Click to view our Accessibility Statement or contact us with accessibility-related questions
billc
410
May 3, 2018
On the stock questions:
Best flashlight for emergencies? One with lithium batteries. The batteries longer in storage and they keep most of their brightness until near their end. Alternatively, and for home use, a rechargeable that can be kept plugged in. I dumped all my AA and AAA flashlights LONG ago. Too many times reaching for one only to find it dead. My EDC is an Olight M20SX. Forget super high lumens. Most of the time I use my primary flashlight on low. On low, with the diffuser on, and pointed straight up at the ceiling, you can easily illuminate the (entire) average room with a soft light. Whatever you get for emergency use, make sure it’s tough and sealed from water & moisture.
What kind of flashlight to take camping? Depends on priorities, I suppose, but most people want to keep weight to a minimum (unless base camp or car camping). My preference would be a good quality polymer lithium flashlight or a headlamp. As a practical matter, a headlamp (I like Black Diamond) is easier to use in most camping circumstances. Again, forget super high lumens. You want a range that lets you select the dimmest usable level that preserves your night vision.
Best bang for the buck? A seriously loaded question! Having purchased too many inexpensive flashlights only to have them fail, I suggest buying the best you can afford, especially if you’re going with an LED/lithium light with features and brightness ranges. It buys you a better LED, housing and lens, quality reflector, decent switch, good electronics, and good sealing. It’s cheaper to get bang for the buck in a conventional (alkaline/incandescent) flashlight, but at the expense of having to keep an eye on batteries all the time and perhaps keeping an extra bulb on hand (handier if the flashlight stores one). For some that’s a worthwhile trade-off as you can buy very well-made AA lights for very little, for example.
FASTCAR
14
May 14, 2018
billcCommon batteries better for SHTF and related issues For normal use, nice light
I use to run 2 flashlight forums, tested. IDK 250+
billc
410
May 14, 2018
FASTCARThere’s a good argument for common batteries for sure and a lot of people do like AA/LED lights. I think they’re best when you use them a lot so your backup supply is fresh. I suppose if it REALLY hits the fan, no-one’s going to have batteries of any kind. In that scenario, maybe rechargeables with a solar set-up is best.
My emergency scenario is ordinary power outages and the like. For that, I still like lithium. Everyone needs to evaluate the range of scenarios they are planning against. We also have oil lamps at home for more extended situations. I have a couple of Streamlight D-battery lanterns around somewhere that I used to keep in a storage unit that didn’t have overhead lights. Probably dead (sigh).
FASTCAR
14
May 14, 2018
billcAAA and more so AA are in every store ,country wide Also easy and cheap to stock up on, COSTCO/BJ 40-48 for 10 bucks ish 7/11 where you get gas, ALL over Go to ant store and try not to see AA batteries =P
A community member
May 23, 2018
billcI agree that AA/AAA batteries have more passive drain than lithium.
Flashlight batteries get swapped out once a year in our house, even the lithium, so we've not had the issue of batteries being dead when we need them. I don't like to leave things to chance if I can avoid it.
PRODUCTS YOU MAY LIKE
Trending Posts in More Community Picks