I had a small blue LED flashlight that was very powerful and long-lasting and light weight. i couldn’t believe the light the little light threw off plus it was not a brihgt light. And it fit on a key-chain very light and easy to hike with . does anyone know where to find these?
buzzsaw
yeah, I sell a ton of 'em at Dicks Sporting Goods. I don’t know their brand name off the top of my head, but I’m sure you can get them at other general outfitters, too.
0101
I saw them at REI but like 01 says, they’re everywhere.
http://www.rei.com/online/store/Search?vcat=REI_SEARCH&stat=7889&langId=-1&storeId=8000&textQuery=photon&x=15&y=12
BW
They sell these in almost every sporting goods store: REI, Galyans (soon to become Dicks Sporting Goods in Las Vegas), KMart, WalMart, etc. They have several names such as Pulsars, and are all the lite you need inside a tent or in a shelter looking around for that “lost” mitten on a dark cold night when nature calls.
I have received several at trade shows as tokens. I like them a lot and will hike with a couple on the AT beginning in February. As a matter of fact, I’m looking at the one on my key chain that my daughter gave me for Christmas last year–it is still bright as ever
Big Daddy D
Great around camp - very light, easy on batteries. Not so good for night hiking, though. The blue-white light turns everything bluish white so it is hard to judge the footpath and distinguish rocks & roots and bumps. And not enough penetration to pick out the trail when it is buried in leaves.
Dioko
Photon lights come in 8 colors.
http://www.photonlight.com/more_info/choosing_color.html
Lobo
I’ve found the Photon Brand to be the brightest, in my personal and non-scientific opinion. The Photon II is nice with an on/off switch. They’re kinda pricey, but I’ve purchased several from a guy who sells them about 50% on Ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=2020&item=5151007212&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW
guru
Don’t forget that due to the narrow frequency band of any LED light you will NOT be able to distinguish between a blue and white blaze with a “white” LED light.
A friend of mine has a rather sad story about getting sidetracked pretty badly on a blue blazed trail to a water source while using a “white” LED for night hiking on the AT, whereas I have a rather amusing story about not being able to read a trail map under a red LED, due to the fact that the trail was marked in red, and therefore disappeared when my red LED was turned on. As a kicker, red or yellow text on packages of soup and whatnot also disappear under a red LED.
(BTW, most “white” LED’s are really blue, go to “http://ledmuseum.home.att.net/ledleft.htm” and page down to “How do those white LED’s really work anyway?” for an understandable explanation)
Two Speed