<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; = charset=us-ascii"> <TITLE>Message</TITLE> <STYLE>P { MARGIN: 0px } </STYLE> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1106" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY style="BORDER-TOP-STYLE: none; BORDER-RIGHT-STYLE: none; = BORDER-LEFT-STYLE: none; BORDER-BOTTOM-STYLE: none"> <DIV><FONT color=#0000ff><SPAN class=716584101-04102005> <DIV><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial><FONT = color=#000000>-----Original Message-----<SPAN class=716584101-04102005> </SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>A pet peeve of mine is lighting.   I buy LED flashlights with 100,000 bulbs and they = don't stand up.  The bulb may be fine but they stop working...I extend = the spring...no avail.   I need a technical guide to lighting in = our work.  I have a headlight I use for camping that I can use for = work but they also seem to not like banging around in the kit....SUGGESTIONS?</FONT></DIV></SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=716584101-04102005></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=716584101-04102005>--</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN = class=716584101-04102005>David, lighting is also one of my pet peeves, especially portable lighting. = This began during my first job with a miserly dealer who would come into the shop = and turn the lights out (to save energy). Over time (age and eyes), matters of = proper lighting have unfortunately become either a fetish or an obsession. = I'm thinking about building a display case for the = out-takes!</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=716584101-04102005></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN = class=716584101-04102005>I'm gradually homing in on some favorites, but at the moment can best advise = what -not- to buy, whether tradiional, LED or headlamp. Will spare everyone = the details, since the goalpost moves almost weekly. Bottom line is that I = still have yet to find any ONE that fits all needs, and routinely carry a = minimum of three sources of illumination ON me, more in the kit, and even more in = backup. I've even kludged some components together to make portable lights from something that was not originally designed to be portable. (Funny, a = couple of them became commercially available years down the road, but not = due to my efforts).</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=716584101-04102005></SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Arial = color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=716584101-04102005></SPAN></FONT><FONT = face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN = class=716584101-04102005></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN = class=716584101-04102005>The best advice I can offer in exchange for the detail you provided is:</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=716584101-04102005></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN = class=716584101-04102005>(1) Don't carry 'em in the kit. Or, don't let 'em bang around in the kit. = Some of the LED's are not just a matter of the bulbs -- some of them have = discrete modules that don't take kindly to the shuffling. Many of them are made = offshore, and with some of the components/leads being quite small, there's the = chance of either cold solder joints or just plain fragility;</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN = class=716584101-04102005>(2) With headlamps, the switch is often the culprit -- especially = slider-type switches.</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN = class=716584101-04102005>(3) If you want to really dig in to the subject, check out the discussions at = <A href="http://www.candlepowerforums.com/">http://www.candlepowerforums.c= om/</A>.</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=716584101-04102005></SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Arial = color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=716584101-04102005></SPAN></FONT><FONT = face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN = class=716584101-04102005></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN = class=716584101-04102005>Oh, my newest experiment is two days old, so I don't have a firm opinion. It's = an LED 'upgrade' kit from NiteIze that retros the ubiquitous AA Maglite into an = clustered LED. Details found at <<FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#000000 size=3> <FONT face=ari = color=#0000ff size=2>http://tinyurl.com/73zuk</FONT> <STRONG>>.</STRONG></FONT></SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#000000 size=3><SPAN class=716584101-04102005><STRONG></STRONG></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN = class=716584101-04102005>These AA Mags were the only game in town for a long time, and since I have = about six of them, I thought I'd try the retro on one of them.</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=716584101-04102005></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=716584101-04102005>Regards,</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN = class=716584101-04102005>Jim Harvey</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff = size=2></FONT> </DIV></BODY></HTML>