This. The sensation is of being physically attacked. It is a horrible feature.
That’s actually the predicament I’m in. I bought a really bright Anker Bolder flashlight, and it’s everything it’s touted to be and then some.
Problem is, on most Boy Scout campouts having so much light just blows away your night vision completely. It’s like having a car LED headlight in your hand. I’d really prefer one that’s got a lot less output and a wide beam, so I can just see where I’m going if I have to use the bathroom in the middle of the night. Maybe even a red one, so I don’t destroy the night vision.
For simple, wide illumination, something like this might work:
It has three lamps to give a 180-degree beam.
Thankfully, it’s pretty common for outdoor-focused flashlights/headlights to have both a brightness adjustment and a separate red light for nighttime bathroom trips.
The beam width is usually something you can choose while shopping too (a function of the reflector, and sometimes an option when you’re looking for a light to buy).
For camping I have a headlamp - it has a narrow beam, wide beam, and red options, the wide beam is adjustable brightness. (Black diamond, but it looks like they don’t make my particular model anymore)
I also have a Luci inflatable solar lantern. (mine is solar only, no USB)
Brian
Maybe I’m the only one making this distinction, but I consider a flashlight separate from a headlamp or other light sources cyclists might use. Using a flashlight while riding a bike seems inherently hazardous unless you’re fastening it to your clothing or bike somehow.
I know this is about flashlights, but I used the blinking on my helmet lighting system. I commute to and from work, mostly in the dark right now. I rely on my helmet lights to be seen, not so I can see, and I believe the blinking makes me stand out more than steady lights. I have a good headlight on my commuting bike that I use to see.
I too consider headlamps and flashlights quite separate items. We use headlamps a lot. It’s been a long time since I brought a flashlight camping, since battery lanterns and headlamps cover anything I might usually need.
Agreed that flashlights and headlamps are different (though I have used a headlamp in my hand as a flashlight) , but I think this thread has already drifted.
Brian
Not longer true for flashlights… 20-30$ gets you the Best led-emitters with the highest efficiency .
https://convoylight.com/ is a high-quality inexpensive producer coming out of relevent Internet fora.
It looks like every single item on that site is out of stock?
That’s my choice. I have several around my house in strategic locations. They are right by the checkout at Home Depot etc. It is cheaper to buy an entire new one than to replace the battery.
I found a battery tube that’s available. Better hurry, there’s only 2 left.
Like with a lot of basic things, you can find very basic flashlights at Dollar Tree. And at $1.25, the price is right. So if there’s a Dollar Tree near the OP, I would recommend going there and buying one. Hell, if they’ve got multiple choices, buy one of each; you’re still out of pocket only a few bucks.
They also sell packs of AA and AAA batteries, also $1.25 per pack.
I agree, though I’d add the recommendation of investing in good batteries & external charger. The ones that come with lights can’t be counted upon and having a few extras on hand means a fresh one is always on deck.
This would have been an ETA to my previous post, but I wasn’t fast enough.
I see the OP isn’t interested in disposable flashlights. I don’t grok what this means to the OP: if it does what you want it to do, and continues to work for a long time, is it still disposable even if it’s inexpensive? (I mean, yeah, if you can replace it for $1.25, then of course it’s disposable, but do you need to dispose of it?)
I would second recommendation for SureFire (although I’m curious as to where you are finding teh G2 Nitrolon for $40; the cheapest I find them for sale these days is ~US$65, and more generally above US$70), and they come in either the ‘tactical’ single (high) mode, or the more useful two mode (low/high) which helps you preserve both battery life and your night vision. They do use CR123 batteries which are a little pricy but last quite a while and have a 10+ year shelf life. At a slightly higher price shelf, the aluminum bodied SureFires are virtually indestructible; I have a Backup MV that goes with me everywhere if I’m outdoors for basic walking around, and a rechargeable (18650 cell) Fury ‘Tactical’ for SAR or highlighting unbecoming activity (definitely not suitable for close up work unless you are wearing welding goggles).
The Pelican flashlights are really durable and reasonably priced, but in my experience not the brightest and kind of bulky for the light they do output. If you want something that can sit in the bottom of your tackle box for years getting wet and filthy and still work, a Pelican is your bag.
The Chinese brands are of variable quality and often promise high output at the cost of heating up quickly and poor reliability; sometimes you’ll find a Nitecore or Fenix model that is really solid but then the next product is absolute garbage. I’ve had generally good luck with Olight but I shut off all of the unnecessary strobe modes and avoid the obviously gimmicky products. The big advantage is that many of them have UV lamps built in which is good for SAR work or just checking if a hotel room has been adequately cleaned, and some have red LEDs which is great for astronomy or just walking around camp after lights out, wanting to see but still preserve night vision.
Good flashlights are a “buy once, cry once” proposition that you come to appreciate when your cheap light craps out on you ten miles into the backcountry in the middle of a storm while you are looking for a place to shelter.
Stranger
What ‘disposable’ means to me: so cheaply made that you throw it away when it breaks, since it is unrepairable and not worth repairing anyway. The majority of manufactured goods now are of this category, but time was that almost nothing was like that. Most things were well made, and repaired when they failed. This is in living memory (mine for example). The staggering mountains of garbage we have created are due to the abandonment of the principle of making things with care and even pride, and keeping them maintained. Should I go on or have you had enough? Because I could go on for a very long time. Maybe just stick to flashlights.
If one is going to be finding one’s way in the dark that far from civilization, yeah, I can understand why it would be worth paying good money for a flashlight that would be up to the task and wasn’t going to fail.
Since the most extreme use I’d be relying on a flashlight for would be for a half-mile through the woods at night, I would totally trust my Dollar Tree flashlight for that. Basic flashlights are basic: a light bulb, a battery compartment with a battery or three, an on-off switch, and wires connecting the three. There’s just not a whole lot to break down there, so since it didn’t have any problems in the first 15 minutes of use, chances are my Dollar Tree flashlight I bought the other day will last into the 2030s if not beyond.
probably a “safety precaution (to not leave people hanging for weeks)” b/c of the chinese new year (there was a pop up which I did not read on :o) )
Having said that, if they “fit your needs”, look out for the:
- B35AM Chipset (has a CRI of 98 IIRC - so any colors will be rendered really quite truely, instead of the dreaded “morgue-look” of early/cheap LED-chipsets - while still being fairly efficient
- plus Simon (the guy who runs the show) also supplies the flashlights with high-quality batteries (not cheap junk) for a minimal surcharge.
highly regarded in most flashlight forums - my personal favorites: the H-series (headlamp) … keeps the hands free, and always moves in synchronicity with where you are looking at.