Sunday, February 26, 2012

PakLite 9V LED Flashlight Review

PakLite 9V LED Flashlight Review Big Power, Little Light

Often I run across products which are simply outstanding and the PakLite is one product I think every prepper, outdoorsman, adventurer, and every day Joe should have.  Everyone needs a flashlight, but most of the time you do not need to burn the batteries of your 150+lumen tactical light just to read a map, and with the brightness of today’s lights, they exercise would be blinding anyway.  Typically you just need enough light to see in your pack, walk safely at night, provide enough light to open your door or look under your seat.  A small, simple, compact, and inexpensive light using readily available and cheap batteries is all that is needed and that is where the $25.99 PakLite comes in.

FIT & FEEL
What I like most is the compact nature of the light.  The entire PakLite head is only the width and depth of a standard 9V battery and only about ½” tall.  Even when attached to a battery the entire PakLite/Battery combo only weight 1.5 oz which is a huge amount of long-running light in a very light weight package.  There is not much to the PakLite, however the ABS housing and twitch is all quality made.


FEATURES & FUNCTIONS
The main feature to the PakLite is obviously that it can snap on to any 9V battery and deliver very bright long lasting light all in a 1.5oz package. Functionally the light could not be simpler with a three way (center off position) switch which provides a low map light beam and high power flashlight beam.  Although PakLilte does not provide Lumen specs, the tiny PakLite light delivers around 70-90 Lumens on high when comparing it to other similar Lumen spec’ed lights I own. Very impressive little light that provides sufficient lighting out to 25-35 yards.

The low beam is extraordinarily handy for a little light to read a map, see in you bag, or deliver a very long running 600hr marker capability.  The cool thing about the diminutive 9V battery is that you can paste Velcro on one side and stick magnetic or double-stick tap on the other and this gives you a ton of mounting options for the light.  PakLite even makes the magnets and Velcro available for purchase with the light.

Even at dusk these lights generated
enough output to photograph.

The PakLite is available in loads of various ABS head colors including the camo, red, and 12 hours glow in the dark versions I tested, and also with various bulb colors and functions including flashing and signaling.  One of the versions I purchased, provides a high beam red and high beam white light instead of the dual white LEDs. Perhaps I might follow up with a future review on some of those other options.

I tried the PakLite out as a tactical light the other night and it worked very well to illuminate hallways and stairways and even the front sight post just by holding it with the thumb next to the handguard... a little Velcro and you have a inexpensive and versatile tactical light for all your other, other guns without dropping $100 per gun for a decent tactical light.

Have older 9V batteries that are not powerful enough to run your smoke detectors any longer? Save them for the PakLite and you will be stunned that another 30-100 hours of light can be had from these otherwise junk batteries.

FINAL THOUGHTS
The PakLite is an outstanding versatile light and considering its price of only $24.99, it is the best value for survival lighting.  The PakLite of course will not deliver the blinding 200 Lumen output of my SureFire, but it will run for 75 hours straight on a standard cheap 9V batteries available anywhere and scroungable from any smoke detector. Honestly in situation other than a tactical one, your do not need that much light and from my perspective, the PakLite delivers two more usable long lasting light levels for everyday camping, general purpose, and survival lighting. Pick up a couple lithium 9V batteries now hitting shelves from E&D brands, and you have an amazing 400-2400 hours of light all for under 3 oz.  The PakLite are one of those versatile products I feel like I need a dozen of to stash here and there for all manner of uses.  This light makes a lot of sense in a number of ways.
SPECS

  • Switch Modes - Low & High Beam
  • High Output 100,000 hr rated LED bulbs
  • Runtime on Alkaline - Low 600 hrs, High 75 hrs
  • Runtime on Lithium - Low 1200 hrs, High 200 hrs
  • 5 Year Warranty
  • Housing - ABS Plastic, 12hr glow cap, or solid colors
  • Weight 1.5oz w/Alkaline battery (Lithium batteries weight less)
  • MSRP$24.99


3 comments:

Unknown said...

How can that little thing cost $25? I'm waiting until it gets like $5. The best survival flashlight should use AA IMO.

Unknown said...

LED Flashlight but were not quite certain if they are correct. Bear in mind that LED is not a new creation since it has existed from the 60s. In those days, they released a small amount of Led flashlight, therefore could not be used in lighting. Over time, regular refinements led to the appearance of LED Flashlight.

Ampman said...

I've owned Paklites since around 2002. $25.00 w/a 25 yr warranty. It's never failed to work. Drop it in your pocket and go. Worth every cent. The only problem is finding a rechargeable that will stay attached.