Flashlight suggestions??

[jlmotox]

Anyone have a favorite flashlight? Or one they have on a wish list?
I have a few 3 cell mag lights LED but they are big, heavy and not as bright as some that I have seen that are half the size.

So I'm looking for something lighter, brighter and smaller. Mainly used around the house/shop may even come along on camping trips. Any suggestions, pics...

Thanks guys!

 

[gilbo]

streamlight, take your pick

 

[mikec35]

This one from Northern Tool goes on sale occasionally for $12.99 (regular $24.99). It's my favorite inexpensive light. It's bright, small and sturdy.

 

[Farmall450]

Streamlight Stylus. Tools just had this thread...stylus pro has a lot of fans (my next buy will be one)

 

[mdbeck1]

Streamlight Stinger - I've got three (not the LED ones). Real bright and rechargable.

I've got nothing against the LED ones, just never tried them.

 

[Beowulf]

Olight M21 from www.Batteryjunction.com

For more flashlight info than you can read head over to www.candlepowerforum.com

 

[Schleprock]

Another vote for the Streamlight, I carry the ProTac 2L and it is bright.

http://www.streamlight.com/product/class.aspx?cid=30

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

Another Streamlight fan here.

 

[donthelegend]

I like my standard 4D Mag Lite with a drop in LED and glass lens better than the LED version directly from Mag Lite.

Plenty bright, battery life that's amazing, and it's still a Mag Lite.

That being said, if you are just after brightness, or want a smaller package, there are several better options. Streamlight as mentioned is good. Also check out 4Sevens, they have a model similar to the Streamlight Stylus pro that is considerably brighter (although it's also a bit pricier). I've also got a couple of lights from Greg McGee Engineering that I am quite fond of, and the warranty service from him has been top notch (he repaired a light I sent through the laundry free of charge with about 10 days from the time I dropped it in the mail till the time I got it back).

Anyway, lots of options... more specific requirements will help narrow them down.

 

[jhall0712]

My time to shine, ha! I've spent hundreds on lights over the years. Hell, hundreds on one light. Here is my take. Stick with LED, and a light that takes a common battery such as AA or AAA. I have plenty of rechargables that take all kinds of other batteries, and I always end up carrying one that uses AA or AAA the most. CR123s are becoming more common, but expensive and not as common as the other two.

My favorite brands, in order are Fenix, Olight, Surefire, Streamlight, and then all others.

My go to daily carry is a Fenix LD20. Two AA batteries, several modes, very bright. Fenix has comparable smaller models now, but I've had mine for years and it hasn't let me down.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004CXNY3G/?tag=atomicindus08-20


I have an Olight M20 that varies between being thrown in my use frequently mix or residing on a rifle. A bit big for daily carry on your person. Would be good in your truck or tool box. Takes the CR123s however. I've tried rechargeable 123s and my luck has been hit and miss with them. Usual features found on LEDs, multiple modes, strobe, etc.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0051F7S2C/?tag=atomicindus08-20


For a long time I carried a surefire executive defender. This was before LEDs hit the mass market, and I loved the light. Small, compact, agressive bezel and bright for it's time. It was the first time I spent more than $100 on a light, but it was worth it. Made me a fan of surefire as well their customer service for a few issues I had. They have an LED version now as well.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001EJI4B8/?tag=atomicindus08-20


Streamlight Stingers. What can I say. Police issue across the country. Plenty bright, tough as hell. I have several versions. All metal. All polymer. LED. Etc. I've moved on from these mostly as there are other lights out now that are brighter, smaller, and dont take a special rechargeable battery and cradle. Still good lights however
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0015ZO8VG/?tag=atomicindus08-20



5.11 light for life. I have the large one and small one. The only thing impressive about these is the recharge time. A dead light to fully charged in seconds is amazing. They are bright, but are fairly big lights and it seems the run time starts to dwindle after awhile. I've had mine a couple years and it seems I have to recharge them more often than I used too.

There are probably dozens more around the house I haven't mentioned here. Those are just my more expensive lights. The Fenix being my favorite.

There are a couple of 'junk' chinese lights from Amazon I've been playing with lately. One in particular I'm pretty inpressed with for just a few bucks. When I get a chance I will post a link.

Here is the link to the cheapie light -

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006E0QAFY/?tag=atomicindus08-20

It's a single AA battery. Cree LED. Adjustable beam. Very bright. Multiple modes. And under $4 shipped. I bought 20 a few weeks ago and just passed them out to different folks. I have them stashed everywhere in case I need one.

 

[#1SomeGuy]

I have a couple streamlights, the stylus pro and protac 2aa and a fenix e25...I like the ones that take standard AA batteries for simplicity.

 

[bgarrett]

Rayco
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Bayco-61-LED-Rechargeable-Light/14003474

a fine light

 

[egnorant]

Of all the flashlights I have, the one that seems to find itself in my hand most is a common Ray-O-Vac 2D cell with an LED bulb. Might have 15 bucks in it.

Bruce

 

[mikec35]

This is my favorite Garage light..

 

[4x4_G30_Sportvan]

I like the HF free LED flashlights. Very handy, don't care if I lose it, sufficient light for walking into the basement.

 

[9C1]

Add me to the Sreamlight fan club.
Terry

 

[oh1ws6]

We use the streamlight micro streams all day every day at work and I love it! It uses 1 AAA battery instead of 2 and is almost half the size of the of the regular ones although we use both.

 

[SCscoutguy]

This is the nicest flashlight for the money ever made. It has a super bright Cree bulb and focusable zoom. It is made of machined aluminum and takes 1 AA battery. It will be the best $3.50 you have ever spent. I ordered 10 of these and gave them away to family and friends and every single one came back to me and asked me to get them more because they simply could not believe how bright and well built these little lights were. I gave one to my buddy who is a mechanic at a dealership and he gave me all kinds of **** talking about how great his stream light was etc. Well two days later I got a call from him saying that every mechanic in the shop wanted two of them. The same thing happened with my father who is a foreman at the paper mill he gave them to a few friends working in maintenance and the next day he had every guy in that department asking him to get them one.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009NAE3YM/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[jhall0712]

This is the nicest flashlight for the money ever made. It has a super bright Cree bulb and focusable zoom. It is made of machined aluminum and takes 1 AA battery. It will be the best $3.50 you have ever spent. I ordered 10 of these and gave them away to family and friends and every single one came back to me and asked me to get them more because they simply could not believe how bright and well built these little lights were. I gave one to my buddy who is a mechanic at a dealership and he gave me all kinds of **** talking about how great his stream light was etc. Well two days later I got a call from him saying that every mechanic in the shop wanted two of them. The same thing happened with my father who is a foreman at the paper mill he gave them to a few friends working in maintenance and the next day he had every guy in that department asking him to get them one.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009NAE3YM/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Ha! I went back and added the same light to my post before I saw this. I even gave some away like you did. They are amazing for $4. Like you I can't say enough about them.

 

[SCscoutguy]

Ha! I went back and added the same light to my post before I saw this. I even gave some away like you did. They are amazing for $4. Like you I can't say enough about them.

Yea I just ordered 24 of them a few weeks ago when they were $3.22 each. I just can not express in words what a great light this is for less than $4 each shipped. I have put it up against 400 lumen streamlights and it has put them to shame. They do take about a month to get to you though because they are shipping them from Hong Kong most of the time. When I focus the beam on this little light I can easily shine it on a man sized figured 150 yards away and see it bright as day when it is dark.

 

[jhall0712]

Yea I just ordered 24 of them a few weeks ago when they were $3.22 each. I just can not express in words what a great light this is for less than $4 each shipped. I have put it up against 400 lumen streamlights and it has put them to shame. They do take about a month to get to you though because they are shipping them from Hong Kong most of the time. When I focus the beam on this little light I can easily shine it on a man sized figured 150 yards away and see it bright as day when it is dark.

Yeah. Shipping is very slow. Forgot to mention that. Only thing I don't like is the different modes are sometimes tricky to switch, and the outline of the LED when focused up close. I just can't get used to the square shape. But it's hard to complain for so cheap!

 

[SchuLace]

I have a stream light stylus and really like it. It's bright enough for what I need and it fits comfortably in my pocket. I'm a fan.

 

[coljar]

I use a LED Nightstick 5422 at work. It's intrinsically safe for inspections in classified hydrocarbon areas and it's tough enough to withstand getting beat around in an industrial setting.

 

[3oheight]

My new favorite is my streamlight stylus pro. 20 something bucks. Bright and battery's last long time.

 

[jlmotox]

Wow!! More info than I know what to do with! Haha! This is exactly was I have been looking for! Thanks guys! Keep them coming

 

[r22yu]

This is the nicest flashlight for the money ever made. It has a super bright Cree bulb and focusable zoom. It is made of machined aluminum and takes 1 AA battery.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009NAE3YM/?tag=atomicindus08-20

I'll add my vote to this flashlight. I didn't buy the amazon one, but did get a few at different times off of dealextreme, alibaba, focalprice... and they are small, bright, and great flashlights.

 

[ATC]

NEBO Redline for me. Runs on three AAA batteries, has an adjustable focus, different modes (100% output, 50%, 10%, SOS, and Strobe). Has a magnet on the end so you can stick it to something to free up your hands. The crown around the lens is jagged, which they advertise can be used for defense...but I think it's more for looks. The one I have is rated at 250 lumens, and it is very bright. I can light something up 1/8 mile away with ease. The one pictured is 310 lumens.

I will never, ever own a rechargeable flashlight. Ever.

 

[joel63]

I have to say I have never regretted buying the S-O Worklight, Cordless, 7.2V
Stock#: CTL761.

 

[akdiesel]

This Cree LED flashlight works great. Light weight, simple on off, does not get hot, and very inexpensive. $3.50 on Amazon. I have mine at work for over a year now. Plus the flood to spot adjustment is very quick handy.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006E0QAFY/?tag=atomicindus08-20
I hate having to scroll through the different levels of light output or strobe just to turn it back off.

 

[Makoto]

surefire G2X is the best bang for the buck if found.

 

[Vinci]

Fenix LD10 in the garage (very short, so it fits everywhere in an engine bay) and E21 for work/car/nightstand/everywhere else.

I just picked up an HL30 recently for hands-free use, but haven't put it into action yet.

 

[Alexbn921]

I little expensive. Crazy bright 1100 lumens 108 grams.
Exposure lights.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I think one of the first things you do is set a budget for your flash light. there are so many out there that are great lights but you can get sticker shock from a few. 10-15 years ago, who would have thought of spending $100+ for a flashlight ?

I carry a Pelican Pocket Sabre on my turnout gear at work. On my other gear, the volunteer dept bought Streamlight Survivors for everybody. I'd like to buy one for my gear at work but the $165 price tag is out of reach right now since I already have a light that works. I also (probably like everybody else) have a few maglights/mini-maglights around too.

EDIT:

I'd like to correct myself. I just did a quick search for the Streamlight Survivor that I mentioned. Apparently, the price has dropped since last year. I found it for about $110 online. Needless to say, I have one on order.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000LJTANI/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[therealwormey]

i like this deal, but itll be gone by the time anyone reads it
http://sport.woot.com/offers/led-lenser-p7-175-lumen-flashlight-7

 

[Trey T]

You're missing out. Rechargeable li-ion batteries are very affordable especially the 18650 batteries (Samsung, LG, Sony, Panny are excellent performer). They perform much better than any other types of battery.

...

I will never, ever own a rechargeable flashlight. Ever.


http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/1/7/2/6/5/1/7/webimg/600472386_o.jpg[/img]

 

[jhall0712]

You're missing out. Rechargeable li-ion batteries are very affordable especially the 18650 batteries (Samsung, LG, Sony, Panny are excellent performer). They perform much better than any other types of battery.

I have this light - Ultrafire from Amazon that takes the 18650 battery. It seems to be a nice light. Not as bright as they claim it to be, but very bright none the less. I still tend to prefer the lights that take AAs though.

 

[fitz11]

My personal favorites are foursevens lights.
I have a preon 2 and a quark AA. The preon is a great edc light and the quark is my camping light. http://www.foursevens.com/products/flashlights/

 

[ATC]

You're missing out. Rechargeable li-ion batteries are very affordable especially the 18650 batteries (Samsung, LG, Sony, Panny are excellent performer). They perform much better than any other types of battery.

I don't think I'm missing anything. I have lots of friends in the automotive business who have Streamlights and other expensive rechargeables from the tool trucks. It never fails, time and time again, halfway through the job the light dies. Once it's dead, it's 3+ hours until its fully charged again.

Batteries might have come a long way in the past couple years...but once it's dead, it still takes time to recharge them. Time I usually don't have to waste while working on a project.

Then, the more and more cycles you put it through, the shorter and shorter the run time becomes over the years.



AAA and AA (and any other replaceable battery) will always by my first choice. When the light dies, I can be back to a 100% useable flashlight again in 15-20 seconds.

JMHO

 

[litljay]

I don't think I'm missing anything. I have lots of friends in the automotive business who have Streamlights and other expensive rechargeables from the tool trucks. It never fails, time and time again, halfway through the job the light dies. Once it's dead, it's 3+ hours until its fully charged again.

Batteries might have come a long way in the past couple years...but once it's dead, it still takes time to recharge them. Time I usually don't have to waste while working on a project.

Then, the more and more cycles you put it through, the shorter and shorter the run time becomes over the years.



AAA and AA (and any other replaceable battery) will always by my first choice. When the light dies, I can be back to a 100% useable flashlight again in 15-20 seconds.

JMHO

You are not wrong, but the 18650 battery charges seperately than the flashlight. You can simply have one on the charger and one in the light (it's what I do here at work).

I've become a fan of the *cough*chinese lights posted above. I've alway gotten them through dx.com though. Shipping takes forever, but the lights are really nice.
I did have a larger one that I dropped and it would only work on the high mode and then it burned up the board. All of the smaller single 18650 lights that I have work well though. I've purchased 6 of the UltraFire TH-T60 lights for here at work and they are still running (surprisingly).

 

[kgorman]

Fenix