I recall that someone used one of these, I think Pal lite, for a very long hiking trip of over a month without changing the 9V battery.
I am wondering if either is worth the money considering the run times on moon mode today? They seem expensive.
I wonder what the outputs are?
Thanks,
Jerry
I would like to see some detailed discussion of these lights, and also the cheaper knockoffs.
Every time I look at one the wildly, insanely inflated price runs me off.
Use the tool here http://ledcalc.com/
feed in 9v (or 8v for used one) the vf (voltage used by led) how many mv (determines brighness and battery life) and how many led’s and it will tell you what resistor to use.
I used small electronic project box’s but a friend has made loads for his band using the tops from soft drinks… You can buy the 9v snaps in bulk from amazon or others. OR you can salvage usable snaps from old duracell batteries, just peel open the joint in the case and you can snip off the battery connector
so get a bottle top
1. Drill hole for led’s 5mm
2. solder together the led’s and resistor keep it small
3. solder on the conector
4 arrange in bottle top, use small pieces of thin plastic if you think you might short the circuit.
5. fill cap with glue that sets slightly rubbery
If you go the salvage route you only pay for the led and resistor. You can make them cheap enough to have loads of them so if they do croak its no big deal
It really depends on your hiking style. I used a 50 cent coin light for a month long trek last year. I would've used it longer, but I lost it. The downside to the coin light is it's too bright to use inside a bivy or for midnight nature calls.
If you're okay with using twisty light, check out the L3. It's incredibly light and compact and has a low mode that won't blind you in your bivy or tent. It uses a single AA, which is awfully convenient for long treks. Mine weighs 1.275 oz with a lithium AA.
http://www.sbflashlights.com/L3-Illumination-c36/
I haven't used my L3 on a long backpacking trip yet, but I hope to soon. I don't think it will be the best choice for lots of night hiking, but should be enough to get my out of camp at dusk, along with retrieving my food bag, and for inside my tent/bivy at night. I really love the weight and size. If you're considering the Paklite, then weight is probably very important to you too.
Thanks, All for the comments.
I have no need for the light, but was curious. I never went on an extended hike. I hunted and fished, but never hiked for the enjoyment of hiking.
Various lights would seem to do such a job. The Thrunite Ti with the 0.09 firefly mode would seem to be an excellent light with more capability than the Pal lite. If I were to go on an extended hike I would carry a back-up with a few spare batteries. One does not need much light when he has his night vision, as all here know.
I am not sure if the less than one lumen Thrunite Tis are available. The 3lmn lows are all I have seen lately. I have the lower firefly Thrunite Ti on my night stand. The low mode puts out plenty of light without awakening my wife.
Thanks again for the comments.
Regards,
Jerry
These are my favorite long runtime ultra low mode, at around $20 there a good deal
9volt PALight, have a 70 hour runtime on hight and over 365 days on glow mode.
http://www.palights.com/
I haven’t seen any TI’s lately and I’ve had some reliability issues with mine where the switching tab would deform and need reshaped and that could be detrimental on a hike. I’d go with the L3 for AA use and the simpler twisty style, I don’t have one but I’ve been thinking about it; I kind of want to grab one but I’ve got to build up some other lights first.
i make my own with 2 ebay hi cri leds in series with a 100 ohm 1/4w resistor,and the snap from a dead 9v.
i form the led leads to put the r in between and 1 pin of each led centered over the contacts on the snap.solder it up,get everything nice and straight/level,and secure it all with medium ca/zip kicker.
literally pennies to make and nearly bulletproof.
and runs a very long time on the year old batteries from the smoke detector.
when battery is truly dead you have a snap to make another light.
Holy Thread Revival Necromacy!!! :O
Now I know why the link isn’t working. lol
James Meyer, the owner of Safe-Light (maker of the PALight) passed away in late 2014. That is why the PALight is no longer available.
Thanks, Kindle. 