Best Cheap LED light?

S

Sevorius

Joined
Dec 28, 2007
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I'm looking for a very cheap but still decent quality LED light, I'd like to keep the price range under $30 (I'm looking to buy several) but I want something very bright as well. I was at wally world earlier today and saw a stack of these on the knife counter. the packaging claim 115 lumens and 6 hours runtime on 3 AAA's. is this a gross exaggeration or hyped marketing or what? the LED is a Cree Xlamp XR-E. does anyone have any personal experience with this light or perhaps that particular LED? if you have any other reccomendations for a decent light under $30 or so feel free to toss those around as well, thanks guys.

Edit: forgot to mention that I'd prefer something that runs on AA or AAA with as long as run time as possible, thx
 
From time to time, Home Depot has their aluminum bodied 9 LED lights on sale. They are 4 for $29.95. I buy them, and they work quite well, and they are really sturdy. But you must get the ones that have the self cleaning switch on the body, NOT on the butt. The ones you want to find use 4 AAA batteries, and in my construction business they last a really long time.

The ones you don't want have a small lanyard strap on them, take 3 AAA batteries, and something is wrong with their contacts; they need to be cleaned all the time for the light to work properly.

Robert
 
I have a Fenix PD30 with the cree led and it is amazing. Incredibly bright at 220 lumens with lower levels of output. I would guess that any flashlight running the Cree XR-E should be good.
 
Solarforce with Q5 cree led.
Cheap can pick one up with a charger and batteries for about $45 and claim 285 lumens although its probably just over 200 which is still plenty bright plus the quality is good and cant be beat at the price point.
Dont get a maglite there cheap pieces of crap.
Proven to myself by the fact i picked up some cheap chinese rip off of a surefire and its about 20 times brighter than a mag led and is built like a tank in comparison.
 
I'm not too familiar with US prices, but check out the lights from Coast. I second those who also suggested Fenix's lights.

-Chris
 
Those new LED AA maglites with the twist heads to turn the light on and focus the beam have done nothing but give me trouble.
I've had 3 different lights the past year and there's something wrong with the switch, because they always go off when they should be on.
 
Sam's was selling some at under 30 bucks for 2, don't know if they are still available but I know Pop bought some similar ones at Sam's just recently. They use AAA bateries and work great.

0003579434589_L4.jpg
 
You could pick up a Fenix E20 at 4sevens for about $38 shipped. If you register at CPF you also get an additional 8% off with the CPF coupon code.

Fenix E20
 
Inova X-1 - available at Target for under $20. Not the strongest light, but good runtime, built like a tank, and made in the U.S.A. (if that matters to you). Target carries a whole range of Inova lights.
 
I love my Lumistar LED. I got it at radioshack. Don't remember the price but it is also a 3 AAA flashlight and amazingly bright.
 
River Rock Designs 0.5W LED runs on 2 AAA Alkaline or Lithium batteries for $9.50 at Target. Unbelievably nice for the money.

RR05Pk.jpg
 
jill jackson said:
Those new LED AA maglites with the twist heads to turn the light on and focus the beam have done nothing but give me trouble.
I've had 3 different lights the past year and there's something wrong with the switch, because they always go off when they should be on.
Click to expand...

I agree. I had one that would consistently turn on when I didn't want it to, and drain the battery completely by the next time I wanted to use it.

They also only burn for about an hour, and after that--they just shut off without warning.

The only good thing I can say about Mag's LED lights is that they convinced me to start buying Fenix LED lights.
 
Dealextreme.com has a large assortment (11 pages) of flashlights using Cree emitters. I've bought a lot of flashlights from them over the past two years and their prices beat any other seller's prices. Romisen, UltraFire, and MTE are brands I've bought and all have worked well. I've even invested in the ones with exotic rechargeable batteries like 18650, 3.7 volt and 16340, 3.6 volt (similar to a cr123a). The only problem with ordering from them is they are in China so it takes awhile to get the items, but I've always gotten everything I've ordered, eventually. They also sell some computer parts, lighters, gun accessories, cell phone accessories and so on. I'm waiting on an order right now that has some Cree emitter flashlights that were around $9.
 
If you have a Costco membership you can get a Leatherman Blast and a rebranded Fenix L1T for $50 a set. Just think, after you're done buying lights you'll have a whole slew of Leathermans!
 
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