Maglite Solitaire LED

Keychain-sized powerful little light. With one AAA battery powering it, it won't last as long as some, but excellent brightness and value.

I coveted a Solitaire-sized light with LED for years before this came out. The original Solitaire was perfectly sized, but nearly useless due to lack of power. Now I have the Maglite Solitaire LED and I love it: small, slim, light, and bright, this light lives on my keychain as my EDC light option.

Construction is of aluminum, the familiar Maglite quality. Power comes from a single AAA battery, a size I keep on hand. The light feels good in hand and operates with a twist of the cap. The beam itself is a bright (37 lumens? seems brighter) with a focusable, even circle of radiance.

Maglite claims 55m for distance; while I have not had need to use the light at that range, the intensity leads me to believe that it could cast its beam that far, though not with the same piercing brilliance it has at the shorter distances at which I generally use it. In any case, it easily pierces the darkness, handy for nighttime needs—finding dropped keys, finding a trailhead, etc.

I use it often in its capacity as my everyday carry. This is not for use as a main light for a camping or backpacking trek–I favor headlamps for those, and this would burn through too many batteries, but, at .8 oz., it could serve as a back-up, or a glove compartment or toolbox addition.

One gripe: when attached to a keychain in the pocket, the base occasionally loosens from the twisting movement of pocket contents. I have mine attached to a NightIze S-Biner; the torsion created by my body movements evidently loosens the end cap when it pulls against the binder. With loose carry this wouldn't be an issue, and I have never had it come apart in my pocket, so this is a minor gripe.

Bottom line: At around $14, this is a solid bargain. I would recommend this as a value-based option for daily carry and light use.

A quality small light that uses common batteries and is inexpensive.

This is quite a bright flashlight for its size. I got this to replace my last LED keychain light which used button batteries. I wanted a light that used more commonly available batteries. Though larger than the light it replaced, this light is considerably brighter. I was quite impressed by the light qualities.

My only concern with this light is run time. The rating has it at less than 2 hours and I think that is accurate. Once the bezel on the light turned in my pocket and I found I had a dead light. It was easy enough to replace the battery, but I was disappointed to see that the light was on in my pocket without me knowing and that it was on long enough to kill the battery.