The Princeton Tec Pulsar II LED flashlight provides brilliant, white light in a small package

I hate having to fiddle with keys in the dark and that's why I got myself the Princeton Tec Pulsar II LED mini-lamp. This little light provides some real strong illumination for all those times when you just wish you had a light.

Basics

There isn't too much to the Pulsar II. It's a small LED light that can easily fit on your key chain. To turn it on you can either squeeze it or flip the on switch if you want it to stay on without having to hold it. The whole light only weighs about 7 grams and since it produces its light with an LED, the lithium button battery that powers it will give you a full 12 hours of light if you left it on.

Now I know most people don't walk around with the light on for 12 hours, so expect this light to last for quite a while if you're merely flashing it on to find your doorknob or to look around in the dark.

The light produced by the Pulsar II is an intense, bright, white light that gives you about 30 feet worth of illumination in front of you. The intensity does tend to taper off towards the edge of that distance, but within about 6 feet or so, you have very bright light that makes it easy to see just about anything.

Use

I have a Pulsar II on my key chain and I also have one stashed away with my backpacking gear since you always need a light when you forget the flashlight. With the Pulsar II I don't have to worry about being stuck in the dark, either with my keys or when I'm hiking and a trip goes longer than I expected.

It's taken a year or so of use with my Pulsar II before I've needed to change the battery since I'm not using it for all that long at any one time. Battery replacement is pretty easy, just open up the light and replace the battery and then close it back up.

I do like to have the option of switching the LED on instead of squeezing it. The squeezing is great for a quick burst of light (say to find that key hole) but having the light on with the switch makes it easy to use it to illuminate an area while you are doing something else.

The only problem I've had with my lights have been that you can accidentally have the light turn on, either through squeezing or the on/off switch and the light can be on for a while before you notice. I find this happens occasionally on the one I have on my key chain, especially when the keys get jostled quite a bit. With the camping one, so long as I pack it right, it doesn't seem to turn itself on very much. This can be a pain since you can drain the battery a lot faster this way.

Final Thoughts

If you're looking for a light that you can carry anywhere, check out the Pulsar II from Princeton Tec. This very small, hand held LED light can fit on your key chain, sit in your car glove compartment or be packed away in your backpack very easily. It provides very bright, white light that should illuminate just about any place you're needing some light.