Best Inexpensive LED flashlight

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finesse_r

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What is the best LED flashlight under $15.00. I am looking for general use and I really don't need one with 200,000 lumen that will light up the craters of the moon.

I am looking to put one in each vehicle, one in the garage, and keep a few in key places around the house.

Currently, I am considering a few LE Adjustable Focus CREE LED, 140 Lumen, 3 AAA battery, Flashlight for $ 9.99 each shipped.
 
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Hard to beat those Cree LED lights for the money. I have 7 or 8 of them scattered around.
 
Might look at the double A maglites. They have them at lowes and home depot near the checkouts and they come in led models now.
 
Under $15, no. Under $20, yes.

I have Streamlight Stylus Pros in the vehicles. Much easier to handle and use than the fat stubbies. It fits perfectly in a Maxpedition Micro along with all my other small keep in car stuff.

IMG_0555_zpsd0d3a6a1.jpg
[/URL]
 
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ChattanoogaPhil said:
Under $15, no. Under $20, yes.

I have Streamlight Stylus Pros in the vehicles. Much easier to handle and use than the fat stubbies. It fits perfectly in a Maxpedition Micro along with all my other small keep in car stuff.

IMG_0555_zpsd0d3a6a1.jpg
[/URL]
Click to expand...

I have had bad luck with those. The switch keeps going bad, and I have had the whole light replaced four times now. Each of the replacements had the same problem, and on one of them it went bad within the first week that I got it back.
 
Take a look at the Life Gear line of lights. I bought a couple before my last camping trip. It has two intensities, a pulsating beam and a red signal light on the tail. IIRC it was fairly inexpensive at the commissary on base, but it would still be a good deal in town at full price.

bob
 
I apologize in advance because it's above the price point you mentioned, but I'd recommend saving up just a little more for a Maglite XL50. At just under $30 (maybe less if you shop around), it's a really good value. Sturdy aluminum construction, outstanding throw distance for a light of its type, with the option of full or reduced intensities via the tail cap switch. Best of all, it uses a Cree LED and takes standard AAA batteries instead of the somewhat less readily available CR123A variety commonly used in "tacticool" lights.
 
INEXPENSIVE: HARBOR FREIGHT = FREE with no purchase necessary.

BEST: Costco - 3 Flashlight MAGLIGHT combo pack with Duracells is $39.99.
 
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I was up early this AM, still dark, and was pleased to realize that the flashlight built into my iPhone -- it utilizes the tiny flash -- is actually pretty good... I would guess most smartphones have this capability nowadays...
 
We bought a pack of them at Tractor Supply. They were cheaper than what batteries were in them were they sold separately. They work great, and are in all vehicles, and scattered about the house.
 
A Maglite is a good american made LED flashlight that is well made and heavy duty. Anything cheaper will probably not last as long so you will end up paying double.
 
finesse_r said:
What is the best LED flashlight under $15.00. I am looking for general use and I really don't need one with 200,000 lumen that will light up the craters of the moon.

I am looking to put one in each vehicle, one in the garage, and keep a few in key places around the house.

Currently, I am considering a few LE Adjustable Focus CREE LED, 140 Lumen, 3 AAA battery, Flashlight for $ 9.99 each shipped.
Click to expand...
I have a cheap flashlight I bought for $10 (sorry, don't have link), that has a cree bulb. I'd say the one you're looking at is probably similar. Anyways, it may be cheap, but it is a damn good flashlight.

Edit: Here is the link: Amazon.com : 6" Long Tactical Flashlight with 3W Cree XPE LED : Swat Flashlight : Sports & Outdoors@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41KgSEBBMVL.@@AMEPARAM@@41KgSEBBMVL
I got mine on sale, for $10. I am sure with a little bit of digging you might be able to find it cheaper. I like the accessories it comes with, and I like that it is also able to take batteries when necessary, or just be recharged.

ps. There was an ebay listing I found with a simple search, that is $5 cheaper, but the site wont let me post an ebay link, or not as easily as an amazon link.
 
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I got one of these for Christmas:
nano-light.jpg


It's a Streamlight Nano. These things are like $9 and remarkably bright for their size. No switch, just twist to turn on. I really like it.

For the record, there simply isn't a "best" light for under $15. At that price point they are all the same. Stick with a brand name and you'll be fine.
 
I have a couple of the Mag-Lite XL 50 they work very well the battery life is good. I had one that stopped working and I called customer service and returned it and they either replaced it or fixed it.
 
Greg Cote offers a pretty good selection of flashlights on his website. I personally bought 2 Mag-lite Solitaires from him and received them very quickly. They are very good pocket flashlights and I use the one I carry all of the time. I bought mine last November during all of the sales, but they are still just over $10 each (not including shipping). Of course there are other flashlights to choose from as well. I was going to buy some from Amazon (I have Prime), but there were a lot of complaints that many of the flashlights they were claiming to be LED were actually not. I can confirm the ones I bought from Greg Cote are the genuine deal. Just look up Greg Cotes website via Google if you are interested.
 
ChattanoogaPhil said:
Under $15, no. Under $20, yes.

I have Streamlight Stylus Pros in the vehicles. Much easier to handle and use than the fat stubbies. It fits perfectly in a Maxpedition Micro along with all my other small keep in car stuff.

IMG_0555_zpsd0d3a6a1.jpg
[/URL]
Click to expand...

I own and use eight different Streamlight flashlights and weapons lights. I carry one of their lights with me each and every day and have had nothing but great performance out of their products. Yes, I always have one in my pocket or around my neck...

Depending on the model you will likely spend more than your $15 limit on a Streamlight. However, You get what you pay for. I have found cheap $$ lights generally will not hold up to constant and repeated use. I'm not sure what happened with mountain_man's Stylus Pro, but my experience has been just the opposite (I own two).

Below is one of my favorites for EDC. It is the ProTac 2AAA. It is lightweight, thin, and bright (80 lumens on high and 10 on dim). 80 lumens is bright enough to blind someone, but not so bright to make it unusable for daily tasks like some of the uber bright lights (I have some of those too). It also has three modes: bright, strobe, & dim and can be found for just under $30.

There are many LED lights on the market these days. I'm sure many are good, but I stopped my search with Streamight because their lights have always worked for me.

Edmo

On edit: The second pic below shows one of my Streamlight Microstreams. It can be found for around $15 dollars and both below have been used daily for the last 3+ years (note the wear on the edges).

imagejpg1_zps272880a0.jpg


imagejpg3_zpsaa888e57.jpg
 
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Onomea said:
I was up early this AM, still dark, and was pleased to realize that the flashlight built into my iPhone -- it utilizes the tiny flash -- is actually pretty good... I would guess most smartphones have this capability nowadays...
Click to expand...

Absolutely. The iPhone flashlight in Control Center works quite well for most anything inside the home. The flood will land wall to wall in any room. I don't know what the lumen is, but the brightness is comparable to the spill light (not the hotspot) on my Surefire set on 15 lumen. Very usable light and IMO much better than a bang-zoom high output flashlight for inside the home.
 
A trip down the flashlight aisle at Walmart will solve the problem. Lumens and whether they survive a modest drop now appear on the package front in most cases.

Though for the price point, personally, I would get a GI angle head flashlight. Then you simply screw in an LED conversion. I sleeved mine to let it use AA batteries. End result is very light, quite durable and the basic design has been kicked around since WW2. Leave the spare incandescent bulb in the bottom, and you have a plan B if the LED fails for some reason.
 
Try the Brinkman Armormax. It looks like a little tactical flashlight but is made out of composite and not metal. They have a single AA and double AA version. Light, dependable and bright. I prefer AA batteries over the 3 AAA flashlights that are common now.

60 lumens, light weight, about $14. At Academy or Amazon, and others.
 
One of the issues I have with a lot of "tactical" lights is the blinking feature. I would be OK with it if it couldn't accidentally be selected. All of the flashlights I've used that have it, have it selectable by pressing one switch; usually the on/off switch. Thus, when trying to use the light, I've accidentally selected the blinking mode more than once. That's just annoying.

So, I went looking for a light that's better and I found one, the Nebo Redline Select. Amazon.com: Nebo 5620 Redline Select Flashlight: Home Improvement@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41LT7XPQcuL.@@AMEPARAM@@41LT7XPQcuL It's $34 at Amazon.

It still has a blinking feature, but it's selectable by a separate switch. This way you know exactly what you'll get when the light is turned on. I'll do a review of this light later.
 
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