3W Cree LED Flashlight from Lowe's

A Muzi wrote:
This is the best priced 3W Cree LED flashlight on the market, selling
for $30 at the Lowe's chain of hardware stores. Be very careful as there
are two flashlights from Lowe's with the same model, item, and SKU
number. You do not want the model that says "Luxeon" on the packaging,
and that lacks the "60X Brighter" statement on the packaging. Many
Lowe's stores have only the Luxeon version, some Lowe's stores have
both, and some have only the Cree version.
This beam is so bright that there is sufficient spill for peripheral
illumination off to the sides and up far enough to illuminate street
signs.

autopi wrote:
Thanks for posting this--very useful info!
On a side note, I've read some of the discussions about people
securing these flashlights to helmets and handlebars, but I was
wondering if anyone has any ideas about attaching them to the fork (on
a leg, or up by the crown)? I've been thinking about this because of
some claims I've read here by advocates of dynamo lights, saying that
it's better to have the light mounted lower down to better illuminate
the road surface. Any thoughts?

Get a _secure_ mounting. A light in a front wheel is a mess. And dangerous.
'Secure' means resistant to vibration, water and passersby who may ditz
with your equipment when it's parked. The stakes are high. Very high.
-------------
The fork mount people use is the Minoura
Besso fork mount., which is secure as
anything can be, on a STEEL fork.
Unfortunately they say not to use them
on a carbon fork, which is what most
people have now days. So the fork
mounted light will be rarely seen. I
have one on steel fork that I used on a
cateye 2 watt halogen, that worked
pretty good. I don't think I would
mount a flashlight, which is kind of
long, in two-fish mount, because I've
just seen too much stuff shake off my
bike, through the years that I thought
was secure. Fork mounted lights, were
because the lights weren't strong
enough, but as they get better you won't
need to do that. Unfortunately, I've
had stuff shake off the top, that tried
to get into the wheels too.

The Task Force 3 Watt LED Flashlight from Lowe's, Model FT-NS-2C-3W Item
# 225285, SKU 6937481300067, has been discussed a lot on the Candlepower
forums regarding its use as a bicycle light but I don't think it's been
mentioned here.

This is the best priced 3W Cree LED flashlight on the market, selling
for $30 at the Lowe's chain of hardware stores. Be very careful as there
are two flashlights from Lowe's with the same model, item, and SKU
number. You do not want the model that says "Luxeon" on the packaging,
and that lacks the "60X Brighter" statement on the packaging. Many
Lowe's stores have only the Luxeon version, some Lowe's stores have
both, and some have only the Cree version.

This beam is so bright that there is sufficient spill for peripheral
illumination off to the sides and up far enough to illuminate street signs.

While it is definitely a spot beam as opposed to a flood beam, you don't
really have the problem of the cheaper battery powered lights, and of
most dynamo lights, of insufficient peripheral illumination as the
amount of spill solves this problem. The spill of a spot beam is
actually a positive for bicycle lights that use a spot beam because
without sufficient spill you are not able to sufficiently illuminate off
to the sides or up to road signs.

Compared to the cost of dedicated 3W Cree bicycle lights, this
flashlight is a real bargain. Use it with a TwoFish mounting block (get
the reinforced one which is $10).

You can see it in the package at
"http://nordicgroup.us/s78/images/IMG_0715.JPG".

SMS wrote:
The Task Force 3 Watt LED Flashlight from Lowe's, Model FT-NS-2C-3W Item
# 225285, SKU 6937481300067, has been discussed a lot on the Candlepower
forums regarding its use as a bicycle light but I don't think it's been
mentioned here.
......
Compared to the cost of dedicated 3W Cree bicycle lights, this
flashlight is a real bargain. Use it with a TwoFish mounting block (get
the reinforced one which is $10).
.....


It's a bummer we have no flashlightreviews for viewing tests anymore.

The problem with a lot of the higher-output LED flashlights is that
(like the earlier incandescents) they have a peak brightness for the
first couple minutes and then get considerably dimmer.

With incandescent flashlights this was due to the battery
voltage/current dropping off, with LEDs it's due to the LED heating up
and the driver circuit throttling its output down somewhat. You
especially see this with the no-name Chinese stuff, but others do it
too. I recall the Mag-LED conversion "bulbs" suffered it too.
~

On Oct 15, 6:11 pm, DougC wrote:
SMS wrote:
The Task Force 3 Watt LED Flashlight from Lowe's, Model FT-NS-2C-3W Item
# 225285, SKU 6937481300067, has been discussed a lot on the Candlepower
forums regarding its use as a bicycle light but I don't think it's been
mentioned here.
......
Compared to the cost of dedicated 3W Cree bicycle lights, this
flashlight is a real bargain. Use it with a TwoFish mounting block (get
the reinforced one which is $10).

....

It's a bummer we have no flashlightreviews for viewing tests anymore.

The problem with a lot of the higher-output LED flashlights is that
(like the earlier incandescents) they have a peak brightness for the
first couple minutes and then get considerably dimmer.

With incandescent flashlights this was due to the battery
voltage/current dropping off, with LEDs it's due to the LED heating up
and the driver circuit throttling its output down somewhat. You
especially see this with the no-name Chinese stuff, but others do it
too. I recall the Mag-LED conversion "bulbs" suffered it too.
~

I considered this light as well as the CREE L2DCE, and have not pulled
the trigger on either yet. My concern with the L2DCE is inadequate
light, especially off road. Still, this has been my leading
contender.

I liked the thought of the Task Force, until I read about the
batteries rattling in the housing and the light flickering on and off
on bumpy roads. Since I can just bring the TF back to Lowe's if I am
not happy with it, I'll still probably try one if I can get my hands
on one. My local Lowe's does not have the CREE one yet.

In article ,
says...
The Task Force 3 Watt LED Flashlight from Lowe's, Model FT-NS-2C-3W Item
# 225285, SKU 6937481300067, has been discussed a lot on the Candlepower
forums regarding its use as a bicycle light but I don't think it's been
mentioned here.

This is the best priced 3W Cree LED flashlight on the market, selling
for $30 at the Lowe's chain of hardware stores. Be very careful as there
are two flashlights from Lowe's with the same model, item, and SKU
number. You do not want the model that says "Luxeon" on the packaging,
and that lacks the "60X Brighter" statement on the packaging. Many
Lowe's stores have only the Luxeon version, some Lowe's stores have
both, and some have only the Cree version.

This beam is so bright that there is sufficient spill for peripheral
illumination off to the sides and up far enough to illuminate street signs.

While it is definitely a spot beam as opposed to a flood beam, you don't
really have the problem of the cheaper battery powered lights, and of
most dynamo lights, of insufficient peripheral illumination as the
amount of spill solves this problem. The spill of a spot beam is
actually a positive for bicycle lights that use a spot beam because
without sufficient spill you are not able to sufficiently illuminate off
to the sides or up to road signs.

Compared to the cost of dedicated 3W Cree bicycle lights, this
flashlight is a real bargain. Use it with a TwoFish mounting block (get
the reinforced one which is $10).

You can see it in the package at
"http://nordicgroup.us/s78/images/IMG_0715.JPG".


I wonder how many hours?

RBrickston wrote:

I wonder how many hours?

As many hours as batteries you carry along.

Two 2500mAH AA cells in C adapters would give you about two hours of
illumination. You have to make a slight mod to get AA size batteries to
work with this flashlight as the positive contact is a spring type
contact that doesn't make contact with the small tip of some AA
batteries such as the Sanyo eneloop.

SMS wrote:
RBrickston wrote:

I wonder how many hours?

As many hours as batteries you carry along.

Two 2500mAH AA cells in C adapters would give you about two hours of
illumination. You have to make a slight mod to get AA size batteries to
work with this flashlight as the positive contact is a spring type
contact that doesn't make contact with the small tip of some AA
batteries such as the Sanyo eneloop.

Note that you can buy 5000 mAH C cells from
"http://www.zbattery.com/s.nl/it.A/id.1509/.f?sc=2&category=1941" for
$4.50 each. However most people don't have chargers for C cells.

SMS wrote:
RBrickston wrote:

I wonder how many hours?

As many hours as batteries you carry along.

Two 2500mAH AA cells in C adapters would give you about two hours of
illumination. You have to make a slight mod to get AA size batteries
to work with this flashlight as the positive contact is a spring type
contact that doesn't make contact with the small tip of some AA
batteries such as the Sanyo eneloop.

The adapters referred to can be found he
http://www.thomasdistributing.com/ba...pter-index.htm

--
Mike Kruger
Give no quarter to the paradigm people.

Mike Kruger wrote:
SMS wrote:
RBrickston wrote:

I wonder how many hours?
As many hours as batteries you carry along.

Two 2500mAH AA cells in C adapters would give you about two hours of
illumination. You have to make a slight mod to get AA size batteries
to work with this flashlight as the positive contact is a spring type
contact that doesn't make contact with the small tip of some AA
batteries such as the Sanyo eneloop.

The adapters referred to can be found he
http://www.thomasdistributing.com/ba...pter-index.htm

Also, two D adapters and two C adapters come with the Sanyo eneloop kit
sold at Costco.

This is the best priced 3W Cree LED flashlight on the market, selling
for $30 at the Lowe's chain of hardware stores. Be very careful as there
are two flashlights from Lowe's with the same model, item, and SKU
number. You do not want the model that says "Luxeon" on the packaging,
and that lacks the "60X Brighter" statement on the packaging. Many
Lowe's stores have only the Luxeon version, some Lowe's stores have
both, and some have only the Cree version.

This beam is so bright that there is sufficient spill for peripheral
illumination off to the sides and up far enough to illuminate street signs.

Thanks for posting this--very useful info!

On a side note, I've read some of the discussions about people
securing these flashlights to helmets and handlebars, but I was
wondering if anyone has any ideas about attaching them to the fork (on
a leg, or up by the crown)? I've been thinking about this because of
some claims I've read here by advocates of dynamo lights, saying that
it's better to have the light mounted lower down to better illuminate
the road surface. Any thoughts?