Flashlight-which one?

[snubbyfan]

Many years ago when I was a maintenance tech. at RubberMaid, my wife got me a Brinkmann flashlight. It's a nice little light, batteries last a very long time and it's plenty bright enough for me. The housing's anodized aluminum and it's o-ring sealed.
Nothing fancy, you push a button at one end and light comes out the other.
Liked it so much, I made a belt holder for it and it's become part of my everyday carry.

 

[Frank46]

I have two 2 d cell maglights and 2 4 d cell maglights. The 4 cell maglights I have had for over 20 years and work just as well today as when they were made. Frank

 

[rwsmith]

I'm interested in the answers....

A good flashlight is something I use almost every day, sometimes several times a day.

 

[chaparrito]

I bought a Fenix and fell in love. I really like the variable brightness settings. Now I have 4 or 5 of various styles around the house. I'm sure Surefire and the others are just as good. It's just what I have experience with. I do have a couple of the Walmart single power triple a battery flashlights around the house as well, they serve their purpose as well.

The difference between the cheap LED lights and the most expensive is mainly in the circuitry and the switches. Used on a daily basis the cheapies fail in a few months. My Fenix PD32 will light up the entire pasture if I need to take a shot at a coyote or dim down nicely if I need it to indoors. Not as pricey as a Streamlight but just as robust. I wish it focused to a spot but that's a small deficiency. Also has a diffuser tip and a hang loop that has come in handy several times when I needed to attend to a down animal and needed both hands free.

 

[Stainz]

Surefire has well made and warranted USA-made products. Inova did make their flashlights here, but went to the PRC a few years back, where the Fenix, Olight, TerraLUX, and even the dollar store lights are made. I 'collect' flashlights, and have my share of MagLites - with LEDs - and no batteries ever since I had a 3 month old Rayovac alkaline D-cell ruin one of my 3 cell variants (I Majic Marker the date they go in service on my alkaline battery flashlights.). Actually, after most recently losing a Rayovac emergency LED lantern in ten months (With Energizers!), I only keep Lithium batteries in my flashlights (I can buy Surefire CR123A's for ~12/$20 delivered - Amazon!) now - and I have never had one leak. I love Surefire lights - and have found some good deals on them. For example - look at the three below:

When I bought them new - on closeout - they ran ~ a third of their MSRP, which totaled over a kilobuck. Still a fortune invested - but what quality/features/fit&finish. You can buy a two cell 6P, in incandescent version, new for $40 delivered from evil-bay and buy a drop in aftermarket LED head for <$10 delivered from Amazon. With a 10+ yr shelf life, you can leave one in the car for emergencies - like my converted 6P in my car since 9/13 - which I used yesterday. I duplicated my 6P conversion recently for one of my son's Christmas gifts. ~$50 total for a quality - and blindingly bright - flashlight. Not cheap... but worth it's weight in gold in an emergency. Lithiums rule!

Stainz

PS Those two big Surefire flashlights use three cells and produce 800 Lumens (New version is 1,000 Lumens.), while the little one is a 0-100 Lumen one cell that is no longer available.

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

A good flashlight is something I use almost every day, sometimes several times a day.

Surefire P3X and G2X Pro

One of these is used every day (night) to walk the dog.

Used for everything around the house from looking at the plumbing under the sink to the back of a dark closet and everything else. They each have a 15 lumen setting which I use about 99% of the time. Just fine for walking the dog and watching your step on streets with no street lights like around here. For everyday tasks a bang-zoom high output light is not needed and actually too bright, IMO. Most importantly, they don't break when dropped. Wife recently tested that on the kitchen floor.

The higher output 320 and 1,000 lumen (which is actually closer to 500 for the duration of runtime) on the G2X and P3X comes in handy when I hear a car coming around the corner when walking the dog. I light up an area around the dog like daylight and you can hear the brake pads grinding as the car slows down when they see a dog is being walked. If I hear a noise I don't like I can light up the entire street for a 100yds. The P3X is quite impressive.

In the cars, I keep Streamlight Stylus Pro and Pelican 1920. I prefer the Pelican because it has a low lumen and a bright setting, whereas the Streamlight just has high. Toss in some lithium AAA batteries and you've got a flashlight you can count on.

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Otherwise, the only flashlight I carry is an iPhone5. It works well.

 

[jdh]

LED upgrade for your existing flashlight as the bulb burn out.

 

[e3mrk]

I bought a two D-Cell Mag Light back in 1987 and even with the beating it took from everything from being used as a Hammer to being dropped off a Semi Trailer Roof to the Concrete Floor it still works great.
I wish it would break so I could justify buying a new one.