Flashlights

[down_home]

I put this here because we need another one for the coach as well as at home.
We bought a supposed 3,00 lumen flashlight from Bass Pro, for 70.00. It was rechargeable. Plugged it u to an hdmi adapter to charge and next thing I know the light is on and the flashlight is really too hot to handle. The on off switch was supposed to turn green when fully charged or so we though. There was no real instructions of clues on the package.
So...I need to get a couple of good single LED high power flashlights that will work not maybe work until you leave the store.
Suggestions even the 6 volt battery sized ones might be acceptable. I cannot fin my 4 cell a maglight but when I do I would like to put a LED conversion in it but not for $60.00.
Ideas?

[JRscooby]

Head lamp is great for some things. Most of my time outside at night I prefer a light in hand. Leave light off as much as can, If on point down.
1 evening I was setting outside in the dark watching bats fly in and out of light at the next site. On past lights kept shining in all different directions. Walked to bathroom, past the to guys trying have a conversation while wearing head lamps. Blinding each other, and could not see but feel bugs swarming around faces. Hard not to laugh.

[OkieGene]

bigorange wrote:
Nothing fancy, but we like this one. Nice size and bright, USB rechargeable.
Anker Bolder on Amazon

I use headlamps most of the time, but this one is handy when a headlamp isn’t ideal.

Has Harbor Freight stopped the FREE stuff from their sale ads? I get their sale ads from the paper and have not seen any free stuff things since the 1st of the year.

I really did like those free lights!

[bigorange]

Nothing fancy, but we like this one. Nice size and bright, USB rechargeable.
Anker Bolder on Amazon

I use headlamps most of the time, but this one is handy when a headlamp isn’t ideal.

[riven1950]

I've got a couple of mag lights and a nice rechargeable Kobalt from Lowes, but most often I I just use one one of the 15 or so free HF flash lights I have accumulated. When they dim I toss them.

[JRscooby]

RedRollingRoadblock wrote:

For me Maglite is about 50/50.

I worked nights for most of my working time, always carried a Mini Mag on my belt. After several years the switch started to fail. I bet the last 10 years I have bought 6-7 of them. Last one I bought was bad out of the package. Plus all of the canvas holsters stitching when they switched from the leather pulls out in about 3 months.

No more Mini Mags for me, but after several months I'm still reaching for it. Retired 5 years ago.

Now the 2 and 4 cells I have had good luck with, beat the heck out of them and kept working. I think I may have had one go bad and the other I dropped when I was changing the batteries, and it landed on the open end of the tube.

I have a couple of 3 'D' cell Maglites bought in late '80s About 5 years back, I contacted them to ask where I could buy a replacement for a reflector the shine was peeling off of. They sent the parts. They replaced my mini with bad switch.
I have what was a 5 cell light with a bend in the tube. I turned a piece of steel just smaller than the battery, so it can slide in the bent area, and cut it to the length of 2 D batteries. Use the same bulb as the 3 cell, need to remove the big end to change batteries, but if needed would work for battery.

[wa8yxm]

Maglight/streamlight big 5 D-cell size is a great light (I have one) has multiple uses in law enforcement (I will not describe) but as I said the 10 buck at Loves' with a rechargable battery works great.. Or you can use it with AAAs

1 amp draw at 3 volts they put out around 1,000 Lumens COB LED's very high brightness and you can focus (like the Mag).. multiple modes Some have low/med/high or low/high plus strobe and SOS modes (my Tac light has all of those low/med/high/strobe/sos/off) it was more expensive though.

5 D Mag makes a good club 🙂 (Never used as such)

Did loan it to a mechanic once.

[C_Schomer]

The Costco Duracells are doing great for me. They are 4 cell instead of 3. The power plant used to supply us with Pelican brand. Super high quality but too pricey for me. Craig

[F1bNorm]

My son got me a Coast Inspection light. Its very different in that it casts a very even light from edge to edge without the normal hot spot in the middle. Ideal as a work light and available in a headlite or hand held. Not expensive and readily available. See: https://www.amazon.com/COAST-G20-Inspection-Penlight-Flashlight/dp/B001JT8MT2/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2XQBU625TOCRT&dchild=1&keywords=coast+inspection+light+g20&qid=1593579171&sprefix=Coast+inspection%2Caps%2C229&sr=8-2

[OkieGene]

Flashlights. A tubular device for the purpose of storing dead batteries.

[Larry-D]

Streamlight Lightbox

[RedRollingRoadb]

DownTheAvenue wrote:
You can't go wrong with a Maglite.

For me Maglite is about 50/50.

I worked nights for most of my working time, always carried a Mini Mag on my belt. After several years the switch started to fail. I bet the last 10 years I have bought 6-7 of them. Last one I bought was bad out of the package. Plus all of the canvas holsters stitching when they switched from the leather pulls out in about 3 months.

No more Mini Mags for me, but after several months I'm still reaching for it. Retired 5 years ago.

Now the 2 and 4 cells I have had good luck with, beat the heck out of them and kept working. I think I may have had one go bad and the other I dropped when I was changing the batteries, and it landed on the open end of the tube.

[CavemanCharlie]

ferndaleflyer wrote:
I buy about 10 of those $1 things at Wal Mart and toss them when they dim. Can't buy batteries that cheap

I kinda do the same thing. Except I will add batteries to them when they get dim. But, if I lose them or some kid breaks it I figure I am not out very much.

[rexlion]

I agree that most of the lower-cost, generic flashlights (of which there are tons on the internet shopping sites) greatly exaggerate their output. A good brand will specify "ANSI lumens" which means that model of light has been tested in a calibrated light sphere for actual output.

Another thing about cheap generics is that they tend to use the harsher blueish LEDs, 6000 degrees Kelvin or even higher (if they don't say the color temp, figure it's blue). I like to get lights that have color temps anywhere from 2700K (similar to incandescent bulbs) to no higher than 5000K (neutral white). A few makers (like Zebralight) even offer "high CRI" (color rendering index) LEDs, which show colors of illuminated objects most faithfully and pretty consistent with the full spectrum of sunlight.

A good light will also be more shock resistant, usually, than a budget variety light.

If someone wants just simple on-off and no modes, they won't like any of the lights I like. The Sofirn SP36, for example, will ramp continuously from about 1 lumen to 5000 lumens; it remembers the last setting the next time you turn it on; it has shortcuts (hold the button down for low, or double-click for high), flashing modes, electronic lockout, battery state of charge readout, and more. The commonly used settings are easy to remember, but for anything fancy I have to refresh my memory with the manual!

[down_home]

I haven't considered the head lamps, though I don have a couple of old miners carbide lamps. 🙂
We use the lights around here and need a bit of range to reach the tree line, whenever we hear suspect activity.
I found and revived a light we bought at Costco a few years ago that holds 9 AA batteries and is 1,000 lumens.
The five thousand lumens and more would be outstanding. i find that everyone is offering high power flash lights now with four or more leds that supposedly add up to five thousand and ore lumens but they don't.
That takes about 35 watts in a rechargeable battery a lot more in common Alkaline batteries. Resistance in the battery eats up power.
A large single led i don't remember the designation can put out areal 5,00-6,000 lumens depending on batteries and regulator and heat sink.
5,000 lumens ain't cool, it's a hot fire.
All the "Puffing" or lying in advertising makes choice hard. So you Guys have bought some good flash lights. See soem good info here.

[KMLsquared]

I am a big fan of headlamps as well. Fenix makes good headlamps and Coast-Portland makes nice flashlights but get the aluminum ones/ not the plastic ones. I have had good Luck with the above without breaking the bank.