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two things:
1. small, powerful torches
and/or
2. indestructible 'dumb' phones
My birthday is coming up, and Mrs SR has asked me to put together a birthday wish list. There are two things that I wouldn't mind, and that I wouldn't normally just buy myself, but of which I know very little.
In terms of torches, I'd like something about the size of a large pen, that is very powerful, and that has decent battery life. I tend to carry a rucksack with me quite a lot, and a torch like that for emergencies, and for when we're out on a ramble, or camping, would be just the thing I reckon.
In terms of phones, it is quite likely that my current iPhone will be taken away from me (as it's provided by my work), and I would love to not have a smartphone with all its inherent distractions. In the meantime, I quite like those "builders' phones" I see on Amazon, that are built to withstand the apocalypse, have 20 years' battery life (well, maybe not quite...), and have only the most basic functions with camera. The thing is, I've heard that because most of them have only 2G, they won't be useable in the long-term. Plus, some of them have terrible reception.
Can you give me any intel on either a decent torch or a decent phone?
Torches. Have a look through the Fenix catalogue and see if anything takes your fancy. Their head torches are very highly regarded as caving lamps (indestructible) so would imagine the build quality on any of their products would be to a similar standard.
https://www.fenixtorch.co.uk/Shop/Fenix-Torches.html
Phones. Not a clue sorry
Torches? I've had one of these for YEARS... it's not super powerful, but it is seemingly indesctructable: Gerber Recon.
Phones? I'm seriously thinking of swapping my iPhone for one of these (but I probably won't because I'm way too deep in the Apple ecosystem): Nokia 800 Tough.
The STW forum seems to be scraping urls and attempting to inject affiliate links into 'em. And it's bOrking that Nokia link in the process.
Here it is in plain text: https://www.nokia.com/phones/en_gb/nokia-800-tough
Or just Google for 'Nokia 800 Tough'
As long as it’s a head torch. Otherwise it’s a light that renders a hand useless.
I’d second the Fenix torch. Thank you for link to the Nokia 800, the 40 plus days standby has me off to investigate more!
I’ve heard that because most of them have only 2G
I think 2G will be around for a good while yet because many gadgets like smart meters require it. AFAIK only the 3 network have stopped offering 2G. For emergency applications, the 2G coverage is often better than 3/4G.
On the torch request, ive been using Ultrafire 501b torches for years with some Panasonic 18650 batteries & Nitecore charger... torches are about a fiver each off eBay. Use for most things ...helmet light, one left in car, one in hiking rucksack etc
Have Fenix headtorches improved? I bought one for walking and alpine mountaineering many years ago, probably first gen and the light itself was great compared to Petzl or equiv, but the head strap and wiring was shoddy, instructions were also wrong and in pigeon English. The head strap kept coming loose and needed securing with a stapler, the wiring needed a mate to repair with a soldering iron in the battery box after a few trips of wild camping and an alpine climbing hol. I emailed the UK distributor(or UK website domain) a polite review at the time but didn't get a response
Had various 'tough' phones and all have packed up before you'd expect them to. They were tough though
I'll try and do a proper review on a couple tomorrow
As long as it’s a head torch. Otherwise it’s a light that renders a hand useless.
In terms of torches, I’d like something about the size of a large pen, that is very powerful, and that has decent battery life.
I’ve got one of these Lumintop penlights, uses two AAA’s, and has two settings. Not cheap, but it’s titanium, and beautifully made:
https://lumintoplighting.com/lumintop-iyp365-titanium-200-lumens-edc-penlight-p0036.html
They do this one as well, which might be more useful, it uses a 14500 Li-ion rechargeable cell, and puts out 650 lumens:
https://www.lumintoponline.com/lumintop-tool-aa20-titanium-650-lumens-edc-flashlight-p2444074.html
I have nothing to contribute regarding tough dumb-phones, I’ve been through various dumb-phones like the classic Nokia, and nothing could force me to go back to one, my iPhone has so many functions that I find indispensable that I couldn’t do without it.