Flashlights have always been a bit of a nerd item for me. I like them, I own alot of them. My gf thinks Im crazy bc I have flashlights in almost every room of the house and make sure we have charged ones in every car.

 

Over the years there have been a few instances where having a flashlight handy has proved indispensable (mostly when we are travelling) but also during Sandy when having lots of rechargeable batterys came in handy.

 

While I am happy to spring for the expensive stuff on my weapons for hd I have gone the opposite route with my household flashlights. I have found the ultrafire 600 lumen wide beam 18650 light to be very robust and has not let me down yet. For less than $20 shipped its solid metal and the beam is fantastic. I also use ultrafire rechargeable batteries which last quite a while (at least 2 hours continuously on max power). I can put one in every room and the total cost is less than one x300.

 

Whats the point of this post? Last night I ventured outside in the middle of the night bc there was a police officer near my yard and I wanted to know what was going on. Well my damn cat ran out between my legs when I went out the door and bolted out of the yard.

 

The PO was very helpful and did everything he could to try and help me find Boone (the cat). His flashlight however was I believe a maglight and might as well have been a candle in the night. Thanks to the wide beam of my light I eventually saw the reflection of his eyes in the light (after almost 2 hours) and we got him back in safe. Without a good bright light I would never have found him.

 

Moral to the story...you never know when you will need a bright light so make sure you have one (or several) ready for when you do. Im glad I did.

I have Surefire Furys all over the place for the same reasons. Sometimes, I think I need help. Which usually results in me checking on what new lights SF has coming out...

I have Surefire Furys all over the place for the same reasons. Sometimes, I think I need help. Which usually results in me checking on what new lights SF has coming out...

Dude, it's like you're a brother from another mother or something.....

sootch00 just reviewed this one. it's got a rather nice dna sampler built into it.

 

 

 that said.....i've got 5 rechargeable at the shop, and 3 here at home. 2 in my expedition, and 2 in my mustang. most of mine are streamlights, mostly made for the repair shop environment.  i've got a tlr2s for my pistols, and a primary arms for my rifles.

I've got a fury, a stream light pro TAC , a trl-1 hl that comes off easy and 2 kobalt 500 lumen standard lights that I have around the house. In posted about the kobalts being clearance at Lowes. I tend to not get anything under 500

im glad your cat is safe.. I had the same thing happen to me once and I almost had a heart attack.. 

I bought a few a Streamlight Nanos to put on all my key rings and really love them. They were inexpensive ($8 iirc) and pretty bright for just over an inch long.

 

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

 

 

Check out the Bushnell line of led lights. Really bright and really cheap... built like a tank..

There are like a million different good lights now.  People like to measure it out with this is better then that, but really I think we can all agree maglite is crap and no one ever should carry one around except the 8D ones as a club.

Years ago - 10+,  when I was doing home inspections I bought a Streamlight 20X. Still charges up and works great. Still use it when I let the dog out late at night to look for unexpected critters. Great product.

I have those cheap Costco flashlights in every room that probably shine around 100-150lumens. I have a higher end Surefire and a high end headlamp in my vehicle, my gf's vehicle, and in the house. When I or her need a reliable flashlight for something, the Surefire gets picked up. If it's anything else, the cheapo's get used. Headlamps are great for general purpose, but especially at night for handsfree mode. Camping, hiking, shooting, emergency situations, flat tire at night, etc. A lot of people under-rate headlamps or don't even give them a chance, but in all honesty, I can't live my life without them!

I am mad for flashlights, have been since I was a kid.  From small key chain flashlights to battery powered lanterns, I've got a bunch.  I never go out after dark without one (or two).  I find the cheap dollar store clip on flashlights very handy.  My battery killing mag lights are sitting in a kitchen cabinet with spare batteries still in the blister packs just in case but now my new favorite is the Duracell lights I got at Costco. They are the single high output LED type, the 500 lumen lights have a square beam when focused, it's weird but extremely bright.  There are at least three flashlights in every room with one being the plug in emergency type that goes on automatically when the power goes out.

There are like a million different good lights now. People like to measure it out with this is better then that, but really I think we can all agree maglite is crap and no one ever should carry one around except the 8D ones as a club.

I have a 4D that will crack a skull

Also when picking a light go for one has a regulated output.

 

 

Who is John Galt?

I am so excited I figured out how to change my signature.

I've got flashlights stashed all over, often multiple ones in a room....in addition to the Olight M10 and/or i3 that I carry on my person at all times. 

 

When I got started with flashlights, I bought inexpensive Chinese LED lights, and they do work for basic use, but some of them I would not trust for anything critical.  I've started carrying Olights, and now have Olights as weapon-mounted lights.

 

I dunno bout you guys, but I only run rechargeables in most of my lights.  If you have a flashlight that can take a 17650/18650 battery instead of RCR123s, I strongly suggest getting those batteries (good quality ones, anyway) and a decent charger...makes a world of difference in runtime. 

 

Glad you found your four-legged friend...

i have flashlights in almost every room, plus about 12 in my hall closet (just in case..  you never know)..  plus a high output LED 'lantern' that can last for 30 days before changing the batteries.  2 of my flashlights are very high output and very far reaching (I can light up the trees behind my house in the woods from my deck like it was daytime).  very good to have..   you can never have too many flashlights. 

I am a big time flashlight geek.  My father was on the job for 34+ years in a city, and when he got promoted to captain back in the mid 90s he took charge patrol again so he commanded everyone on the street, and worked the night shift.  This was a big change for me because he had not worked on the streets since I was too young to remember.  Back in the day the police all carried Mag-Lite which were great flashlights and very sturdy and could be used as a weapon of last resort (and trust me, I have *witnessed* it being used in that fashion).  I believe right around this time my father had decided to upgrade his gear because he would be wearing a uniform, carrying "police gear" again etc. and bought a new-at-the-time, high quality rechargeable from a company called Streamlight.

 

Well that Streamlight Stinger served him faithfully on the job many years and we still have it.  It needs a new battery and a new lens/bulb setup but it's nearly 20 years old now.  And because we were so impressed with Streamlight it became the family brand.- now among us we have hundreds if not thousands of dollars worth of Streamlight products (again, I am a flashlight geek.. Survival & Preparedness is my hobby and I firmly believe in flashlights for not only S&P but EDC as well).

 

I believe we both have their top-of-the-line full-size "regular-style" flashlight, the SL-20LP with Nickel Metal batteries and both AC and car chargers.  These are amazing flashlights with I believe a 360 lumen, 60,000 cadela power @ 2-Hour runtime, w/ a medium and low power as well... and the Low-power runs for 50 hours which is amazing because it puts out way more light than you'd think for 50 hours.... but when run at full power it's amazingly bright and very nice for room and yard illumination.

 

In addition to the old standby Stinger I also have a modern, PolyStinger LED which is sort of like a Glock 19/23 to the SL-20's Glock 17/22 .. great sized for holding and using in the hand while holding a firearm but not too big, yet not so small as to be relegated to backup duty only.

 

 

I also have a bunch of small ones... a Streamlight KeyMate is my bed flashlight that I use probably every single night when I need to get up in the middle of the night for a bathroom break, to check on something, see what the dog is making noise about, etc.  I also carry two Streamlight pen-lights every day.. I first had bought a Streamlight Stylus in green LED which is awesome and doesn't ruin your night vision... perfect for night use, night signaling (I tested it, you can pick up someone signaling you with this at over 2 miles away) and the LED lasts like 50,000 hours (One of the major selling points of the Streamlight LED series.. their LED lights will outlast you) .. but I also picked up a $20 package that simply cannot be beat the PolyStylus (Poly means Polymer , plastic rather than metal) with 4 LED modules , you can unscrew and add on a White, Red, Blue, and/or Green LED module and each one has a different candela, lumen, and run time power.  Some are brighter than others, some are more room-filling or point-on intense bright, and some run for a long time vs. a shorter time.  This is awesome, I carry it like a pen and keep the extra LED modules in a cell-phone case and always can change.  And this has a minimum of 12 hours constant on at its worst setting, which is great!

 

 

 

 

I have my eyes on a few more things... we are hoping to get eithe one or both of two different types- one possibly a small/subcompact size, maybe battery operated although I prefer the rechargable, and one super-hi-power light like the HL or HP series.  They have a ton of types and if you're a flashlight geek you can shop for hours lol.

 

 

I have some other brands and other types but Streamlight is by far the best I have used and my favorite and I think everyone who is into survival, preparedness, or general defense should have at least one high quality rechargeable.

im glad your cat is safe.. I had the same thing happen to me once and I almost had a heart attack.. 

 

 

Glad you found your four-legged friend...

 

Thanks guys, I woulda been up the creek if we didn't find him

 

Glad I made this thread, lots of good light suggestions in here. 

I love my P3X'S. 

Picked up 3 for $150 a piece.

One for each bedroom

I love my P3X'S.

Picked up 3 for $150 a piece.

One for each bedroom

What's battery life like?

So far, so good. My son is always turning it on and off. I used one at a cabin not too long ago. 

I guess it would die after 2 hours on high. On low it would last a long time.

I have owned a bunch of lights, and the surefires do give a nice bright consistent light.

I cant really tell the diff between the 500 or 1000 lumen outside, but in the house, big difference. Thats the reason I have them in the bedrooms. Best case scenario blind them. 

A couple of people asked so I figured I would post which flashlight I was talking about.  It's the Ultrafire UF-800.  I was a little bit off in my first post about the lumens.  The description says 860 lumens.  If it's actually 860 lumens or not I have no idea, but I know it's bright as hell.  Here is a pic and the link (it's OOS right now). 

 

http://www.dx.com/p/ultrafire-uf-800-cree-xm-l-t6-860lm-5-mode-white-flashlight-metallic-grey-1-x-18650-170649#.U6jVkLF5H3A

 

Don't throw out those old mag lights... terralux has LED's for them that are pretty friggen bright if you want something to second as a weapon. I wouldn't buy a maglite at this point but if u have them might be worth the upgrade. I put one in my AA Maglite i've had for over 10 years and it is very bright, 140lumens, compared to the 15 or so it had before, and it was cheap.

I've been a fire investigator / inspector for over 30 years. I have a boatload of all kinds and all brands of flashlights. A marine corps sergeant told me that he never goes anywhere without a blade and reliable flashlight. And now neither do I. If your life depends on it use only American made flashlights. I just got LA police gear L1 from: lapolicegear.com . 800 lumens this thing is unbelievable. But I still carry a surefire as a backup. I use a rechargeable Pelican for everyday use but I don't go anywhere without small flashlight of some type and a small quality blade. And I mean everywhere, from weddings to food shopping I always carry both.

 

Have you ever been in the back of Costco when the power goes out and you can't see a hand in front of your face? It happened to me and I'm the only one who could see my way out.

Got my first P3X Fury today. Won't be my last, that's for sure. I'm going to play with it tonight but it's an impressive amount of light.

Had to order some batteries and decided to try this one out. Very functional, sturdy and is a freaken flame thrower at 900 lumens.

Dunno what it is about flashlights, but they are addicting like wrist watches...

http://www.batteryjunction.com/klarus-st11-xml2.html

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad 2 using T2 Pro

Had to order some batteries and decided to try this one out. Very functional, sturdy and is a freaken flame thrower at 900 lumens.

Dunno what it is about flashlights, but they are addicting like wrist watches...

http://www.batteryjunction.com/klarus-st11-xml2.html

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad 2 using T2 Pro

...or guns haha.

 

Nice looking light!

i'm actually VERY thankful for this thread. i thought i was a bit weird with having so many flashlights and all........

I can light up my neighbor's entire back yard from my deck with this P3X. I'll take it out to the acreage this weekend play with it some more in an area that has zero light pollution.