Brock's LED Flashlight review

Brock's LED Flashlight reviews
Back to my main LED page.

On this page I have the following lights.

Arc LS
Surefire L1
Surefire KL1
Opalec New Beam
CMG O-4 mini task light
HDS Action Light rev1
Princeton Tec Attitude
NightBuster Clipper
NightBuster Klikit
Lightwave 4000
Photon 3
Updated Eternalights
Expedition 1400 & 1900
Arc Key Chain
Night Buster 8X
Night Buster Ledda
Batonlite
Pal Onestar
Led Corp LED replacement lamp
Scepter
Green Trek 7 or expedition
Brinmkman's Long Life LED light
Turtle 1
Flash LED

06-13-03Arc LS HD from Arc Flashlight.I got the HD production run of this light. I also had one of the beta units and was extremely impressed with it. As usual with Arc the production run of this lights is much better. The craftsmanship and quality is in the range of the Surefire and Streamlight lights. The brightness is truly amazing for a single emitter. The light can be used with 2 main battery configurations, 2 AA's or 1 lithium 123 battery pack. In the standard 2 AA cell size can use standard alkaline, Li-ion, Ni-Cad, Ni-MH or even older carbon zink. The light comes standard with the 123 body, but you can order the 2AA body also. The light with the 2 AA body is about the size of a 2 AA Mag light and puts a 2 AA Mag to shame. The light output noted in my chart is measured with the 123, but since this light is fully regulated it will be the same brightness with either battery configuration or battery type. The regulation on this one appears to be much more flat the original light and you couldn't ask for a nicer 2 AA NiMH light. I am currently run testing it on the 2AA cells, on a single 123 you get almost exactly 2 hours of flat output then it drops off and continues to run for another couple of hours. Did I mention I like the regulation in this light?

06-10-03L1 HD from Surefire Now Surefire has done another first, they took the popular KL1, 1 watt LED and built it in to a 1 cell 123 lights. The amazing this here is they have made it a two stage light. So with a light depress of the tailcap you get a small but useable amount of light out, great for keeping your night vision, about the three times the brightness of an Arc or Photon, then fully depress and you get the full output, about 18 lumens. I use this light quite extensively in the theatre, until I got a hold of the Surefire A2, but that is another story. The two stage tail switch is just what I have been looking for, I really like that it starts at a dimmer level then you get full brightness if you need it. Now if only we can get it as bright as the A2 in LED.

06-10-03KL1 HD from Surefire This really isn’t a whole flashlight, just an add on “head” that fits the E1x and E2x bodies, so it can run on either a single 123 in the case of the E1x lights or 2 123’s for the E2x lights. The head is using a 1 watt Luxeon star LED and is regulated. You simply unscrew you old head and screw this back on and your set. In the case of the E1, they are very close in brightness, but you get an indestructible light. My wife has taken this one for her purse. It is the smallest, brightest LED light out there, and for the $ you can’t really beat it.

05-16-02 New Beam, from opalec . Finally someone has made a drop in replacement for one of the most common flashlights in the world, the 2AA Mini-Mag. Basically this little step up / regulator fits right in the head of a mini Mag. It uses 3 LED's and is fully regulated (until the batteries die). It makes the Mag virtually indestructible, now if we can get them to make one for the 2 AAA mini Mag. The replacement lamp even has a small red LED in it to alert you when it falls out of regulation and the batteries are to weak to maintain full brightness. One of the neat things I found the unit pulls just about 420mw (on both cells) no matter the voltage. So with lithium cells running 1.55v each it pulls 135mA, with alkaline cells at 1.4v it pulls 150mA, and with rechargeable NiMH cells running 1.2v it pulls 175mA. So no matter what battery you use you get the same brightness. Very nice for running NiMH cells. This is a great little replacement for Mini Mags.06-08-02 I just finished running this light, it ran just over 8 hours with a perfectly flat output on a pair of alkaline cells, then another 5 before I stopped running the test, very nice! Regulation is king!

02-24-00 O-4, from CMG . Another small 2 coin cell light. This light is well made and is quite durable. The light is actually waterproof since the switch turns the light on and off is outside the battery case. It simply put pressure on the case, similar to the Photon 1 with a small spring loaded clip type switch. The LED is recessed a bit in the light and the case is made of a more rubbery material then most of the other small lights in this class. It is a bit larger, but built stronger then most light of this size. It is also pretty easy to change the batteries in this light, just pry the back open and swap them for new ones. Overall a good, sturdy little light.

11-25-01Action Light rev 1 from HDS. I finally get to see this light in "action". It is built like a tank. This is one of the original models with 3 levels of brightness and runs off of a single 3v D cell Lithium battery. The three levels are, low using 10mA at about 5cp, medium using 50mA at 10cp and high using 400mA at 70cp. This light is built quite solid; I can only compare the build quality to a Surefire, very detailed work and very fine craftsmanship. This light is build to be used. The newer version of this light will have 5 levels and be using newer LED's, so it should be noticeably brighter. The newer version also has an option of 2 D cells rather then the expensive lithium 3v D cell, but 2 D cells would weigh about 4 times as much as this single D lithium. I am quite impressed with this light! Thanks Ted for letting me take a look at it.

09-23-01 Attitude from Princeton Tec. This is a nice little light. It is completly waterproof to 500 feet so it can be used as a backup dive light. It uses the same body as the rage, another 4 AAA light using an incandessant lamp. It uses a droping resistor to "waste" the power from the 4th battery since LED's really only need 3 cells to run normally. The light is made pretty well and is a good LED light and it isn't too expensive.

09-05-01 Clipper from Nightbuster. Finally someone has made a 3 AAA cell light that works and is easy to change batteries! The light is using 3 AAA batteries in series for 4.5v. The LED's each get about 30mA, very nice loading. The batteries are in a "sled" that slides out the rear of the light for easy changing. In the single led version the LED is driven at 30mA, not overdriving it at all. The single led version should run about 20 hours and the 3 LED version should run a good 5 hours, both will run much longer but at a dimmer level. They are rated as water-resistant and don't appear to leak at 2 feet, but do leak at 10 feet.

09-05-01 Klikit from Nightbuster. Another light similar to the Photon. It uses the same LED and same battery configuration. Best of all it has an on/off click feature. Basically you press the center of the light from one side then it clicks or pops in and the light is on. Then flip it over and push it in again and its off. The only disadvantage to this is no momentary lighting position. I have also found by keeping this light in my back pocket it can click it self on. It also uses 4 small Philips screws similar to the Photon 2 line to change the batteries.

07-23-01 Lightwave 4000 from Lightwave This light is huge and quite bright. It is running off 3 D cells and pulling about 25 mA on each LED or about 250 mA total off the 18000 mA D cells. So this light should run about 36 hours at a good level and about 5 times that long of useable light. This is the largest LED light I have seen and also the heaviest. I like the fact it uses a button to turn it on and off rather then the "twist of the head". I wish they have protected the LED's a bit though, they are exposed like it's little brother, the Lightwave 2000. I was also thinking this light would beat the Tektite or Expedition 1400 and 1900, but it is just a bit dimmer then the 1400, but much, much cheaper. It also has a more bluish hue to the LED's opposed to the whiter expeditions. I think Lightwave has come a long way and made a good light.

07-15-01 Photon 3 from Photon. A nice improvement on probably the best coin cell light. It now is waterproof and has a microprocessor built in. The light can be turned on momentarily by pressing the front of the light similar to the Photon 1. The new feature is the rear switch; it turns the light on or off. It has a couple of different options; hi, med, low, fast-strobe, med-strobe, slow-strobe and auto off. You change the modes by turning the light and holding the button then the light scrolls through the modes, once you’re on the one you want let it go and it stays there. I have mine set for medium, and then I can hit the momentary button for hi. The light uses 50 mA for hi, 18 mA on medium and 4 mA on low. All the strobe modes appear to use about 30 mA, and the auto off is the same as hi mode. The light should run about 4 times longer on medium. Photon claims a battery life of about 10 hours, but I find after about 1 hour they are to dim for me to keep using. On the med setting I would guess about 5 hours and the low setting should run about 20 hours. Of course it will make light for much longer then these times, but at a much-reduced brightness. A big thumbs up form me!

05-31-01 Eternal light from Technology Associates. Well I just received the newer version of these light and I am impressed. They are noticably brighter then my origional model 3. I beleive they are now made with 5600 Nichia's. I would strongly recommend the 3X or the ErgoXRay model. It has a small blue LED in the case, similar to the "forever on" mode of the Pal line. You can turn the feature on or blink or off. The newer models have a battery life mode built in so you can check the state of the batteries. In all the Eternalights I would strongly recommend Lithiums AA's. It allows them to float and makes them lighter, and brighter, and last longer between battery changes. This light has to get the award for the "Neato Factor", but is also very useful are a normal flashlight.

05-30-01 Expedition 1400 & 1900 from Tek-Tite. I got these from The LED light. These light are now the brightest lights on the market, replacing the older Trek 7, the 7 LED version of this light. These are truely amazing. They approach the light output of Mag lights. Of course being LED they have a much smoother beam and maintain a good color temp. The case of the light is basically the same as the older style Trek 7, with just the head having 14 or 19 LED's in them. You can even change the LED boards between the lights. They of course are waterproof to 1000 feet. I will be taking the 1900 on my next dive trip.

04-16-01 ARC from Arc Flashlight. This is a great little light. It is a bit smaller than the Mag Solitaire and it is as bright as a standard Photon. If you are familiar with the CMG infinity it is very similar, but uses a single AAA cell making it quite a bit smaller. It is however noticeably brighter than the Infinity. The light is the same diameter as a AA battery, but just a bit longer (2.7 x .5 inches). It also appears to be using a up circuit, meaning that as the battery dies the light will not dim proportionally, but will remain relatively constant until the battery is almost dead. The Infinity, using a linear step up converter, does dim as the battery dies. The light is said to have a runtime of about 5 hours at full brightness and a couple more as the battery finally fails. After 3 hours of running straight it is about 5% dimmer than the Photon, when I started it was about 5% brighter than the Photon (keep in mind the Photon has about 5 minutes on the battery). The light is still pulling a constant 180 mA from the battery. For the record a alakline AAA cell holds 1150 mA, so at this rate it should last just over 5 hours. It is waterproof to 3 feet, I tested this myself and it is. This light has now replaced the Photon on Key Chain. I like it! 05-20-01 The light in production has changed the "O" ring to a band making the light easier to turn on and off. However this has reduced the waterproof ability to splashproof. Since each new band is fitting differnt it depends on the light you have. A upgraded version should be out by mid to late June 01. This light is still my favorite LED light. 08-08-01 Version 2 of this great light is now out. It has more threads on the head of the light, a better "O" ring and a soft battery retainer to prevent battery ratteling and better on/off switching. I have run two batteries in the newer unit and got over 6 hours before dropping off, amazing.

04-12-01 8X from Nightbuster. This is a hefty light! It is just a bit longer than a Lightwave 2000 (8 inches), but the body of this light is about 7/8 of an inch in diameter. It looks and feels like a Surefire 9P. The side walls if this light are remarkably thick. I believe you could use this light as a hammer if need be. The light is turned on my turning the tail cap. There is also a removable hand lanyard attached to the tail. It has double "O" rings and the head is NOT removable, so this light would seem to be waterproof, it is stated to be waterproof to 2 meters or 6 feet. Since the light is pulling 500 mA or .5 of an amp it should eat batteries quick for a LED light. I would guess 2 to 4 hours of good light, but would probably be useable to 10 to 12 hours. This light could definitely be used as a weapon if the need arose.

04-12-01 Ledda from Nightbuster. This is the little brother of the 8X. This light has one of the highest mA draw per LED I have seen, 94 mA! Although this makes it the brightest 4 LED light I have now. It is very similar in length to the Lightwave 2000, but is made of aluminum. It looks like an extended 2 AA mini Mag to accommodate the third battery. It also has a removable hand lanyard attached to the tail of the light. This light is pulling over 350 mA so the batteries should last 4 to 6 hours of good light since an AA cell holds about 2800 mA total.

2-15-01 L1 from Pelican. This little light gives most other single LED light a run for their money. First off I have to say the light is WAY overdriving the LED. I measured it at 160 mA on new batteries. These little batteries only hold 150mA so they would be dead in an hour. I imagine the claim of 100 hours is really pushing it. Although even with weak batteries the light should still push 40 mA to the LED thus making it quite bright, so maybe that is the angle for the long runtime. I have taken one of the LR44 (aka A76 or 357) cells out leaving only 3 and the light didn't get noticeably dimmer. It is also pulling 60mA with the three cells. I will add the 4th cell back in when I notice it getting dim. This light can easily replace the infinity and is brighter than the Photon when using 4 batteries, and the same brightness with 3 cells. I don't believe the light is waterproof, but it looks water-resistant. The three cells are held in a tray inside the light. The tray has the switch (momentary or click on) at one end and the LED at the other. This all fits inside the casing and uses a reflectored head.

1-24-01 Batonlite from Streamlight. What can I say, I am impressed. This light is bright, using 3 white Nichia 5600 mcd's and 3 N cells. The light is as long as a common 2 AAA mini mag (5 ¼"). It is the same diameter as the barrel of 2 AA mini mag (5/8"), but is the same diameter the whole length of the light. It is black machined aluminum with grip rings added to the sides for easy holding. It has a momentary on tail button and if you turn the tail end you get a constant light. The lens is made of lexan and it is frosted, this gives VERY even nice light, great for up close working or walking at night. The lens does make a "ring" of light right at the head of the light which distracts me, and makes the light very visible from any direction. I have fixed this by wrapping the end of the light and lens in electrical tape, it works well and you can't even tell it was done. This light is just a tiny bit dimmer than the Lightwave 2000, but lights up a bigger area of light much more smoothly. The only drawback I can see is the N cells, it will cost you more to run than the Lightwave due to the shorter run time on the smaller N cells. I haven't done a burn time test, but I would imagine about 4 hours of good light, and about 8 after that. This light is going to become my common carry light, besides a white photon and a Surefire D2.

1-23-01 Pal Onestar from Pal Lights. This light has now switched to the more common 5mm LED's. It looks to be a Nichia 5600 mcd. This light has a much wider beam of light than previous models making it much more useful. It has 7 levels of brightness and the "always on" mode. It is pulling .03mA in the "always on" mode then the next 7 levels are 12, 18, 28, 48, 56, 61 and 69 mA. Now this is only the draw from the 9v battery so the levels at the LED are different. If you remove the lens it emits light just like the popular Photon. At the third level, the light matches the Photon white, at the 7th level it outshines the Photon by quite a bit. The 7th level matches the Streamlight Stylus in brightness. This light is very nice. I will probably use this light without it's lens, but the lens is nice to light up things at a distance.

12-29-00 LED bulb from Ledcorp. If you have a 3 cell mag (C or D) and want to turn it in to the ultimate backup flashlight here is the item to do it! This is extremely bright and unconditionally warranted by LED Corp. The lamp was pulling 65ma on 3 new C cells. One of the nice things about this LED is that it doesn't have a pre-focus like most LED's. In other words it emits light in every direction so it is great for using in existing 3 cell lights. This lamp also comes in a resistored down version for 4 cell lights. To sum up I would really recommend getting a 3 C cell Mag and this lamp, you won't regret it. This also gives you have the option of using the LED or the existing lamp (carried in tail cap) for a bright or normal light output. Using 3 C cells this light should run bright for about 4 days or over week of useable light, using 3 D cells you should get about 10 days of bright light and almost 3 weeks of useable light!

12-02-00 Scepter white pocket light. This is an amazing little light. It is just a bit dimmer than the streamlight stylus, so it is the second brightest single LED light I have seen. It is even noticeably brighter than the Photon. The problem is it uses 4 LR41 batteries and only runs for about 12 hours, so it might be expensive if you use it a lot. It is also a push & hold on switch. It is small, almost the exact same size as a AA battery in both width and height. The LED is also inset in the light so you don't have to worry about physically breaking it, and this also reduces the light spill off to the sides. A nice light for only $12 at Glow Bug

12-02-00 Green Trek 7 from Tektite, AKA expedition. First I have to say I am trying to stick with the white models for comparison reasons. I got this light today and it is truely amazing! It is at least 3 times as bright as the white version. It is very close to a 3 cell MAG light, but uses about 1/2 the power. Now it is green so identifing colors is difficult, but for walking at night or lighting up a room this is the light. It is also a great attention getter. If you want a truely bright LED light, this is it. I know Glow Bug has them in stock already and have always had good luck with them. 12-31-00 I just got word from Craig Johnson that the LED's in this light are probably the Nichia NSPG500BS, 525nm, 10,000mcd @ 20mA typ., and they have a 15° viewing angle. So this means these LED's are really being pushed, running 70ma instead of 20ma. They are probably putting out close to 30,000mcd per or about 210,000mcd of light! Is this a good thing or bad???

11-22-00 Long Life LED light from Brinkman. We finally have an LED light avaiable to the general public. I got this light at Wal Mart! Also it was only $12. The light uses a step up circut to get the higher voltage from 2 AA batteries. The light is rather bulky for only 1 LED and 2 AA cells, but you can't have everything. It does have a VERY narrow beam of light in the class of the PAL gold and the Turtle lite 1. It has funny rings around the beam, but is a good pratical light.

11-22-00 Turtle 1 from Turtlelite. This light has a VERY narrow beam of light, the tightest I have seen yet. this makes it very bright, it's spot of light can be seen in any of the other lights out there, but it is so narrow it isn't pratical to be used as a regular flashlight. It is good for lighting up things at a distance though. The light is very well consturcted, probably the most durable light I have seen so far. It floats and is waterproof also.

11-22-00 FlashLED from LEDTronics. This is a well designed light. It can use either 3 N cells or 2 AA cells. I tested this light using the 3 N cell setup. It is similar to a 2 AA Mag, but has a push button near the head and a ring on the tail for hanging. This one one of the first lights to not be pushing the LED's with too much current, only 15ma each. This also explains why the light isn't as bright as other 6 LED lights, but it holds it's own. The downfall for this light is the $, but it is well built.

comments and suggestions welcome : nevermab at uwgb.edu