The Battery Thread.

[Big Frank]

The second light I got is a Diffuse 700 Lumens EDC Pocket Flashlight with 5 brightness levels and a strobe mode, plus 3-Color Battery Notice glowing ring around the power button. I put a 14500 3.7 volt battery in it and lost all 6 modes except what looked like high and it strobed on high instead of turbo. So I put the Olight 2.4 volt Li-ion battery back in and it has all 5 levels from 700 lumen turbo when you double tap the power button, down to 1 lumen, and 700 lumen strobe when you triple tap it. OD Green is a brand new color for the "lipstick size" flashlight. The pentagonal design is really nice and it won't roll off a desk or other surface.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=280UaUHjd0M

[Big Frank]

I got a free i3E EOS Keychain Flashlight. It was another Black Lava color. I was hoping to get a Vibrant Orange color since I don't have one of those, and I already have the other 3. The Baton 3 Pros both came with an L-Stand made of magnetic stainless steel and backed with strong adhesive tape. I stuck one on each bed post at the head of the bed and have my desert tan light stuck to one of them and the Roadster edition is my EDC. I don't think I ever posted it, but I have an Obuddy Astro Red for my Obulb. It has a magnetic charger on it so I can charge the Obulb while it's standing in the Obuddy. The Obulb came with 2 little googly eyes. I stuck them both on but one fell off, so now it's a cyclops. My Obulb MC is red, so it's a good match to my Obuddy. The Obulbs float, so you have "dsco lights" in the bathtub if that's what floats your boat, some pun intended. I have an Osling for it too.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGw-iXenHNE

[Big Frank]

I also have an Olink and Ohook Magnetic Hook for my Obulb and Baton 3 Pro flashlights. I can hook the Olink onto a strap on the front of my backpack if I want to and have it ready to grab in an instant. Or stick it on a belt loop if the clip breaks and I don't have my holster for it. And hang the Obulb in my tent from the hook if I want to. Lots of possibilities. You turn the Olight on by pressing down on it, and the base of it fits in the silicone Osling so you can stick your arm through it or hang it on a tree branch or wherever. The blinking red Obulb could be attached to the back of a bike at night too. Or a person. 

[Big Frank]

Right now you can buy an Orange or OD Green Arkfeld flashlight with white light and green laser, or an Orange or OD Green  Baton 3 Pro Max 2,500 lumens flashlight for $89.99 and get an iTHX Pumpkin Orange 180-lumen keychain flashlight, a $23.95 value as an Easter gift. That's what's hanging on my key-ring right now.

Or buy a Brass Stonewash Baton 3 Pro Max for $109.99 and get a Sunbreeze Pro Double (Camouflage & Green) travel hammock with bug protection, a $34.95 value as a free gift. The Brass Stonewash flashlight weighs 8.25 oz, while the Orange and OD Green ones only weigh 5.22 oz. They made a Desert Tan version that weighed 4.73 oz. It was magnesium instead of aluminum, IIRC.

https://www.olightstore.com/happy-easter-2024?os=DOVM&oc=EDM9B&sc_src=email_696750&sc_lid=41475607&sc_uid=QQKPjT9BD1&sc_llid=40438&sc_eh=04fee8a63959dfb41

That pentagonal shaped Diffuse 700 Lumen EDC Pocket Flashlight (5 sides and 5 power levels ) I recently bought won an iF Product Design Award from International Forum Design this year.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IF_Product_Design_Award

[Big Frank]

Not on sale, but new is a Javelot Long Range Outdoor Flashlight with Holster. A max output of 1,350 lumens and 134,000 candela allows it to cast a focused beam up to 730 meters. That's about 80 feet shy of half a mile.   I don't need to see 1/2 mile at night with a flashlight, so I'm not spending $104.99 on one. The Javelot Pro 2 Long Distance Flashlight costs twice as much, but has a max 2,500 lumens with an extreme 1,050-meter beam distance, 3,445 feet, .65 miles.   The spare battery pack for it is $79.95. ouch! The Javelot Turbo Spotlight Flashlight costs $229.95 and has a max 1,300 lumens with a 1,300-meter beam distance, .8 miles.   Its battery pack is $99.95.

https://www.olightstore.com/javelot-powerful-long-range-flashlight

[Sponsor]

[Big Frank]

Here's a pic of a 16340, 123A, and 18350 battery. The actual sizes are supposed to be 16x34mm, 17x34.5mm (about 2/3 of an A battery), and 18x35mm (half of an 18650+2mm). But the 123A Surefire is the same exact size as the 16340. To check if it was 1mm larger in diameter or not, I put it in my Perun Mini 2 and it fit perfectly. Even though it's only 3V and I shouldn't use it, I turned it on long enough to see that it worked. It's interesting to me that the 18350 although not being a large battery (they're each about 2/3 the size of my thumb) has 69-70% more mAh than the 16340.

[Big Frank]

The batteries died in my ancient Gander Mountain fluorescent camping lantern. I must have had it close to 40 years. I think it was a Chinese (or Taiwanese) knock-off of this Rayovac Sportsman Lantern. It had a 3 position knob for Off/1 light/2 lights, and the knob on top was all plastic like a bottle cap. Instead of a big shaft down the center holding it together, it had 2 threaded steel rods about as big as pencil leads. It used 2 6V lantern batteries, and also came with a 12V adaptor cord that plugged into a cigarette lighter. The end that plugged into the lantern looked just like an 1/8" mini earphone/microphone plug. These are the same size batteries found inside the flashing lights on orange construction barrels (the Michigan State Tree).

My Duracell batteries had 3.0 and 3.6 volts or something like that, instead of 6 volts. Six volt lantern batteries normally have 4 F batteries inside them. It's the only place F cells are used that I know of. I wanted to take them out and save one so I could show my friends what an F battery looked like. Imagine my surprise when I opened them up and found 4 D cells instead! They're about 1 1/16" shorter than F cells, so the company took a 1" strip or cardboard, folded it into a square, and put another piece of fiberboard like the top and bottom are made of on top of it. They made a little platform to stand the shorter batteries on, and the bottom of the lantern batteries were full of air. I tested the D cells with my Storacell Portable Digital Universal Battery Tester, and all 8 were bad, with 1 dead cell in each 6V battery. They could have put 4 26,000 mAh alkaline F cells in, but that would cost more than 4 12,000 mAh alkaline D cells. Four 12,000 mAh alkaline D cells are better than 4 10,500 mAh F cells, so it wouldn't be as big of a rip-off as it sounds, EXCEPT that they advertise them as alkaline batteries. Six volt lantern batteries typically have 26,000 (alkaline) or 10,500 (carbon‑zinc) mAh F cells in them, not 12,000 mAh alkaline D batteries. Alkaline F cells should have 117% more power than D cells. But, if you can cheap out and sell twice as many batteries...