Looking for an Emergency Flashlight

Hey everyone, really happy to be on this forum :slight_smile:

I will preface this by saying that me and my family live out in the sticks, so power outages are frequent(especially at night) and they can last a decent amount of time. We have some animals on the farm and when the power goes out we have to make it to the barn to check they have enough water without the pumps. Recently there has also been a lot of coyotes around so I have been going out every time this happens, but if I am not at home my wife does not feel to comfortable walking out there with our old D cell flashlight that was used on the farm before we even met.

For this reason I am looking to get a nice big emergency flashlight. Ideally something that has a rechargeable battery would be great but we have a battery drawer that stays chalk full of different types, plus I have chargers for AA and AAA. I was originally thinking that a MagLite would be the best option as it is a gigantic flashlight so hopefully my Wife will feel safer walking out with it, and the light that you get from a good one is pretty intense. This seems to be where to people who know the most about flashlights are, so I was wondering if anyone here had some more suggestions for me. Thanks in advance :slight_smile:

So I decided to stick with what I know best and just get a maglite for now. I plan on getting a lithium powered headlamp in the future, but I think that I need to learn a little more about the how to properly care for and the store the batteries first. Good thing I have found such a great website for that :slight_smile:

Do you want to stay with the normal battery types (AA, AAA, D and C)?
Or would you be willing to try out some of the Li-Ion batteries not readily available at your local retailer?

Oh and welcome!

Welcome! You are in for a happy surprise if you think hardware store Mag Lights are intense.

Are you open to the idea of learning about the proper care and feeding of Lithium batteries? If so, your options are much larger. I’m not sure about UK sources, but BangGood, GearBest and AliExpress are Asian suppliers of almost all the lights we talk about here on BLF.

Sticking with AA, my fav EDC light is a UT01 sourced from GearBest.

A hands free Boruit RJ-02 with a built in charger for an 18650 lithium cell might be nice.

An Eagle Eye X6R has built in charging.

The BLF A6 is a nice light, but you may need to invest in a charger that can charge 18650’s.

Anything from Convoy is usually a good choice.

Someone more knowledgeable will be along (or has beat me) with more and better information and questions like “How far do you need to throw the light?”

I am quite happy using either, although I can assume the Li-Ion powered flashlights will be much stronger so that might be a better idea :slight_smile:

And thank you!

What about a budget ? How much would you like to spend?

I would be more than happy to learn about how to properly store and charge Lithium batteries. Right now that is the best that we have for batteries so why not use it?

A lot of those lights looks pretty good, and really bright. The Eagle Eye looks really good to me, I like the built in charging and if it is a hunting flash light I imagine it would light up the eyes of a creature even if you can’t see them. The UTorch looks like it might be my next in-truck flashlight though!

The main reason for getting a light is for the security that me and my family feels when the power cuts and we have work to do, so I would be willing to spend a couple hundred pounds on a high quality light and charging station if required, especially if that means that we will save on batteries in the long run.

I suggest a few of these.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/ThorFire-Upgraded-C8s-Flashlight-Battery/dp/B00URHB1JA/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1495719638&sr=8-3&keywords=thorfire

This kit has a charger battery and light. If something is not to your liking or breaks, you can always return them.

I hope others will suggest something as well.

Welcome to BLF Bright_Guy

I took delivery of a Thorfire TK4A this week (around $30Au) and I’ll be keeping it as an emergency light only - it can take 4xAA Alkalines or Nimh’s
Another one I was eyeing off was the Lumintop Sd4A but it’s pushing $50Au (a bit much for just sitting around just in case I thought)

I prefer my 18650 lights but just in case, there’s no power to charge them or you’ve been slack and not kept a stack of cells charged then a simple yet plenty powerfull 1000lum 4AA is a good backup

A thrunite TH20 headlamp is good too because it can take AAs too

Its been a while since i left Devon i admit but i never realised London had Coyotes ! . I would go for a Thrunite TN4A which runs on AA batts i would go with the Eneloop brand to run them or if you want 18650 power source get a Thorfire C8 both are on Amazon.co.uk you could have by saturday if you have Amazon Prime .

if it comes to a really easy to use light that supports a charging station
not sure if it also lights up when power is out, there are some lights that do it to lowest level, so you can easily find them

http://flashlight.nitecore.com/ILLUMINATION/R/R40/
http://flashlight.nitecore.com/ILLUMINATION/R/R25/

one that lights up when power goes off
https://olightworld.com/store/flashlight/r50-pro-seeker-le.html
Emergency use. When the R Dock is suddenly powered off, it can immediately turn on the flashlight under the low mode through infrared communication

when you want to stick with AA Batteries
http://flashlight.nitecore.com/ILLUMINATION/E/EA41/

All of the suggestions so far are great. If you want something large that can be used as a club though, I’d say a MagLite would be hard to beat. The ML300 3D cell series are pretty good these days too. That said, I think a Convoy L6 could do some serious damage as a club as well, and would be significantly brighter, but would require new batteries and chargers.

If you want to stick with what you know and not hassle with lithium ions, the Maglite ML300LX will most likely be bright enough for your needs and could be used as a club. It’s affordable and uses common D batteries. The only downside is that depending on how often you use your light, the batteries will eventually leak over time. In the UK, I’m not sure whether or not the battery manufacturers will reimburse you if that happens. In the US, Duracell will reimburse you for leakage if the battery has not expired.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/qca/Maglite-Torch-Matt-Finish-Handle-Waffle-29-5-cm-ML300LX/B00S7W3GDQ

The suggestions for AA lights are also good since you can use rechargeable AAs (Eneloops) and not need to worry about leakage or batteries being available. I’ve reviewed the Thorfire TK4A and like it alot. Uses 4xAAs.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ThorFire-Flashlight-Flashligh-Activities-Batteries/dp/B06XSX7BN3/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1495723896&sr=8-1&keywords=thorfire+tk4a

If you want a super bright (2000 lumen) AA light, the Nitecore EA81 uses 8 AAs. I have this light and it is both really bright and has really long runtimes. Because it uses 8xAA, it is also heavy enough to be used as a small club. This is about the size of a 2-D Maglite. The output and runtimes of this light rival lithium-ion lights and in fact, this light will do better than most 1x18650 lights.
http://flashlight.nitecore.com/ILLUMINATION/E/EA81/

If you do want to try a lithium ion light, I would recommend a good light with built-in charging. Lexel recommended the Olight R50 Pro Seeker. However, according to the below review, the light never stops charging completely when the battery is full. So, if you get that light you must remove it from the charger when it is full or the battery may potentially be damaged over time or overheat.

The Olight R50 Seeker (non-Pro version) does not have the charge termination problem so that is probably a more fool-proof unit if you don’t want to think about needing to remove the light from the charger:

For the D size maglites there are holders which will take 3AA cells in parallel to make a single D size cell, this is a good option as it allows the use of AA eneloops.

For a light when working, you can’t beat a headlight. I am very happy with my skilhunt H03 but there are many others to choose from just as good (and maybe better)…
If you can wait for some time you might want to have look at the Q8 beeing designed on this forum. It is/will be a very strong and bright flash light capable of long runtime in the lower modes.
Both suggestions work on LiIon batteries. If you have frequent power outage for longer time then Liion might be the way to go.

I was thinking the same thing: working on a farm — headlight. I too like the SilkHunt H03. Some people don’t like the fact that the LED is off center, but it doesn’t bother me. It does take a 18650 Lithium Ion battery.

Some of the options I would recommend.

Silkhunt H03 Headlamp
Battery: 18650 Lithium Ion
Review: Everydaysurvivalgear’s review

C8 (Convoy C8 or ThorFire C8S)
These are great little flashlights. Lots of light and affordable.
Battery: 18650 Lithium Ion
Review: ReManG stephenk cmflippen
ThorFire C8S on Amazon
Convoy C8 on Convoy store

ThorFire S70S or Convoy L6
If you like the size and heft of the MagLight you will like these two.
Battery: 2x 26650 Lithium Ion
Review: RobertB’s S70S and lumenzilla’s L6

If you want to stay with non-Li-Ion batteries I would look at some of the 4x AA lights. These would include:

  • Thrunite TN4A
  • Sunwayman D40A

When you decide, check with Freeme and M4D M4X to see if they have any discount codes.

WELCOME to BLF!

+1 & welcome to BLF……. :+1:

O, man. Actually you need GenSet with AMF panel and ATS.
Better diesel one, not gasoline.
OK, it does not change flashlight need.
My suggestion is:
18650 battery;
Neutral or warm white;
build USB charger;
tailcap swhich;
pocket friendly.
Eagle Eye X2R,X5R,Thrunite TN12, TC12 are some options.