Mrs ERJ was lamenting the loss of one of our flashlights.
It used D-cells and was stout enough and weighty enough to pound tent-stakes into the ground. It also had a loop for a lanyard. And while it wasn't very bright, it was bright enough and it had battery life that could be measured in years.
Those kinds of flashlights are no longer fashionable. People want tiny, tacticool flashlights or 1,000,000 lumen lights that can set fire to the retinas of your across-the-street neighbor.
Even though that kind of flashlight is no longer fashionable, they can be found and they are inexpensive.
The only thing that could be improved would be to make the body of the flashlight a brighter color to make it easier to find when I lay it down AND the switch is goofy. It cycles Bright-off-medium-off-low-off rather than the Bright-medium-low-off that seems to be the current standard.
Still, for an $11 flashlight with batteries included and with a 12 hour battery life at the medium setting (360 lumens), both Mrs ERJ and I are happy. She had me order four of them.
Have to do a tent-stake test!
ReplyDeleteI find the old-school incandescent Maglites at yard sales all the time. No, they're not that bright, but most times all you need is to see or to HIT what you see. They're good for both. I pick them up for a couple of bucks each and have them stashed all around the house. I do have a couple of small Chinesium "Foxhawk" USB-rechargeable flashlights that cost me probably $15.00 US. Their battery life isn't stellar, but I usually only need their light for a few minutes when making a trip out to the barn at night. And again, they're USB-rechargeable. They have low-med-hi settings, with the hi setting bright enough to singe the fur off a rabbit across the corral. They're cheap enough that I wouldn't cry if one got lost. The light I have hanging on my belt at work is a Streamlite unit. THAT one cost me some dinero, and yes, I WOULD cry if I lost that one. That being said, it has NEVER failed me and I've been using it for several years. It uses rechargeable Li-Ion batteries, of which I have three pair. I swap them out every week or two. Doing this renders battery lives that measures in years.
ReplyDeleteI have 16 rechargable NMH, AA batteries coming from DeNile and they will live in those flashlights.
DeleteYou are on the money with regard to how long they are on when used. If I still had animals on the place and was working days, I would be using an LED headlamp with AA batteries to keep both hands free. But most of my chores are navigate from one place to then next and I have a place to put the flashlight where it can illuminate my job. It would be a rare week when I would have it on for two hours and 15 minutes a week would be much more typical.
Headlamps... I have several "Goforwild" Chinesium headlamps for two-handed work. They're also USB rechargeable. They have a fur-singing HI setting and a more sane LO setting. They also can be set for red light. I noticed that they're no longer available on Amazon, but there are others that are comparable... And they're even BRIGHTER!!! They'll set you back $20.00 US for a pair of them.
Deletehttps://www.amazon.com/Flashlight-LHKNL-Ultra-Light-Rechargeable-Waterproof/dp/B08D66HCXW/ref=sr_1_10?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.pgofBN4fpXvxs0mL8gU8-vW_qCewPmhl3mNMwXjCVB00hMvqXTDIbjCsmorBXB_fQvCTQm4hOWpv9K0k2WaAGoITxxUDl532iM68xKDMvkZRTUoxCGmh3_Oy8To4NTtiabYk26RzQZ97QBPD_xB9SIVfqrsDAokZt3ZjCMN7JYsxcIn7_o0AMtFMxQYMTGNGAxyALk2msFuKOthriSezPl7VM9qw7YzSoyaAgyjeoeo.UowS6ifAJUrO8dbcZrxdafFWbAu_PBopufbiHySX-IM&dib_tag=se&keywords=goforwild&qid=1725646226&sr=8-10&th=1
a surefire fan myself....they have stellar warranty...pelican, they make the awesome expensive cases, makes some damn fine flashlight also...have a couple of them...the tacticool one uses a rechargeable, can use cr123's and double a's...great light...
ReplyDeleteI'm always amused by the people buy buy the Sooper Slik TactiCool flashlights - really bright, but click twice for strobe, three times for low, click four times with a 2-second pause for medium, six times to order pizza.
ReplyDeleteThe value of instant light / instant dark seems to escape them.
In my last job where I worked nights, we had a power drop once every three years or so, and it made sense to have my own light source. Now, as an official Olde Phartte(h/t KDT), I find myself wandering the house in the dark of night. This caused me to shift my acquisitions in what the wife calls The Shiny and Sharp Club(lights and bladed objects), from Atomic Death Ray to the just-enough-to see-by flashlights I grew up with, which was about all we had back then. Advantages: night vision is spared, folks from the homeless encampment under the highway are not alerted to the presence of someone awake to panhandle from, it saves turning the main lights on and off. The only disadvantage is run time/recharging/batteries die and leak, rendering a useful tool junk. That last one hurts, when one pays out good money for a flashlight. You might try the military surplus 2 and 3 D-cell flashlights for cheap and durable.
ReplyDeleteStay safe
"...to the just-enough-to see-by flashlights I grew up with,..."
ReplyDeleteI see, and support, the need for - occasionally - 1,000 lumens. But....I'm still looking for a compact, very easy to carry, flashlight like the Streamlight 66320 MacroStream but which produces about 50-60 lumens of red light. That's a pretty dim light, but there are times one doesn't need more than minimum light to navigate and red light preserves night vision.
Way back before Mag Lites where the ubiquitous choice, in many sizes, the cops used to carry around long black flashlights that the Mag Lites were eventually patterned on. They were called Kel-lites. You could get them at police supply stores. I've still got mine, for the same reasons as others. Nowadays you can get an LED light bulb specific to the number of batteries your old-fashioned light has, and this is an improvement. Gotta say though, I've got a Chinesium lantern with a handle and square box, and that sucker is BRIGHT. And the battery seems to last a long time before recharging is required. It stays by the back door, where it's handy for running the wild hogs out of the back yard, like I did last night.
ReplyDeleteJinkies!! That's a great price! Ebay and Amazon are more proud of those - prices start at about $27 each.
ReplyDeleteWhere is / was that deal?
Walmart on-line. Will ship to your house if the order is over $35
DeleteI have switched to NiMH Eneloop in flashlights to reduce risk of leaks. Also I have switched all my old mag lights from incandescent to the drop in LED bulbs. I find they are a bit brighter than the old incandescent but last a long time. 2C mag light can go 8hours. I keep a small pocket rocket on cr123 for when I need to light up the whole backyard.
ReplyDelete