Ted's Blog

iTP EOS A3 - Tiny Flashlight 1xAAA light. Twists on and off with 3 modes, always starting with medium, then low, then high. Amazingly bright (180 lumens) with a li-ion battery even though it is not recommended. Because it is so small, I carry this one every day in my pocket, but separate from my keys. It is light enough that you can clip it to the bill of a cap and use it as a headlamp. It is very well made. I bought some one-mode versions of these lights for everyone at work who worked on the 2009 flood bridge for me and for the Mac5 families at Christmas. I figured they would be annoyed by the extra modes and although I wouldn't give them li-ion batteries, I did include an Energizer lithium battery. October 2009.

Mini Maglite upgrades - I bought two of these upgrades which make my two 2xAA Mini Maglites very bright (100 lumens). The upgrade is the Terralux TLE-5EX. I had to grind down the edges of one of them to make it fit into my black older Maglite. I also got a smaller upgrade chip (Terralux TLE-20) for my 2xAAA Mini Maglite, but it is not nearly as bright. Still, it will last longer on a set of batteries. I bought a tail switch for the silver 2xAA light and keep it next to the back door in case I need to rush out at night to see what the dogs have gotten into. The black MiniMag is in my car. May 2009.

Fenix L1D/L2D/P2D I bought the L2D, a 2xAA light which is very bright and has 4 brightness levels as well as strobe and SOS. This is my best flashlight. I also bought "lego" pieces that let me convert it to a 1xAA light (the L1D) or a 1xCR123 light (the P2D). I like the size of the L1D, but at 120 lumens it isn't as bright as the L2D at 180 lumens. If you put a li-ion battery in the L1D, it is just as bright as the L2D, but you lose the ability to go to lower levels. May 2009.

Versapak Snakelight - This got it all started because I wanted to see if I could upgrade the bulb to a LED. I bought a weak Nite-Ize LED at Fry's for it which was just as bright (though definitely has a blue tint) as the original bulb but would last ten times longer on a charge. Then I upgraded again to the 1-watt Terralux TLE-1F which made it brighter (30 lumens) and somewhat less blue (should have gotten the Nite-Ize 1-watt), though battery life is less than the weak LED (still way longer than the original bulb). The Snakelight still has some use since you can put it down and have it point in any direction. May 2009.

Ultrafire XP-E F23 - A DealExtreme 1xAAA light. Took forever to get here, but this is a very nice light (especially for only $13.80). Not quite as bright as the iTP on a li-ion battery (maybe 150 lumens), but it remembers the last mode it was in, so you don't have to click through medium and low to get back to high again. If it was on high before, it will come on in high. Also has a tail clicky which is easier for one-hand use. This is a good dog-walking light. I gave this one to Nicole and then ordered another one. My review. December 2009.

Uniquefire S10 This was a bad decision light that turned out to have none of the qualities I wanted in a new flashlight. It wasn't brighter, wouldn't accept lithium-ion batteries, had a terrible user interface (I didn't know those three things when I ordered it), had three different flashy modes, and a reverse clicky. I wound up burning out the driver and converting it to a very bright direct drive 1-mode light using lithium-ion batteries. It is about the same size as the Fenix L1D, but silver. My review. December 2009.

Ultrafire WF-502B This is my first P60 drop-in host and my first light to take 18650 batteries (so I had to buy a couple of batteries and a charger). After thinking about getting a P60 for a Cree XP-G R5 LED, I decided to get this less expensive Cree XR-E R2 LED which has can shine a beam pretty far and then maybe invest in a brighter R5 drop-in later on which would have more flood but less throw. I really like the quality of this light, but I didn't like that it was 5 modes. I converted it to 2 modes with memory when I swapped drivers. January 2010. My review at BudgetLightForum.

Ultrafire MCU WF-1200L After researching a lot of multi-die emitter lights (4 LED's packed together on a chip) which promise 600 lumens or more, I found this one for sale used in a CPF classified ad for about half of its brand new price. It has a Seoul Semiconductor P7 LED and takes 2 18650 batteries (the seller sold me two batteries for an extra $5). This one can be taken apart (some MTE lights have a glued-on bezel) and has a larger reflector for better throw. February 2010. My review at BudgetLightForum.

ZY-30 Flood to Throw Light The unique thing about this 3xAAA light is that it has an aspherical lens (like a fisheye lens) on the front that can be moved backwards and forwards like a camera zoom lens to provide an even flood of light or narrowed to a very tight beam. A seller on eBay was offering lights with the Cree XR-E Q5 LED while DX seemed to only have P4 bins (or SSC P4 LED's?), plus this one offered a high and low mode. My review at Budget Light Forums. March 2010. Gave to Jeb in June 2010.

AKOray K-106 3-mode Programmable took forever to get here since I ordered it so close to Chinese New Year's and then it sat at the local post office for 3 weeks. It is a pretty neat light, but not quite as bright as I hoped it would be. March 2010. My review at BLF.

Ultrafire WF-502B with 1-mode XP-G Drop-in Similar to the 504B above, but this 1x18650 P60 host comes with the latest LED from Cree, the XP-G in their brightest bin, R5. Got a 1-mode because it was a little cheaper and I planned on swapping the driver out anyway. April 2010 My review at BLF

Aurora SH-035 Stainless steel light from a series with a good reputation, but the driver burned out when I tried a lithium-ion battery. So I wound up changing the LED from a XP-E Q5 to a neutral white XP-G R4, replaced the driver, and replaced the glow-in-the-dark tailcap with a black one. April 2010.

UltraFire WF-501B with 5-mode MC-E. A chance to get an inexpensive 4-die emitter in a P60 drop-in. It was said to be driven at 2+ amps, but I measured 1.6A. I replaced the driver with a better one that I was sure would yield 2.8A, but it was 1.6A too. It turns out the leads on my voltmeter were giving bad readings, so I bought new leads. Puts out a lot of light, but has a donut hole in the beam. The 501B host itself is not so great. My review at BLF. July 2010.

SolarForce L2 host (fake): Bought from a discounter who said it was a genuine SolarForce, but actually it is a fake and seems to be the same as the UltraFire WF-504B I have except it is black. Still, not bad and came with an extension tube for using a second 18650 battery (though none of my drop-ins can handle two batteries). It is an empty host, so I will need to add a bulb and reflector. July 2010.

SolarForce L2 host: After being duped on the other one, I got a "gunmetal gray" SolarForce on eBay on sale. It is well made, but is also an empty host so I will add a bulb and reflector. My comparison of the two versions of Solarforce lights on BLF. July 2010.