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FrozenGate by Avery

any lasers that can be used as a flashlight??

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peterlocal22

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im in the market for a new mini flashlight about the size of Jay's pocket mini lasers.
I was wondering if there are any small lasers like a bluray that projected a larger diameter dot so i could use it as a very high pwered flash light? If i could focus the light that would be a plus too.   or maybe some one can recomend a really nice and really bright mini flashlight?
thanks
 





I bought and sold/gifted many lights in this class. The best IMO is the Liteflux LF2X, a AAA twisty http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.12062 It is about as long as Jayrob's pocket mini (judging from pics) but is thinner.

If you use a 10440 lithium rechargeable it will really blaze. Completely programmable with 2-3 brightness modes from VERY low to VERY high, strobes, etc. Actually the programming interface is way too complicated but once you do it to your liking you can forget it. Mine is really easy to use one-handed and has lived unnoticed in my left front pocket for over a year now...I use it daily (with my off hand I am a righty and that is where the knife lives). This is about my 7th or 8th EDC light and finally found the perfect one for me...superbright and small. And at $53 won't totally break the bank. $53 might seem like a lot but for this brightness and convenience I haven't found better value. No they don't pay me but maybe they should...

The included diffuser (a glorified chapstick cap ;) ) is more useful than I thought and doesn't add too much length. Mine didn't fit great but a rotary tool fixed that problem quickly. I use the diffuser 9 out of 10 times, so I leave it on the end of the light. If I want a spotlight I just pop it off as I grab it out of my pocket, takes virtually no time to do that extra step.

This is my bias: I am very partial to a pocket clip and a relatively slim and lightweight light, since I don't like holsters and don't like to dig for 2+ seconds when I need light in less than 1s. If you want bright (or very dim or in between) light FAST this is it. It is quite uncomfortable to look directly at the diffuser cap with this light on max!

my 2c :)
If you want something smaller the Wee and Raw lights by Lummi are great, but neither have a pocket clip and battery life suffers.
 
thanks for the recomendation. like you i would like a pocket clip as well. not a big fan of holsters either. i have a pocket clip on my knife in one pocket so this light seems like it will be a good fit. 53 dollars seems like a real reasonable tag as well.
thanks again
 
That light Flux is pretty cool.
I wonder what milliamps the diode is using?

Replace the diode with an LD and the clear front lens with a collimator (twist to focus). That would make a nice little pocket laser right there.
 
SuicideKing said:
That light Flux is pretty cool.
I wonder what milliamps the diode is using?

Replace the diode with an LD and the clear front lens with a collimator (twist to focus). That would make a nice little pocket laser right there.
Click to expand...

If the driver is really good it should drive the Q5 at 3W.If you knew at whatever voltage white LEDs run on (which I don't) you could calculate the amps. :P
Seems like a really expensive host for a laser too.I mean, all the money is probably in the programmable circuit, coated lens , aluminum body.Two of which you're gonna throw away.
 
Switch said:
If you knew at whatever voltage white LEDs run on (which I don't) you could calculate the amps. :P
Click to expand...

usually 3.7 volts, which would make it somewhere between 800 and 1000 mA for the highest setting
 
Lasers don't work very well as flashlights. I calculated the brightness once... Even a 300mW green only outputs 200-something lumens. I'd stick with LEDs
 
Cyparagon said:
Lasers don't work very well as flashlights. I calculated the brightness once... Even a 300mW green only outputs 200-something lumens. I'd stick with LEDs
Click to expand...

The only way lasers work for illumination I can think of would be multiwatt IR lasers used for long range night time illumination. :-/

Btw, what battery life does the liteflux have? The ultrafire jayrob uses for his pocket mini has a horrible lifetime with ultrafire RCR123a's , and it's not even a Q5.Or are the batteries really bad quality and are way underspec? :-/
 
peterlocal22 said:
ok thanks
i think im going to go with the LiteFlux LF2X Cree Multi-Mode LED Flashlight Kit
Click to expand...

Hope you like it.  I'd be interested to hear about your use or impressions of the liteflux after you've had it a while.  I've never known anyone else who carries one, but then most of my local friends are in the "hey is that one of them L-E-D lights???" crowd  ;)  Gotta love your friends, and never choose them for their flashlights.
 
well now im getting more confused
found some other flashlights that seem really nice
heres what im looking at:
ConneXion X2 Q5 1AA, IncenDio Q5 RCR123 LiteFlux LF2X Cree Multi-Mode LED Nitecore Extreme SS Bezel 200
can anyone help me decide lol
 
peterlocal22 said:
I was wondering if there are any small lasers like a bluray that projected a larger diameter dot so i could use it as a very high pwered flash light?
Click to expand...
I don't know why Cyparagon's computations showed little brightness - was there an error, or are you misinterpreting the usefulness of that output?

Because I've used my 200mW red as  a flashlight - just changed the focus to widen it, I think it was about a 6-foot diameter spot at around 30 feet. It was plenty bright! difficult to see things though because my eyes are not used to figuring out what's what in red monocolor. The eyes of the rats that I was trying to illuminate lit up real well though! I've done a little fooling around with this, and found that a simple convex lens can be put in front of an Aixiz module laser and that spreads  the beam very well. Someone could easily and very cheaply make a batch of end-caps that are beam spreaders.

But there's another problem: I'd still worry about getting the light in my dog's eyes (not to mention  a human!). Someone with more patience than I could compute the energy density in the above scenario, and come up with a do/don't guideline. Maybe it's safe, I don't now.

What would be really interesting would be a tricolor mixed laser - effectively white - set to wide focus. That would make a great flashlight! but the intensity/safety computation would be very important before using such a thing for real.

DanQ
 
You could always go the other way and get a flashlight you could use as a laser...

http://news.tigerdirect.com/2008/02/04/a-burning-torch-fry-a-egg-with-your-flashlight/

"At 4100 Lumens, The Torch is capable of melting plastic, lighting paper and can even fry an egg. Who wants to play with a magnifying glass when you can't use it at night?

[media]http://www.metacafe.com/fplayer/352686/start_a_fire_with_flashlight.swf[/media]
 
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