Thread 2827848

Can I get some recommendations for a good flashlight that won't cost an arm and a leg?

Also Flashlight/Torch General, I guess.

>>2827848 (OP)
my favorite flashlight is a maglight. I have the exact same one as in the pic attached. I replaced the standard bulb with a led bulb. It is very bright and shines a long distance. I primarily use it when I walk my dog at night. I am always seen thanks to it. Hope that helps.

>>2827882
Technology has evolved since the 90s.

>>2827848 (OP)
Op here, forgot to ask but are you guys doing rechargeable batteries or no?

rovyvon a5. giant flashlights are for larpers

Sofirn sc18 when it's on sale on aliexpress. Might need to collect some coins for that though

>>2827848 (OP)
unironically i got one from aliexpress for something like 25 cents aud a few years back for stormwater drain/urbex bullshit. still works perfectly

>>2827919
it has a built in rechargable battery and a usb c port to charge it with

>>2827848 (OP)
this thing is dope and bright as fuck, I have 2 of them
https://www.amazon.com/EverBrite-Flashlight-Adjustable-Heavy-duty-Batteries/dp/B07L4MR986/

>>2827848 (OP)
Hey is that the Blue Ridge Tunnel? Its a cool walk, allegedly there's plans to connect its walking trail all the way to Charlottesville

I want a headlamp for night hiking and loading stuff into my car in the dark but I have a HUGE head and I bet normal ones won't fit
66 cm circumference skull
any ideas what I could do?

>>2828107
Yeah it's the Blue Ridge Tunnel. Connecting it to Charlottesville would be pretty awesome. Tried walking it without a light once, it was super disorienting.

>>2828111
https://a.co/d/hLvi782
Probably your best bet as long as you have hats that fit.

>>2828111
Anything that’s meant for construction hardhats should fit

>>2828122
I grew up in that area. Missed my chance to go explore it, apparently when I was younger there was a gap in the wall they used to brick up the tunnel and some kids I knew would squeeze in there to go fuck around in the dark

>>2828122
Should've put this on my previous post, but I'm coming back to that area after living elsewhere in the country for a while. What are some trails/landmarks you like to hit if you have any?

>>2827848 (OP)
Charging batteries is a pain and can be dangrous; just buy a few spare AA/AAA batteries — they're everywhere. My Kodak camera and MP3 player run on them too. I like how universal they are. Sadly, they didn't invent phones with these batteries.

Pic related lights (except the one in the middle) have good-quality warm-white LEDs and are dimmable. You can get 180–250 hours of light with new batteries.

Get a dynamo light OP.
Fuck batteries
You can get dynamo lights with a solar charge on it to to hang on you bag while walking so its ready to use when night comes, not that winding the dynamo is an issue. Wind it 12 times and it last for hours.
Something like this is good enough
https://www.amazon.co.uk/superpow-Rechargeable-Portable-Emergency-Carabiner/dp/B09WMMBRY2?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.yYck6GvoaKgWWxLzaLYfwfqT6IC6lDbjD4yMxR-ARCTsTr8q4_SaTcm7bhEClqTRjTwwNMECw1pox6-yTtEzQkCK8Yl4wFyqqigJlBzTNyaeFEI8qeu6TUxsZiGeqiOM8I_BWirHq_Xp4NXhBQo7vapWvd8-krVgQj1Dg5shnQ1vD_HmCH-uLynQScOUCY3FjXG0LeHegpqlaceEnqN7AaXXkPGOULsktREXW63moGBOBfW2xv2UyMkhwV82DCmDjMfkwPjn5Xlha-8eKdY1Ec8qqsnWoboMtY_KxnRBJ7g.v028mpcslh4FYS1DoEwGwB-LokPMAVP72_eZ9y8IxC4&dib_tag=se&keywords=dynamo+torch&qid=1752097103&sr=8-6

>>2827848 (OP)
use a search engine and find one with the features you want
http://parametrek.com

>>2827848 (OP)
try Sofirn, they make decent flashlights, water resistant and water proof, usb C rechargeable, swappable batteries and really cheap.

The Nichia 519A Led is quite nice, has high CRI.

Sofirn and Wurkkos make nice budget lights.
Olight is mostly overpriced trash with subpar LEDs.

Emisar also makes amazing stuff.

>>2827848 (OP)
q1: How are you going to carry it?
This tells you what sizes to look at.

- keychain-sized with builtin battery
- 14500 lights; round; about length of finger
- 18650 lights; round; about width of hand
- 21700 lights; round

q2: Would you be bother by having to carry the flashlight in a locked state?

>>2830861
Probably an 18650, I'm not so sure about the locking thing. I guess it would be nice as long a don't have to fidget too much to unlock it

>>2827848 (OP)
Imalent MS32. Nothing can top it.

>>2827848 (OP)
This little shit (6€ on sale months ago, on AliExpress) is the bomb.

>>2831209
Top right @ 50 m
Arrows point @ 100 m

>>2827848 (OP)
How to pick a flashlight
1. Pick how big/heavy youd like your flashlight to be
2. Find one in that general size range with the longest battery life at "low" settings
3. Buy that flashlight

>>2831213
Battery life depends on battery (and led power rating, obv.)...
What you "need" depends on what you want it for: walking around (wide beam), hunting (long throw), marine environment (waterproof), etc.
On AliExpress:
Convoy
Nightcore
Sofirn
Manker
etc.
Prefer mfr website, rather than AliExpress, though .
Avoid *anything* *Fire (flashlights, batteries, etc.), of AliExpress; it's just cheapass pos trying to surf on SureFire's brand name.

>>2827848 (OP)
If you're in europe, LED Lenser. Mid-level prices, good quality, and lifetime warranty. On mine, the switch died this year (after ~15 years of regular use, including several years in the tropics), I asked if they still sold spares, and got it for free instead.

>>2827848 (OP)
Sofirn and Wurkko
sofirn HS21 is my typical flashlight i gift to family on mass. Extremely good price value

>>2828111
I have little knowledge in this field, I just got a Petzl Bindi little mini headlight for work, and it uses this stretchy bungee cord stuff instead of a strap, and maybe it is better for big. Maybe

Had curious difficulty with this.

It seems like most flashlights no longer have positive battery connection and the batteries are all just spring loaded in. And this tends to make them not shock proof, and useless if the case is damaged.

And LED programming is sort of useful, but what was lost here were proper lenses, often it's just a bit of plastic to cover an LED array

Head torches, flimsy, not properly strapped, full side elastic which always snags on things. No mounting points.

Bulbs which simply can't be changed, making the entire thing disposable, and making the backup an entire second unit.

No direct charge for extended use or emergency crank charging.

Torn on lithium, great batteries but an environmental nightmare and a persistent fire hazard in the environment.

>>2831237
>after ~15 years of regular use
Didn't they get bought by the chinese? Has the quality on their recent products changed?

I used to play with one of these when I was a kid in the 80s ( It was my grandpa's), was thinking of getting a new one from the local milsurp store. Has anyone tried the led mod on these? Is it necessary or are they good enough as-is?

>>2827882
How do you fumble around with a flashlight in one hand and a leash in the other while you pick up your downs shit?

>>2827848 (OP)
Something maybe not everyone knows, a LOT of sites LIE about the lumen/brightness of lights.

And lot of lights have multi modes, and switching between them is a PAIN.

What's brightest light under 50$ and brightest under 100$?

>>2827848 (OP)
Do not buy small ones with small battery and many lumens. It will burn your fingers with short battery life due to its size.

I have a small 1800 lumens Nitecore and always needs charging.

Then i have a bigger Beta. That i forget it in the glcar in winter and now is not working anymore...

just get a torch with bigger batteries. If you can buy it separate and add lifepo4 battery

>>2828048
>>2828162
>>2831209
can we just normalize it - when showing flashlights - to show the internals as clear as the possibilities of non-destructive disassembly allows? So /diy/ohm/ fags can form an opinion.
Pic of exterior appearance is the least useful for letting others form opinions. Beam pattern helps but only shows output and won't help much when no standard for photography is adhered to https://swhs.home.xs4all.nl/fiets/tests/verlichting_analyse/camera/index_en.html .
Beam shots give no clue about the efficiency and thus endurance. Only user report or pics of internals will give clues.

>>2834237
This. I'm looking for a good flashlight and I don't have a ton of money to spend, but at this point I don't know what I should be looking for - Lumens? Beam width? Throw? It doesn't help that all I can find on youtube is flashlight autists shilling super high end lights. I just want something to take on hikes that's durable and bright and won't break the bank.

>>2836038
Friend. So I have recently gone down this road. I might have very different requirements from you but I can at least explain what I wanted and what I am getting.
I dont care about lamp autism or numbers and don't want GNU/light. I want something thag just works. Press a button and you have light. Never breaks, doesn't need a manual, maintenance or fiddling.
I want the thing to be robust enough to handle the occassional misshap: Water tight, falling from any height you can hold it, freezing, abrasion etc.
I want it for walking, setting up camp, going for a leak and adjusting camp at night. For that I do not care about throwing wide, LASER beam to the moon, or 360 and everything above flood.
But I want very low settings. For economy and also I dont want a million lumens at night when my eyes are adjusted to the dark and if I can avoid it I dont want to annohnce my presence to every bug in a 10 mile radius.
It must light a bicycle in a pinch. So throw far enough for you to go fast but still spot things early enpugh to react and also wide enough to let you know where the corner is going to be.
Want USB C charging to charge off bicycle dynamo.
The thing must also be compact. The best light is no good if you don't have it on you because bulk. So a single 18650 cell light must do it.
I looked at offers from a few brands, many of which suggested by anons:
Convoy
Lumintop,
Wurkkos
and so on.
I found their designs remarkably similar. Unsurprising with how industry works nowadays.
I really liked the general concept or idea of the Lumintop W1. But the unprotected USB C is really yucky and it has all those features I dont really want: LGBT disco light and what not in a super complex UI.
Then that convoy stuff:
Looked at the S21 light. GNU/light. The whole business just seems to cater to light autists sho are enchanted by flashlights and compulsively bux them and kbsess over the details. I dont want to need to know about emitters and reflectors and shit to buy (...)

>>2836042
(...) the fucking light. Also I dont trust a product that isn't integrated (here bro buy this replacement driver you can hack it into the flashlight body we gave you, feel free to write your custom firmware for it as you have nothing else to do and this LED you can replace) to be very solid and robust and not every configuration might be actually tested.
So yeha someone suggested the wurkkos. I got that. FC11C or so. Going by the datasheet it has a rwasonably low power or 'moonlight' mode that you can directly access from off. Thats nice. It seems to have decent endurance. Nice too. USB C charging with a cover. The UI seems for the most part reasonable. I found the price decent especially considering the battery is included. Also they have a webshop and ship from EU. Brand webshop was important to me as I dont amazon alibaba or (((other))). Ofc it does have some of the undesireable features like disco light and what not but thats okay.
What's your requirements? Use case?
You listed lumens, beam width and throw. So you're out for lotsa power? I checked two videos on YT comparing chink lamps jn that price range and form factor.Yeah autistic guys with clearly too many lights and probably too little opportunity to use them over all the time lost for obsessing about lights but not my problem. I get the info I need. Most importantly:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQA55ejjYbQ

>>2836043
Thanks for taking the time to write all that. I hadn't even considered the usefulness of details like a charging port cover, and I agree that the UI on most of these I've checked out so far is retarded.
>What's your requirements? Use case?
Just hiking and camping. I think in my case I'd appreciate beam width more than throw, and something small enough that it won't weigh down my pocket. Something like the one in the vid you posted looks like it'll fit the bill nicely.

>>2836047
Wait a few more days in case of that FC11C thing as by then it should have arrived and I will be able to investigate and demonstrate whatever you're interested in. I think I remember having paid 18€ for it including the battery which I consider decent.

>>2836048
Alright, thanks I'll keep an eye on this thread.

>>2836049
Here it is. Comes like that.

Comes in a box with some padding. Also bubble wrap on the actual light.
Lanyard, spare Orings, UAB C to USB B, manual and extra cretin guide. The cell comes in the light and has one insulator.

It's got springs on both ends, a feature I was particularly looking for as it reducing the chances of bouncing off a stiff contact and going off in a fall. Worst case you drop it in darkness and loose it.

USB C cover looks like it'll do its job.

Reflector and LED. Crystal is plain and featureless.

It comes adequately charged it seems.
>Switch on
>wowsobright.jpg
The UI is as expected. Click on click off, hold to cycle through power levels. Last level is restored on click on. Longer press from off for ECO.
Doesn't really look like a moonlight to me, says 2 lumen in the manual. But I see how they would have trouble accurately controlling low asf current without a high impedance shunt. Most other people probably care about moonlight much less.
>picrel
is moonlight presumably. About 1s press from off.

After switching on it will briefly indicate good charge. Not after switching off.

>>2836049
If you want I can get 'beamshots' or investigate things youre particularly curious about. I just dont know how well 'beamshots' transfer because camera, exposure etc. Feels solid too me, no ratrles or anything that can be flexed really. But I wont 'torture test' it. So far it seems worth the 18€.

>>2836122
Bow that is nice. I found it will operate whilst charging. Not all devices do this. It's advabtageous for me as I like to bike and charge stuff of the dynamo. This way I can still have the backup light while charging.

>>2836118
So the first cahtious 'con' I found is the builtin charger being slow. If I am correct in my assumption that the indicator will change color once fully charged then it has not mamaged to fully charge from where ever it was when delivered (mind you the indicator did not judge the state of charge to be low) to where it would stop charging.
This is definately not a limitation of the charger as my mobile would charge a 33% larger capacity on the very same charger from dead to full in just 2 hours. The flashlight has by now been charging for 4 hours.

The manu claims it charges at up to 10W. doubt. It would charge from dead in 1 hour.
The manual also claims it would flash red during charging and turn green once full. Mine is continously red. This either indicates a fault or the manual is wrong in two places.

>>2827883
And not necessarily in the right direction. I have a Maglight with an old school incandescent buld that works great and a newer LED Maglight with a dead LED element that can't be changed out. Swapping a bulb on the old one is easy peasy but the new one may as well be considered disposable.

>>2836160
Snowman. You're pretending LEDs were lightbulps. Also you can just slap a new one on. It's a simple soldering job. Ot's not really a good thing constantly needing to fiddle with things.

>>2836158
Next slight 'con':
Maybe it takes getting used to but with the shape being almost perfectly cyclindrical, unlike the flashlights of old, I find you dont grab it the right way round as quickly or intuitively. Also the rubber USB C cover being on tje exact opposite side of the switch might briefly fool you as if it was the switch.

>>2836167
Yeah, you're right. Spending less than a minute to change out the bulb with the spare stored in the base once or twice a year is just soooo much inconvenience vs prying everything apart and soldering it back together hoping you didn't break anything.

>>2836201
You're still trying to maintain that very same strawman:
A LED is not a lightbulp. It does not fail
>once or twice a year
properly engineered and supplied conservatively it will last a human lifetime. Like the good old red LED in a radio clock.
I don't even believe you're as much a moron as you're trying to make yourself appear as. Instead you're just trying for whatever reason to 'win' online arguments as if others didn't realise blatantly obvious flawed dialetic or whatever.
>>2836049
Sooo Anon. As stupid as it might be and as little reliability there might be in a camera producing an accurate depiction of lighting, I did get a few shots. I did everything I could to produce somehow reproducible and comparable results but you never know what a modern digital camera might do that you don't know about. Ask me to post them if interested, I'm not spamming the thread for 0 audience.

>>2836211
Oh yeah I forgot a few more general observations.
The handling issues are just getting used to it and all gone. The outer edge of the beam does not cover your entire FOV but that oart of your FOV that you see with both eyes. I find that quite good.
I found the moonlight almost good enough for everything but then again it was a relatively bright night, I'm jsed to no lamp and perhaps thats also a bit due to what they teach you in basic training about night vision and all. I generally prefer to keep my nightvision.
I found a way that might be suitable to describe the moonlight setting: Its barely not enough to render color. You'll see the outlines of everything infront of you but not the color.
I also found it gets a bit warm if you hse the max setting alot but that is expected.
Also found a way to visualize the magnet strength. It's ample.

>>2836212
Thanks for doing all that, I appreciate it. I might actually go for that one, it seems like it checks all my boxes

>>2836217
ah youre still reading so I'll post one or two serkes of all the settings
we start with one unlit picture for baseline
i think it was 1s exposure and a ridicolous ISO like 3200

>>2836219
same scene, moonlight setting. Sorry for rotation.

>>2836220
first of the three settings it cycles through when its in the mode that cycles in discrete steps

>>2836221
second power level

>>2836222
third and afaik highest that will run permanently

>>2836223
double click for full retard
yeah cameras just dont have the same dynamic range as the human eye.
as said its really hard to convey this

And one more. Same sequence. Baseline. Some. fully grown pine tree. So you have an idea of height / distance.

>>2836227
moonlight

>>2836229
1

>>2836230
2

>>2836231
3

>>2836232
photonic spastic
also I believe the clip is designed the wrong way round. The weight woukd allow you to clip it to a cap or somethjng but you'd by fryjng your eyes as its the wrong way.