A Bright Idea for Mounting Flashlights!
After a year of travelling in our Scamp 13’, the benefit of having a good flashlight within easy reach has been reinforced on more than one occasion. When the Sun sets, it can get pretty dark out in the wild pretty quickly. And, it’s not uncommon for us to be outside after dark to: retrieve trip food and water from our SUV, watch the stars, and sometimes join friends for dinner around a group campfire. At some of the places we have visited, it has been difficult to see even a foot ahead of ourselves (such as Anza Borrego State Park). Without a flashlight in these extremely low light conditions, it can be hard to find one’s way back to the camper! And, there are times when having a quick light is necessary to find a critical item or make an adjustment outside the trailer (such as switching between propane tanks).
For a while, we kept a traditional flashlight attached by 3M Scotch Fasteners (e.g. like Velcro) next to our dinette on the side of the sink. It worked OK, but because the flashlight’s round head would not lay flat against the wall, we frequently bumped it causing the flashlight to fall onto the dinette bench or floor. Then, we had a magnetic idea! What if we could find a flashlight that would lay flat and, in turn, be less prone to knocking off the wall? Well, we found such a light, and not only is it flat, but it also has a magnetic backing (as well as hanger)!
This rubber coated AlltroLite is small (3.7”x2.4”x1.3”) but packed with enough LEDs to be really bright! There are two modes: one turns on the 3 LEDs which face forward and acts like a traditional flashlight and the other mode activates 24 LEDs which turns it into more of a work light. Not only is there a magnet on the back of the flashlight, but it also has a hook which rotates 360 degrees for hanging. The flashlight is sold in a 3 pack and comes with the required 3 AAA batteries for each light. We’ve found the lights to be very bright and nice and compact. The LED bulbs are rated at 100,000 hours, so they are likely to last many camping trips!
The magnet added a new twist and we quickly figured that magnetism would be a good way to mount the flashlight to the Scamp’s wall. We liked the idea of using the magnet instead of fastening tape because we wanted the flashlight to be as close to the wall as possible due to the desired corner mounting location being an easy target for brushing up against. Also, the flashlight would be easier to pull off and re-attach to the mount with a magnet vs. fastening tape. The only wrinkle in our plan was that the Scamp is a fiberglass trailer and its walls are mostly fiberglass, so a magnet won’t stick to its walls.
For the flashlight’s magnet to stick against the Scamp’s fiberglass wall, we chose to use a thin stainless steel strip taped to the fiberglass wall. We chose a small piece of sheet metal stock which is very thin (around .02 inches thick) so the mount would keep the flashlight close to the wall. Using a pair of metal snips, I cut a small strip (only about the width of the magnet and length about the width of the flashlight). This ensures that the magnet has sufficient area to which to attach. I also made sure to trim away all sharp metal corners for safety. I then unrolled some clear double sided Gorilla tape (rated to support up to 15lbs!) and stuck the tape to one side of the metal strip (trimming away any excess tape extending over the strip with scissors). After this was done, I peeled away the very thin Gorilla tape adhesive cover, attached the metal strip to the flashlight’s magnet (non-adhesive side) and then pressed the entire assembly (flashlight and steel strip) onto the wall (adhesive side facing the fiberglass) at the location where we wanted the flashlight. Viola! The flashlight now was secure on its mount hanging on the wall! We are really happy with this magnetic solution and mounted one flashlight at the door entry and one inside, near bed. Now, we have easy access to a light whether we are outside the Scamp or inside by the dinette! This approach has been very illuminating and hopefully you too will come to “see the light” soon!
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