Cheap site light

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by Jon Vermilye

My favorite "alway with me" flashlight is a keychain Nitecore Tini...

mine is the Fenix LD-01, uses a single AAA that lasts for 3-4 hours in its 'medium' mode whihc is plenty bright, 27 hours in the low mode (which is good for up close work in the dark) and 90 mins in its brightest mode.

this light is *tiny*, barely bigger than a single AAA. its also surpirsingly durable, I've been carrying it in the same pocket with my car keys for /years/ now, and only the edges have worn a little silver, the tempered glass lense hasn't scratched either.

naturally this model is discontinued, but they have a similar LD-02 (somewhat brighter, but not quite as long battery life) that uses a tail switch instead of turning the head to switch on/off.

[nancyrnfit]

A friend gave us a small green rechargeable lantern...nice soft light for outside, and not too bright when I get up to bathroom in the middle of the night...no electricity or batteries needed, but it can be recharged electrically, with USB port if need be.

[Mary F]

Thanks for the tip, Fred. I agree, a couple of pics would be nice. When my family convenes over the Thanksgiving holidays, this kind of a light would be just the thing we need.

[Gilda]

As to the issue of finding a flashlight in the dark, we have two simple solutions. #1 Our flashlight has a long chain attached to it. We keep it in the cabinet over the bed with the chain hanging down. In the dark, we simply "feel" for the cord, open the cabinet and voila! there is our flashlight. #2 involves a bit of sewing. Sew pockets in the bottom of the "bedroom" curtains and put a flashlight, and other night time items, in the pockets.

[Jon Vermilye]

Since I'm not always wearing my keys, my in-camper flashlight solution is to keep a gazillion Harbor Freight free flashlights spread throughout the drawers & cabinets. I have to admit that half the time when I expect to find one, it is somewhere else, but my assumption is if I pick up enough of them I'll fill everything!

I added switched LED strips in all the upper cabinets in both the Escape 17 & 21, which is a big help finding things at night.

[Mike Magee]

The bucket concept is good. One could also stick a flashlight in the bucket, close the lid, and have a 'lantern'. Could even carry it to the restroom, although bulky I guess.


I too am one who carries a AAA in the pocket all the time. Mine's a Maratac twist-to-activate, 3-mode light.


I camped in MI earlier this month, and to light my Hauley's interior (since I have no battery on the tongue and Alan Smoak stupidly didn't hook up the charge line to the interior lights) I used my 5,000 lumen BLF Q8 flashlight... on medium setting, of course.

[John in Santa Cruz]

5000 lumens. hahahaah. car high beams are maybe 1200 lumen. 4 of those? really?

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

5000 lumens. hahahaah. car high beams are maybe 1200 lumen. 4 of those? really?

Thats what I want to use on my Scamp... for those time when my neighbors want to leave some lights on all night. Outshine em.. if they have to start wearing sun glasses at night then just maybe they will get the hint.


Hey! Trying to over here... lol

[Jon Vermilye]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

5000 lumens. hahahaah. car high beams are maybe 1200 lumen. 4 of those? really?

The Flashlight "Lumen" race is even hotter than pixel counts. How about a 15,000 Lumen flashlight?

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by Jon Vermilye

The Flashlight "Lumen" race is even hotter than pixel counts. ...

right up there with the inflated mAH ratings on random-brand 18650 LiIon batteries... I have some here that claim to be 9900 mAH... my friends battery tester says they are maybe 800-900 mAH actual.

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by Jon Vermilye

The Flashlight "Lumen" race is even hotter than pixel counts. How about a 15,000 Lumen flashlight?

$43 for the light... $71 for the batteries..

[Raspy]

LED flashlights are getting so bright they seem to have thrust. I have to lean into them a bit when I turn them on!

[Mike Magee]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

5000 lumens. hahahaah. car high beams are maybe 1200 lumen. 4 of those? really?

Yep, ANSI lumens measured out the front. This was a group project by members of a flashlight forum, who got together and decided on the design and then obtained a manufacturer to build a quantity for those members. Not your average run-of-the-mill, inflated-claim light, it has four XP-L emitters and whups my high-beams by a considerable amount. Runs on four high-drain-rated 18650 lithium-ion cells. It puts a grin on my face when I turn it on high, outdoors at night.

[John in Santa Cruz]

Lumens is the measurement of the total light emitted, NOT the beam spot brightness, just FYI. and yeah, some of those LEDs now can be driven as hot as 1000 lumens per LED, if you have enough power (around 10 watts per LED, 3 amps at 3.3V) *and* sufficient heat sink capacity to keep the chip from melting down...

the majority of the insane lumen chinese flashlights, like that 15000 lumen someone posted earlier, take the peak theoretical output of their LEDs... that one had 15 of those 'max 1000 lumen' LEDs. odds are in that flashlight, those LEDs aren't doing half of that because 3 x 18650 aren't likely to be outputting 150 watts for very long without getting too hot to handle.

me, I'm a firm believer in just enough light for the job. bright lights at night BLIND you. I have a 'zoom' flashlight that uses a Cree XM something 1000 lumen LED, with a high output 18650, its as bright as a motorcycle headlight. I mostly use it for things like stopping traffic when there's been a late-at-night crash on the country road past my place... (this happens a couple times a year, sigh).

[Fred762]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

Fred, you have any pictures of your site light?

no, but will get.. as soon as we unload truck later today.

BTW we have gone to as low as a 15W bulb and still get enuf light to use..plus it does draw the bug swarm to it and away from the Casita's door when used in a decent campsite. AFA the guy who kept unlocking his PU all night and blinding one on the thread, I have spoken to folks about that issue in the past.
ALMOST ALL NEW VEHICLES CAN BE LOCKED FROM THE INSIDE W A BUTTON AND they do NOT SHOW THE LITES or HONK THE HORN. IMHO A SIMPLE SUGGESTION TO THE YOUNG MAN MIGHT HELP NEXT TIME.

[John in Santa Cruz]

or locked with the key instead of the bleepin' remote...

or geez, you're 10 feet from the vehicle WHY are you locking it ?!?

[Mike Magee]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

or locked with the key instead of the bleepin' remote...

or geez, you're 10 feet from the vehicle WHY are you locking it ?!?

Maybe so the irate camper next door isn't tempted to get up and pee in the vehicle, or something... ...the guy may have had past run-ins with karma already.

As for lumens versus throw, yeah. My 2200 lumen TK70 out-throws the Q8 by a large margin. And yeah, that cheapo on amazon is surely not what they claim.

[Glenn Baglo]

Here's a cheap bucket. Maybe you can get Home Depot to sponsor you?

[Jon Vermilye]

Here are a couple of photos of one (notice it isn't quite dark yet)

[Fred762]

Click on this for pix:
The Bucket Lamp.

We made some "personal mods"..and A. did not use a junction box..just screwed the wires into the white ceramic socket .
B. I put the ceramic fixture in the bottom of the bucket (2 gallon size) bks putting it at the top meant drilling holes IN the top and that can lead to:1 LEAKS and 2 "tilting" off verticle, esp in the wind. We began w a 5 gallon bucket, but went to a 2 gallon size and we use a 15W std bulb now
3. we drilled a small hole in the middle of the bottom for passing the cord IN and 4 smaller vent holes in the BOTTOM. The top snaps on and keeps it DRY and can be easily pried off for bulb changing. And the handle is near the top so it balances well. Hope that helps you.
It is also best to soak the label off b4 putting the sockwet in LOL WE got a food grade white bucket 2 gllon size, from Lowes for under $5 Tried various stuff for 'sealing the cord in', and finally went to strips of green Duct tape..matches the green cord and is flexible enuf.