Need World's Best Flashlight

Fine I will start off with an LED Maglite.

http://www.maglite.com/AA_Cell_LED.asp

It won't serve you a cocktail, but you can stir one with it.

Hi Jack,

I will recommend you "Streamlight" as it has rechargeable batteries, so no expense of replacing batteries.

Suresh Sharma.

http://www.surefire.com/Flashlights

http://www.streamlight.com/

Maglite is about the best flashlight I have ever found. I don't know about dropping it 80 feet, but I do know that police are trained in using the big ones in place of billy clubs. You may have to make your own color filters, but maybe maglite has these as well...

Maglite does the filters too - good torch!

I dropped a mini-maglight (pocket size, uses 2 AA batteries) 80ft, from the top of a grain bin over 10 years ago. I picked it up, turned it on, and found that it still worked. Other than the tip of the flashlight now being slightly less round (actually a lot less round) and no longer black, the torch is no worse for wear.

This of course does not guarantee that a larger maglight would survive the fall, but it is worth mentioning that in some US localities police are equipped with them in lue of night sticks.

(I still own that flashlight by the way.)

Maglite is the best.

Husky if you're on a budget.

This.

^{I can't help myself....}

now that's a good flashlight!

If an LED flash light is what you are looking for i would go to Streamlite. Have a C3 not pocket size but pretty durable(has hit the floor many times but not from 80 feet) and works great.

There are any number of LED flashlights, Garrity makes a few. Maglite was King before LED types came out. They are good quality, but very pricey. Small Chinese You can find lots of them in the dollar stores for $2-3, or more sayou want size.

Get rechargeable NiMH cells if you use it every day and can get your act together well enough to charge them. For emergency use, when needed, get mallory alkaline cells. Here in Toronto there are large numbers of fake Mallory cells, with made in canada, made in usa labels in the chinese and dollar stores. I would buy these cells from Costco or Sams clubs. They also sell LED flashlights

http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=garrity+%2Bled&btnG=Google+Search&meta=&aq=f&oq=

Pelican Products. Military uses these

Checkout these guys:

http://www.uwkinetics.com/catalog/3

Underwater Kinetics has a complete line of Underwater/Dive & Rugged Outdoor Duty Lights. A good number of them are certified for hazardous atmosphere use. I have dropped one of mine dozens of times from 10 to 30 feet onto a concrete plant floor and never had a failure so far.

Edmund from NJ USA

Mag-lite is oneof the best, but it's aluminum case may not survive a fall of 80' and still function. I would suggest the Streamlight with it's polymer case that is both shock resistant and waterproof.

For a hand-held I use a Princeton Tech Giga Rage. It uses 4 AAA and has a super bright xenon bulb. It is small and light, not suitable as a billy club, and may be able to take the 80' fall, not the semi though. Along with that I use a Black Diamond headlamp. I have a couple different ones and they allow me to switch between LED's and bright xenon bulbs. A headlamp, for me, is indispensable. I'm not sure why they are not more common. I agree a big maglite makes a good club, but I think as a flash light they are outdated. They need to upgrade from the incandescent bulbs.

They sell LED replacement bulbs. Look at the check out counter next time you are in Lowes. Stay out of home despot, that place is run by women.

I used to work for Energizer, and they developed this flashlight for the military. It's LED, no lenses changes required, and pretty durable. Here is a link.

I'll be bad drunk before I pay $65 for a flashlight.

you probably don't use one every day then, I spend about 1/4 of my work day in the dark, that's down from about 2/3 a few years ago before I worked my way up into 'management'... I need to be able to clearly see things as much as 100' away without lighting up the whole world, and frankly the optics on Mag-Lites suck... though I do give them huge kudos on their durability, clearly there is no flashlight out there that is more indestructible, and if my primary need was to see a few feet in front of me or to hammer/billy club I would look no further.

I was in the hardware store on Saturday and noticed LED conversion kits for the Mini Maglites. I should've picked one up and tried it. It was only $13.

I've seen them, they work ok... I'm just prissy and need something more elegant...

I still like Maglights. I buy the bulbs on sale for 67 cents and bulk up on D-batteries. I know they tend to roll but the round shape is better for conking people on the head, less risk of a glancing blow.

I know there is an LED replacement head for the Maglights that claims to be bright. As does the rechargeable version of Maglights. So far I am doubtful, especially for the cost. But you'll need the LEDs for impact-resistance. If you have a surplus of dead Maglights that you like, other than that they fail your 80 foot drop tests, the LED head might be an approach that makes good economic sense. Then again, you'll need to go to the new, untested ones to get the color filters and all that you're looking for.

Personally, I lose things too often to spend $200 on a Pelican or some such thing, so I'm glad you're asking for actual experiences here.

QUESTION: Can we establish a set of baseline metrics for flashlight comparison? We could publish it as the GlobalSpec Guide to Flashlight Selection (and many other items). I know number of LEDs" means absolutely nothing. Lumens can be deceptive, in my opinion, other than in a head to head comparison of similar beams.

Lastly, the streamlights are small but then you have to find a source of AAAA batteries. They're still pricey due to low-production, or rather low individual sales - (they're the same batteries wired together inside most 9 volt batteries).

MagLight gets my vote. Buy a case of bulbs, wholesale, and stock up on batteries. One for your pocket and one for your shotgun rack (when off-duty).

Forget the Maglites. They are overpriced and a pain to turn on/off. You must refocus it every time you screw the barrel to turn it on.

River Rock is the ticket. This dandy is indestructible, drop-proof, water proof, solvent- proof, a nicely focused blue-white beam, side push-button, and relatively inexpensive. Runs forever on a set of AA Lithiums. Sold at most Wal-Marts so you are guaranteed the lowest price in town. Try one - I did and you know what? It is the best darn flashlight I've ever had and trust me friend, I've gone thru many over the years

You should see the battle scars on this thing from years of abuse.

Super bright LED,park a semi on it, be seen from aircraft, multiple lens difusion, ten hour burn time.

Take your pick

Best torch I have ever used I make myself- take flat batt pack from cell phone NiMH or Li-ion(preferably)- fully charge in charger provided- fit 1 to 4 or more white leds in parallel- using dmm on current use variable resistor to get max current- in my case 4x white leds of 20 candelas each- max current 30 mA ea- = 120 mA total- measure resistance then fit a fixed resistor of that or slightly value- leds fitted tightly together parallel- switch is miniature slide 3 pos r/a- held neatly together with hot melt & insul tape- small,compact, shines for many hours fits neatly in pocket,recharges in about 2 hours from dimmer light stage. White leds are already fitted with lens in their package so no reflector needed or desirable. When white leds became available around 2000, I experimented using regular torches, replacing the incandescent bulbs with leds still using reflectors & replaceable & rechargeable cells(batts)- always seemed to be replacing/recharging!. Plus the torches were so big, unstable, & would NOT fit easily into pocket!. Plus the contacts of cells & switches soon oxidised & torch became unreliable. My torches have soldered connections & the switch is high quality chinese made(& cheap!). I bought a 100 for 30c ea from a disposal store!. So there you are!.

I worked for the local Phone Company as a splicer. I have dropped this from 30 feet onto asphalt and have dropped into a manhole with 8 foot of "nasty" water. It also has a clip that can be attached to a helmet. http://www.uwkinetics.com/product/117

I vote for Streamlight, its what I use.

I had a maglite that held 3 C cells. It survived being used as a hammer no problem but when dropped out of the atic onto the concrete garage floor (11 ft.) finally failed me.

I have done a lot of looking since posting this question, and I'm starting to fall into line with the Sure-Fire crowd, Streamlight looks promising but I haven't found a model I truly love (of course the Sure-Fire one I really like is out of my price range at $330+, it does however do pretty much everything I want and in a compact frame). I am also becoming fond of Nova-tec, they have a number of reasonably priced models that look promising.

I think I would destroy a Pelican flashlight, I know ABS plastic is amazing, but I am The Great Destructor when it comes to tools and ABS is no match for me.

About a year ago I found an independent manufacturer making a flashlight very similar to the Sure-Fire Kroma at about 1/3 the price, of course I can't find them now...

Well, thank you everyone for your input, I'll keep checking in to see if anyone has posted something new for the next week and then I suppose I'll just have to make up my mind.

Wait. don't quit yet.

My family has become convinced that I need to own at least one of every flashlight out there. PURE B.S!

I have had a Streamlight Stylus in my shirt pocket for the last few years. As long as I do not allow water intrusion to sit too long, they last till I loose them. I have not dropped one from more than 20 ft, but that hight a has been uneventful.
If you want long distance for long time, Streamlight sells a Lightbox unit that uses a sealed lead acid battery that is rechargeable. It is available as an 8 watt spot, or a 20 watt flood. Each of them will run 7 hours on a full charge. They should run right around $100 with a charging stand. They are installed on hundreds of fire trucks. Plastic, and not up to the 20 ft drop though. They now also have a HID version of it now. I am waiting for a test unit now. You mentioned Nova. I have been installing a Inova model that is very impressive in the office personnel vehicles. It is a model T4. I buy them from Grainger, and they are more than the Lightboxs, But they are LED, bright, small and durable.

For general use in the house, or car, I usually go with the Streamlight Task-light 3AAA. Super bright LED 28 hr. run time.

I don't know of any light that will match the Lightbox for long distance light. I recently bought a Grote Trilliant light for one of the trucks. It is not portable, and very expensive. But it puts any Cibie, Hella, Pia, or JW Speaker HID to shame. And it is LED. I have seen the Sure-Fire products. They may be the most durable, as well as the most "job specific" lights that I know of, but they are very pricey.

Good luck. I hope I was able to shed some light on the subject. (Did you see that one coming?)

Good morning, everyone,

One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet (it might be there and I'm too sleepy to have caught it) is to be careful if you are using the flashlight to do electrical work. Some of the LED-type flashlights may give a false color to electrical wiring, especially the blue LEDs. I carry a small LED (blue illumination) flashlight on my keychain and actually use it more than the incandescent-based MiniMag in my toolkit. But when color-coding is important, I go get the Maglite.

Logan

Buy 2 or 3 maglites in case you drop 1 or 2.

G'morning, Szwasta,

Yep, you got that right! Seems like every time I drop my Minimag it's from the top of a ladder and the bulb decides to call it quits. I carry the keychain LED light just for fun events like that.

Have a great weekend!

Logan

Put my vote in for Maglite.

A mini-maglite goes with me every time I go on a field survey.

I neglected to take it one time when I was surveying a crawl space under a school. The light I did have "died" and it was 150 feet, pitch black, broken glass etc. . .

Lesson learned.

In a case like this you should probably carry at least a second source of light just to be safe.

I used to do some spelunking and we were always required to carry at least 3 different forms of light in our gear.

That is exactly what I learned when I didn't have the light.

Strange how much you can learn from mistakes and how well those particular lessons are remembered.

I bought a LED flashlight from Graybar last year. It has a very bright LED (1 Watt) I think. I am very afraid to shine it anyones eyes it is so bright. It also has a nice parabolic mirror behind it. The beam does not diffuse for about 150'. It is great. When I go home I will get the details and post them here. If i remember it cost around 25$ to 30$ USD; Takes 2 AA batteries has an aluminum housing, I haven't dropped it but it seems durable.

It was made by Rayovac and has a little design of a backpacker/hiker on it. As far as beam diffusion and brightness I am very impressed with this little hand held flashlight.

Rayovac SELUX2AA1W-B Sportsman Xtreme 2AA 1-Watt Luxeon LED Flashlight

Here is a link..

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000Y8D65Y/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1/182-3740842-0693160?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_r=1Z0ST51MWMJXK31RJW7S&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_p=304485901&pf_rd_i=B001HBSV1G

Mag (cop) lights make good weapons...are overpriced.

For the money: Craftsman:

Warrantied (unconditionally) against failure for life.

Battery cell charge indicator: Full, Okay, replace

Cell anode does not directly contact lamp contactor

Water proof

Compartment for spare lamps

Heavy density plastic so won't dent/buckle on impact

Not a weapon.

Resilient, impact resistant.

Very fairly priced...

durability/indefinite life expectancy means it actually appreciates in value over time (I bought one for about $12, ages ago. To replace it now I'm sure would cost over $25, give or take a little.)

Now that is a comment I can respect... lots of good info, I'll check them out.

Thanks

Interesting article here (just close the webpage if you get an advert) about clone Surefire flashlights: I have to confess to being a cheapskate, so I agree with most of the reader comments after the article. Interestingly there is no information about the performance of the units with regard to the light beam.

Search Google for a Fenix TK20. It uses 2 AA batteries and it's a tough light. The "T" series is Fenixs' tank series, made to be very tough lights. If you buy it from 4sevens store they will back it with a lifetime warranty ! Maglites are cheap but they can't compare to this or Streamlight or Surefire. This light is about $50.00 but it is a tool that will last.

Since i posted on this subject I have upgraded to star type leds. The 5mm white leds in parallel give most light for power usage- but the beam cannot be focussed beyond a general distance. I bought a new 3 W led torch using 2x "C" cells- not focusable- great throw- power use 1.4AMPS!!(uses inbuilt inverter)- bought a new Maglite focusable uses 4x "D" cells-power use-7oomA!- the beam focused to a spot lights up over 100 m away- both these torches cost $40 aud. Bought a 1W star type led(aud $13)- fitted to a 4x AA cell holder- used NiMH rechargeables(2600mAH)-fitted switch. reflector, slip on rubber cover- focused for best long distance beam- power use adj. for 350mA(15 Ohm 1 w res)- throw & near great!!. Plus my home made torch is a fraction of the size & weight of the commercials!(yes fits into pocket!).

If you still need a good flashlight check out this amazing website! They have the BEST products. I've repeatedly ordered from them and I am happy with them every time.

http://www.wiredco.com

Excellent customer service as well. I even give gifts from here...and my family loves me for it. lol

Tim

I'm a big fan of the Surefire's and think for the price you can't go wrong:
http://www.lapolicegear.com/sug2ledhiouf…

I prefer the metal case to the plastic case but for the cost of $39 with 10 batteries free it's a win-win situation.

If you want the LED version it's a little pricier:

http://www.sourcingmap.com/led-ultra-bright-flashlight-torch-black-p-2027.html