I recently bought a package of eight (for $10) of those 3xAAA LED colored
aluminum small flashlights they give away sometimes at Harbor Freight. Two
or three have intermittent problems but most of them work well. When I take
them out of the package I take them apart and lube contact points, o-rings,
and threads with a little Vaseline.
I also like the 2xAAA Pelican or Hubble slim flashlights on the boat
because I can hold them in my mouth freeing up both hands. Excellent for
anchor problems on dark and stormy nights. They are a little pricey (around
$15-$20) but have a lifetime guarantee. (Yes I have some "head lamps" too
I use for work in dark places)
Beware that silicone grease (diver's grease) destroys some plastics. I
destroyed several Pelican/Hubble flashlights with silicone grease, that's
why I use Vaseline now.
A good light viscosity grease is trailer hitch ball grease.
I do have some 3xD Maglites on board. They are rugged, reliable and
relatively cheap, especially when on sale, and clips are available to clip
them to bulkheads where they are handy. I often pair them with fire
extinguishers.
Alkalines seem to hold their charge longer in flashlights since we use them
for just a short time and not often. We did use rechargables very
effectively in Jan's older camera where they were used heavily until
discharged then replaced with a fresh set, but they seem to self-discharge
fairly quickly.
My general take on flashlights is to have lots of them because they only
work well about half the time.
Norm
S/V Bandersnatch
> Hi, Ben, and list,
>
> I've gone through many of the $5 3-cell flashlights. The aluminum
corrodes
> and the contacts fail and other nuisances, never mind that using
> rechargeables (my only batteries I use) makes it just another charger I'd
> have to get (I have one which will charge AAA and AA, but it's full of
AAs
> at the moment!)
>
> Has anyone found one of the really compact 3-cells which doesn't exhibit
> this annoying tendency? Meanwhile, in favor of the heavy Dcell maglite
> equivalents,
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