Streamlight Nano
The Streamlight Nano is a very small, bright, inexpensive keychain light I've been using for a couple years and am almost never without. If I have my house and car keys, I have the light. Machined out of anodized black aluminum, its construction reflects that it's a genuine tool, not a toy or something cheaply made. Besides the obvious uses as a keychain task light, the extreme brightness (10 lumens from four alkaline batteries) allows for near-daylight scrutiny of wherever you shine it. As a self-taught kinetic sculptor, I find my tiny springs, pawls, setscrews and whatever fall off the workbench. Shined horizontally across the floor, this light quickly picks up the otherwise invisible tiny parts I tend to drop. I have other standard-sized flashlights I like a lot -- the Pelican Stealthlight 2400 comes to mind -- but they always seem to be on a charging station somewhere or in a tool box or simply not immediately available all the time. Though not nearly as powerful as the previously-reviewed Fenix L1D-CE, the Nano is a fraction of the cost. An extremely capable and satisfying light for all those mundane tasks, like locating the torn paper or cosmic detritus that jams the printer, keyboard or lathe chuck. After I got mine from a local cop supply catalog, I ordered one each for my wife, daughters and secretary. Everybody should always have a light and a keychain light is always there.
-- Doggo
Streamlight Nano
$8
Available from Amazon
Manufactured by Streamlight
Favorite (15)
Stephen
How long does it usually last before going dim and then useless on you?
The main reason I don't use a keychain light is because the batteries never last long enough for me to get a satisfactory term of use out of it.
Kevin
Stephen, I do not have this light. If you check the Amazon page, though, you will find that it uses "button cell" batteries (model LEC1)-- which are likely hard to find and expensive. This is not the light for you. This is for people who want small.
On the other hand, there are plenty of lights that use standard AAA batteries. Those will typically offer a dozen hours or so from one battery. Replacement batteries are obviously cheap and easy to find. You might want one of those. I carry a Gerber just because it is under $10. If you want luxury, Fenix makes great ones (too rich for me), but Arc and Peak LED also makes some nice ones.
Believe me, once you get a nice AAA LED keychain light, you will NEVER be without it.
Walter Underwood
I have a Streamlight Nano and I like it a lot. Streamlight says the Nano lasts for up to 8 hours. They make four different keychain lights, so you can try a different one: http://www.streamlight.com/product/class.aspx?cid=16
The Nano is amazingly small, around half the size of a AA battery. You really can put it on your keychain and not notice it.
Streamlight also has some excellent penlights if you want more light and standard batteries. The Stylus Pro is a little fat for a penlight, but takes AAA batteries, has a half Watt LED, and lasts 7.5 hours.
Jared Williams
If want small and bright, take a look at the Lummi ( http://lummi.co.uk/Lummi_Home.html )
Moe Rubenzahl
I agree: Everyone should have a light on the keychain. I use mine (a Photon X-Light) -all- the time.
Kevin, Stephen -- re difficulty finding button cells -- use ebay. There are many on-line suppliers of button cells way, way cheaper than retail, even after shipping.
The batteries in the Photon Light last many, many months.
Finally -- I have several LED lights powered by AA in my desk at work, stashed near entryway at home, and on bed stand. In an emergency, it's right there.
Jared Williams
DealExtreme is also a source of cheap keychain lights.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1253
10 for $4.68 delivered.
jake3_14
The link to dealextreme.com now goes to another product. If you go to the site and enter the search string "Cell Battery AG13 LR44 (50-Pack)" , you'll get what you want for about $4.00, which is $.08/battery. The next cheapest I found was at Zbattery, for $1/battery.
jake3_14
A correction to my information posted earlier. The flashlight package states that the battery type is LR41, not LR44. The DealExtreme package is for 100 batteries for about $4.00 at this time.
Bren Smith
I purchased this light a few months ago from Amazon, and was initially very impressed with 1) How small it was, and 2) How incredibly bright it was. The disappointment came later when one too many times after having pulled the light out of my pocket (I kept it on my keychain) I'd notice that the Nano was turned on.
The design problem with the Nano is that you have to screw the barrel on to turn it on, and unscrew it to turn it off. Through movement and friction in my pocket, I'd end up with the light turned on while in my pocket and not even know it.
The final straw came when I was trying to pull my keys out on a dark night, and the barrel had loosened just enough that that it became separated from the head. Just as I pulled the light out the 4 internal batteries scattered in the dark. I liked this light and if they fixed this design issue, I'd buy one again.
Jamison Michaels
I bought Streamlight Nano lights for my kids. This is the one I bought: http://www.streamlightdistributor.com/Streamlight.aspx?Streamlight=73001 and they work fine, but my kids managed to untwist the cap too far and then you have batteries spilling out and you will lose them, because they are really small button cell type batteries. Surprisingly, the light is a lot brighter than I would ever expect from a keychain light thats the size of a quarter.
carl deangelo
Have you seen the Pink Nano from Streamligh