Photon microlight

Submitted by James Hollon

A must have for all deploying soldiers. I carried one on my dogtag chain throughout my OIF deployment. Always handy and available, lightweight, and the battery last for years (depending on amount of usage). I've had one in use for 3 years without replacing the battery. I recommend red light for map reading, or blue because of the short wave length of the light. No WHITE LIGHT!

ED - James, yes, these are brilliant little lights to have.  They're just the ticket for when a little bit of light is good enough (seems now a days seems everyone is packing one of those surefire portable lighthouses you could signal Venus with.)  My only word of caution though is check the water integrity.  I do not recall the brand of LED microlight I was using, but when the sucker got wet it would turn on (yes, the package said it was water resistant; I checked before I bought it.)  I eventually solved the problem by putting a little medical pill bag over the light if I knew I was going out in the wet.  Bottom line though, these are good lights to have.

Buy a microlight here

Comments

[SFC Hollon]

ED - I haven't experienced this problem with the Photon brand. Now the cheaper brands are bulkier, fall apart, and are known to turn on when wet.
This brings me to the story of SGT T., who on the way back from the shower point on COB Speicher nticed a red light on the middle of his chest. He ducked and dodged, hid in a porta-potty but couldn't shake the sniper's laser sight. Man, this sniper was good. And SGT T. was quite a sight to watch as he frantically tried to shake the sniper's aim. He finally came to realize that the red light on his chest was his cheapy brand micro light, and not a sniper's laser sight. Buy Photon brand!

[Eric Daniel]

I suspect you're correct in this. My moment of discovery was similar; while showering the room suddenly turned red (I was in Bayji at the time.) Seems my LED (which was attached to my dog tags and behind my neck) got wet and activated. No amount of looking produced the source of the red glow, and it wasn't till I walked out of the shower, and the glow was still following me, that I realized it was my light causing it. I'll be getting a Photon.

[Cheryl]

My husband also "must have while in OIF's, he brought them back home to me", thank god because living in Las Vegas they are the greatest little things. While one night I was getting in my car( not so great neighborhood where I attend school) it was a god send. It helped when I dropped my keys under my car.

[Alan]

If you're looking for the cheap ones instead, there are some nice options at dealextreme for less than $5 for 10 of them.

Read through the comments before you buy, there are some lights that people are classifying as troublesome.

[Roy]

attn ED: One point that bears mentioning as a response to this gear. There are several versions of the Photon lights.

The Original Photon is strictly a momentary contact light, and is a pain in the butt for more than 5 seconds of light at a time. the Photon II has a locking mechanism, and in my honest opinion, is a requirement for one of these lights. Dont waste your $$ on the Photon I

As for my personal comment, I have had quite a few of them, and they always need to be replaced due to "loss". I have never had one fail on me in the field. On one I am on my 6th set of batteries with no problems.

[gene]

I was using one of the blue lights on a C130 going into Afghanistan in 2001. The crew chief came over and told me to knock it off. I knew nobody on the ground could see it, but I certainly wasn't gonna argue with him... That light was very helpful on my dogtag chain for the 4 months I was there. Gotta have it.

[Jason]

Photon came out with a micro version of this light. I wish I would have had it when I was in. It would be perfect for dog tags.

I am into Ultralight Backpacking and still where some of my gear around my neck. It is always there when I need it!!!