Tactical Flashlight for just $10.50

$C:\Documents and Settings\Mario D\My Documents\My Pictures\712\712 110.jpg$

Needless to say, my inspiration for this project was Kipkay's video on the same subject. Here is a brief description of what I had to do to achieve the same results.

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Step 1: Gather all of your materials.

$C:\Documents and Settings\Mario D\My Documents\My Pictures\712\712 111.jpg$

$C:\Documents and Settings\Mario D\My Documents\My Pictures\712\712 113.jpg$

The first thing you need to do is gather all the parts you need. For this instructable, you will need 1 Eveready Industrial Flashlight, found at Home Depot for $3.97. You will also need 1 6V flashlight bulb from Radioshack; model KPR112. This is about $1.50. Finally, you will need 3 123 batteries. These can be found on surefire.com for about 2 dollars a piece. Total cost for this project is slightly over $10.50.

j574sbi says: Jul 18, 2009. 1:43 PM

red filter your modded light for a more tactical approach

wierd idiot says: Oct 19, 2008. 9:34 PM

hay kipkay try a cripton LED 176 lumen's very, very bright.

lolzertank in reply to wierd idiotJun 14, 2009. 4:55 PM

I believe most white LED's are made with gallium nitride, not krypton.

wierd idiot in reply to lolzertankJun 14, 2009. 6:47 PM

oops what i ment is that there is a company that makes LED called Cripton. Sorry about that.

alpha1dk says: Dec 11, 2008. 11:50 AM

The reason your flashlight burst into flames is because you used a 6Volt bulb in a 9 volt application. You should have used the 118 (7.2) instead of the 112 (6v) and I think you would have been OK. You were pushing the limits of that bulb, it got hot too many times, the whole light did, and that's why it burst ito flames. The battery's just helped fuel the flames I'd say. I don't think that the cells could have started the fire without a dead short of some kind..... Hard to do with all that plastic......

lolzertank in reply to alpha1dkJun 14, 2009. 4:54 PM

But he said the flashlight was off... maybe one of his CR123's was bad.

silverflame44 says: Apr 29, 2008. 12:41 AM

Hey guys, I just wanted to let you guys know that i did this hack with the same flashlight and everything about 3 months ago. It worked really well and it was pretty cool But then just yesterday I was in my dorm room about to go to sleep and there was this huge bang like a firecracker and there was a light coming from under my bed. My flashlight had been under my desk and it was now on fire! I tried to blow out the flame (stupid, but i was freaked out) and I think i breathed in a lot of the toxic fumes from burning CR123's... the batteries were the source of the explosion. I had a bottle of water next to me so i was able to put out the fire but it was so scary. Parts of the flashlight were thrown around my room... it was pretty crazy.. I just wanted to warn you guys because I had the flashlight for about 3 months and nothing had gone wrong... I hadn't even turned it on for at least a month and it just randomly blew up... I think this mod is kinda dangerous... Just make sure you guys are careful, but in my opinion, I think that it's unpredictable, and its not worth it to mod the flashlight. I really want to just make sure you guys are safe, thanks, eric

MarioK20 (author) in reply to silverflame44Apr 29, 2008. 4:19 AM

Thanks, I appreciate you telling us about this. I actually don't use the flashlight anymore. When I bought a Surefire and realized it was brighter and better, I took the batteries out of the hack to keep as spares for my Surefire. It wasn't worth it because if used for prolonged periods it runs the risk of melting.

Thelonelysandwitch in reply to MarioK20Nov 25, 2008. 1:10 PM

which surefire, I have 2. Also try fenix lights, small, bright multi setting, cheap lights(cheaper then surefire). The site is fenix-store.com.

Deerassassin says: Mar 20, 2008. 12:00 PM

i live in ireland and thoes battries cost a bomb true u can get them on radioshak and what ever but if accidentally leave the torch on all the battries wil go is there aanother way

Thelonelysandwitch in reply to DeerassassinNov 25, 2008. 1:07 PM

eBay, rechargeable from 10-30 usd dollars

MarioK20 (author) in reply to DeerassassinMar 20, 2008. 1:05 PM

Yeah, just go to the batteries are about 2 U.S. dollars.

Deerassassin in reply to MarioK20Mar 20, 2008. 2:25 PM

thanks a million

MarioK20 (author) in reply to DeerassassinMar 20, 2008. 8:42 PM

Sure, no problem

electronic nut says: Aug 13, 2008. 8:33 AM

Radioshack is gayest store on the planet (I go everyday) LOL LOL LOL

mca6501 says: Jun 22, 2008. 1:33 PM

i made this it worked well them my little cousin left it on and it melted...too bad

Doctor What says: Nov 17, 2007. 5:14 PM

I think ive seen this before... but its a nice idea.

dchall8 says: Nov 16, 2007. 10:44 PM

Except for the part where kipkay's design melted down on me, I like the idea. The Everready bulb holder and lens are just not up to the heat generated by the over driven bulb.

inspector_fegter says: Nov 13, 2007. 11:20 AM

I've done this a while ago when this tutorial was first posted - over a year ago on the web using the same flashlight. I work with the police and wanted a light, bright flashlight. This hack didn't last for one day. The batteries went south.

Ora says: Nov 12, 2007. 7:35 PM

Sorry, I don't see how this is different at all, flagged.

MarioK20 (author) in reply to OraNov 12, 2007. 7:47 PM

This is my way of showing what can happen when a modification goes wrong. It also has good comparison shots which Kipkay's doesn't have, but needless to say I did copy off of his just as he got his inspiration from dchall8. This is just a different take on the same thing.

John Smith in reply to MarioK20Nov 13, 2007. 4:47 AM

There is a difference between inspiration and copying.

Other than that, good instructable.

Lftndbt says: Nov 12, 2007. 8:30 PM

(removed by author or community request)

MarioK20 (author) in reply to LftndbtNov 12, 2007. 9:22 PM

I used a different bulb from a local electronics place called baynesville electronics. Their variety wasn't too good so I chose to go with a 7.2 volt bulb. The light emitted was yellow and not white, so I decided to go to lower volt, since a smaller filament would burn hotter from the same amount of current, thus producing a whiter emission. The only other option I had was to go to radioshack and get the next lower volt, a 6.0.

pyelitegamerro76 says: Nov 12, 2007. 7:35 PM

sand down the ugly camo one and try to paint it again, but this time, have a string and put it in the battery compartment and have quite a bit hanging out, screw on the battery cover so now after you paint it hang it inside and let it dry like that. also if you have alot of paint to use keep the spray can very far back so it will dry almoast instantly and the paint job will look amazing but it will use up alot of paint. (at least 1 whole small can of paint, 1 big one if you get really extreme)

MarioK20 (author) in reply to pyelitegamerro76Nov 12, 2007. 7:48 PM

Thank you, any suggestions are appreciated.