[kev]

Opinions on Lithium 123A battery powered flashlights:

Flashlights that use the Lithium 123A battery might be brighter then a regular LED flashlight. BUT, as the output wattage increases, and different bulbs come onto the market, I think that "over the counter" LED flashlights will bypass Lithium 123A battery powered flashlights in brightness.

Part of the brightness also depends on the magnifying lens on the flashlight. Some lights have a magnifying lens, some do not.

Kev82abn and I had had one of our led flashlights out in the evening. His was brighter then mine, by my flashlight was the cheapest one I had. Next time we get together I am going to get my good LED light out so we can see how they look.

Plus, I like my flashlights to share a common rechargeable battery. My wife and I are phasing out all the regular / non-rechargeable batteries out of all of our devices - even TV remotes.

By switching over to rechargeable batteries, we are saving a LOT of money, plus we are doing our part to keep batteries out of the land fills.

Question - do the Lithium 123A batteries come in a rechargeable version?

 

[Jerry D Young]

Yes they do. I did a search and it came up with 61,000 hits. Of course, only the first few pages were relevent.

 

[Reloader_26D]

I have several devices that use the 123 batteries, and finally found a solution. They are rechargeable. The brand is "UltraLast", model # ULCR123RK. It costs $29.95 USD and comes with two (02) batteries, and Smart Charger. You can also buy just the batteries by themselves (P#: ULCR123R). So far, I'm a really happy camper with this solution. You should be able to find it cheaper where your located, as prices up here can SOMETIMES be quite painful. I hope this helps...

 

[kev]

Thank you reloader - that is the kind of prices that consumers need, not $100 for a flashlight.

One of the reasons I have never bought a 123 battery powered flashlight, is because I can not justify the high prices. As LED technology gets better, I look for the higher priced flashlights to fade away. LED flashlights that sold for $100 this year, will be selling for 30 dollars in the next couple of years.

 

[almac]

the thing that bothers me with the 123 batteries are battery availability.
I can find AA or AAA batteries anywhere, but 123 are more uncommon here.

I myself use a cheapo no name brand aluminum 2 cell AA LED flashlight.
I think i bought it for under 8$.

I'm still looking at a better flashlight, so i can use the cheap one for a backup.

al

 

[Peter]

I like the rechargeable batteries, they cost more up front, but are cheaper in the long run. A solar powered battery charger, would be a great addition.

My current set up is a mini mag light with LED upgrade and rechargeable batteries. It works great, with a couple of exceptions, It's not nearly as bright and the beam is no longer adjustable. The batteries last for quite a while between recharges.
Peter

 

[tapedeck74]

I have both alkaline lights and Lithium units, in both incandescent and LED. They all have their place.
The shelf life of alkaline batteries has gotten pretty good, about 7 years. Lithium is 10 years.
One consideration where I live is that alkaline cells do not work well in cold weather. I went camping last month in -15C weather and my Surefire G2 and Princeton headlamp (both Lithium) worked great.
Around the house I have several AA Maglites. $8 each and they do the job.
In my car I have a Surefire G2.

Surefire makes a couple of dual-output LED models that interest me. You can switch from 5 to 65 lumen output (65 is the same intensity as their incandescent lamps, Very bright) . Battery life is 16 hours at 5 lumens and 1.5 hours at 65 lumens. This unit uses only one CR123 cell by the way. They cost about $120, which is pushing the bounds of rationality, even for me, but I think they're a quality product and are worth it.

 

[ken]

RCR-123, LED flashlights, and all that stuff

There are rechargeable (RCR-123) batteries available, however there is an issue to research, the use of protected vs non protected cells. I have read that your CR-123 powered flashlight might be damaged by the higher voltage from some batteries, so far I have only used protected batteries so I haven't had this problem. Others here may have more information about this issue. I just got one of the Cree flashlights that use the CR123 cells, not enough time to know. You can get them cheap if you do some web searches, like around 25 bucks. I have to admit, the Cree flashlight is brighter than a 3 (D-cell) mag light, a plus, pretty darned amazing. Since the new flashlight is tiny and a lot lighter, maybe that is better, I am not convinced just because it is so bright. I know my opinion will probably offend the die-hard supporters of mag lights, but here goes. You might consider doing what I did, shelve the mag light, and get something more efficient. If you still want to carry a heavy club, get an aluminum baseball bat, and stop using that as the excuse for keeping the Mag-lights, ha. I have mixed feelings about these new light sabers using the CR-123, here is my take, the good and the bad. Using the CR-123 cell means stocking another battery type, a negative for me, since it is not exactly a common battery. The CR-123 batteries have a long ,10 year shelf life, a plus, because you can buy a box of them at a buck each and have a supply. The luxeon flashlights uses more power than a regular LED, so the battery life is a few hours at most, not so good. The rechargers and rechargeable batteries (RCR-123) are not cheap, or that readily available, a negative to me. For those that have not switched to an LED flashlight, consider the following. You should shop for an efficient flashlight because using a fraction of the power will mean your supply of batteries will last and last. Mag-Lights are well made no question there, and some LED flashlights are just cheaply made, so shop around. The rage years ago was the krypton bulb when it appeared, guess what, the bulb was indeed brighter and used twice the power. If you really need a flashlight you want it to last, cutting the battery life in half for more light is not a good thing if you have to stock batteries. I know most Americans are sold by the bigger is better marketing scam, sometimes more efficient is king. Now we are at another technology decision point, higher wattage luxeon light saber, or just a good LED flashlight. Maybe you will need both a super bright light saber using the CR-123 batteries, and an efficient flashlight that will be running months, maybe a year later when your CR-123 batteries are dead. Running a flashlight for 400 hours on a single set of batteries is a lot better than whether it can be seen from the moon. Usually you only need to see your immediate surroundings, not always, but most of the time. If you still need the Q-beam, then get a good LED light, that can use regular (AAA, AA, C, or D cell) rechargeable batteries for the other 95 percent of the time. If you still love that regular flashlight bulb, consider that the MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) for a standard flashlight bulb is only a few hours, if you keep your conventional mag-light better buy a case of bulbs, your decision. Shock and vibration will also speed up the early failure of a conventional flashlight bulb, not so the LED. I have made the switch to LED flashlights and have purchased a bunch over they years as they improve I keep upgrading. If you tried an LED flashlight five years ago, and were not satisfied, try them again, they are better. If you want to buy a new light saber just don't spend the high prices some are charging, 25 bucks is more my price, and not the hundred bucks some ask.

 

[Run N Gun]

i get my 123's @ Lowe's. $4.49 a two pack.

 

[The_Question]

I stick to double a's and triple A's, they are far more common to find.