Good Flashlight?

[spwath]

I'm looking for a nice small flashlight I can use to carry around. Not to expensive, like $10-$20. Very bright would be good.

 

Also looking for  larger flashlight/wider beam light to keep in my car, around the same price. Brighter is better.

 

Thoughts?

[MainDisco]

I have two Maglites, one is now 15 years old and the other one 7 year. The newer one has also been used as a hammer and still works

[Timothy11]

8 minutes ago, spwath said:

I'm looking for a nice small flashlight I can use to carry around. Not to expensive, like $10-$20. Very bright would be good.

 

Also looking for  larger flashlight/wider beam light to keep in my car, around the same price. Brighter is better.

 

Thoughts?

LED lenser make great lights.

[iamdarkyoshi]

Go on ebay and snipe auctions for 18650 based flashlights. I nabbed mine for a dollar and its pretty close to a car headlight

[spwath]

6 minutes ago, iamdarkyoshi said:

Go on ebay and snipe auctions for 18650 based flashlights. I nabbed mine for a dollar and its pretty close to a car headlight

Just sniped one for $8.

Now to get batteries...

[tarmacd]

Streamlight... The only brand I will buy for handheld flashlights. Stylus pro can be found for less than 20 bucks, and pushes 80 lumens with AAA batteries. I honestly wouldn't shy away from investing in one of their more expensive lights. I have had the same Stinger DS rechargeable light for 10 years, with the same battery stick. I spent $100 on it, but it came with car and home charger, and has saved me at least that much in batteries. I also own the Protac 2L, which I carry with me everywhere. Blindingly bright, reliable, and tough.

[iamdarkyoshi]

2 minutes ago, spwath said:

Just sniped one for $8.

Now to get batteries...

Stay away from anything thats cheap. 

[spwath]

4 minutes ago, iamdarkyoshi said:

Stay away from anything thats cheap. 

Bought this. Number 1 seller on amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/EBL-lithium-Rechargeable-Batteries-3000mAh/dp/B0129F9BXK/ref=pd_bxgy_469_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B0129F9BXK&pd_rd_r=6QH8ARVDPSVFWANARK4Q&pd_rd_w=It0yb&pd_rd_wg=nnm6G&psc=1&refRID=6QH8ARVDPSVFWANARK4Q

[iamdarkyoshi]

Just now, spwath said:

Bought this. Number 1 seller on amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/EBL-lithium-Rechargeable-Batteries-3000mAh/dp/B0129F9BXK/ref=pd_bxgy_469_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B0129F9BXK&pd_rd_r=6QH8ARVDPSVFWANARK4Q&pd_rd_w=It0yb&pd_rd_wg=nnm6G&psc=1&refRID=6QH8ARVDPSVFWANARK4Q

I'd be highly impressed if those cells are above 2Ah. Either way, they should last long enough

[spwath]

Just now, iamdarkyoshi said:

I'd be highly impressed if those cells are above 2Ah. Either way, they should last long enough

Yeah. I eventually want to build my own crazy flashlight, this will do for the time being though.

[iamdarkyoshi]

Just now, spwath said:

Yeah. I eventually want to build my own crazy flashlight, this will do for the time being though.

I fit a 30w LED inside a maglight flashlight. Its a pretty supidly bright source of light

[JokerProduction]

6 hours ago, iamdarkyoshi said:

I fit a 30w LED inside a maglight flashlight. Its a pretty supidly bright source of light

MT-G2?  What reflector did you use?

 

I'm a bit of a flashlight nerd with over 400 of the damn things most custom built.  Check out budgetlightforums.com for a good flashlight forum.

 

First off I would recommend not using a Lithium battery for a flashlight your going to store in your car.  The high temperatures seen in a car create a very good likelyhood that the cell could vent (release alot of very hot gasses) and combined with the fact most flashlights are sealed tight to be waterproof you now have a pipe bomb waiting to go off.  A single 18650 Stores a lot of energy.  Even higher risk with cheap Chinese 18650s.

 

Yes there are lots of cheap flashlights you can get off ebay but they are subpar as you will get a chip that likely has a absolutely horrible tint, a crap driver that likely wont last over a year and that will have goofy modes and a odd ball and confusing memory function.  The chip will be on the cheapest aluminum PCB that will introduce a lot of unneeded resistance and wont conduct heat away from the chip. I also find the 18650 flashlight much to big to be a EDC.  I find alot of the cheap drivers Overdrive the LED on high and have a noticble flicker  on low due to the very slow PWM fed into it.

 

For a good budget brand of flashlights I recommend looking at trustfire.

 

The flashlight I've been carrying around everyday for the last 3 years is a trustfire F23 and I recommend it to everyone as a very good first EDC.

 

-12$

-Super small (not much bigger than a AAA battery) Fits perfect in the change pocket in jeans.

-Waterproof stainless steel small form factor body.

-Can run on a single AAA or a lithium 10440(lithium sized AAA) for a little more brightness.(this is a huge factor why I recommend it)

-Glow in the dark tailcap and front O-ring(this is one of those things once you use you have to have on all your flashlights after)

-Available in 1,3,5 mode configurations. (i've got one each but personally like the 3mode)(comes with off mode memory the best IMO)

-Availabe with XP-g or XP-e chips (g  has a wider beam pattern and is slightly more efficient, the e has a more narrow beam although with this reflector they both are pretty tight spots so you may as just well go for the G for the slightly longer run time)

 

 

There is also the F25 which is the AA sized version if you want a little bit longer runtimes.

 

[iamdarkyoshi]

4 hours ago, JokerProduction said:

-snip-

I use samsung 18650s in my flashlight, which are rated for up to 60C storage temps. I live in hot sunny Nevada and I've never been able to get my glovebox that hot, I measured with a >500$ temp probe.

 

As for the maglight, I bought a generic ebay reflector/lens kit, and they literally fit without modification into the flashlight

 

Also, the cheap flashlight is working great. At full power, the led reaches about 50c package temp after an hour. I've owned it for several years and its been through a lot. Its been dropped, burned in battery acid, etc

[You_are_a_cunt]

Currently using a Duracell Tough Key 3 (single AAA battery to power the LED) since my Maglite bit the dust thanks to a Birmingham screwdriver incident involving a 300 pound gorilla. The Maglite served me well for the past 10 or so years but it did have noticeable wear and tear.

Cost about $7 at a hardware store (came with a battery, so yah) and it seems to be pretty sturdy, even though the aluminium housing seems a bit thin. Pushbutton on the end is annoying as hell since it's recessed and my sausage fingers don't really fare well with turning it on via thumb.

Does the job fairly well in my portable kit and the battery's been going strong for about 3 months.

 

Normally I'd be using a diy "flashlight" I made a few years ago that gets powered from a USB powerbank, but that broke and I never got around to fixing it. Was a flexible tube one that could get into tight spaces easily.

[Unimportant]

On 8/18/2017 at 3:24 AM, spwath said:

Just sniped one for $8.

Now to get batteries...

Don't happen to have a broken laptop battery lying around ? They're composed of 18650 cells. Most cells tend to be good, often only a single cell has failed and the others are still in decent nick. Don't forget a decent brand laptop battery will be using cells from reputable vendors, none of this chinese crap. A half worn cell from a A vendor is often still better then a new chinese cell.