Possibly the world's brightest keychain light - easy & cheap

[Chevy-SS]

Flashlights have been a hobby of mine for about a year. Of course, the very first question that always comes up when discussing (or showing off) any flashlight is - HOW BRIGHT IS IT?

Well, I have been carrying around a keychain light that absolutely pumps out the lumens like you can't believe. Here's a chart showing that it actually is over 300 lumens for a short period!



Now, contrast this to a 3 D-cell Maglite, which is rated at ~45 lumens and you can begin to understand what a HUGE leap in efficiency we have with this keychain light!



There are actually TWO keychain lights (each priced at $20 to $40, depending on version) that will give you this tremendous output. One is the 4Sevens Preon1 and the other is the iTP EOS A3. For either one, I would recommend getting it with the XP-G R5 emitter. If purchasing the iTP EOS A3, I would be sure to ask for the 'upgrade' model, which is 3 modes (lo med hi).

Both of these lights utilize a standard AAA battery for 'normal' users and will pump out a respectable ~80 lumens, but if you really want to juice up the light to the 300 lumen level, then you need to purchase a 10440 Li-ion battery and charger (readily available and inexpensive). It's the 10440 battery that is the secret to this massive power.

Hope this helps 'illuminate' your night!

Legal disclaimer - Of course, like anything that is over-powered, there is a little caution that needs to be exercised. This light WILL get hot if used on max power for very long, and you need to be careful about discharging the battery too fast.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[RockStrongo]

nice info! What is the run time on those little keychain lights on a single AAA battery?

[Chevy-SS]

nice info! What is the run time on those little keychain lights on a single AAA battery?

Here's runtime on AAA Alkaline. These charts taken from this thread here. Refer to the blue line for the iTP A3.




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[tokerblue]

I also EDC a Preon 1. It is hands down my favorite light. It has a moonlight mode that runs for 23 hours and a medium mode that runs for around 6. It's also about the diameter of a pen and half the size. It also comes with a clip which you can use instead of keychain attachment. There isn't any reason to not have it on you at all times. The other great part is that you can buy a 2AAA body, which effectively doubles the lumen output when needed. The other really nice thing is that you can buy a clicky tailcap if you prefer that over the twisty interface.

[dV8r]

Thanks for the info.
That 3-D Cell Mag light is my car light/equalizer. Does anyone know of a replacement LED lamp for it? With a good bright LED and 3 D Cells it should be a long lived dependable tool.

[surefire7]

Interesting, I've been thinking of getting a Preon for awhile now. I have a couple of the ITP lights (one black and another titanium) they are great lights and the Preon sounds just as good--can't have TOO many lights!.

[Chevy-SS]

Interesting, I've been thinking of getting a Preon for awhile now. I have a couple of the ITP lights (one black and another titanium) they are great lights and the Preon sounds just as good--can't have TOO many lights!.

Get yourself a charger like this one and a couple of these 10440 batteries - and you will have some serious lumens power from any of those lights!

Just to reiterate - this 10440 mod only works on the Preon1 (one AAA battery) NOT on the Preon2 (two AAA batteries)! The 10440 mod also works on the iTP EOS A3.

300 lumens from a single-AAA keychain light is simply amazing!

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[cj]

I've got an A3, but it's plenty bright without resorting to a 10440. Reading tests by others, they indicated that they'd prefer not to have it on for more than 10-20 seconds. I go a little bigger and have an ITP A1 EOS (190 lumens without heat risk) or, more commonly, an Akoray K109 (230 lumens)...not as small as the ones you show, but I'm more comfortable with the power going through them.

[Chevy-SS]

I've got an A3, but it's plenty bright without resorting to a 10440. Reading tests by others, they indicated that they'd prefer not to have it on for more than 10-20 seconds. I go a little bigger and have an ITP A1 EOS (190 lumens without heat risk) or, more commonly, an Akoray K109 (230 lumens)...not as small as the ones you show, but I'm more comfortable with the power going through them.

I agree, however, the big benefit of a small flashlight is that it's easy to carry ALL THE TIME. And most of the time, the light will only be used for short bursts, which makes a 10440 light just about perfect. Like anything, there are some trade-offs. But (as you suggest) if you need a bright light with long run-times, a tiny 10440 light is not the best choice.

My 'real' EDC light is a Quark 123*2 Tactical, as shown in the pic below:

[tkruf]

Thanks for the info.
That 3-D Cell Mag light is my car light/equalizer. Does anyone know of a replacement LED lamp for it? With a good bright LED and 3 D Cells it should be a long lived dependable tool.

Absolutely. Visit Battery Junction and look at the TerraLUX Maglite LED upgrades available. Here is the link.

TerraLUX Maglite LED Upgrades & Pro Lighting

[winner]

Useful information, thank you. and do anybody know where to buy Preon light???

[cj]

Useful information, thank you. and do anybody know where to buy Preon light???

Considering the thread is 2 years old, there are likely newer options out there. But if you want a Preon, the manufacturer sells them (https://www.foursevens.com)

[tokerblue]

Considering the thread is 2 years old, there are likely newer options out there. But if you want a Preon, the manufacturer sells them (https://www.foursevens.com)

- Foursevens updates the emitters in their flashlights, so you can always get the latest and greatest. The form factor and multiple modes of the Preon is still hard to beat.

[Bill340]

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[winner]

Thank you for your help, guys