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Detailed
Information:
Dorcy was one of the more mainstream flashlight manufacturers
to invest early in the "new" technology of LED lights
for consumers and they now have a line of LED lights
- some with voltage boost circuits, some without - which
include AAA, AA, and C cell powered 5mm LED lights.
All of them are of rather good quality and quite affordable,
bringing LED lighting to the masses. They are now showing
up in mainstream stores as well as online retailers.
The prices are much lower than most LED lights available
out there, and the quality actually isn't bad at all.
The body of the Dorcy 2 AA is made of aluminum with
silver Type II anodize. They are available in body colors
of gold, silver, red, and blue. This anodize is relatively
durable but will mar fairly easily if kept in contact
with hard objects. Around the center of the body is
a diamond-pattern rubber grip and a thin ring of the
same material surrounds the head. The diamond pattern
is new as previous versions had a ribbed pattern. The
head can be removed, but it serves no real purpose to
do so. The head is slightly larger in diameter than
the rest of the body, making it a little awkward to
keep in a pants pocket.
The bezel consists of four 5mm white LED recessed in
a silvered plastic reflector. Having the LEDs recessed
in small cylindrical silvered compartments increases
the throw of the LEDs slightly, giving them a more directional
nature. The head is sealed with a plastic lens to protect
the LEDs and reflector. Behind the LEDs is a tiny step-up
circuit that allows the LEDs to run on 2 AA batteries
which would otherwise not provide enough voltage to
drive the LEDs. Not having inexpensive, small driver
circuits was one of the roadblocks to the use of LEDs
in consumer flashlights and Dorcy was one of the early
adopters of a simple and inexpensive circuit to make
LED lights run on any number of cells. Usually you would
find that inexpensive LED lights take 3 cells, which
is an unusual number and makes the body of the light
rather long, or 4 cells and the energy of one of the
cells is all but completely wasted by a resistor.
Output is in the form of a broad spot with some slight
artifacts from the LEDs. The beam is a high color temperature
and appears bluish in tint.
The switch is built into the tailcap and you can either
twist the tailcap for constant-on use or you can press
the button on the end of the tailcap for momentary (blink
on-off) use. A hang ring is attached to the momentary
pushbutton and it helps prevent the switch from coming
apart when you remove the tailcap for battery changes.
The switch also has a "lockout" capability. Simply unscrew
the switch 1½ turns from the point where it turns off
and the push button switch cannot activate accidentally.
The light is sealed with an O-ring in the tailcap and
on the pushbutton to prevent the entry of water, but
I don't know how far I would push it. If you drop it
in a puddle, shake it off and keep going, but I would
later open it up just to be sure water did not get in.
If it is moist inside, open it up and let it dry out
before using further.
Ergonomics: Comfortable in the hand, easy to operate
one handed by holding in the palm and twisting the tailcap
with the thumb and forefinger. About the same size as
a common 2-AA aluminum light and fits in the same sheath.
Two AA batteries drive the light. Runtimes are not
given, but based upon similar lights produced by Dorcy,
I'd expect at least 5 hours, if not 10, of good light
out of a set of batteries. Brightness will diminish
in intensity throughout the effective life of the batteries.
To change the batteries, simply remove the tailcap and
drop out the old batteries. Drop in new batteries positive-first
and close it back up again.
What I Liked: Water resistant,
No bulb to blow, Step-up circuit and anticipated long
battery life, Relatively Bright, Easy battery change,
Lightweight
What I Didn't Like: Slightly cheesy
construction, but not too bad overall.
Other Things I Noticed: Twisting
the switch back too far will cause the built-in "lock
out" feature to engage. This happens rather quickly
on the light I tested. Turning the tailcap 3/4 of a
turn backwards may cause it to "lock out"
and the button on the end won't operate. Just be aware
that if the button doesn't work, give it 1/2 a turn
toward "on" and try again.
Conclusions: A fantastic little
pocket flashlight for the money. Great for finding things
dropped in the dark or serving as a general use pocket
light. Bright enough to use in any application where
you would use another small LED flashlight, they're
convenient, small, and fairly durable. In many cases
it can easily replace the "typical" 2-AA aluminum
flashlight that most people carry.
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