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Amazon with Warm Mart has the Sodial 7 watt 300 Lumen Mini Cree LED Flashlight for $5 with free shipping. Ships from Hong Kong. Features aluminum alloy construction, adjustable focus range, and waterproof design.
$5
If its like the one I got, its not waterproof 'cuz it may have a rubber switch and O-rings in the body, but the front lens is not sealed to the housing. Its only just fitted in without any seal.
Dollar for dollar, the best flashlight on today's market.
Use the Li-Ion battery (with charger) for best performance, though it's just fine with an ordinary AA cell.
This is not really supposed to be used with a Li-Ion cell, there is a high chance it will be damaged in the long term if not fry in the short term. So it goes with generic lights, practically NONE of them that can run from 1 x AA alkaline, NiMH, etc cells can also use a Li-Ion cell.
The reason for this is simple, they use a boost circuit because a boost-buck combo circuit would waste power running a <=1.5V cell, would also be larger and more costly. Being only boost, with a cell above the forward voltage of the LED it will run too hot, so only a few specimens of LED with unusually high forward voltage spec will survive undamaged unless the light is only used for very short periods.
There is another option, to not charge the Li-Ion cell all the way to 4.2V, but most chargers are set to this termination voltage.
On the other hand, it IS only $5, not as though damaging it would be a loss you can't get over.
I bought a handful of these last time along with some 14500 batteries and they are working great. Good also with AA. They did take a while to get here, so don't expect them before Christmas.
Got a couple from "WarmMart".
Great for $5 each.
Great little flashlights, as long as you're not in a hurry. Shipping takes weeks.
The ones I bought recently run cooler and longer than the one I bought a year ago. I use them as bicycle headlights - amazon sells a bicycle handlebar mount for them for about $2.50 - and they run for almost 2 hrs on Eneloop AA battery. The are not only the best value flashlight you can buy, they are also the best value bike headlight.
Ya, I got 5 of them last month. They took 6 weeks to arrive, and are definitely NOT waterproof as in diving, but are water resistant enough in the rain and stuff. The front bezel is loose, and telescopes in and out to focus a tighter beam. As for using Lithium Ion, I think the intention was to use the AA-1.5v Li-ion battery (the likes of "Eneregizer Ultimate Lithium"), those do last much much longer (up to 5 hours use). @ dave_c : You'd be out of your mind to try using a 3.7v battery.
Product Features
7W 300LM Mini LED Flashlight Torch Adjustable Focus Zoom Light Lamp
Super mini size, bright, blinding effect
Skid-proof design & waterproof design.
This mini flashlight can use AA size Alkaline, NiMH, and lithium 14500 batteries.
Adjustable focus range for different usage, stretching to adjust its focus.
I use the lithium batteries since it is stated that it is designed for them. No issues
just cked, amazon link...$5.84