Flashlight for the wife

[Bazoo]

I want a quality flashlight for the wife, something 20 bucks or less would be better, but i'd consider a little more. It'd be mostly for navigation and looking for stuff under the bed, we use our lights every single day however so its got to be better than those cheapos at walmart.

I carry a streamlight stylus pro constantly, she doesnt like the slenderness of it. She had a surefire E2E bout 5 years ago... problem is she lost it. Its too expensive, and the batteries are too expensive. She now has a couple cheap ones from lowes/walmart, the kind that are short and fat and takes 3 AAA batteries. They aint worth a daggum.

She wants the short fat profile, I want that it takes commonly available AAA batteries. So please suggest to me.

Only thing that i've found that might be suitable, is a microstream. Although its smaller, she might end up loving it.

[osteodoc08]

What about a rechargeable? Both fenix and stream light make nice Recharge type. Yes they are more but you still get what you pay for as you’ve found out. I carry a streamlight stylus pro at work and love it but I’d she doesn’t like the smaller slender ones, that ones out. All of the other shorter fatter ones take CR123 type batteries that I use. All the other ones with AAA haven’t worked well or stood up to my abuse which really isn’t that harsh.

[Bazoo]

Im not opposed to the rechargeable ones except that its convenient to use batteries. I can see it being dead whenever she needs it. Im thinking if I got her the microstream, the clip would win her over. She used to use the clip on the E2E a lot.

Unfortunately, style plays a factor for her. She sees a pretty lime green one in the store for 5 bucks and doesnt see why it wont work, after all its 5 times more than the 1 dollar light from walmart. However Im tired of wasting my money 5 times a year on cheapo lights.

[smokeywolf]

We have found that it is less important to have one or two quality flashlights than it is to have a dozen mid-quality flashlights around the house.

[Mr_Sheesh]

SO many good choices out there! Look on Fleabay or Amazon for either "UltraFire 7w 300lm" or "Q6M USB Rechargeable"for 2 decent ones - And there are many more. I have some of each, use the Q6M ones (Sort of a 180 degree flood, with 4 intensity settings and a strobe setting.) around the house for walking through at night (this apartment has zero light switches set where you'd THINK they would have them) and the UltraFire ones for camping (3 IIRC levels, focusable to either a flood or a tight beam. And a strobe setting.) You might also consider a head lamp, though the down side of those is that, should someone call your name, your normal response (looking at them) WILL destroy their night vision - Not ideal. I vastly prefer the rechargeables, but I have tiny Streamlight Nanos on my keychains (design flaw tho IMO, they will light up while in your pocket due to the keys touching them and turning them on) and some Coast G10's (iirc) that run off a single AAA battery for quite a while, to give more light. Then there's another light at the headboard of the bed in case that's needed. They're so cheap that you can afford a few, and put them where ever you think you'll need them; Just recharge them weekly or so.

[Tatume]

I carry a Surefire 6P. Even though I use it quite often, the battery (two CR123A cells) produces useful life for more than a year.

[RED BEAR]

I bought a load of cheap lights off eBay ( made in China ) . Had to order special batteries but the lights work great batteries last a long time and are rechargeable. The charger came with light . And for under 5 bucks you can't beat it. I couldn't be happier with them . Now have flashlights in every room car and in garage.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

My wife and I carry Fenix LD12, clips into a pocket comfortably, very bright, pricey but no push the button 7 times spin around and jump up twice combinations for low or high or off, it can use a single standard AA, but Fenix also has a recharble Li-ion that doubles light output. Most of the smaller Mag-lites need 2 hands to turn on or off. Sometimes one hand operation is very desirable. By the door aare several lights but a an Energizer from Walmart is usually picked up because it is small and very bright, takes two AA.

[Rick Hodges]

I buy AA battery powered flashlights. LED, and then use Eneloop rechargeable batteries. You still have the option of using regular alkalines. I purchased two of these off or fleabay for less than $2 a piece delivered, yes they are from China, have two levels of brightness and strobe feature with a press on tailcap switch. The lens focuses and is all I use for hunting, trailing at night etc. It uses one AA battery and will last in excess of 24 hours on bright beam. I change out batteries once a year before hunting season and they last all year.
They are over 5 years old and haven't failed me yet.
Attachment 225103

[fecmech]

A +1 to Rick Hodges above. I love these little "zoomies". I use 3.7 volt rechargeable 4500 AA batteries in mine. With the beam focused I can light up a deer plain as day @ 100 yds. I bought 10 of them and gave them to my relatives to carry in their cars with AA batteries in them. Great emergency light. Can use either regular AA or Li-on AA, obviously about twice as bright with Li-on 3.7V. I've been using mine for a couple years with no problems. Everyone I've told about them loves them.
http://www.dx.com/p/sipik-sk68-cree-...5#.W2hab_kvxQI

[bob208]

last job we all carried Maglite flash lights. they take two AA batteries. can't break them with a hammer. they lived in water and apple juice. even used one in the pits at the race track. one even spent 2 races in the radiator of the race car. fished it out in the shop put new batteries in it and it works just fine.

[Tatume]

I used to keep a Maglight that took three D-cells in my pickup truck. A cop told me that if the battery has more than two cells it could be considered a weapon. I don't think it would stand up before a judge, but still, why bother with the hassle? Now my big flashlights are limited to two-cell batteries.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Last year, I bought a couple packages of these on "closeout" at Walmart for $6
I'm surprised their website still lists them? at a good price IMHO.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ozark-Tra...&wl13=&veh=sem

The camp light is awesome for the price, uses AA batteries.

The small flashlight (uses 3 AAA) is a well built and small enough to be handy, it has a 80 lumin LED array, which is considerably more power than those $1 turd lights with 9 LEDs.

Honestly, even though it's larger, I bet once she uses that camplight a couple times, it'll become her favorite.

[snowwolfe]

Costco always has good buys on flashlights. LED’s, usually all aluminum construction and they take standard size batteries. Best of all one or two are usually on sale. It’s not unusual to find a 1000 lumen light for 10-15 bucks

[MT Gianni]

A +1 to Rick Hodges above. I love these little "zoomies". I use 3.7 volt rechargeable 4500 AA batteries in mine. With the beam focused I can light up a deer plain as day @ 100 yds. I bought 10 of them and gave them to my relatives to carry in their cars with AA batteries in them. Great emergency light. Can use either regular AA or Li-on AA, obviously about twice as bright with Li-on 3.7V. I've been using mine for a couple years with no problems. Everyone I've told about them loves them.
http://www.dx.com/p/sipik-sk68-cree-...5#.W2hab_kvxQI

No better value or use for a flashlight. I have bigger and brighter ones but you cannot beat this. Buy 10 and give some away.

[birch]

I have been through them all...or mostly all....and I highly recommend a Fenix light with and cap on/off and 18650 battery. There are cheap rechargers and the batteries last a couple of months with normal use around the house.

They are perfect.

[Mr_Sheesh]

Those (the ones Rick Hodges shows) look just like the ones I use, pretty nice lights! I haven't upgraded to Li-Ion batteries in mine, it's on the do list...

[Tom W.]

Slyde is a good flashlight. It is really bright and can be extended to use as a lantern, and has the magnet on the base.
https://www.nebotools.com/prod_details.php?id=456

[DerekP Houston]

We have found that it is less important to have one or two quality flashlights than it is to have a dozen mid-quality flashlights around the house.

im of the same opinion with pocket knives in our house. Having one expensive one is nice and all, but having a dozen that are easy to find and accessible is even better. And I don't feel as bad when i damage the edge/blades.


http://www.dx.com/p/sipik-sk68-cree-...5#.W2h129UzphF

That looks like a heck of a deal, at that price I'll give em a try.

[Epd230]

I like the Bushnell series of flashlights. Make sure to get the aluminium one. I have several of them and have even mounted one on my AR to use as a weapon light.