DIY Torch Lantern Diffusers

[keithy]

I have a number of torches with different sized diameters. I usually take my AA lights with me when I go walking.

I have previously bought a number of silicone lantern diffusers for my torches with 40mm diameter, and smaller ones with 20-25mm diameters.

40mm and 20-25mm silicone diffusers

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While I own a few more expensive torches, I generally don't take them as my main torch while walking, as I have lost a few over the years. The 40mm torch in the pic above is a great 4xAA 860lumen torch but is a bit big for longer hikes, but I have used it in caves. So I take a few cheaper CREE LED torches that I can bare to lose. The ones I take walking now have a diameter of between 26-28mm, and my existing diffusers don't fit. This, incidentally, is approximately the head diameter of torches like the LedLenser AA series torches or the Mini Maglite AA torch, and the Aldi LED Trekking Torch I reviewed here viewtopic.php?f=15&t=20635:

So I thought I might as well share the options of DIY diffusers I have used the in the past, as well as my current option for 26-28mm torches.

PET Bottle tops (white/translucent) - these work on around 25mm torches and are ok, but don't spread the light out much like a lantern would. Works when you tail stand the torch as a candle and works ok hanging from the ceiling.

PET Bottle tops fit 26mm torches, but not really securely

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35mm Film Canisters (translucent) - these are a larger diameter, around 30mm, so if you have a larger torch it might work out, but can be difficult to procure now that 35mm film is rare. For me, on my 25-28mm torches I would use an o-ring attached to the torch. But I would constantly lose the O-ring, and the lantern diffuser would only work standing the torch in candle mode. When inverted, like hanging from the inside of a tent, it would usually fall off.

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too wide for my 26-28mm torches so needs an o-ring

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I kept looking for the perfect DIY diffuser, and I noticed that Berocca style/effervescent tablet tube containers seem to have the perfect diameter. I am using an Aldi version here. Unfortunately most of them are printed with dye sublimation so the packaging printing can't be easily removed. Still - the back of an old knife does the trick and the printing can be scraped off.

Once scraped off, it fits nicely on both my Aldi LED Trekking Torch and one of my various Sipik SK68 AA Torches. The Sipik is a smaller diameter (around 26mm) but the torch clip secures the DIY diffuser nicely so that it can be inverted and hung or used as a candle.

DIY Lantern Diffuser on Aldi Torch.jpg (174.37 KiB) Viewed 7599 times

Look how nice it looks on the cheapie Aldi torch - like a little fluorescent tube.

[Strider]

Yay another flashaholic! ChapStick lids fit perfectly on Fenix AAA lights

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

[Lizzy]

Lightsabre

[Franco]

Try a ping pong ball.

[beean]

Where does one get a film canister these days? I haven't seen one since I was a kid..

[keithy]

Yay another flashaholic! ChapStick lids fit perfectly on Fenix AAA lights

I think flashaholic has negative connotations, like we have a problem! I'd like to coin a new moniker - torchficianado...

Good suggestion on the chapstick cover. One of the torches I've lost over the years was a great AAA torch. These days as my GPS takes AAs, and my Steripen also takes AAs, I'll take a couple of 1xAA torches on walks. On longer walks, I'll take a headband that can hold 1xAA torches like the Fenix head band or the Nitecore headband. So my handheld AA torch can convert into a headlamp if needed.

Lightsabre

That's funny. I'm sure if I let my nieces and nephews at my torches with the Berocca tube diffusers that's exactly how they will play with them...

Try a ping pong ball.

Ping pong ball is another good idea. I used to use this for my SLR's pop up flash back in the day, worked a treat, however, once you've cut the ping pong ball, it doesn't take much to dent it's shape, especially when in your pack. So that's why I look for things that are a bit hardier these days, and will last a while.

Where does one get a film canister these days? I haven't seen one since I was a kid..

I used to shoot in 35mm quite a bit, so have a small collection of film canisters. But most of them are actually black canisters - I only have around 6 translucent ones now. Back in the day I can't tell you how many I would have thrown out. You can still buy them from around .50c to $2 ea depending on how many you buy. People use them as geocaching containers.

A few other suggestions I also used, but like 35mm film canisters are harder to find.
This is a top for a travel sized talcum powder bottle I picked up on my travels. Fits a 26mm torch head perfectly and works nicely in candle mode.

This is the inside tube of an older style Elastoplast 2" adhesive bandage roll tape.

New versions of the Elastoplast tape don't have this separate tube, with the inner tube of the newer style forming part of the closed container. I found this only recently when I went through an old pack, and found my VERY old first aid kit with a little bit of tape left. It works well as a diffuser, but as the top isn't sealed, it works best face down on a table, as a lantern. Hanging from the ceiling is ok, but it has a bright spot light that shines through.

[David M]

Good to see a fellow flashaholic posting.

[Franco]

keithy,
good point about longevity and ping pong balls..
In fact I tinkered with that some time ago , to get a nice diffusion I had to build a tube extension (just 2cm or so) to the ball.
I was going to paint some silver paint or glue foil on to the top of the inside of ball to avoid the extension but never bothered.
I must have been really bored or something...

[veekay]

Thanks for the tip on the vitamin container, scratched clean and fitted to an ALDI torch. Tried it this morning, what a perfect fit! Now I just need a helicopter to guide in to landing...

[Hiking Noob]

If you are hanging it would a white balloon work?

Would be light and compact.

[keithy]

Tried it this morning, what a perfect fit! Now I just need a helicopter to guide in to landing...

The Aldi torch and the Aldi vitamin case are such a good fit there is a nice pop when you remove it. If I had two of those Aldi torches I feel like I could do this:

If you are hanging it would a white balloon work?

Probably would work, I've used a hobo diffuser made from a Glad white kitchen tidy bag folded in half, with a rubber band to attach it to the torch. Works, but doesn't look that good, and is a bit uneven in the diffusing.

[kitty]

I know this is definitely NOT DIY - but some ideas for a different type of diffuser. Crushable - ripstop with a reflective cone inside. I like it. Fits my zebralight. Nothing "lightsaber" about it however.

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[keithy]

That is a neat gadget kitty! Where do you get one of those from? what does it weigh?

I probably have some translucent reflective cloth used for photography somewhere, I might try fashion one out of that. Does it actually stand up by itself in the last pic or are you holding it by the Zebralight straps?

It is certainly a fancier version of the "hobo" kitchen bag diffuser I've made in the past.

[kitty]

It weights 5g and is from ultralight outdoor gear uk
I was holding it off the ground to show the diffusion in the previous photo
It doesnt stand up by itself with the weight of the headlamp on top - but lives up to its name "Crushable Lamp Shade"

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