I would like a flashlight that I could put in my glove box that would work if I needed it years hence in -20C (-4F) or lower - it gets down near -40C (-40F) here.
It is claimed that Lithium Iron Sulfide 1.5V batteries (Energizer Ultimate?) work at low temps and have a 10 year shelf life. Is there an LED light that works well with these and do the electronics in LED lights work a low temps? Other suggestions?
Oh, and it gets hot here in the summer (which we refer to as "2 months poor sledding") so the batteries need to survive that.
I'd look at the Hugsby P31/P32 if you can find one. Some have shipped with lithium ion only drivers though they are supposed to have 1.5V drivers.
The EastwardYJ J09 is the brightest I have on a single AA. It really, really means it about the upper voltage limit - with an NiZn cell at about 1.9V it was drawing 4.3A! That will not be survivable for long.
I don't have any recommendation for specific brand or model, but I would go for something with twisty switch(clickies might take damage in prolonged freezing) and stuff a lithium primary (yup, Energizer) in it. That's pretty much frostproof combo.
I have ITP A3 Eos with Energizer Lithium as my keychain EDC and it has proven reliable in Finnish winter. But here south we have about -30C max, usually we got from 0 to -20 during winter. If you want more light than AAA range, something like ITP A2 could meet your needs.
Oh, look. I did have brand and model recommendation after all. Who would have known?
you're just talking battery here .. any cr123 flashlight or AA light will work for you ..you'll spend a little more on primaries but like you said they will last forever ..take huge abuses of hot and cold The AA's are 1.5 volts and the cr123's are 3.volts and pack a serious punch . the forum is oddly anti cr123 lights and missing out on some of the best lights in the world ..cr123's are cheap online .people just like to talk about 9$ price tags at the grocery store .many multi hundred dollar lights on CPF are cr123's for a good reason .
+1 on the cr123 batteries. Just go to DX and look around in the cr123 section to find some lights you like and order there or anywhere else you like. DX has the easiest search. I don’t know about shipping to Canada but Battery Junction is a good place to buy batteries cheap and fast. Just don’t buy the cr123s at the grocery store because like Boaz said they are very expensive. Battery junction has them for $1-$2.
I have spent a lot of time snowmobiling on the Canadian border and I leave an Ultrafire 501A with a low voltage Solarforce drop in powered by a cr123 in my truck and one in the toolkit on my sled. I also recommend this lighter for your sled also, no problems with either to -20.
not so budget, but i have kept a inova x03 in my glove box for probably a year and a half. never had problems with it. i live in maine so things get cold not -40 too often though
If you have an old pistol grip incan spotlight (the kind with the craptacular SLA battery that dies a month after you bought it for $9.99 at Canadian tire). A simple mod is to yank out the battery and wire in a cigarette lighter plug.
Not bright enough? swap out the bulb for a 100W one.
Still not bright enough? do an HID upgrade, the ballast fits where the battery was.
Toss it in the trunk and plug it in when needed. Mind you if you need a light so you can connect jumper cables in the dark, this light won't work out so well for you....
I haven't done a discharge test on them, but I did order 20 and have been using them for over a year. They seam to work fine, they all came fully charged no DOAs and they resist the harsh cold New England winters and blazing summer heat which is more important to me than absolute run time.
I found graphs of temperature performance in these datasheet:
data.energizer.com/PDFs/lithiuml91l92_appman.pdf
Another issue is that flashlights aren't much use where you need both hands, such as changing a tire (unless you hold it in your mouth). Someone in another thread suggested headlamps. A light with a stand, clamp or magnet perhaps?
This is getting complicated. Maybe I should just stick with my old flashlight:
