Streamlight MicroStream Ultra-compact Aluminum body with AAA alkaline battery, 3.5 Inch - 1.04 oz - 45 Lumens - 66318, Black

This little light is PERFECT for every day carry. Im a medic, so I use these a lot on the job and also around the house. Its enough to find your way around a dark room, but not quite bright enough to light up the entire room. Its not designed for that anyway so who cares? For my fellow medics out there, this is way better than a 99 cent white plastic penlight. This does real good checking pupils and such. Its cheap enough to get a couple of them and keep one with your duty gear, and another one for home use. Size-wise its about 1 and a 1/2 the size of an AA battery. Its perfect for holding with your mouth if you need both hands. It also has a two-way clip so you can clip it to the bill of a ball cap facing forward. You dont even have to clip it to your pocket. Its short enough to lay flat in the bottom of a normal pants pocket. Its very lightweight and unobtrusive. Once its in your pocket, you dont even notice it. Battery life is stellar! Not only do I use it for about a collective hour every day, but I have let it burn for hours on end while wrenching on my car and the first battery lasted well over a month. I have had this going on 4 months, and Im only on my second battery. Durability is also stellar! Ive dropped it I dont know how many times, its been fully submerged in water, caked with motor oil, power steering fluid, and dust. I wouldnt go running it over with my car or anything, but for what it is, it can take a beating. I would buy this light again and again. In fact, I didnt realize just how much I would use this light every day until I started carrying it everyday. Now, I feel lost without it! If you can get it for $18 bucks or less, do it. You wont regret it.

Dont get fooled by the rated specs of only 28 lumens. Thanks to the small emitter and the relatively deep reflector, the Streamlight Microstream projects a beam as bright or brighter than other AAA lights rated at 70-80 lumens. It measured 750cd on my lux meter, and it runs for 3 hours while the other lights drop out of high mode after an hour. This also means the light has a tightly focused beam, which makes it ideal for picking out details, but its not the best choice for casual close up tasks like reading a book or a map in the dark. This light also handles like a bigger light. I use or have used other AAA lights from brands like Fenix, Foursevens, and Olight, and while those are good in their own right, they are ultra-compact twisty lights, best used for key chain duty. This light is slightly longer, has a forward (momentary) clicky switch, and a convenient bi-directional clip - all of which make this light better suited for people who rely on a light throughout the day in various jobs and tasks. The tint of the light is surprisingly good, about the same as my Fenix E05. That means its a creamy white color, which appears to my eyes as neither cool, nor warm, but relatively clean white (although technically the LED is still a cool white). Its true that the switch is harder to depress completely than my other lights, but not so hard that it bothers me. In certain applications where you need the switch to only function momentarily without clicking, thats actually a good thing. I tried putting a thin spacer between the rubber boot and the switch, and this makes the switch noticeably easier to click. Considering that the light offers these features and performance for under 20 dollars, I picked one up mainly out of curiosity, but it has since become used more often than my other compact lights. *** 2014 Update Bought another one, and its the newer 2014 version. This one has a larger 35 lumens emitter. The output is slightly higher, but the beam is not as tightly focused, and the hotspot is not as bright. I clocked it at about 320cd, which is roughly half the luminous intensity of the older model. Still a useful amount of light, but not as impressive at longer distances. However for general purpose use, I prefer the smoother beam of the new model, so overall I consider it an improvement.

I got big flashlights but I keep this little guy on me everywhere I go all the time goes in a little everyday carry kid with my pocket knife in a pen I always have a light on me if I lose when I buy a new one they went down to 17 bucks from 20 to 24 great manufacturing can get parts if you need to

Great little admin light and amazing quality.

Packs a punch. Light enough to hold with lips when hands are busy.

Has become my EDC light in both suits and jeans. Have been amazed at how bright this little light is, and pleasantly surprised at the battery life. Not as bright as the two-battery CR123 Surefire I purchased a decade ago for EDC. But quickly realized the Surefire was a bit too big for anything but belt carry. I’ve had this little Streamlight in my pocket nearly every day for the last two months. I’ve been surprised to find it’s bright enough to create a visual hinderance if a person needed it in a defensive situation, especially with a fresh battery, but even after some use. As some raters have mentioned, the button is stiff. This is due to the stout rubber cap rather than the switch itself. You can ease this problem by loosening the cap’s retaining bezel slightly. The s-bend pocket clip works great for regular pocket use. However, on my sample the reverse bend isn’t roomy enough to fully accommodate a cap brim as advertised. This is my only complaint. Overall, very pleased with the light and the price point. 2-year update: Even more elated with this light over time. Daily carry and nearly daily use for 2 years now. During power outages, car restoration/repair, late night dog walks, helping aging eyes read tire pressures on sidewalls, behind TV cable connections, sheepdogging weird noises in house at night… you name it. Survived multiple inadvertent washing machine torture tests. Battery life continues to be great; have learned that battery expires suddenly, rather than dimming over time. Not a critique, just something to be aware of. Battery life is quite good, and light is bright. AAA alkaline is economical so I don’t hesitate to use; I found myself limiting use of my CR123 Surefire, which the Microstream replaced as EDC. Over time I’ve purchased 6 more as gifts for family and their significant others. Again, very pleased.

This light was exactly what I was looking for. Its small enough to go everywhere with me and light so you dont know its there. Dont let the size fool you because at 45 lumens its plenty bright enough too. I also like that that the clip works great in your pocket and can also clip on the bill of a hat for hands free use. I will certainly buy more at tgis price point.

This is a truly outstanding light, and at $16.00, it competes with other lights in the $30 - 60 range in terms of build quality, form factor, and beam quality. Im very impressed. First, this is the UPDATED version of the original MicroStream, so if youve read older, pre-2011 reviews (many are still circulating online), you may be surprised to learn that this version has resolved several known issues with the older model. The beam is brighter (28 lumens instead of 20), battery run time is longer (2.5 hours instead of 1.75 hours), the tail switch is much stiffer (nearly impossible to turn on by accident in your pocket), and, though I have no way to confirm it, the anodized coating seems to be more scratch resistant. Second, this light is very small. It is barely larger in diameter than an AAA battery, and the length is about the same as the width of my medium-sized hand (i.e., if you clutch it in your fist, you should be able to palm the entire light). The two-way pocket clip is reasonably stiff and very functional. It can be clipped onto your pocket for a more secure ride or onto the brim of a hat (or backpack strap, etc.) to hold the light for hands-free illumination. Ive also clipped it onto the edge of a stroller as a very effective headlight to illuminate the pathway when pushing a stroller at night. The weight is so light you will absolutely forget that youre carrying it. Its only negligibly heavier than the weight of the AAA battery itself. Basically, if you have room for a tube of chapstick in your pocket, you have room for this light. Third, the beam is very clean. It creates a nice, round, evenly illuminated circle of light with no hot spots or shadows anywhere in the center of the beam. The beam has a very effective reach (throw range) of about 15 feet. When you shine it at your feet, it casts a brightly lit circle about 18 in diameter. There is some spill at the edges of the beam, but not enough to illuminate the surrounding area, so its closer to a spotlight than a floodlight (as any light of this size should be). Its ideal for illuminating a pathway at night, reading in the dark (though perhaps too bright for extended reading), locating a keyhole in a door, or momentarily blinding a potential attacker to gain an edge in a self defense situation. Fourth, the light is certainly weatherproof and, theoretically, waterproof. I havent tested the latter claim, but there is an O-ring seal on the barrel threads where the light screws together so I suspect it would certainly survive a drop into a puddle or other casual contact with water. I wouldnt deliberately take it diving, of course, but its not a dive light so it hardly matters. In short, Im very impressed with this excellent, lightweight, perfect-for-casual-lighting-needs light. Ill probably buy several more and stow them in various places (kitchen cupboard, boat hatch, glovebox, office drawer, etc.) because theyre so affordable and useful, yet take up almost no room.

So clearly the waterproofing is flawless and its practically indestructible. The MicroStream is pure simplicity and functionality. Its not the brightest light, but for everyday carry, I prefer it. There are so many unbelievable lights available today, but if you ask me they all try to do too much. The more modes and features you add, the more complex the user interface has to be, and the harder to use the light becomes. The reason I still carry a MicroStream is because I want to pull my light out of my pocket, use it one-handed without fumbling or thinking about it, and put it back. It also uses a single AAA battery and is very small. Another big bonus is the pocket clip, which is nice and stiff and attached so tightly to the light body that it may as well be permanently attached. Ive had lights where the clip was an afterthought and could barely hold onto the light (which means its absolutely worthless). For me personally, I like the tail switch. Its harder to press than youd expect, but this means it wont be getting accidentally activated in your pocket—which is a big reason that I hate, hate, hate twisty lights (the other reason being that they require two hands to operate). And its both momentary and clickable, which is perfect in my book. Besides the marginal brightness my only other complaint is that I keep losing them. I think being clipped to my pocket they sometimes get caught by my seatbelt and pulled out without me realizing it. I think Ive lost one or two, and found one laying in my driveway after work. But heres the thing: EIGHTEEN DOLLARS. I dont even mind too much buying a new one because theyre such a good value.

This is about the perfect light for everyday carry. This AAA version is shorter and lighter than the rechargeable version and I prefer simply installing a new battery versus having to recharge. It is sufficiently bright for practical purposes in everyday life. This AAA model has on/off and thats it. No fumbling around with different modes. No nonsense. Pull it off your pocket and hold the button for momentary or click it in all the way to keep it on until you click it again. Heres the homerun: the 2-way clip that allows you to clip this to the brim of your hat for an instant headlamp. Its light enough to not pull your hat down or otherwise be a nuisance. The rechargeable model, in my opinion, has too much leverage and will cause the brim of your hat to drop. Ive lost probably 6 of these over the years and I always order a new one immediately. Its that good. Oh, and its cheap too compared to other brand-name flashlights.