Show me your Flashlights!

[TWISTEDWILLOW]

Over the years I have owned, abused and inadvertently destroyed “dozens” of flashlights lol,

I’ve tried maglights, nebos, surefires, I’ve tried cheapo Amazon specials and I’ve had expensive ones that used weird batteries and I’ve tried rechargeables, 

im extremely ruff and demanding on my everyday carry flashlights and probably put 200-300 hrs a year on them in and around my shop, 

currently I’ve been using a pelican 3415 model, to date it has lasted 2-1/2 years and is still going strong,

it’s been dropped, ran over, burned, exposed to extreme heat an cold, soaked in everything from carburetor cleaner to motor oil to water an coffee lol, 

Also my toddler steals it outta my pocket an runs off with it for use as a hammer pretty regularly!

I literally carry it with me in my pocket everywhere from the shop to the chicken coop to Wally World lol

it has an articulating head with a belt clip as well as a magnet so you can stick it on a machine and adjust the head to your work area,

It’s one of my favorite tools that I use constantly! 
 

Okay now I’ve showed mine an blabbed about it lol

I know we got people on here that work in all kinds of industries from construction, electricians, plumbers, auto body, mechanics, law enforcement an emergency personnel and everything else! 

i am curious what flashlights everyone else uses for their everyday carry, but also the weekend and occasional users, 

cheapos and expensive ones, all makes makes an models, what do y’all use?

[Scott NC]

  Pelicans it for me too.  I got hooked on them in a dark, dank oil extraction plant I worked at.  They called them Intrinsically Safe Flashlights.  We called them explosion proof!

[TWISTEDWILLOW]

Sweet I’m not the only one,

what model is yours Scott?

[Scott NC]

This ones 3315.  I keep it in the drawer and have several beaters I carry and keep in the car, shop, etc.  I never had one fail yet but I did drop one accidently down the intake pipe of a running hammermill at work once.  It stalled the thing out (no small feat) and when we opened it up there was nothing left.  Sounded like the end of the world..... They made ME replace the hammers (the ruined ones went home with me that night, with permission) !

[Frosty]

I used to use the aluminum club flashllights police used, maybe still do because they were tough. When I got married it turned out Deb and I had a Christmas tradition in common, two main types of stocking stuffers. Silly things like socks with pom poms, carved coal goats, etc. And useful consumables like batteries, pens and stuff. She bought me a key fob with a LED flashlight and a new tradition was off. Little flashlights and batteries every Christmas, They're all over the house and vehicles.

So, currently I have a number of EDC flashlights all of them small LEDs usually AAA cell powered. I really like the ones with variable width beams and magnetic bases but have zero use for the ones that: dim, blink, send SOS or a tac light, setting and it's all part of the only switch so I can't just turn it on or off. I had one I could get past all the stupid settings in the switch by unscrewing the end to break the connection and counting to three. Another one had an area light but it came one every time you try to turn it off so it was designed to blind you.

We have a few head lights, they make getting firewood in the dark a lot easier and safer but what's this thing with tac lights! Is the firewood likely to attack me? Moose don't care, I've hit them in the eye with a tight beam LED tac flashing. 

Frosty The Lucky.

 

[Randy Griffin]

I been carrying a flashlight every where for years until I had surgery 2 years ago. I still grab it from time to time. My latest was a stream light pen light in my shirt pocket. I had it about 5 years until I lost it a couple weeks ago. Luckily I got several backups. I also buy cheapos when I see them. If I’m in the shop and need a light I want to reach one without getting up.

[Scott NC]

  I bet this would scare off a moose:

[TWISTEDWILLOW]

16 hours ago, Nodebt said:

It stalled the thing out (no small feat)

Opps! Lol 

13 hours ago, Frosty said:

used to use the aluminum club flashllights police used

Sounds like a maglight, I’ve got a 6d cell one floating around the shop the never gets used much, and my wife has a 4d cell one she keeps in her car, 

I agree I don’t have much use for all the crazy settings on some flashlights, 

9 hours ago, Randy Griffin said:

I want to reach one without getting up

That’s a bummer you lost your light after five years, hopefully you find it soon,

That’s why I keep mine in my pants pocket so I don’t have to get up to grab a light,

[Frosty]

Yes, Maglight, it used to be THE name in flashlights but you hardly hear the name anymore. My large one was 4 cell.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Randy Griffin]

Mag light made one that took a single aaa battery. I used it hanging around my neck to walk to my hunting stand. Wish someone made a led that small.

[Frosty]

The key fob led was about the size of a postage stamp maybe 1/8" thick. I have a couple way smaller. Deb got me one a clip on one Christmas about the size of a shirt button maybe 2x as thick. I didn't like that one because the light was always in my eyes. 

I just checked but won't link them search "Key chain LED light" they come in lots.

Frosty The Lucky.

[rockstar.esq]

I've had sure fires, stream lights and now I'm on to a Fenix PD35.  Adjustable brightness is very useful in my life.  It'll get bright enough to light the far corners of a derelict warehouse, while also allowing me to read a tiny label inside of a panel.

The original surefires burned through batteries like crazy.  I replaced my lost streamlight with the Fenix.  Couple of years later, my wife found the streamlight in a woodpile.  It works fine, only now she's claimed it.

 

 

 

[ThomasPowers]

LED lights have really made a difference for things like caving!

[George N. M.]

Most of my caving was done with a carbide lamp which had a number of advantages to the incandescent flashlights and head lamps of the time.  About 16 years ago my late wife, Martha, our teenage son, Tom, and I took the lower cave tour at Carlsbad Caverns.  We were furnished with hard hats with built in LED lights in them and the difference was amazing.

BTW, the lower cave tour is excellent and I recommend it if you are ever at Carlsbad Caverns.  The most strenuous part is some ladder climbing and descending  to get to and from the upper level (the Big Room) to the lower level.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[TWISTEDWILLOW]

15 hours ago, rockstar.esq said:

The original surefires burned through batteries like crazy

I agree! I had a surefire g2 10+ years ago and I couldn’t keep enough batteries to run that thing, I don’t know if they’ve gotten better now but they used to be expensive to run

[Scott NC]

On 4/11/2022 at 6:04 PM, Frosty said:

Another one had an area light but it came one every time you try to turn it off so it was designed to blind you.

  Heres another blinder.  If you don't pay attention to how it is orientated in your hand it makes you see stars.  It's a Streamlight "dually".  I don't use it much.

[TWISTEDWILLOW]

Is that a light above the button?

[Scott NC]

  Yes, a very bright one!   

[TWISTEDWILLOW]

Good grief! I’m thinking some engineer didn’t quit think that placement through! 

I Could see how that would blind a body! 

[Scott NC]

  It's got a light out front too but, I got used to ones with just one button so I quit using it.  

[Frosty]

Nah Billy, like so much else today it was designed by someone who thought s/he had a good idea but lacked enough practical experience to actually have one. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[rockstar.esq]

Twisted Willow,  I can't speak for surefires as I don't have any of the new ones, but the streamlight and Fenix LED lights last at least double as long on the same batteries as the Surefire I had with a Xenon lamp.  Like Frosty, I'm old enough that I started my apprenticeship with Maglights.  I've done a lot of attic work with a mini mag light in my mouth!  It was in such constant use that I used to buy bulk packs of replacement lamps for the mini mag light.  I also bought industrial grade AA batteries from the supply house because they generally got me one more hour of run time.  I also had a four D cell model for area lighting.  They were so heavy and awkward for service work that I tended to set it in the corner of a room so that it'd refract off two walls and a ceiling.  I got a few lumps on my noggin when it fell on me during auto work.  It had an unerring ability to only fit in one spot of the machinery to halfway light whatever I was doing.  Somehow it knew when I had both hands committed to a task, and then it would pounce.  Like a bee, it often died in the attack.  I got to where I could replace the lamp on it in dark, confined spaces with a head wound, without crying too much. 

Still, it was always better than dragging a 120V cord connected trouble light around.  Those really upped the ante in terms of angry equipment.  It was pretty common to hammer in a staple, which broke the lamps filament plunging you into darkness.  So you grope blindly for the light, which helpfully burns you.  If you're particularly unlucky, your reaction to the burn will be to drop the light.  Sometimes the wire cage protecting the lamp was not up to the task of preventing the glass bulb from shattering so that adds another obstacle in your now blind escape from an attic.  On the plus side, you could follow the trouble light cord back out, and then you could follow the blood trail back to where you were working!

George,  I've never been caving before but LED headlamps have become cheap and effective enough that they're pretty common on construction hardhats.  That being said, they're not all created equal.  I have one made by Milwaukee that offers better color rendering which is particularly important to me as an electrician.  It's also got several light levels which really helps for close up tasks.  One thing I wish they'd consider doing is to put an old fashioned multi position switch on the danged thing.  It's got a single pushbutton for everything, so you've got to scroll through the brightness levels to get to dark.  The lowest output level is just before off so I often have to check that it's really off, otherwise I'm burning battery life for nothing.

It's also a smidge frustrating that it automatically dims one level when the batteries are dying.  I suppose it's better than going full dark, but it'd be super handy if it had a simple battery gauge on it so you knew to swap them before going someplace dark.  Then again, it hasn't hit, burned, or cut me so that's nice.

 

 

[Scott NC]

  Old style led, not very portable though :

[TWISTEDWILLOW]

That’s interesting Scott, I’ve never seen that before! 
 

On 4/12/2022 at 11:55 PM, George N. M. said:

carbide lamp

I’ve never used it but I have one, it’s a justrite brand

[Scott NC]

  That's a lime light.  The kind everybody wants to be in..... What do those run on Billy?