Walmart lights
 

Just came back from Walmart and I stopped in the camping section and saw these. Anybody use these lights? Seems like technology has come a long way. 200 lumens for $15, 500 lumens for $30, etc. Only reason I didn't pick one up is I already have a peck or so of multi-100-lumen flashlights that I paid a heck of a lot more for.:(

http://www.walmart.com/search/search...h_constraint=0

If you're looking at generic flashlights, you can do better or cheaper or perhaps both. The UltraFire 500 lumen flashlight is $12, still around $20 with a pair of 18650 rechargeable LiIons and a charger AND a lockblock to mount it. This isn't anything new, that's been the price for over a year.

I'd bet that those generic brand ones don't actually put out the claimed lumens.

You're killing me. I hate to think what I paid for my Dinotte 200L a few years back.

First light on the list requires 6 AAs. Looks like 2 wide, 3 deep- good luck mounting that anywhere on the helmet or bars.

For the record, my first front light I bought when I started commuting years ago was a Coleman Maxx RWB rated at like 115 lumens. Aside from the fact I discovered quickly it did not suit my needs at that time, I just had to toss it in the trash this past week- my kids were playing with it and broke the light head off trying to change the colors.

You can not beat this deal on this light from Amazon, even at Walmart.

They claim 1200 lumens, but I'll bet it's more like 800 or 900 lumens instead. Still, a very impressive light for the cost.

If you want cheap lights that are pretty good, check home depot for Defiant lights but they might be sold out in your area. Not the best quality or waterproofing but it's hard to beat them for the price, they also come with free batteries.

I personally use a Spark SX5 headlamp, the headlamp is nice because I can choose where the light is pointing towards easily. Only downside is I have to be mindful of where I point my head or I'll blind others. It's got the added advantage that it can use multiple batteries so I can use any batterie type from my other lights if I need to.

BTW most manufacturer lie or embellish the truth about the ratings of their lights by either having poor regulation or stepping down the lumens after a certain rate of time, so look up reviews of whatever light you buy.

It's not that the light-manufacturer is lying, they are just using the LED-maker's maximum output at the LED under maximum drive. A Cree XML-T6 LED can put out 1200 lumens at 3.3amps usage. But no one is really building lights that draw that much current, too inefficient and too much heat generated, requiring a copper heatsink and beefy driver-circuits. Most light-makers will use 2amps max for about 700lumens at the LED. Then after going through the optics, you're really looking at about 500-550 lumens OTF - off the front.

I've upgraded many of these lights from the P7 flashlights to MS headlight copies with my own adjustable drivers so I can incrementally creep up to the LED's maximum potential. It's amazing the difference between the off-the-shelf 500-600lm output versus unlocking the LED's true 1200lm potential! Of course, now you're looking at only 40% of the original battery-charge life and I've blown quite a few LEDs by overheating. Many don't come with sufficient heatsinking to drive the LEDs at maximum; and copper works much better than aluminium.