PowerEx MH-C808M “Ultimate Professional” Charger

The MH-C808M charger by Maha can charge any combination of 1 to 8 batteries. You can mix and charge AA, AAA, C and D sized cells at the same time on individual charging circuits. Each battery size also has its own fixed contact charging points (i.e. not a spring). An LCD display shows charging and conditioning status of each rechargeable battery.

Maha’s chargers can restore batteries to their optimal performance level by repeatedly charging and discharging them. It also has intelligent charging technology and overcharge protection. It comes with an international AC adapter, and short-circuit protection.

The PowerEx MH-C808M is available from Amazon for around $90.

PowerEx MH-C9000 WizardOne Charger

The PowerEx MH-C9000 charger is now our pick for an inexpensive battery charger. This charger has four independent slots for AA or AAA NiMH or NiCd batteries. It can provide charging current from 200 to 1000mA for 4 cells, or up to 1800mA for two cells. Just like the Maha Ultimate Professional charger, each battery is independently charged. It also features battery analysis and refresh functions.

Under testing, this charger has proven itself to be superior to the LaCrosse charger (our previous recommendation) — see the Amazon reviews for the MH-C9000 for more information.

The PowerEx MH-C9000 is available at Amazon for about $50

LaCrosse Technology BC-1000 Alpha Battery Charger

The LaCrosse Alpha BC-1000 Charger has sophisticated monitoring circuitry that controls the charging process, and it is also capable of “reconditioning” batteries by running a series of discharge-recharge cycles.

The charger shows battery voltage and charge status on its digital display. It has four separate charge channels so you can charge one, two three or four batteries at a time – even on individual charge programs. This allows you to test one battery while charging the others. It comes with four AA and four AAA batteries, four battery adapters (which convert AA sized battery to C and D sizes) and a carry case. Note, however, if you want to charge C or D size batteries, you’ll want to get the Ansmann chargers below.

Available from Amazon:

• LaCrosse BC-700 Charger – $36
• LaCrosse BC-1000 Alpha Charger – $60 (same as the BC-700 but includes four AA  & AAA cells, plus the four C + D-cell converters)

The post The Best Serious Battery Chargers appeared first on Reactual.

The Details

Ultraviolet light is the preferred light source of TV crime scene investigators on the hunt for body fluids. Distinguished by its trademark purple glow, it has a wavelength that is shorter than visible light but longer than X-rays, in the range of 10 nanometers to 400 nanometers. It is useful to make fluorescent substances glow that can’t otherwise be seen by the naked eye. Portable UV light used to be too unwieldy and expensive for consumer purposes, but that all changed after ultraviolet light emitting LEDs were introduced in 2006. They are now widely available in flashlight form.

These flashlights are most often used to detect fraudulent documents such as fake IDs, see watermarks, read invisible ink or investigate crime scenes. They can also be used to “fluoresce” scorpions and certain types of minerals, and charge “glow-in-the-dark” object like fishing lures. Use them to protect your businesses from counterfeit money and your home from pointy tailed pests.

Gallium Indium Nitride UV Flashlight

This Gallium Indium Nitride UV flashlight gets great ratings from Amazon buyers, so we thought we’d include it here. Reviewers were impressed by the flashlight’s durability, and the fact that it emits 365 nm UV light, which is at the very edge of our visible range. The light from this flashlight appears as a dim purple-blue to the eye, but when it shines on items that fluoresce they light up brightly.

It uses three AAA batteries — we recommend using low self-discharge AAA rechargeable batteries like Eneloop Pros in this flashlight.

The post The Best Ultraviolet LED Flashlights appeared first on Reactual.

Which is best, green or red light? Well, it’s the total brightness of the light that has the most significant effect on night vision retention, so you’ll want a light that allows you to easily adjust brightness. Our eyes are more sensitive to green light, which means you need much less green light than red light to see something, giving green light an edge. See a detailed discussion of this topic here or here.

Here are a couple of top rated flashlights optimized for night vision:

Streamlight 14003 Sidewinder LED Flashlight

The Streamlight Sidewinder is a popular choice because it of its dimming features — it can light an entire room, or it can be dimmed to a task light level. The flashlight incorporates four different colors of LEDs: white, red, green and blue. Each LED lamp features four levels of brightness: Low (5%), Medium (20%), Medium-High (50%), High (100%) plus a Strobe function (100%).

The Streamlight Sidewinder is available at Amazon for about $59.

Smith & Wesson Galaxy 12-LED Flashlight

The Smith & Wesson Galaxy 12 is a versatile LED flashlight, featuring eight white, two red, and two blue LEDs. The ultra bright white LEDs offer general lighting and visibility within 20 feet, and red and blue LEDs for low-light viewing. The battery life is 30-hours using three AAA batteries.

The Galaxy 12 received an average of 4.4 of out 5 stars from 17+ Amazon reviewers.

The Smith & Wesson Galaxy 12 LED Flashlight is available at Amazon for about $23.

The post The Best Flashlights For Retaining Night Vision appeared first on Reactual.

All of these attributes make titanium an ideal metal for constructing durable pocket tools. However, note that many products labeled “titanium” are just titanium colored, or they only contain a thin coating of titanium. The tools listed here are made with solid titanium or an alloy containing more than 90% titanium.

Leatherman Charge TTi Titanium Multi-Tool

Weight: 8.2 ounces (232 grams)
Titanium Type: Alloyed Titanium Handles, S30V Stainless Steel Blades

The Charge TTi Titanium Multi-Tool by Leatherman is one of the few multi-tools that incorporates titanium into its construction. This tool has titanium handles and a titanium outer coating for extra strength, and a little bit less weight.

You can get the Charge TTi Titanium Multi-Tool on Amazon for about $150.

Schrade Titanium Keychain Pry Tool

Weight: 0.5 ounces (14 grams)
Titanium Type: 6AL-4V Titanium Alloy

This Titanium Key Chain Pry Tool by Schrade is made with solid 6AL-4V titanium — an alloy that is stronger than pure titanium (the exact chemical composition is: 6% aluminium, 4% vanadium, 0.25% iron, 0.2% oxygen, and the remainder titanium).

This is 6-in-One tool, it’s: a seal belt cutter, a bottle opener, a flat head screw driver, a wrench driver, a scraper, and a pry tool. It weighs just 0.5 ounces, and it’s 3.25″ long (8.2 cm).

Titanium Split Pea Lighter

Weight: 0.5 ounces (14.3 Grams)
Titanium Type: 6AL4V Series Titanium Grade 5 Alloy

The Titanium Split Pea Lighter can be used as an candle in an emergency and carried on your keychain. A removable lighter insert allows it to be used as a waterproof titanium pill vial. It sells for $30 from County Comm.

Titanium Split Ring

Titanium split ring can be used as the ultralight base of a keychain. You can find titanium split rings at the County Comm Store (3 for $6) or Berkeley Point ($5 – $6 each).

Titanium Money Clip

Weight: 1 ounce (28 grams)
Titanium Type: Pure Titanium

Weighing one ounce, this Titanium Money Clip is a lightweight version of the usual stainless steel money clip. It’s available on Amazon for about $50.

Arc AAA Titanium Keychain Flashlight

Weight: 0.95 ounces (including battery)
Titanium Type: 6Al-4V (Ti-64) Titanium Alloy

Designed for keychains, Arc-AAA flashlights are barely larger than the AAA batteries they contain. The exact dimension are: 2.5 inches in length, 0.5 inches in diameter, and 0.95 ounces in weight (including battery). The Arc-AAA is made in Phoenix, Arizona by Arc Flashlights. The company only makes keychain-sized flashlights, and put a lot of attention into the design of their lights (see the FAQ page for all the technical details).

The three titanium models range in price from $125 to $140.

The post 10 Titanium Pocket Tools appeared first on Reactual.

The Fenix LD01 is barely large than the AAA battery it uses (we recommend using a low-discharge rechargeable NiHm AAA battery). It is very bright — it produces 80 lumens on its highest setting, which is brighter than most full-size flashlights.

The Fenix LD01 is solidly built — it uses a Cree Q5 LED as its light source, and the lens is made of toughened, anti-reflective glass. It weighs 1.6 ounces, and it is “IPX-8 water proof”, meaning it is suitable for continuous submersion. The flashlight is also RoHS compliant — it does not contain non-toxic heavy metals or flame retardants.

You can the Fenix LD01 from Amazon for about $40.

Schrade Titanium Keychain Pry Tool

Weight: 0.5 ounces (14 grams)
Titanium Type: 6AL-4V Titanium Alloy

This Titanium Key Chain Pry Tool by Schrade is made with solid 6AL-4V titanium — an alloy that is stronger than pure titanium (the exact chemical composition is: 6% aluminium, 4% vanadium, 0.25% iron, 0.2% oxygen, and the remainder titanium).

This is 6-in-One tool, it’s: a seal belt cutter, a bottle opener, a flat head screw driver, a wrench driver, a scraper, and a pry tool. It weighs just 0.5 ounces, and it’s 3.25″ long (8.2 cm).

Titanium Split Pea Lighter

Weight: 0.5 ounces (14.3 Grams)
Titanium Type: 6AL4V Series Titanium Grade 5 Alloy

The Titanium Split Pea Lighter can be used as an candle in an emergency and carried on your keychain. A removable lighter insert allows it to be used as a waterproof titanium pill vial. It sells for $30 from County Comm.

Leatherman Charge TTi Titanium Multi-Tool

Weight: 8.2 ounces (232 grams)
Titanium Type: Alloyed Titanium Handles, S30V Stainless Steel Blades

The Charge TTi Titanium Multi-Tool by Leatherman is one of the few multi-tools that incorporates titanium into its construction. This tool has titanium handles and a titanium outer coating for extra strength, and a little bit less weight.

You can get the Charge TTi Titanium Multi-Tool on Amazon for about $100.

Leatherman Micra Tool

Leatherman Micra is a keychain-sized multi-tool that contains a total of ten tools, including a pair of scissors. The Micra weighs 1.6 ounces, and it’s 2.5 inches long when closed. Leatherman tools are guaranteed for 25 years (10 years for their lights). Specifically, the company says “we will gladly repair or replace it, at our discretion, with one of equal or greater value”. Over 120 buyers on Amazon, rated it an average of 4.5 out of 5 stars. The Leatherman Micra is available on Amazon for around $20.

Another good keychain-sized multi-tool is the Gerber Shortcut Mini-Scissor Tool.

Arc-AAA LED Flashlight

Designed for keychains, Arc-AAA flashlights are barely larger than the AAA batteries they contain. The exact dimension are: 2.5 inches in length, 0.5 inches in diameter, and 0.75 ounces in weight. The Arc-AAA is made in Phoenix, Arizona by Arc Flashlights. The company only makes keychain-sized flashlights, and put a lot of attention into the design of their lights (see the FAQ page of all the technical details).

The Arc-AAA is warrantied for life against manufacturing defects. It features a Nichia white LED light, and is waterproof to 100 feet. I’ve used this flashlight for about five years, and I’ve never had any issues with it. It has fewer scratches on it than my other keychain lights, perhaps due to its “Type III Hard Anodized 6061 Aluminum” casing.

The price is $29.95 for the standard model, and $44.95 for the premium model Arc AAA. It’s available directly from the manufacturer Arc Flashlights. There’s also three titanium models available that range in price from $125 to $140.

We like this flashlight because it’s made in the U.S. with a lot of attention to design detail. It’s also slightly smaller than the Fenix LD01 (below). However, the Fenix LD01 (see above) is much brighter than the Arc AAA, producing 80 lumens, which is quite bright for a keychain-sized flashlight. 

The post Buy It For Life: Keychain and Pocket Tools appeared first on Reactual.

I’ve been testing this Digital Stethoscope by Thinklabs. Unlike most digital stethoscope, this one has an audio out port, which allows you to connect it to a computer or MP3 recording device.

The stethoscope works well — it has a built-in amplifier, and with a bit of practice, you can record heart and lung sound quite easily. It has a noise-reduction feature, which is handy when you are in a noisy environment. It takes two AAA batteries for power. Thinklabs offers some free recording/analysis software for the PC and MAC (based on Audacity). Here is a screenshot of a heartbeat I recorded:

The Digital Stethoscope by Thinklabs is available from Amazon for under $200.

The post Review: Digital Stethoscope by ThinkLabs appeared first on Reactual.