Lets Talk flashlights

Over the last 20+ years I’ve relied on primarily two flashlights for all my Hunting, Fishing, Camping, and household needs. For a smaller size flashing I purchased a Surefire E2E executive elite almost 20 years ago. This was the gold standard in those days. It has served me EXTREAMLY well all these years. It recently blew a lamp. I luckily had a extra one on hand. Looking at purchasing another lamp for it got me to thinking of possibly getting something different. This unit only has 60 Lumens ( near the top 20 years ago ) but seems rather low looking at others these days ( 200-1500+ )

My other flashlight is the good old standard Maglite 3 D cell model. Its been a good durable flashlight but once again I’m wondering if there is something more modern that may be better ( I believe this model has around 170 Lemens. Once again on the low end of some other models these day.

I see a lot of the new models are rechargeable – Just curious how well those options work.

Lets here what you are using and what your thoughts are on them.

I honestly have had good luck with flashlights from Amazon. They are cheap and I can put them anywhere around the house and leave 1 in each vehicle. Haven’t had one fail me. I also buy all my headlamps from there as well. I have 2 $20 ones I have been using for 3 years now and they have worked great

I haven’t used a flashlight in decades, headlamp is far more utilitarian imo. Especially now with LED lights/headlamps being so powerful, I keep some LED lanterns around for camping or power outages.

BigWerm wrote:

I haven’t used a flashlight in decades, headlamp is far more utilitarian imo. Especially now with LED lights/headlamps being so powerful, I keep some LED lanterns around for camping or power outages.

What brand and model headlamp are you using? I’d also be interested in hearing about all what headlamps others are using. I need to get me a quality one of those as well.

I’m a headlamp guy too. I have two LED Lenser USB rechargeable. High/low and focusable. Great for coming into boat launches in the dark.

although I agree with the headlight LED versions I still like the Amazon rechargeable style. I have had some good ones and bad ones (earlier versions). I just ordered a USB chargeable LED claiming to be 20,000 lumens. I have one for my boat, car, garage, and wheel house. it’s amazing how long they will stay on.

Been down your path. Had more than my share of maglites, Defenders, and so on with some dissapointments along the way.

When I was manufacture repping, we had Dorcy for awhile. I had so many different sales samples and got to play around with a lot of different styles. Wasn’t long I found I liked the much smaller compact lights tyhe most. Easy to store, put in back pack or fanny pack, and much less weight. I also found a lot of accessory clamps that fit the smaller barrels of the lights. Very conveinent to clip on a branch or whatever to hold the light while I used both hands.

As the years are passing, I have aquired a lot of dewalt 20V lights. great for the uses I have at the vehicle, or where I don’t carry them far. Head lamps are my new go to. I have many rechargeable high output LED. Finding what is comfortable can be a pain. I’ve swapped straps, designed my own, and have some helmet models.
My PRINCETON TEC is probably the brightest with the best daylight balance. maybe 150 or so yards I can light up. My infa red lights are for night vision and I get about 70 yrds.

Lately the flood of decent headlamps at $15-40 is crazy. I have cheap ones for leaving at various places so I always have them. Bought a variety off of amazon and been very pleased with a number of them.
I couldn’t get the link to paste in here, so here is the amazon description
AMAKER LED Rechargeable Headlamp, 90000 Lumens Super Bright with 6 Modes & IPX7 Level Waterproof USB Rechargeable Zoom Headlamp, 90° Adjustable for Outdoor Camping, Running, Cycling,Climbing,Etc.

I’m pretty sure my current main one was a recommendation off of IDO, so you could look back at some older threads. I’m not sure of the brand, it has blue straps including one on top that say POLICE SECURITY and has bright, dim and red light settings and a battery pack on back. I like it a lot and the red light has proven pretty helpful in fog and for night fishing.

headlamp guy myself. started out buying Black Diamond but found the dimming mechanism on their button didnt work very well and was annoying. Switched to Petzl and have been much happier. the models i own are in the $20-50 range. nothing special but work as they should and are pretty bright.

If i need something super bright i use my spotlight. I use a streamlight waypoint rechargeable. Not sure the exact measurements and whatnot but lets just say if i was standing across a frozen lake and shined it in your window 1000 yards away it would light up your living room. Pretty handy tool when boating at night

Pretty much the only reason a flashlight or headlamp has ever failed me is because the batteries ruptured and corroded the guts :). But I’ve had some cheap corporate giveaway lights fall apart, I guess.

I keep a small tactical flashlight with me as much as possible. I don’t recall the lumen rating but it’s absolutely blinding, plus it has a “toothed” rim around the lamp that will easily break a car window or worst-case scenario take a chunk out of someone’s cranium.

Never had to do either one of those things, but I use it all the time.

Black Diamonds are good however the dimming kind of sucks now. But still love them!

The O Lights are suppose to the be top rated, I still like my cost flashlights however.

Get something that runs off a 18650 or 21700 lithium and you’ll be happy.

Woof, on my to get list right now. Arrived late at the no electric campsite last weekend to not only have 2 headlamps not working and my floodlight batteries melted, but the android was at 6% to get the popup up. Fastest pop ever, even got the fire going and jack poured B4 she shut down.

I have a Dewalt flashlight in the door of my truck at all times. Real handy with the small battery on it. Other than that Im a head lamp guy .

Headlamps for me as well. I use the Milwaukee ones. Have had them a few years, use them daily at work and almost every weekend either in the boat or around the yard. They are the best bang for the buck I’ve had. I’ve owned many headlamps. And these keep rocking. They also don’t have that stupid back of the head battery pack or dumb over the top of the head strap. Some of these new Amazon lamps look so rediculous I couldn’t wear them.

As for a flash light, I carry a small streamlight that’s a little shorter then a pen. Brighter then no other. Not sure the model it is, hilti gave it to me a few years ago and it’s a daily carry item

My buddy is big on the O-lite. They have some good knives too.

At work a lot of us use Streamlite, can be pricey, but good tough lights that last a long time. Made for abuse. Maglite used to be our go to, still good, and they are make to withstand a beating, just heavy and antiquated. Good lights. I also used to have a rechargable shop light under the Craftsman emblem. About a 20 inch tube light, hand held. This thing was the bomb. Lasted hours on a charge, was light, and although never submerged, was super water resitant. Broke it, would love to have another any ideas on where to acquire?

I’d recommend the Streamlight Strion. Fantastic light – compact, TOUGH, and throws a ton of light. Put mine through daily use as a street cop for over a decade. It never failed. Before the Strion it was the SL-20. Amazing how much lighting has improved over the years.

As tempting as a cheap light off Amazon is, they’re great until they’re not. When you need a flashlight, you NEED it to be reliable.

I find that flash lights are a great place to store my dead batteries, unfortunately.

What’s a flashlight?
Headlamps and Milwaukee M18 flood light to really shine.

Energizer headlamps for me. $15 @ menards. 3 AAA batteries last a long time.

I electrical tape 3 AAA batteries together and have these in most every jacket pocket and vehicle. If they are taped together it means they are good batteries, loose batteries are garbage. It’s a system that works well for me.

Yea, I haven’t used a flashlight since halogen mag lights were the rage over 20 years ago (unless you count my cell phone “flashlight”). Headlamps are the only way to go. I have petzel, black diamond, Duracell, etc. Honestly I brought the amazon USB rechargeable cheapos on my last multiday river trip because they are all just about the same these days, and I can run off my solar or battery pack if they die, which they never do in a week.

mark-bruzek wrote:

Energizer headlamps for me. $15 @ menards. 3 AAA batteries last a long time

I’ve had a energizer headlamp over 10 years and just won’t die!

tswoboda wrote:

Get something that runs off a 18650 or 21700 lithium and you’ll be happy.

I have 2 of these except they are an older version. Been running strong now going on 15 years. Uses the 18650 rechargeable batteries.
https://www.fenix-store.com/fenix-e28r-rechargeable-18650-edc-flashlight/
Very durable unit.

Not a whole lot to talk about these days. Costco Duracell flashlights and headlamps. About as cheap as they come and extremely bright LEDs.

Huntindave wrote:

I have 2 of these except they are an older version. Been running strong now going on 15 years. Uses the 18650 rechargeable batteries.
https://www.fenix-store.com/fenix-e28r-rechargeable-18650-edc-flashlight/
Very durable unit.

I see a lot of love for AA and AAA powered lights on here and I honestly don’t get it. The lithium lights are way brighter and last longer in the same size or smaller package. Also rechargeable, don’t get dim as the battery dies, and more waterproof. Really I have no idea why anyone would buy a light that runs off AA or AAA batteries.

tswoboda wrote:

Really I have no idea why anyone would buy a light that runs off AA or AAA batteries.

That includes either a flashlight OR a headlamp.

The rap on led’s has always been the lack of distance they go but that’s gotten a lot better.

I have Coast headlamps and a small 1 AA flashlight in my shaving kit for close work and a Nebco 6 AA flashlight for a spotlight in the duck boat.

The torque test channel on YouTube has done brightness durability and battery life tests on many rechargeable flashlights. They do good testing without bias.

Torque test channel light test playlist.