Flashlights

[lowell holmes]

Ever since I was a kid, I have had a thing for flashlights. I am an old dog and still do.
I recently went to Home Depot and came home with a nice three c-cell light. I can throw a beam up to 300 feet with it. A nice adder is a pocket size light that uses three penlight batteries that does as well.
So you old dogs that are in your second childhood, go get one.

I also have Digisnap HDSA500. Go check it out.

https://troutunderground.com/Clamp-Meters-Digisnap-Digital/

[Bruce King]

I’m a torchaholic too, check out the candlepower forum. If you want really bright LED flashlights you have to buy online. Local stores might have 500 lumens but most are less. I use 1500 lumen lights that are same size as one that uses AA batteries. The good ones use 18650 batteries. A special $15 charger is needed.
In reality though the lumens ratings are rounded up, probably subtract 10 percent to get the true value and that ramps down with battery usage.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I just got this Milwaukee and I can spotlight the Coast Guard dock that is around 1/2 mile away and their reflective stripes light up.
451500

I don’t see why it has to be so big, but it works well.

[Kev Williams]

A customer brought me a bunch of these Duracell 2500's to laser etch his logo on for promo xmas gifts. Never seen a flashlight put out so much light! Not cheap and it takes 12 AA batteries, but it works--

451501

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Before I retired in 2011, I bought a 13 LED flashlight for my tool pouch at work. I was amazed how bright it was and still is. It resides in the adjoining room which was my old home office.

[Doug Dawson]

I just got this Milwaukee and I can spotlight the Coast Guard dock that is around 1/2 mile away and their reflective stripes light up.
451500

I don’t see why it has to be so big, but it works well.
Lately Milwaukee is going gangbusters with good lighting products. But I tend to prefer their lights that don’t require you to tie up a hand.

[John Ziebron]

I'm a bit of a flashlight junkie too. And, as Bruce mentioned, the best flashlights are only available online. With the technology of LEDs now the better flashlights only use a single one; cheaper flashlights are basically the only ones that use multiple LEDs. And the lumens ratings that you see on the cheap Chinese flashlights in stores and places like Amazon are all bogus. There are probably only a half dozen reputable flashlight manufacturers. A little research will bring them up. Most of mine are the Olight brand. You can buy some of them on Amazon but usually get better deals right from the manufacturer.

[Mike Henderson]

I have some powerful flashlights and, initially, had some problems with a couple of them. With regular C-size batteries the light would dim over time (fairly quickly) so I went to rechargeable batteries. With a couple of them, the LED blew out the first time I turned the light on. Luckily, the manufacturer replaced them with ones that would work with rechargeable batteries.

With the rechargeable batteries the light tends to stay bright for a long time. When the light dims, the batteries are fairly discharged.

Mike

[Bruce Wrenn]

Flash light junkie also Have some of the original HD LED's. The ones that are the size of the free ones from HF, only a lot better. Warranty requires copy of original receipt, and packaging, both of which I have. The 9.99 HF Quantum does a great job as long as it doesn't get wet. Two cell (D) Luxpro from Lowes will light up the night. Walmart sold around Christmas, an Energizer, that uses three AAA cells. It's amazingly bright for $2.50.

[Bruce King]

I have some powerful flashlights and, initially, had some problems with a couple of them. With regular C-size batteries the light would dim over time (fairly quickly) so I went to rechargeable batteries. With a couple of them, the LED blew out the first time I turned the light on. Luckily, the manufacturer replaced them with ones that would work with rechargeable batteries.
With the rechargeable batteries the light tends to stay bright for a long time. When the light dims, the batteries are fairly discharged.
Mike

That’s very unusual because rechargeable batteries have a lower voltage when fully charged than regular batteries.

[David Bassett]

That’s very unusual because rechargeable batteries have a lower voltage when fully charged than regular batteries.

Some of the cheaper, (not necessarily less expensive,) lights back in the day used internal resistance of the batteries as the current limiting circuit. Switching from AAA's to AA's or from Alkaline to NiMh would lower that resistance and sometimes burn the LED(s) out.

I think control electronics have gotten cheap enough that is uncommon these days, though I'm still suspicious of anything taking 3 alkaline batteries, especially AAAs.

[John K Jordan]

Ever since I was a kid, I have had a thing for flashlights. I am an old dog and still do.
I recently went to Home Depot and came home with a nice three c-cell light. I can throw a beam up to 300 feet with it. A nice adder is a pocket size light that uses three penlight batteries that does as well.
So you old dogs that are in your second childhood, go get one.

Thanks, I'll got look at what HD cells now. I have some of their 3 c-cell lights from long ago but haven't liked their more recent designs.

The biggest question I have when looking at flashlight is the operating system. Does it simply turn on and off with a button or do you have to cycle through some insane flashing and strobe modes some add just because they can?

The second thing, for around the farm, is can you momentarily turn it on with a partial button press for when you need just a quick flash at night when in the woods or trying to identify something. I like lights that don't require a full press to turn the light on an another press to turn it off.

The 3rd requirement for me is does it use standard batteries. I won't have rechareable batteries that put the light out of service until you charge the batteries. And LiON are the worst since they go down very quickly.

Years ago I bought some LED flashlight from HD that had the simple operating system but backwards light. They are still great for carrying around at night along with a shotgun and for looking out of the upstairs window to see what's going on in the field. The 3 D cell batteries have lasted for years now and the lights are brighter than the big spotlights I used to buy.

Buy my all time favorite is the Fenix LD-22. Uses two standard AA batteries, small enough to carry comfortably in the pocket, lightweight and comfortable in the hand and they designed the switch the intelligent way It does have multiple brightness levels and different modes but they are changed with a separate switch near the front and you can't get to the stupid strobe and SOS modes without a long press on the mode button. Bright enough to see the critters 800 ft across the field and dim enough to light just the path when walking in the woods at night without destroying the night vision. Great for working in tight spaces. According to Amazon I've bought 11 so far, several in the house, the cars, shop, and some for gifts.

JKJ

[Stan Calow]

There's nothing like having a big heavy metal MagLite with 4 D cells, when you're out in the field and there are aggressive dogs about.

[Mike Henderson]

That’s very unusual because rechargeable batteries have a lower voltage when fully charged than regular batteries.

As David said, the problem is current limiting, not voltage level. The standard batteries have more resistance than rechargeable and the LED would fail from excess current. Failure was very quick - like a flash bulb.

Mike

[Kev Williams]

That’s very unusual because rechargeable batteries have a lower voltage when fully charged than regular batteries.
The new lithium rechargeables put out a solid 1.5v -
451533
and they work well. I bought 3 battery powered snow globes for Xmas, they have a single LED light and a motor to stir glitter in the water. I know the LED doesn't suck much juice but the motor does. They would run well over 24 hours before needing a recharge. And yes, when they go dead, it's sudden :)

[Bill Carey]

Flashlight junkie here too. Current favorite is Nebo Red line series. Very bright and you can adjust the beam from a small square to a very wide circle. It lights thing as far as I can make them out. Which might not being saying much. :cool:

[Dave Lehnert]

I have this little guy I pick up at TSC. It was like $4.00 in store. The thing is amazing bright. I have two and a half acres and can light up anything on the property at any given point.
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/jobsmart-500-lumen-led-aluminum-flashlight-blue-tsc17-f0235b

[Jim Matthews]

"OK Google..."

[Larry Frank]

I have several powerful LEDs that use the rechargeable 18650 batteries. I really like the rechargeable batteries.

[Bruce King]

The new lithium rechargeables put out a solid 1.5v -
451533
and they work well. I bought 3 battery powered snow globes for Xmas, they have a single LED light and a motor to stir glitter in the water. I know the LED doesn't suck much juice but the motor does. They would run well over 24 hours before needing a recharge. And yes, when they go dead, it's sudden :)

They don’t really go dead, they have a circuit to shut them off before they get damaged. See that seam by the red meter lead, that end is the safety circuit.

[Erik Loza]

I have several powerful LEDs that use the rechargeable 18650 batteries. I really like the rechargeable batteries.

+1 for 18650's. I'm a little bit of a flashlight junkie, too: Mostly Fenix but love my Zebralight headlamp. In my case, I sort of worked my way through a bunch of the budget AAA/AA consumer LED flashlights and headlamps before deciding that it made more sense to spend $100 for a flashlight that does exactly what I need than throwing $20 here, $30 there for ones that didn't really do what I needed. That being said, I keep a $10 little Amazon red LED flashlight on my nightstand, so I don't step on the dogs if I have to use the restroom in the middle of the night.

Erik

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

Never really a flashlight guy, but a spot light, oh, YEAH. Always have a spot light charged and ready at each door. A good bright beam sends four and two legged varmints scurrying. Use them to look for errant livestock at night, watch foxes cavorting across the pasture and sometimes even to watch a skunk waddle. Searched out possums and raccoons up a tree, etc. Dropped a good one I had, so I picked up a cheapo chinese model at TSC. That thing will light up eyes at a quarter mile. And a charge lasts forever. Takes the same charge cord as my phone. Also had 4 different light settings, from a diffuse work light to blind the world. Had it two years and it is the go to. I have been trying to get my dad's old military surplus spot light. 110 volts, on a stand, two handles to aim it. about 2 feet in diameter and about 150,000 candle power. Last time my brother and I used it, we got a visit from the police in the next town claiming the brightness was causing a disturbance and 911 calls. (we were at least a half mile out of the town limits.)

[Kev Williams]

+1 for spotlights :) I have (what it says is) a 20 million candlepower spotlight.
Looks a lot like this one, only black (this one states 18 million cp)
451610

Mine's many years old, IIRC it uses 2, or maybe 4? of the big 6v lantern batteries. At the lake we boat at there's a harbor entrance lined with old white busted concrete boulders... by GPS it's 1.2 miles from our dike--
this light will light up those boulders :)

[John K Jordan]

...old military surplus spot light. 110 volts, on a stand, two handles to aim it. about 2 feet in diameter and about 150,000 candle power. Last time my brother and I used it, we got a visit from the police in the next town claiming the brightness was causing a disturbance and 911 calls.


+1 for spotlights :) ...

A friend of mine used a hand-held spot light on a helicopter flying very low and slow over his house and property. They turned their BIG light on him. For a while he thought he might need eyeball transplants.

Kev, I have one I think is the same model. Haven't used it for years with the advent of powerful and much more portable LED lights.

Perry, with the big light just aim it up and swing it back and forth and people will think there is some kind of sale going on!

JKJ

[Bruce Volden]

I agree!!
I won't recommend the maglite AA though. I've had to throw away 2 of them after the seldom used batteries swelled and were impossible to remove----
despite you-tube help.

Bruce

[David Bassett]

... after the seldom used batteries swelled and were impossible to remove....

I won't claim Maglite's are the best choice, but it seems to me your problem is with the batteries you chose. Eneloop rechargeable batteries don't self-discharge much, are reusable, and have a reputation of not leaking and damaging flashlights.

If you are really using the light so infrequently Eneloops won't work or if you want something, e.g. in emergency supplies, that doesn't require recharging the Energizer Ultimate Lithium AA's have better shelf-life and higher capacity than alkaline batteries, plus they aren't known to leak and damage lights.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Lately Milwaukee is going gangbusters with good lighting products. But I tend to prefer their lights that don’t require you to tie up a hand.

I have a number of their other lights. The M18 ones are literally brighter than the lights in my living room. I used them for power outages before I went solar, and one light lit most of the upstairs which normally has two ceiling lights and two lamps, and the Milwaukee was brighter than all of them.

[Warren Lake]

I like technology and well made stuff but they dont work for me. Lee Valley Suprabeam on my head, run two so one is always charging. Hands free so you can work, light goes where you look adjustable in several ways. I had a hard roof rebuild and reshingle, headlight on easy to keep working some nights, better than a flood light no shadows at times.