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This photo was taken using a solitary Tesco 3W, set high up on the left lighting the tunnel up some 15 metres away. Not too bad i think, would be good for lighting closer up or as a back light 😉
The photo is straight off the camera with no cheeky editing

I have to day been along to my nearest Tesco to evaluate these. There were 3 models available; I shall start with the biggest/most expensive.
At £20 a rather heavy and large Seoul Semi Conducters P4 driven at 4 watts by I think C or D Cells.
The rather nice assistant offered to throw in one of their trolleys to carry it around; however I declined this kind offer as I saw little use for it, however round my neck of the woods people will probably carry it as a weapon.

Next down at £15 was Cree Q5 driven at 3 watts by 2 C Cells.
Not bad but the smallest was best at:

£10 for again a Cree Q5 driven at 3 watts by 2 AA batteries.
Yes, small, compact, slim enough for side of helmet mounting or carry in over suit inside pocket, and takes the ubiquitous AA battery. These are the ones to watch for; rechargeable’s are now up to 2.8 ampere hours.

However, here comes the rain.
The 3 watts is on standard batteries that are rated at 1.5 volts, the rechargeables are rated at 1.2, so read the tealeaves.
However, having said this, the construction is excellent, the parts that unscrew have a rubber sealing ring so expect it to be at least water resistant if non waterproof at 30 metres on Mars.
This has to now be my favourite backup lighting if not supplementary to the main for extra illumination.
I was pondering on this near the till, when on an afterthought I went back and purchased another. I cant imagine how they produce them for the price.

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SOunds like a decent light for photography. I might get one too as my Fenix eats lithium batteries, its very expensive.

heehee it gets heavier once the batteries are in (d cell) gives a nice light though,i think i might grab a couple of those small ones though if you think they are good as they are nice and small and can be hidden anywhere on your person.

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i bought the 2 c cell version and its as bright as my L2D fenex but a tighter spot, remove the lens from the front and you get a nice wide spread but this leaves it exposed watch out for water this would kill it. but it does give good light. took photo using it and a fenex on flash.
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thorpey

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I have to admit that I have revised my ideas on lighting, in particular batteries for main light. I have just put together something that I think is wickedly clever but will wait until after the weekend to describe it.
I have a trip with a good friend lined up for Sunday which is one of my classics, and should put the equipment, never mind me, to the test

Edit at 22.20
I have just fitted rechargeable’s rated at 1.2 volts to one of my Tesco purchases. and then played 'find the lady' with the 2, so I had honestly no idea which was which.
Now it’s good and dark, with all the lights turned off, I tried them side by side in my hall. One was slightly brighter than the other, but the other was not that bad by comparison. Upon examination, it was not surprisingly the one with the 1.2 volt rechargeable’s that was slightly dimmer.
They’re still damn good for the money, so my observation will probably be true for any other torch

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SOunds like a decent light for photography. I might get one too as my Fenix eats lithium batteries, its very expensive.

Buy the batteries somewhere else then!

A CR123A (3V) should cost no more than 2x AA (1.5v each)!

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Bograt wrote "can be hidden anywhere on your person."

In view of your signature, would you like to be more specific. 😉

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Hi Vanoord, I did buy a 10 pack which only cost £12 but they didnt last half as long as the more expensive ones. They were not a make I have heard of.

I think those new lithium batteries which the TK11 uses look good, more expensive but rechargeables may be worth it. What are they 18650 or something?

Bograt wrote "can be hidden anywhere on your person."

In view of your signature, would you like to be more specific. 😉

Well, we do all spend a lot of time in places where the sun doesn't shine..... :lol:

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if i say pockets you will beleave me 😉

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With all this talk of the Tesco (curse them) LED torch, I bought one, for £10 you cannot fault it. At the end of the day it is great for the price and is a good back up torch.

Could not help myself and I ended up investigating the drive electronics. I powered it from a lab power supply; first thing that struck me was that it is unregulated. What does this mean? It has a switch mode power supply unit (SMPSU) running at 240KHz ish, which boosts the 3V battery voltage to around 3.5V so that it can drive the Cree LED. Usually you would expect in a SMPSU for an LED that as the battery voltage drops the current increases so that the LED brightness stays constant (Retro2, Sten lights and I imagine the Fenix ones as well), with the Tesco one it does not, so as the battery voltage drops so does the light output (this answers your observation Roy, about NiMH not being as bright). It would have been relatively simple to add this feature but they haven’t. Power consumption on the one I tested was 2.8W at 3V, 2.1W at 2.5V and 1.5W at 2V. Basically a straight line graph. It worked down to just below 0.8V, but this had no usable light output, at 1V it probably would get you out of sticky situation. Note that it will run of a single AA cell.

Too much information?

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Not "too much info Mike".
Yesterday I did my classic Western Cwffty by way of Parc with a friend from Welsh Mines Society, Paul Smyth.
This was torture test of Teco Crees I had purchased as well as a new lighting system developed around Mr Mikes Retro 2 unit.
I shall post separately on the new lighting system and a sitrep on the route to W Cwffty as they are of sufficient importance.

I have to state categorically that I do not consider the Tesco torch as a reliable backup light.
First, the power button on the end is of such as design that its can, and indeed did twice, switch itself on in your pocket or rucksack and would untimely discharge itself.
Second, the battery life is possibly only going to be around 2 hours, so not enough. (Can you give us a accurate estimate on this please Mike)
You cannot regulate it down. The first problem is easily solved by pushing a short length of stiff rubber hose over the end to cover the button, the second is unsolvable.
I now reaffirm by earlier contention that the best backup light is the Maplins diver’s torch as £7.99. It’s waterproof up to 30 metres, bright as the old Oldham cap lamp, and the batteries last for a few hours.
What the Tesco torch is good for however is as a supplementary light to the cap lamp. It is waterproof, but possibly not submersible, and has a very tight narrow beam. I had one attached to the side of my helmet for distance vision and it worked fine.
They are of very sturdy construction and still a steal at the price.

EDIT
I had better explain my definition of "torture test".
The western Cwffty trip involves neck deep water and ochre and vertical chain ladder with water cascading down on you, plus a few tight crawls, it was a 7 hour trip.

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Battery life is difficult to estimate due to the dropping current as the battery term voltage drops, but assuming with a set of NiMH, 2.7Ahr, ave voltage 2.5V, then you are looking at 2.7hr.

A good set of alks, then as you say Roy, couple of hours, it would be interesting to run the torch with a set of lithium 3Ahr... you should get up to 3hrs in theory.

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I bought 2 of these at tescos in Hull yesterday and on getting home found only 1 works. Will have to see if local store will exchange so check them before you leave the store.

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You shouldnt have any problems with swapping the faulty one, Tesco are very switched on with complaints and faulty goods :thumbsup:
They often throw in a jar of coffee as a PR stunt!

Just so long as it isn't Tesco's own coffee which is virtually poison to drink! :lol:

Tesco's French, ground coffee is superb!! :offtopic:

I have to come back in on this yet again.
Sunday’s trip was very serious and I have carefully cleaned and checked all of my kit. One of the Tescos did have water inside it but still worked, I have carefully dried it out. I do not condemn them on this as the Mini Maglite I wear round my neck had the head become unscrewed and was down inside my oversuit. This needed a bit of TLC, so I suppose if the conditions are vigorous enough, something can work loose.

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I have just purchased the big Tesco model, the 4W aka FT-MN-2D, and I notice that there is insufficient compression on the O-ring seals.

I would not expect the front end to seal at all, as it wobbles considerably when adjusting the focus, so I doubt that the inner surface is even contacting the O-ring.

The rear seal (battery compartment) O-ring seems to be trying to seal against the end face and ID and OD only. You would normally want an O-ring to contact at 4 points around its section.

If I remember correctly, an O-ring wants to be squeezed to 82% of its free dimension in both axes for optimum sealing effect. (Or was it 78%?) That is not happening here.

If I had a lathe, I would machine wider grooves (82% of the cross-section of a thicker O-ring),and the thicker ring would probably solve the problem at the front end. The rear end is more difficult, as the O-ring would tend to try to seal against the reduced diameter at the beginning of the internal screw thread, which is not smooth.

A temporary fix would be to use silicone rubber, but it would have to be reapplied every time the batteries were changed.

I don't know if the smaller models have the same problems, but the big one is not the finest example of Chinese design and manufacturing.

Alan