Thanks for the tip, I have been looking for something like this to take with me on the bike.
I have just ordered a 3 pack from Amazon
Let me know how you like them. I will be away at the Reno Air races for two weeks but I will check this thread when I get back.
Here is a good review of the product on Amazon...
My name is Al Massicotte (Alofbennington@yahoo.com). I'm a professional broad-spectrum product innovator. But like most who read Amazon reviews, I simply want to buy excellent products at affordable prices.
I bought two 3-packs of this 200-lumen flashlight (Techlite TE-105/200) from Costco four months ago. The regular price for a pack was $20, but it was on sale for $16 ($5.33 per flashlight). And, of course, it comes with Costco's usual lifetime money-back guarantee.
Fortunately, my profession gave me access to test equipment that facilitated an in-depth study of this flashlight. And I am happy to share my findings with the Amazon community, whose vast library of reviews helped me evaluate hundreds of products.
OVERALL DESIGN AND MANUFACTURE
The flashlight has a very smart design. My compliments to the team that created this practical marvel. And it's manufactured with high precision from quality materials.
ILLUMINATION
The flashlight uses just 3 AAA batteries, yet is more illuminating than a traditional flashlight with 3 D batteries. I could barely believe my eyes. This little gadget will light up a big tree on a dark night from a hundred yards away!
Intensity and hue do not noticeably vary from sample to sample.
Reviewers of an earlier model (100-lumen) said an adjustable focus did not work properly. But the 200-lumen model has a fixed focus. Its ingeniously-shaped reflector concurrently delivers both an excellent spotlight (for intense illumination of the target) and an excellent floodlight (for ample peripheral illumination).
COMPACTNESS
Although the flashlight is compact, it fits one's hand comfortably and securely.
I had no hesitation replacing all of my flashlights, big and small, with this palm-sized floodlight. I love that it takes up so little room in my toolbox, glovebox, bedside drawer, kitchen drawer, laundry, and safe room.
In fact, it's even compact and light enough to carry in a pocket or purse. So it's much more likely to be brought along than left at home.
BATTERY RUN TIME TEST METHODOLOGY
I performed a series of tests to determine the run time of a set of batteries, depending on the choice of beam--HIGH, LOW or STROBE.
To assure that test results would not be influenced by differences between flashlight samples, I used the same flashlight throughout the series.
To assure that test results would not be influenced by variations in battery performance or condition, I began every test by loading the flashlight with fresh batteries from the same stock (package of Costco Kirkland alkaline AAA batteries).
I monitored the light output of the flashlight with a photometer (Sekonic L-246 outfitted with a white filter and 10X slide). I nested the head of the flashlight over the filter and took all readings from the meter's black scale. Although the readouts are in nonstandard units, they are in proportion to the volume of light generated by the flashlight. And in these tests that's what matters.
With fresh batteries a beam's brightness will be what I call "full-bright". As the batteries drain, brightness will gradually diminish. But it is presumed that most users will find a beam acceptable so long as its brilliance doesn't fall below "half-bright". Accordingly, "battery run time" is the amount of time a fresh battery pack can deliver a beam at half-bright or better.
It turns out that LOW has a full-bright reading of 100 on the scale; so it is half-bright at 50. HIGH has a full-bright reading of 300; so it is half-bright at 150. STROBE has a full-bright reading of 140; so it is half-bright at 70.
Normally, one would load a fresh set of batteries into a flashlight, then consume them over a period of many months in multiple sessions, each followed by a long rest. It turns out that these rest breaks enable batteries to recover, extending their run time. To approximate this operational scenario in a compressed time frame, each test was broken into a series of five sessions (S1 through S5), separated with rest.
I began each session by starting a count-up timer from zero. Then I selected the beam of interest. When the brilliance dropped to half-bright, I switched off the flashlight and noted the run time.
Each beam was tested in 10 steps: (1) Install fresh batteries. (2) S1. (3) One-hour rest. (4) S2. (5) One-hour rest. (6) S3. (7) One-hour rest. (8) S4. (9) One-day rest. (10) S5.
BATTERY RUN TIME TEST RESULTS
Battery run time on LOW = (226 minutes in S1) + (35 in S2) + (18 in S3) + (7 in S4) + (24 in S5) = 310 minutes. That is, LOW lasts only 3.8 hours in a first session, but 5.2 hours overall.
Battery run time on HIGH = (46 minutes in S1) + (24 in S2) + (4 in S3) + (2 in S4) + (4 in S5) = 80 minutes. That is, HIGH lasts only 0.8 hours in a first session, but 1.3 hours overall.
Battery run time on STROBE = (143 minutes in S1) + (17 in S2) + (21 in S3) + (6 in S4) + (13 in S5) = 200 minutes. That is, STROBE lasts only 2.4 hours in a first session, but 3.3 hours overall.
Reviewers of an earlier model (100-lumen) said an apparent electrical flaw was rapidly draining the battery pack, even when the flashlight was off. It was reported that the battery pack of a flashlight would drain dry in 1 to 6 months of storage. But that's history.
MODE SWITCH
The switch has 4 modes--LOW, HIGH, STROBE and OFF.
Switches found on traditional flashlights are solely mechanical and consume no power. But this flashlight's switch includes electronic circuitry, which consumes power continuously, even in the OFF mode. With fresh batteries, the battery pack drain rate is 260 mA on LOW, 1000 mA on HIGH, 440 mA on STROBE, and 0.010 mA on OFF. Accordingly, the drain rate is 100,000 times as much on HIGH as on OFF. So if the flashlight is stored unused for a year (8760 hours), the OFF loss will be the same as running the flashlight on HIGH for 8760h ? 100,000 = 0.0876h. That's only about 5 minutes (6% of initial overall capacity).
If the flashlight is accidently left on until its beam dies, it will turn off automatically. That will preserve the batteries, which are capable of partial recovery. But then it will no longer be possible to switch the flashlight back on until the following is done: (1) Allow the batteries to rest for an hour or so, if necessary. (2) Remove the cap momentarily, which resets the electronic switch. (3) After the cap is reinstalled, the flashlight will be ready for additional use.
The mode switch button does not protrude beyond its guard ring, so is not prone to accidental actuation. In fact, it must be depressed over 1/16" to activate.
BATTERY CAGE
Many reviewers of a previous model (100-lumen) said the battery cage was brittle and prone to break apart if the flashlight fell as little as half a foot. But the 200-lumen model has a rugged battery cage. I drop-tested one of my 200-lumen flashlights from a height of 4 feet to a sheet of 3/4" plywood that was lying on a concrete floor. I ran one drop with side impact, one with head impact and one with tail impact. Sadly, the plywood sustained considerable damage. But the integrity and performance of the flashlight and cage were unaffected. Finally, I ran the same series of drops with just the fully-loaded cage (no longer protected by the case). Although some batteries popped out upon impact, the cage incurred no apparent damage.
In the event of battery leakage, the cage is likely to prevent corrosive material from attacking the barrel and its electronic components, which are difficult to access for cleaning and burnishing. Whereas the cage is easy to remove, empty, and clean.
STROBE
One use for the strobe is as a locator. It can send a plea for help to people on the ground, on the water or in the air. Possible scenarios include vehicle breakdown, injury on a hike, and urgent need of rescue. I tested the nighttime reach of the strobe on a well-lit street in the suburbs. At a distance of 1300 feet the strobe was still very eye catching. I presume that a rescue pilot could easily spot the signal from a mile away.
A second use is as an emergency caution marker, as might be warranted in a road accident.
A third use is in self defense. The strobe can twart the approach of an attacker through disorientation and even temporary blindness.
If you are strobophobic, you don't have to pass sequentially from LOW to HIGH to STROBE in order to get to OFF. Just hold the button in for a couple seconds to leapfrog the intermediate modes.
SELF-DEFENSE STRIKE BEZEL
The head of the flashlight has a scalloped bezel. It enables the flashlight to be used to fend off an attack, such as by forcefully and repeatedly jabbing the attacker's face. And the handle's knurling provides an extreme grip, which should make it easy to keep this weapon under your control. Hopefully, the bad guy will run off and painfully regret his choice of victim.
