On this page you'll find the answers to the most common questions we get about Micro-Lights.

Q: What the heck is a "Micro-Light"?

A: The brightest light for its size that you'll ever find. A personal flashlight constructed with a virtually indestructible polyurethane case. Fits on your key ring and you'll never know it's in your pocket. Squeeze the Micro-Light and get an amazingly bright light. The Photon II models that we carry on this site have an easy to use on/off switch in addition to the squeeze switch.

Q: When you talk about the color of the light do you mean the color of the plastic case itself or the color of the beam of light that the Micro-Light produces?

A: The color of the light that the Micro-Light produces. The plastic case of the Micro-Light is black. However, there are seven different colored LEDs available. So the Red Micro-Light has a black case but produces red light.

Q: Are batteries included?

A: Yes, every Micro-Light comes ready to use with a battery already installed.

Q: How often do the bulbs in a Micro-Light burn out?

A: Never. The bulb is guaranteed to NEVER burn out.

Q: What color Micro-Light should I get?

A: There are two primary considerations. Battery life and usage/brightness and you have to consider both before you can make the right choice. Battery life is a convenience (how often you have to change batteries) and cost decision and usage will determine how bright a light you need.

Q: What's the story about battery Life:

A: The RED, ORANGE, and YELLOW Micro-Lights each use ONE lithium battery (included). These colors are best where long battery life is a concern as they run for 120 hours (that's 5 days) continuous use. Cost is about 2 cents per hour (compared to a regular flashlight using two "D" cells at about 50 cents per hour).

The GREEN, WHITE, BLUE, and TURQUOISE Micro-Lights are brighter than the other light colors, however they have greater battery requirements, each using TWO lithium batteries (included) good for 12 hours of continuous use. Cost is about 42 cents per hour (compared to a regular flashlight using two "D" cells at about 50 cents per hour).

Q: What light is best for what use? How do I decide on a color?

A: First, all Micro-Lights are bright. It's just that some are brighter than others, but if you just get the brightest one you may not get the one you really want. You also have to consider whether you want a flashlight type beam (ORANGE and YELLOW) or a diffused beam (RED, GREEN, WHITE, BLUE, and TURQUOISE).

If you plan on looking for something in the dark you'll want a flashlight type beam. Between the ORANGE and YELLOW the YELLOW is the brighter of the two but some users are more comfortable with the richer color of the ORANGE.

If you want to find your way in the dark then you'll want a diffused beam. These light up a wider area, ideal if you're trying to illuminate a room, the inside of your tent, trying to go up or down a dark stairway, or hike along a trail at night. The diffused lights from darker to brighter run roughly from RED to GREEN, WHITE and BLUE are a toss up as to which is brighter, and finally TURQUOISE is the brightest of the lot. These rankings are based on the subjective opinion of Jim (T.J. Lee), our Cubmaster, who took a set out on a night hike with a bunch of Boy Scouts and other scout leaders.

Says Jim, "Interestingly enough the RED light was the favorite of everyone on the hike. The RED protects your night vision, which can be very important in some situations. When the scouts stopped to check the map using a regular flashlight we could all read the map fine but when the flashlight was turned off our night vision was destroyed and we couldn't see past our feet. But with the RED we read the map and kept our night vision. This would be important if you were traveling in a car at night; the passenger could read a map or search for something in the car without turning on a light that could dazzle or momentarily blind the driver.

The other lights degraded our night vision to lesser or greater extents. All were excellent for walking the rough trails we were on but the RED was very adequate (and the 120 hour battery life was very popular).

We decided that the optimal camping/hiking scenario would be to have two Micro-Lights, a RED for preserving your night vision and a brighter light like the WHITE or TURQUOISE when you really wanted to illuminate something."

For illuminating a parking lot or approaching your car at night the brighter Micro-Lights like the GREEN, WHITE, BLUE, or TURQUOISE would be best.

Q: Who uses Micro-Lights?

A: Fire and police forces use Photon Micro-Lights, the US Secret Service, hikers and backpackers, travelers and campers, even NASA shuttle crews have used Micro-Lights.

Q: What kinds of things can you do with a Micro-Light?

A: See in the dark. This is a personal light that you can ALWAYS have with you and you'll never be caught unprepared in the dark.

Micro-Lights are idea for signaling (visible over 1 mile away) and attention getting.

You can attach Velcro to a Micro-Light and secure it to the underside of a cap brim. This gives you light wherever you turn your head.

Hiking or walking in any dark situation especially when going over uneven ground or when going up or down stairs are ideal times for the bright light a Micro-Light produces.

Since the Micro-Light can be carried on your key ring you can illuminate a parking lot at night as well as see inside your car as you approach it.

The diffuse beam lights (RED, GREEN, WHITE, BLUE, TURQUOISE) are ideal for walking or for checking a room where there are sleeping children. We RECOMMEND the RED light for this as least likely to disturb a sleeper.

Campers love Micro-Lights! See in your tent without a dazzling light disturbing everyone else in your tent or in the campsite. Illuminate a path or trail (the diffuse beam lights RED, GREEN, WHITE, BLUE, TURQUOISE are ideal for this).

You can get a short clip-on lanyard that lets you attach your Micro-Light to your shirt pocket, lapel, belt loop, or to your tent ceiling. There's also a neck lanyard that lets you carry your Micro-Light around your neck. Of course, you could always just make your own.

Q: Why are Micro-Lights better than a flashlight?

A: You won't find a traditional flashlight that can hide under a 25-cent piece and that weighs only 5.5 grams (about the same weight as that quarter) and that you can comfortably carry in your pocket without even knowing it's there. A typical flashlight is large and bulky and uses 2 "D" cells and runs for about 5 hours of continuous use. The RED, ORANGE, and YELLOW Micro-Lights run for 120 hours or about 5 days continuous use. Even the GREEN, WHITE, BLUE, and TURQUOISE super bright colors run for 12 hours continuous use. And the Micro-Light lithium cells have a shelf life of 10 years so you put a Micro-Light on your key chain and you'll have light when you need it.

The cost per hour of battery time works out like this:

Regular 2-cell "D" battery flashlight
2 "D" batteries at $1.25 each = 5 hours life or $0.50 per hour

GREEN, WHITE, BLUE, and TURQUOISE
2 "CR-2016" lithiums at $2.50 each = 12 hours life or $0.42 per hour

RED, ORANGE, YELLOW Micro-Light
1 "CR-2032" lithium at $2.50 each = 120 hours life or $0.02 per hour