Functional and practical items have always made ideal promotional items and mini LED flashlight keychains are no exception. Custom engraved or imprinted LED flashlight keychains are being used by and businesses and individuals for a variety of special events from tradeshows and conferences to parties and reunions.

Mini flashlights have become indispensable objects in our everyday lives and can be found everywhere from our homes and cars to our camping gear and keychains. Due to their small size these mini flashlights are typically carried on keychains. Basically, mini flashlights with two types of bulbs are being used; those with light emitting diodes (leds) and incandescent (filament) bulbs. LEDs are by far the most widely used. Compared to incandescent bulbs they are brighter, longer lasting and are available in an assortment of beam colors ie. red, blue, green etc. Because the batteries (button cells) used to power LEDs are smaller than those used for filament bulbs (AAA), Mini LED flashlights can be made much smaller as well as flatter than filament bulb flashlights.

Typically you'll see button cell batteries for LED devices in the shape of flat silver discs (that look like buttons, hence the name button cells) in a variety of sizes and voltages. The voltage needed to power a filament type mini flashlight bulb is 1.5V compared to 6.0V for a LED.

Today promotional mini led flashlight keychains can be found in both anodized aluminum as well as durable plastic in a variety of colors and custom shapes. Customization methods used for these promotional mini flashlights include laser engraving for flashlights with aluminum shells and either pad printing or full color process printing for flashlights encased in plastic. Laser engraving produces a bright white image by removing the surface anodized color coating exposing the color of the aluminum underneath. Pad printing typically produces an image in a single color. The disadvantage of pad printing is that it is prone to wear and will scratch off over time. Full color process printing is the method of choice for printing custom shaped mini flashlights. Here the full color image is first printed on white vinyl with an adhesive back and then contour cut to the exact shape of the flashlights imprint area. The advantages of this type of printing and application is that multi color logos can be reproduced and the imprints won't wear or scratch off.

Today mini led flashlight keychains can be found incorporated into a variety of different products with multiple functions including carabiners, pens, bottle openers, whistles and more. Mini flashlight keychains made from anodized aluminum in the basic tube and carabiner shapes have become the industry standard for promotional flashlights. For a complete selection of blank and custom engraved mini flashlights at below wholesale prices visit www.keychainsinc.com

So what's the origin of the highly successful promotional mini LED flashlights? Certainly, flashlights with standard incandescent bulbs preceded flashlights using LEDs. The tubular flashlight as we know it was invented in 1896 by David Misell. Before then people were left to very unsafe methods utilizing oil lamps for finding their way in the dark. Early flashlight models were very inefficient due to limitations in both battery and light bulb design. They were capable of producing only short pulses of light, hence the name flashlight. Also, they were big and bulky due the large size of the batteries at the time. Development of more reliable flashlights followed closely with the evolution of batteries and light bulbs.

The invention of the smaller and lighter weight D cell battery in 1888 made possible the development of the first truly practical hand-held portable flashlight. Brighter and longer lasting light bulbs were made possible in1906 with the replacement of Edison's carbon filament with tungsten.

Today both incandescent and the newer more powerful and longer lasting LED flashlights can be found everywhere in all shapes, sizes and colors. Visit www.keychainsinc.com for a wide selection of blank and customized mini led flashlight keychains at below wholesale prices.