Your keychain is a great place to keep all sorts of useful things, and a EDC keychain flashlight is an excellent addition to that arsenal. You carry your keys with you most of the time, so adding additional tools to your keychain ensures that you have got anything you might need readily on hand at any time. Thanks to modern LED technology, there are plenty of bright and powerful keychain flashlights available, meaning that you can get a significant boost to your vision in the dark at any time without needing to carry a heavy, awkward, or expensive flashlight with you when you are out at night.
EDC Keychain Flashlight Buyer’s Guide
Lumens
The brightness of any flashlight is measured in lumens (lm), a unit that measures the total amount of light that is visible to the human eye produced by any flashlight, bulb, lamp, or any other light source. Higher lumen ratings indicate that a light source is producing more visible light and therefore should be brighter. For EDC Keychain Flashlight and other similar light sources, lumens are calculated in all directions, but a great deal of the light produced is wasted and spread out in different directions, making it less useful.
Flashlights, however, form a focused beam of light rather than spreading it around in different directions, and therefore, all of the measured lumens are useful and produce valuable light. This means that often, flashlights appear brighter than traditional lightbulbs with the same lumen rating. As a good point of comparison, most household lightbulbs produce a lumen level of about 300 to 400 lumens of light. Comparing the number of lumens listed on a flashlight to this is a great way to get a rough sense of how bright the flashlight should be!
Reflectors
The beam style of any flashlight, whether it is a EDC Keychain Flashlight or a larger and more heavy-duty model, is always primarily determined by a combination of an LED and a reflector. The reflector is a shiny, metallic cone made from either metal or shiny plastic, and it surrounds the LED bulb. These reflectors come in two different types: smooth and orange peel textured.
Smooth reflectors create a focused, clean beam that gives off light about 15% further than an equivalent orange peel reflector would, giving a narrower and cleaner beam. Orange peel reflectors, meanwhile, smooth out the beam and spread the light more widely, giving a softer but broader beam of light.
Smooth reflectors are the best choice for anyone planning on using their EDC Keychain Flashlight for long-distance spot beam work, but this is a relatively uncommon application for a keychain flashlight and is more often something for which most people prefer to use large, heavy-duty spot beam flashlights. Orange peel reflectors are much more common for keychain flashlights, as they give wider illumination, making them more suitable for use in scenarios where you need to illuminate a wider area, such as a workspace.
Rechargeable vs. Disposable Batteries
There are two main types of battery used for EDC Keychain Flashlight: rechargeable batteries and single-use disposable batteries. Which one you should go for is dependent on how much you expect to be using your keychain flashlight. If you think you are likely to use it regularly, then a rechargeable battery is worth the extra expense.
Disposable single-use battery options are usually cheaper, but the costs of replacing them adds up relatively quickly if you use your flashlight a lot. If you are only planning on using your EDC Keychain Flashlight in rare emergency situations, though, then a disposable battery option might be enough for you.
Rechargeable batteries are all similar lithium-ion cells, just like you would find in your phone (but smaller), but single-use non-rechargeable batteries come in two different types. These are non-rechargeable lithium cells (1.6 V and 3 V), and alkaline batteries (all other types of battery). Alkaline batteries are much more common than lithium but are likely to rupture and leak if they get overheated or damaged.
These are a good option for most situations, but if you are expecting to store your flashlight for an extended period of time (such as if it is part of an emergency preparedness kit), then lithium batteries are generally more survivable, with a shelf life of up to around 10 years.
Materials
EDC Keychain Flashlight are available with outer casings made from a wide range of different materials, all with different properties that are worth considering. The two most common materials, however, are simple plastic and aluminum, as they are the lightest generally available. Other, heavier materials such as steel are also available, but much less common.
Plastic casings for EDC Keychain Flashlight tend to be much cheaper than aluminum, and can sometimes be even lighter weight than other materials, but are often less sturdy. If you’re not planning on using your flashlight in any particularly intensive situations, or you are not too worried about having to replace it if it gets damaged, then a plastic casing can be a good option, as plastic-cased keychain flashlights often come in at the $10 or under mark.
Metal casings are more expensive than plastic casings, and for good reason. Many premium models of EDC Keychain Flashlight are built from aircraft grade anodized aluminum or similar anodized aluminum alloys. These materials are extremely tough and very lightweight, resulting in a keychain flashlight that is impressively durable and unlikely to break even when used heavily in rougher outdoor situations.
They come with a correspondingly higher price tag, but if you don’t want to have to replace your EDC Keychain Flashlight any time soon, or you want to be sure you are getting a high-quality piece of equipment, then an aluminum case is what you want to look for.
Article original rédigé par Steven chen et publié sur Steven chen
Reproduction interdite sans autorisation
