What Kind Of Flashlight Do You Use?

We don't have power at barn or run-in so we have to take a light with us at night. We use a light that came as part of a set with an Hitachi cordless power drill/driver. The set came with 2 rechargeable battery packs. The light slings over the shoulder leaving hands free, has has an adjustable head for different angles, and has a flat base for sitting on the ground. Oh, and plenty of light when needed.

LED Lenser P14. Takes 4 AA batteries and comes with a belt pack to carry it on. I have dropped mine from a height onto concrete floors a number of times and it hasnt broken, have used it to spot out wild hogs at night from a distance of 50ft or so, and used it for about 30 minutes a night for the past year when making my farm rounds. Love it.. MagLite are awful in comparison.

I have two LED headlamps that I use exclusively instead of flashlights now. They leave my hands free, and the batteries last for a long time. If you need a really big, bright light, you might need a big flashlight for some jobs, but for doing chores and such, the headlamps work very well.

Kathleen

My new choice for smaller hand held flashlights are the LED's. Have purchased several that use 2 AA batteries and just love them. They are said to last much longer than the other type bulbs. I keep one in each vehicle and several around the cabin. I still keep a 4 D cell Maglite under my bed next to my pistol and have a million watt rechargeable spotlamp, next to the door, for checking the corral and surrounding area at night.

Bill

DH was given a protype that looks very much like this one. It is very bright.

Since he wouldn't give it to me when I begged for it, I found this one. It's not rechargeable, but for the money it's just as good AND can be used for defense. It's nearly identical. Very well made. I bought it locally.

http://www.twocooltools.com/site/573454/product/5112

We have all kinds spread out in the house. DW Mom gave her a led one for Christmas and we love it. I don't know how many bulbs it has or how many batteries it takes but I think it has 4 positions on the switch. Last month when the roads were slick a car wrecked at our drive way and DW grabbed her light and radio and went to check it out. Cell phones don't work here but thats another story. Anyways there was 4 people in the car and all were hurt so via radio and phone I called 911 to report the injuries. Well DW used her light to help slow or stop traffic and some of the cars stopped and asked her what kind of light she had, as it showed up better than the big lights the fire department was using. It is very bright and after an hour of use that night it is still as bright as it was. Now for my hillside light- it is kinda homemade. I took a big million or so candle power light that the battery had died in and made a heck of a light out of it. Way to do it is take it apart and remove the battery and the little diode thing and replace the bulb with a fog light 12 bulb. Take the bulb from the light and match it at the auto parts store. The one in the light is 6 volt. Now with 12 or 14 ga wire wire it thru the switch to the bulb and leave enough wire to reach a battery. I have about 7 ft outside of mine with clips on the ends of the wires to hook to a battery. Next get a small motorcycle battery if you want to be able to move around with your light. I have an apron with a pocket that I drop the battery in when I want to move around with it, other wise it sits just inside the back door so all we have to do is pick it up and shine it where we want. I have used this light for several months before charging and then it didn't show any signs of getting weak. Hope I didn't confuse anyone. My next project is taking one of the lights and cut it apart and make one that the battery will fit in. Sam

We have a bunch of all metal case, water tight, 100 LED flashlights that run on 4 AA batteries. They through a very strong beam. It will light something up clearly hundreds of feet away. Great for night time chores, checking the animals, etc. Rechargable NiMH batteries seem to last about a month in them. They were $20 each and well worth it.

Cheers

-Walter
Sugar Mountain Farm
Pastured Pigs, Sheep & Kids
in the mountains of Vermont
Read about our on-farm butcher shop project:
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/butchershop
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/csa

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SugarMtnFarm.com -- Pastured Pigs, Poultry, Sheep, Dogs and Kids

I should have stock in that company. DSW & I each have a 4-cell LED Maglite, in our nightstands. There's a smaller 2-cell LED Maglite, in each of the bathrooms. Another 4-cell, by the back door and front door. I mentioned in the other thread we each have them in our trucks. Our power goes out everytime we have a storm, at night.

I bought them, over the years, because......Yes, the professionals do use them. I updated them when the LED bulbs became available. Batteries last about 4 times as long & they're brighter. They have another advantage that the pro's sometime use when necessary.......If you grab the maglite by the head, they make a really effective club, for pommelling whatever you need to defend yourself against.
Living out in the woods, just yourself & your partner it's something that might some day come in handy.
I'm just saying.....It pays to be ready.

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Be Intense, always. But always take the time to
Smell the Roses, give a Hug, Really Listen, or
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'Til later, Have Fun,
Old John

I still have my 5, 6 and 7 "D" cell mag Lites from my cop days. The 7 cell (Thumper) is my favorite as it saved my life a couple times, but the smaller 5 cell is handier. Maglites get corroded inside over time, they can be fixed.

If I ever run across a good buy on rechargeable "D" cells I'll get them.

I love flashlights!

I’ve still got a couple 6 (C cell) and 4 (D cell) maglights from my MP and police reserve days, and 3 of the little AA mini-mags that I’ve updated with LEDs.

I now own 4 Surefire LEDs (2 handheld, 2 weapon lights), a Streamlight LED Twin task, and 2 Insight weapon lights. I just bought a Cabela’s “Alaskan” LED which is a pretty cool little light for the money. I also have a PETZL LED Headlamp mostly for hunting.

One of my favorites is a little Pentagonlight “MOLLE Light”, which is a LED remake of the old military L light that runs on 1 AA and produces 40 lumens.

I’m trying to standardize on 123a 3 Volt Lithium batteries as much as possible, since that’s what the Surfires and weapon lights run on. They’re more expensive, but the 10 year shelf life makes them worth it.

Chuck

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Might does not make right, but it sure makes what is.

I prefer the Mag Lite. I converted both of mine to LED.

Same here, I have more then I care to admit.

While I have three of the large 4 D cell maglights and a handful of the small ones, some of which have the led bulbs, I find the maglights no longer represent the best value in a light for me. They are too large in size for the amount and quality of light they put out, and they have very poor impact resistance.

For a hand held light I like the G2 surefires. They put out a good amount of light in a size that you can stick in your pocket or hold in your mouth when required, yet it is no so small as to be difficult to hold with oily/greasy hands. I am particularly fond of the nytrolon material they are made out of as it seems to help with the impact resistance and is not cold in the mouth. These lights get dropped in my shop onto the concrete floor and the G2 has been the most robust by far.

If the G2 had a clicky switch instead of the momentary switch it would be the perfect light for me. The momentary switch style works good for weapon lights but not so much for a hand held light in my opinion.

I use the led headlights for those jobs where I know one would be appropriate and also use the led lights that clip onto the bill of a ball cap.

I can't find any good 6 volt lights anymore. I used them for years mostly under houses. Rayovac made a good yellow one. They are now junk. If you bump the danged things the top pops off. Those ozark trail chinese ones Walmart sells are junk too. Some of them have a chinese battery that weighs nothing and usually lasts for one use. Can't remember the name of the company that makes the black ones, but they are now junk too. Saw those in Walmart with the same cheap chinese battery with them and the switches on the last 2 I bought broke within a week. A regular flashlight just doesn't provide the light I need.

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Dear Math, it is time you grew up and solved your own problems.

Wayne,

Surefire makes a clicky switch that fits the G2-6P series, it's not cheap at about $35, but it would give you your "perfect" light. I converted my 6P LED to a clicky.

Chuck

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Might does not make right, but it sure makes what is.

I have a 4Sevens Quark R5 AA2 with me all the time. Bought from www.4sevens.com\

It's expensive at $ 60.00 but runs on standard AA batteries, has multiple levels of brightness, will run 30+ days on moonlight mode which is perfect for walking around the house when everyone is asleep and is waterproof.

Other than losing it, I doubt you will wear it out. As in most things, you get what you pay for here!

28 volt Milwaukee

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I use a Rayovac head lamp sometimes at night. IIRC, Streamlight aluminum flashlights carried lifetime guarantees in the past. The best lantern I've found is the Streamlight litebox shown below. We carry these on our trucks. You can recharge either in a vehicle or at home. Battery power lasts for about 9 hours under continuous usage. The head swivels to direct the light where you need it. The best source is ebay. If you keep checking you should be able to get one for around $60 to $70. Retail is over $100.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=94524

I have a couple of these, love them, super bright, long battery life, have lots of hours on them and they hold up great

far better them my old mag lights

Surefire lights are the cat's meow. They are more expensive, but they are worth the money.

I have five or six Maglites, and I never use them much. They eat batteries and bulbs. The only one I use often has a NitEyez LED conversion and Lithium batteries. It gets used maybe once per month and it stays in my TDB. (Tactical Diaper Bag; diaper bag for Stay At Home Dad's who don't have time for a purse. It's actually a mid-size backpacking day pack)

In addition to being a Stay At Home Dad, I do some home inspections on the side. Maybe two or three per month. For home inspections, where I'm crawling in dark crawlspaces for an hour or so at a time, I carry a Coleman LED light I bought at Wal-Mart for about $20. I keep a backup in a pocket in case it dies. I've been running that light with the original batteries for over a year with no issues. It has a CREE lamp, which is the key to success. CREE lamps are vastly superior to all other LED lamps.

So, I'm a professional home inspector. I depend on a good light to do my job. I leave the Maglite's at home. I use my Coleman's because they are cheap enough that I won't loose a lot of sleep if I kill one. I have a Surefire for when I really depend on one light to last.

The little Stinger is handy yet only 8 or so inches and will lite up a couple hundred feet pretty well. I bought my own and got the hi power head to go with it and though not so easily worn on a belt holder it throws fantastic light. A LED conversion would be the cats meow surely. Here is a place to see everything cutting edge portable. Battery pack replacements are only $20 if you shop around the net. Their charger is fully automatic well made and you can leave it in the charger indefinitely with no ill effect. You have to watch out for that with the cheapo Chinese rechargeable stuff . Those also tend to corrode internally and the switches are garbage.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/