Posts Tagged reading lights
Win a Reading Light for the Holidays
(* Editor’s note – This is still a great item to buy, but the contest is now closed.)
Want to win a holiday gift for a reader on your list?
Practical Travel Gear is giving away a free Beam N Read LED 3 Light that will get to you in time to put it under a tree.
I reviewed this reading light back in the beginning of this year and now that e-readers like the Kindle are becoming more popular, there’s even more reason to carry one of these along for train and bus trips.
Unlike a a clip-on reading light, this kind just hangs around your neck. So there’s no need to worry about what kind of book or electronic reader you’re using.
I gave my mom one of these and she loves it for doing crafts work, but here’s what I said back in January for why this item is good for travelers.
“These Beam N Read lights would work well for any travel task where you need your hands free, from rooting around the backpack to reading on a train to writing in your journal at night. If you’re traveling with a baby you could change diapers in a hotel room without lighting up the whole room. And this would solve a problem I had a lot when backpacking: figuring out a way to play cards in a poorly-lit cheap hotel room. (Without the other person seeing your cards.) Plus unlike with a headlamp, you won’t blind anyone when you look in their eyes to talk to them.”
It uses regular AA batteries, which can be the rechargeable kind. Or, in a pinch, you can buy them pretty much anywhere around the world. You won’t have to do either very often though: they’ll last you 120 hours in this reading light. So even at 2 hours a night that’s two months of reading in the dark.
You can see more details and order here at the official Beam N Read website, or you can buy it at Amazon.
Or, even better, get one for free! Just leave a comment below on what you would do with your Beam N Read light and we’ll pick a winner at random on Black Friday, November 26, among the people who have left a comment by 12:00 noon. Or leave a comment on the Facebook post with this entry, same deadline.
The light will get to you in time for wrapping and a bow. Good luck!
* We have a winner! Congratulations to Caroline Clemmons who was chosen using the randomizer at Random.org. We’ve sent you an e-mail requesting a shipping address. Thanks everyone for entering!
Posted by Tim L. in Travel Light on November 17th, 2010
Reading and Task Lights from Beam N Read
I’ve tried out a whole slew of reading lights and task lights over the years, from the Lightwedge to the Periscope to various brands of headlamp. I guess that’s why I got a call out of the blue from the president of the company producing these Beam N Read lights to try them out. These didn’t look like anything else I’d checked out before, so I agreed to put them through their paces. He set me up with an extra too, so leave a comment at the end to win one for yourself.
This is pitched more as a multi-function light than a reading light, which is a good thing because for reading it only works well if you’re in a sitting position. The light hangs on a strap around your neck and points downward, making it great for a bus or airplane seat, but lousy for when you’re lying flat in bed with a book above your face.
Depending on which model you get, there are either three or six LED bulbs that supply bright light and last forever. The three-bulb one promises that the four AA batteries will last at least 120 hours, or 48 hours for the LED 6 model.
The design is pretty basic and there’s no elegance to it, with a wide battery pack and the bulbs usually shining uncovered unless you put on a red filter (for the three-bulb one) or another color filter (my sample came with orange) for the six-bulb one. The latter also comes with a magnifier. But what matters is these lights do the job: shining on what you need lighted up. And bulky or not, you can easily find and travel with rechargeable AA batteries, but it’s single use only for those calculator-style ones many reading lights use.
These Beam N Read lights would work well for any travel task where you need your hands free, from rooting around the backpack to reading on a train to writing in your journal at night. If you’re traveling with a baby you could change diapers in a hotel room without lighting up the whole room. And this would solve a problem I had a lot when backpacking: figuring out a way to play cards in a poorly-lit cheap hotel room. (Without the other person seeing your cards.) Plus unlike with a headlamp, you won’t blind anyone when you look in their eyes to talk to them.
You can get the Beam N Read LED 3 at Amazon for $19.95 plus shipping, or the LED 6 for $24.95.
Or…get one for free! Leave a comment below on why you would want one and we’ll pick a winner at random in a week—on February 4.
Posted by Tim L. in General Gear, Kids and Family on January 28th, 2010
