I am a hunter and looking to get a nice bright light to help me through my early mornings of walking in the woods… Can someone please suggest a great flashlight for around $40?
Something RELIABLE… Something that I can trust in bad weather… Something that has good battery life… Something that can put out a long beam but also can light up a wide diameter or my surroundings…
Thank you very much for your time.
What type of battery?
Something wallet friendly. If I am deep in the woods I might be gone for 2-3 days at a time. I will not have access to electricity…
So it would need to be small? The PA40 is a pretty nice quality light with a battery indicator. It is on sale for 47.50 at sbflashlights.
Hows the beam distance on that one? I will be in bear/mountain lion country and need something that will allow me to reach out to my surroundings
It's ok. Here a beamshot is comparing it to other flashlights (stolen from selfbults review). It is the PA40.
That looks fairly good. Though on that site you suggested its showing $78.90
I may have missed out on that sale. Any other suggestions?
Huh, I just checked and it’s showing the same thing… All of the Jetbeam lights are supposed to be on sale (and it was 47.50 earlier). I’ll PM the owner to ask him about that. 
If I could stay under $40 that’d be even better…
I'm guessing you do not already have 18650s and a charger?
Just get a Small Sun ZY-T08 for around $26 to $29 shipped.
How’s this look to you?
Small Sun ZY-T08 100yds to the tree manual exposure 1.4 sec shutter.
120yds
I would suggest the Rayovac Indestructible. It has enough power if you are in forrest areas, runs on standard batteries and has a good runtime (and you can easily carry spare batteries with you).
I have the identical Varta Indestructable and it is definately a nice light. It might not put out as much light as a XML with a LiIon cell, but for average use it is awesome. I also like the fact that it is nicely rugged and will withstand a lot of pain 
I don’t have either… Aren’t those 18650s quite expensive unless you charge them?
Would love to find a light that came with a charger but also has the ability to take standard batteries? So I can keep it charged while home, but when I am in the field I have extra juice without worry.
That looks like a pretty neat light. Takes 2 of those 18650s… read my above comment and see if you can find something like that
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18560’s are a rechargeable only li-ion battery. There are several different chemisties of li-ion. But you’ll need a dedicated charger for them and they require slightly more care when using/charging them compared to “normal” batteries. That said they are no more volatile than using petrol, in say a car.
The big difference with li-ion is they have a low self discharge, so you can charge them up and they won’t go flat on their own very quickly. But they are also high powered, a normal AA or D cell is only 1.5v while a li-ion is 4.2v, this makes a big difference to performance in a torch.
You can get some torches that use both normal batteries and li-ion, but usually in the AA and 14500 li-ion sizes, not the 18650’s. However output of the light will be massively reduced on an AA.
CR123a’s are a lithium primary battery, these are not recharageable and put out 3.0v and will offer up higher output than a regular AA does.
Choosing the right battery is important and it’s worth your time to learn what the differences are and how they affect a flashlights performance. This way you can buy with confidence and make an informed decision.
18650’s are “Lion” cells that need to be charged so you would need a charger, when using any lion or lithium rechargeable type cell you should avoid deep discharging them (Going below the nominal voltage, 3.7v although with flashlights it may be safe down to 3.0v-2.8v at the lowest).
Recharging a cell that has been deep discharged can result in severe cell damage not limited to fire, explosion, cell venting (Hydrogen and other gasses released from the cell), chemical burns, etc. If you do deep discharge a cell then you should avoid reusing it and have it recycled (Lions are pretty harmless to the env, but the packaging and alu stock can be reused and not wasted in landfills). Lions should never exceed 4.22v or so depending on capacity, I stay around 4.15-4.20 at the most when fully charged.
Protected cells have a circuit placed in them that should prevent deep discharged by cutting off power at 2.8b-3.0v but may not always function; checking the voltages/charge state is vital before charging Any Lithium based rechargeable (Or any cell for that matter). If you needed to run the light non stop for important reasons with cell life being unimportant then protected cells may be a bad choice since you won’t be able to “kill” them without ripping out the protection circuit.
Lithium primary’s are like regular batteries when treated properly but do still carry some of the hazards of lithium based batteries. Do not recharge primary batteries under any circumstance! Using multiple cells (More than one) in a light can result in “Back charging” cells if the charge current is not equal, leading to the same risks that would be experienced while charging the cells happening during operation! Only worse, since the cell is usually deep discharged by this point and could cause severe damage when charged.
For this reason when using multiple cells it is vital to check the charge state of the cells before using them and after a period of time. This is even more important in rechargeable cell lights since some cells (Even of the same manufacturer and make) can discharge at different rates and cause damage.
I don’t mean to scare you off of Lions and Lithium based cells, I could say plenty of bad things about traditional alkaline, NIMH/CD, and other types too but it’s important to know what your getting into as well as cell safety. Most of these rules (Excluding charge rate, voltages) apply to other cells as well, so it’s best to learn and go forwards than practice unsafe cell use with other cells that could eventually land you in the same boat.
I’ve never had any issues with lithium based batteries when used correctly, so long as you follow proper precautions when using them you shouldn’t have any issues. It’s not much more dangerous than that highly flammable, explosive gasoline that powers most peoples vehicles and usually is in much higher quantities!
Far as costs, I’ve bought around half as many batteries since I’ve moved do rechargeable cells. Makes me fell good about not having to run to the story all the time for cells. Think about what you spend already and see if it would make sense if bought less.
I would say you need a light that you can buy batteries anywhere, so you could always get the $15 LED Maglights at The Home Depot.
You really can’t go wrong with a XinTD C8 from intl-outdoors.
Only about $30 and the three mode will offer excellent runtime on low and on high it will throw about as far as you can reasonable see without binoculars.
Then all you need is a few 18650 cells. If you’re staying 2-3 days without power just set yourself up with multiple 18650 cells.