I bought one of these for my fiance about a month ago and have been meaning to get one for myself. Today I did. Not positive but I'd say it's in the running for smallest cylindrical flashlight.
| Make & Model: | Life Gear LG515 |
| Emitter: | 5mm clear LED diode |
| Battery: | 4 x LR41 |
| Dimensions: | 42mm*14mm*11.5mm |
| Output: | 8 lumens |
| Switch: | Twisty |
| Material: | Aluminum |
| Waterproof: | IP44 |
| Purchase Price: | $1.99 USD |
| Dealer: | Target |
Quick impressions:
Neat little light. It looks smaller than it's actual dimensions would lead to believe. Comes with a tiny little spring gate clip and a battery tool for changing the batteries. O-ring between head and battery tube. Not the worse tint I've seen from one of these little 5mm LEDs but definitely on the purple side of white.
Positives:
- Small and cute.
- Great for an emergency EDC.
- Tool for removing the battery carrier to change batteries.
- Actually tail stands on a flat, solid surface.
- Water resistant rating of IP44 but I sure wouldn't shower or swim with it but I wouldn't be afraid to use it in the rain. If you did manage to soak it I doubt you'd destroy anything. Just dry it out and fire it back up.
- Great little clip allows you to move it from your keyring, to your coat as a zipper pull, or just to use on it's own for a few minutes without the bulk of keys or having to work a split ring.
- Very nice, clean, smooth threads throughout.
- Decently laser etched logo.
- Actually has a little battery back that threads into the body. The positive terminal is spring loaded to ensure solid electrical connection but prevents one from over-tightening it and crushing the batteries.
- Comes in a variety of anodizing colors: Black, Blue, Silver, Pink. These were available at my local Target but there may be other colors.
Negatives:
- Beam is a little on the purple side but what tiny LED these days isn't? Darn few.
- O-ring is very thin and while you can feel it giving resistance between the head and body when threading it, it is thinner is some areas and I am not comfortable with it's water resistance.
- Battery removal tool is too flimsy. It may work fine on other examples but my battery pack was too tight for the aluminum legs on the tool to take the stress. The legs bent when I attempted to remove the battery pack. Fine tipped needle nose pliers or tweezers should do the trick though.
- Appears that they attempted to at least imitate crenelation on the bezel. Doesn't really do anything though since they are nothing more than little divots along the sides of the bezel lip.
Conclusion:
For $1.99 you could do a lot worse. It's fun to have something this slick looking on your keys or zipper fob. Put it on there and forget about it until the day you need it. It will be money well spent when you remember it's there. There is some nice engineering involved in it's design and while not as bright as the cheapo 9-LED torches, it will likely out last them and be far more convenient to carry.
Now for the pictures. Click any picture for a larger view.
Actually very nice, clean & smooth threading.
To remove the battery carrier you are supposed to insert the removal tool into the slots in the carrier face and turn counter-clockwise.
Apparently my example was torqued down more than normal because my tool legs bent and the one nearly broke off. Fortunately, fine point needle nose pliers or tweezers will work just as well when it's time to change out the batteries.
Here is a direct size comparison with the SkyRay King and a Zebralight SC60.
Here is the LG515 compared to a fauxton.
Beam pattern with white balance set to daylight. This is almost exactly what I see with the naked eye.
Neat looking and fun little light for very little money!
Hope you enjoyed the review!
Johnny
