 banshee, but that's another story) and today recieved the sipik sk68 (the unbranded ebay version). I've also ordered a c8 xml but I wanted a smaller light for work / general finding duties.
The sipik is almost perfect for what I want, on one AA nimh it gives plenty of light without being too much at close range. Perfect for looking inside polished S/steel cabinets for loose / burned wires, dropped screws etc. It has a really tough clip for that overall top pocket - ie: won't fall out when you bend over or start mauling with stuff on the floor. It feels sturdy, like you could drop it over and over. It is almost exactly the same width as my palm, I think any smaller would be fiddly, and it's not too heavy you can't hold it in your teeth for a minute (just tried :)
However, the anodizing doesn't feel super tough, if it has to live in a pocket with nuts/bolts/lucar crimps I'm pretty sure it'll soon look secondhand. That doesn't bother me, but the bulbous plastic lens might. The lens WILL get scratched but as it is a very thick lens I very much doubt it will ever break and as I will pretty much be using it in full flood (the front slides forward for a more focused beam) scratches probably won't make a big difference to the performance of the light.
The beam diameter is about the same as the distance to the object ( at a foot from a wall, beam is about a foot wide at full flood ) so more of a little spotlight than something to light up the room but that works for me. Tail clicky, just on or off.
All in all, not bad for six quid, ten of your dollars I think at the mo, shop around and you may find it cheaper. Not perfect but it'll do me untill I win the lottery :)
Cheers Don, first I looked at it as my new toy, slid the zoomy thing, shon it in my eye (yes very bright, don't do it kids), turned off all the lights and wandered round my house, like you do.
Then I read this thread and looked at it again as a tool, bought for a purpose to do a job, and I have to say it stacks up pretty well.
If ou are only going to feed it NiMH/Alkalines then get the Aurora SH-035 which ought to be quite a bit cheaper. Same externals - will run approximately forever on low.