Both of mine are well into the "good enough" territory. Nowhere near matching the turbo output on my Fenix, but plenty for following a trail or working on the car. Haven't left one on until it dies to see what the battery life is, but from the use I put on one before the battery gave up, I'm sure it's several hours. In a "look and then go as far as you saw" scenario, I would expect to be able to hike all night on a fresh battery as long as I don't run into too many areas that need continuous scrutiny. Of course, the Fenix is in the car door pocket, so if I'm making camp or hiking out from a breakdown, I'll likely be carrying both of the cheapies, the Fenix, the WalMart OT light and 1-2 multi-LED worklights that I keep in the car for nighttime repairs. I don't like tripping over stuff in the dark :)liberT wrote:The SIPIK 68 knockoffs vary in quality. They're all rough externally but some are better than others internally. If you get one with good solder joints and a centered LED, or you're willing and able to DIY fix, they're diamonds in the rough.KD5NRH wrote:
At $4, I got two of them, with one in the emergency kit and one in my outside jacket pocket. Switch is easy to hit, but it uses 1AA, so carrying a spare is cheap and easy.
Then, if I'm making camp, the 72 hour kit has 3-4 different fire starting methods covered, plus food, water, spare knife and shelter, but I still have to gather firewood and put up whatever shelter I decide on, so light is good there too.