Aldi special offers this Thursday, 30th September:

3W LED torch £9.99
Al case, includes pouch, takes 2AA cells - supplied.
Quoted spec as 132 lumens.

I have just took a look at this, they appear to be much better buy than the £10 torches Tesco were selling.

I wonder where they are made, well not really.

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I might find my way to Aldi, just for the sake of comparison.

The Tesco 3W torches were not good; it mat be interesting to see what the results of the cheapest-torch-that-China-can-make are like.

Just for the record:

🔗Personal-Album-2-Image-115[linkphoto]Personal-Album-2-Image-115[/linkphoto][/link]

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tesco did 2 3w torches, the C cell one and the AA cell one, the C cell one is alot better that the AA one

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Well I bought one of the Aldi offerings. Not had time to use it for photography yet. First impressions are the build quality is much better than the Tesco equivilent & it subjectivly seems to have a higher output than the tesco C cell unit.
If nowt else it seems a good torch/back-up for a very low price.
Oh & the packaging seems to infer " made in Germany"?

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'the stopes soared beyond the range of our caplamps' - David Bick...... How times change ... not really, I've still got my carbide lamp :)

how much do you expect of a cheapo torch, anyway?

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'the stopes soared beyond the range of our caplamps' - David Bick...... How times change ... not really, I've still got my carbide lamp :)

I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your lamp out
🙂

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:lol: :lol:

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I bought several of the AA 3w Tesco torches when they first came out. Mine are still working perfectly above ground in fact we were using them on a camping trip this weekend with no problems.

Strangely they either fail to turn on or stop working within minutes whenever used underground. I don't think they deal well with grit in the switches.

Hi Alex, i recall a thread on water-proofing them.
Mostly a sensible silicon dab here and there. I've use mine for months on Std. re-chargable batt's. thumb from a latex glove over switch end . not a prob' wet or grit.
Owd Git :thumbsup:
I also bought a Aldi £9-99 job brighter and better spill for feet.
switch rotary. which would only need a wrap of pvc. tape to give a bit of water protection.
Will feedback.
O.G.

I bought several of the AA 3w Tesco torches when they first came out. Mine are still working perfectly above ground in fact we were using them on a camping trip this weekend with no problems.

Strangely they either fail to turn on or stop working within minutes whenever used underground. I don't think they deal well with grit in the switches.

Daft as it sounds, I bought 2 of them and still working OK
They are NOT waterprooof, but dry out when back at the ranch and then work OK.
Quite attached to them really.... mm

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Hi Alex, i recall a thread on water-proofing them.
Mostly a sensible silicon dab here and there. I've use mine for months on Std. re-chargable batt's. thumb from a latex glove over switch end . not a prob' wet or grit.
Owd Git :thumbsup:
I also bought a Aldi £9-99 job brighter and better spill for feet.
switch rotary. which would only need a wrap of pvc. tape to give a bit of water protection.
Will feedback.
O.G.

That latex glove idea is a good one :thumbup: I'm pretty sure the problem is grit in the switch, either that or damp like Roy says.

Yeah, unscrew every section you can including the glass. and put the smallest smear of silli' mastic to waterproof. switch end (for batt' change glove + tape if you wish. :thumbup:
Have fun. O. G.

'the stopes soared beyond the range of our caplamps' - David Bick...... How times change ... not really, I've still got my carbide lamp :)

I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your lamp out
🙂

assuming it stays lit long enough, that is.... carbides are good kit. As far as torches go, I've used maglites of varying sizes for years, wouldn't be without one. They are one of those small but essential items like cable ties and gaffa tape, without which there would BE no offshore oil industry... try spending 12 hours overnight on the deck of a jack-up in a North Sea November, changing total station batteries, resetting the satel for the umpteenth time, making notes in your field book and all the other fiddly jobs that go with it, and you'd feel the same way.

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Yes, Maglites are very good. They were the trend setters in a whole new range of solid turned aluminium torches.

However, they have a 'alternative use' and if you dont want one for the other type of use, the Fenix is something to think about.

They sell well in west Midlands, for the 'other use'.

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'alternative use'? Would this be a pc reference to certain proverbial US police practices, by any chance? If so, why particularly in the West Midlands?


I've always used maglites because they work well. I have to admit I've lost interest over the years in home-brewed contraptions which offer a small perceived advantage in one direction, or a distinct improvement in an area most users don't really concern themselves with, plus a significant disadvantage ( usually weight, cost or unavailability of spares )

I once knew someone who made an alternative headlamp headset using bulbs bought in Halfords, of which he was inordinately proud. However the actual result was that the bought quite a lot of bulbs from Halfords over a relatively short time, while my ex-NCB Oldhams had never even had the bezel locking screw removed...

likewise, I've always felt that cheap torches were a fallacy in the context of the total cost of the pursuit, over time. My current maglite is at least 10 years old, and gives no trouble at all despite regular use in quite severe conditions. Its predecessor was stolen or lost, or I'd probably still be using it; I have one of the big 4-cell ones in the back of the car which dates back at least to the late 1980s

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'alternative use'? Would this be a pc reference to certain proverbial US police practices, by any chance? If so, why particularly in the West Midlands?

You don’t live here Mr Derrickman!

When I ran a motor company and people came in change cars they would transfer everything out of their PX into their new car.
I was fascinated by what came out, even middle aged and slightly elderly couples, everyone carried something.

'Security' torches were favourite, as there was a legitimate excuse, table legs and baseball bats took second place, after this it was anything.

A friend in the trade took a car to his open sales lot late one night and found a pair of legs sticking out from under the back of an Astra. It turned out to be a youth stealing the big bore exhaust which it had.
Attempting to apprehend the scroat he found himself surrounded by all of the fellows mates.
He was hurt that bad he had to have a surgical plate fitted inside his face.

My place had security fencing and zone alarms.

Where I live is just outside the main conurbation and it’s not too bad. You can still get it though. A few years ago a neighbour had his house ram raided with a stolen Golf GTi

My home is very secure from the days I was an RFD and personal FAC holder, steel door and window grills etc.

I wont go into the shootings.

I believe that west Midlands comes second to Manchester or something like that on the crime ratings.

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Sounds quite like some of the parts of inner-city Bradford I've lived in - I remember one night passing a bunch of lads carrying a complete car exhaust, which they then proceded to use to try and demolish a bus stop. I think I prefer living in the countryside, even if it permanently smells of manure.....

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I worked on a railway viaduct repair job near Corby for a short while in the early 80s, when it was a window into the future - although that wasn't realised at the time - structural mass unemployment and an imported, benefit-dependent population which outnumbered the original locals and had no interest at all in integrating.

It was one of only two English towns with an Orange Order Lodge, and a supporters club for whichever of the two Glasgow football teams it is that goes with that.

We completely abandoned any attempt to keep the site open, and simply transferred everything apart from the scaffolding into a 3-tonne Bedford lorry with a trailer so that we left the site bare at the end of each day. The day before we were due to clear site, we came in and found the scaffolding had been dragged over with a stolen tractor and an attempt made to cut it up for scrap, obviously by someone with no idea how difficult and fruitless this was.

I've largely abandoned any attempt to make a living in the UK, although domestic issues have meant that I remained resident past the age when I could reasonably emigrate, and I'm not yet in a position to retire overseas...

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When I was younger, probably early twenties, I liked to take my wife up to Scotland for holidays. In those days the roads were different. One time I took a wrong turn in Glasgow and ended up in an area where all the shops had steel grills up the windows. Eventually, we sorted out our route, "Lock Lomand and the Trossacks"

What a terrible place to live we agreed.

Little did we know at that time that it was insite into things to come where we lived.

I still remember Lock Lomand. We once slept in the car on its shores and in the morning had to change the head gasket on the A60 Estate we were using.

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