Dan Butler's
TNPC Newsletter

Photon Micro-Lights

by Dan Butler

You never know when you will need a flashlight. I recently was in the middle of the tornado that hit Ft. Worth, Texas and had to take 18 flights of stairs to get out of the building. Fortunately the lights stayed on. At home it's a different story. We've recently had several power outages lasting up to three hours at a time. In both cases I was glad to have a Photon Micro-Light in my pocket.

You might just want a handy light to use when looking through that mass of cables behind your desk or help you through a dark parking lot late at night. The good news is you can get your own miniature flashlight from the Photon Micro-Light company. These things are so handy I've put one on every key chain in our family, given one to my oldest son, and carry two in my pocket at all times.

The Photon Micro-Lights are small LED flashlights that are surprisingly bright. Each light is about the size of three 25-cent pieces stacked on top of each other (1.5" x 1" x .3"). They come in eight different colors. The red Photon protects your night vision and can go for up to 120 hours of continuous use on a single battery. The brighter colors--white, turquoise, and blue--only last 10 to 12 hours on one set of batteries (the brighter Photons use two batteries). Give the Photon a squeeze and you have instant light.

Personally I use the Photon Micro-Light II which has an on/off switch in addition to lighting with just a squeeze. Both models are waterproof. I prefer the switch as squeezing the light is difficult for long periods of time. My son has the squeeze model so he won't accidentally leave it on and drain the battery.

My key chains have red lights on them for easy use inside the car at night without killing my night vision. The red is still bright enough to use outside the car as well. In my pocket I keep a Leatherman Micra multi-tool with a red and a turquoise Photon attached. The turquoise is very bright and lights up an area roughly 10 feet square in front of me if I'm trying to get around in the dark.

Overall I find the Photon very handy and plan to put some in convenient places about the house. The little lights prove more and more useful each day. You just don't realize how often you would find a flashlight useful until you can carry one around in your pocket.

Here's a little tip of my own. With two Photon lights in my pocket it's hard to tell which one is which color. I solved that problem by simply putting a *little* drop of superglue on the side of the red Photon and I can now tell which is which by touch. Just make sure you don't accidentally glue the case shut!

You can see a picture of my pocket tool and key chain at:
http://www.tnpcnewsletter.com/dan/photon/index.html

To purchase Photon Micro-Lights visit the TNPC Store:
http://www.tnpcstore.com/pfl/photon3.html