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Thread: I need some good flashlights?

  1. #1

    I need some good flashlights?

    I never purchased any of the high priced flashlights. Most have been Home Depot specials and the like. Maybe that's why I have so much trouble with them. Any suggestions on a good quality flashlight with the following limitations? I want to purchase about 4 of them.
    Dependable
    Battery operated, not rechargeable
    Not made in China
    Only 1 setting, on and off. I don't want to go through a bunch of unnecessary settings like flashing lights, light intensity, etc.
    LED
    Small and compact using AA or AAA batteries

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    West Lafayette, IN
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    6,529
    The freebies at HF meet your specifications, except they’re made overseas.

  3. #3
    I carry a Pelican 1920 pen light, it has a pocket clip and has high and low intensity. I previously carried a Streamlight Stylus Pro, it was a single brightness. I much preferred Streamlight but got tired of losing the pocket clip since it only snapped onto the light. My opinion is that either of these brands are top notch for 2-AAA pocket flashlights.

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Mathews View Post
    I never purchased any of the high priced flashlights. Most have been Home Depot specials and the like. Maybe that's why I have so much trouble with them. Any suggestions on a good quality flashlight with the following limitations? I want to purchase about 4 of them.
    Dependable
    Battery operated, not rechargeable
    Not made in China
    Only 1 setting, on and off. I don't want to go through a bunch of unnecessary settings like flashing lights, light intensity, etc.
    LED
    Small and compact using AA or AAA batteries
    What do you need them for?

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    So Cal
    Posts
    3,737
    Fenix makes a very good rechargeable flashlight. Not as good as Surefire but a lot less money.
    Theres nothing at Horrible freight anyone needs.
    Aj

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Andrew Hughes View Post
    Fenix makes a very good rechargeable flashlight...
    Big fan of Fenix here. I own several and love them all. I also have Zebralight; awesome but definitely a "boutique" flashlight. To the OP, I don't think you will find much that is not made in Asia these days.

    Erik
    Ex-SCM and Felder rep

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
    Location
    Silicon Valley, CA
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    1,048
    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Mathews View Post
    ... Not made in China....
    Good luck. You might find Asian or USA with Asian content if you are careful and mean China, not Taiwan, Korea, etc.

    Surefire is the classic high quality USA brand, but I'm not sure they're completely USA sourced. (E.g. LEDs, and most semiconductors, are made, assembled, etc. somewhere in Asia. I haven't kept up to current status, there may be exceptions as things change.)

    Malkoff is a another significantly US maker. He started making replacement modules for Surefire and Maglite flashlights, before they adopted efficient LED heads, and has since added bodies.

    Maglite is a classic US flashlight company and their newer LED designs are pretty decent, though they were late to the game and I'm not familiar with their current models.

    That said, most of our lights are older Fenix brands from back when "4-Sevens" was the importer. Simple reliable designs that were well priced. Since Fenix caught on, went to wider distribution, and added features & price. (REI, among others, carries them.) "4-Sevens" brought out his own line which was similar, and I think a good value, but tried to fit around and compete with the Fenix lights he originally carried. Since I was a customer he has retired and Prometheus Lights bought the brand. I don't have experience with them, but know they have a good reputation. All that said I know these products come from Asia, though I'd guess Taiwan. Do your research.


    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Mathews View Post
    ... Battery operated, not rechargeable....
    Disposable batteries are wasteful, add up, and often leak and corrode lights. At least consider AA lights with Eneloop rechargeable batteries. (They also make AAA, if you need a really compact light.) You can always revert to standard AAs in an emergency.


    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Mathews View Post
    ... Only 1 setting, on and off. I don't want to go through a bunch of unnecessary settings like flashing lights, light intensity, etc....
    I agree, but good luck. I'm sure there are some of the lower end, i.e. less bright ones, that are single intensity on/off interfaces. We've found them over the years. But the brighter lights will almost always have at least a low-power setting because maximum brightness runs the batteries down, and is too much light in many cases, and is a cheap "value add" given the LED will already have electronic circuitry. Check the interfaces you can find them that come on at a usable level, either the previous value or a medium, and don't require fiddling in normal use. (And you will have other modes available for non-normal situations.)

    I won't link, because rules, but Candle Power Forums is home to many flashlight fanatics that will be current on all the cutting edge models and modifications. (My favorite excess was the 96" air raid light, which due to it's generator and trailer, was self-powered and mobile and therefore declared a flashlight! )

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
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    Lake Gaston, Henrico, NC
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    I gave up, and just bought a bunch of the 1,000 lumen ones, with Cree LED lamps, that use the 18650 (if I'm remembering that number correctly) rechargeable batteries. Extra batteries are cheap, and I have a 12v charger in the truck, and car, as well as several in the house, and shops.

    They were around 10 bucks each off ebay, direct from China, how many ever years ago that was, so I have no idea how much now. I love the light they put out, and tossed all our old Maglites. Like you, I also hate the switches, but have learned to live with them.

    Our vet had to make a house call for a horse, and we used one of those lights. He couldn't believe the amount of light, and wanted to know where to get one. I gave him several. That was several years ago, and he's still talking about those flashlights.

    I figured I'd replace them when the next better thing comes along, but so far, we haven't tossed many of that first batch.
    Last edited by Tom M King; 06-05-2020 at 4:52 PM.

  9. #9
    Based on comments above I may change my mind on the rechargeable batteries. If they are less prone to leakage then I'm all in. I may also change my mind on the single light intensity if power consumption is an issue with only one bright setting. But absolutely no Chinese stuff! So far Surefire seems to have what I want. The Malkoff line looks good but a lot of what they have on their website is sold out.

  10. #10
    Join Date
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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Mathews View Post
    Based on comments above I may change my mind on the rechargeable batteries. If they are less prone to leakage then I'm all in. I may also change my mind on the single light intensity if power consumption is an issue with only one bright setting. But absolutely no Chinese stuff! So far Surefire seems to have what I want. The Malkoff line looks good but a lot of what they have on their website is sold out.
    The Eneloops are bulletproof. (CPF extremists have abused them well beyond reasonable, much less spec'd, duty.) I can't recommend these enough for common use. (CostCo stocks them at a consistently good price. CostCo, or other, sales can beat that if you can wait.) Since they are low-discharge (and so well done) you can leave them sitting in a light and, almost always, have it still work whenever you come back to it.

    In AA & AAA, the Energizer Ultimate Lithium (1.5V) batteries are reported to not leak. They also have much better shelf life, for e.g. emergency supplies, than alkaline batteries. They are however more expensive. We have some for possible power outages.

    3V disposable Lithium batteries are known to explode* if abused. I think it's mostly from over discharging, when e.g. multiple cells are mismatched and one makes the light seem to work while the other is killed and goes boom.

    The 3.7V - 4.2V Lithium-Ion rechargeable batteries are light weight and probably have the highest energy density. (E.g. Tom's 18650 cells.) However they also explode* if abused. I'd use them if I were in emergency services, regularly using and maintaining my lights, and needing the high power settings. As it is, Eneloops in AA work very well and don't require nearly the attention (or luck). More than good enough for the home stuff we use flashlights for.

    (*Technically, I'm told, they "vent with flame". However when contained in a sealed aluminum tube... that's a pipe-bomb.)

  11. #11
    Join Date
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    I think some of the ones we're still using from that batch had the Surefire name on them. Others, with no names, look like they came out of the same factory. I did look for the Cree lamps. Parts are interchangable. Not one of the 18650 batteries has leaked, or failed to take a charge. I also bought one 2500 lumen one that takes some larger size battery, but I would only need to use that one if I was racing a car at night, and the headlights failed.

    They do drain the battery fairly fast. I never got around to timing it, but they may only last 15 minutes before starting to dim. I keep extra batteries in my pocket if I'm going to be out longer.

    These 1000 lumen lights only take one battery, and I've never even had one to get warm. I bought batches from several different suppliers, to see if there was any difference, but now, after finding no differences, they're all mixed together, and I don't grab one in preference to another.

    Some old guy told me, when we first moved out in the country on our own, that the two things we would absolutely need were good flashlights, and raincoats. He was right.
    Last edited by Tom M King; 06-05-2020 at 5:31 PM.

  12. #12
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    I just went to look at some of those flashlights here. Some say Ultrafire. Pam says it's been at least five years since I bought them. I bought a bunch the next Christmas, and gave them out as presents. My friend that won the Nobel Prize in Physics called me, and asked where he could get a replacement battery. When I told him that I had also included a charger for the rechargable battery, he found them in the trash.

  13. #13
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    May 2014
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    I still use Maglites,love how tough they are. I have a couple with the LED bulb and they are a step up.

  14. #14
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    I gave all our Maglites to someone for aluminum scrap. The big ones are too big compared to these small ones, and the small Maglites too weak by comparison.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    San Francisco Bay Area
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    271
    We have Fenix UC35s in all the bedrooms and a few around for more general use. I love them. Super bright with adjustable brightness and nice and small. Good luck

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