My wife works in a very tall building and I would like to get her a good flashlight in case she were to have to evacuate. I know the criteria but I am having a hard time figuring out what best to get her.
Criteria:
1AA - Alkaline or Eneloop
Floody
Simple UI
2 or 3 mode preferred (more interested in usable light rather than blinding lumens)
Need good runtime on medium lumen mode to ensure she doesn’t run out the battery in less than an hour
No strobes
Looking under $30
I have the following 3 lights but don’t think any of them are perfect for her needs.
Zebralight H501W - modes and runtime are great, but too expensive and not a handheld
Sipik 68 - Only 1 mode, short runtime and not enough flood
C3-907 - Has strobe, great thrower, hardly any flood
If it’s going to be an emergency light, put energizer lithium aa’s in it! They don’t leak, and last for like 15 years apparently, very low discharge rate. While rechargeables, such as eneloops, discharge around 10-20% every year.
I would think it’d be a good idea to get something with a hotspot, not flood. Because if there is going to be alot of smoke, you want that dense beam to cut through it!
That is a good point. I think the flood would be better if there were no smoke and she was leading others out, but I see what you mean if there was smoke. Hmmmm.
Sintro - I think I’m going to stick with flood. My reasoning is when there is a lot of fog, your high beams make it harder to see because of the high concentration of light. I think a lower general lighting would be better than a brighter sharp beam of light reflecting back off of the smoke.
everyone said yellow beams, like incans work really well, and tight beams are the best because then you don’t blind yourself to the whole room, then theres contrast.
I see your criteria includes AA’s, and I used to use them too, until I got a bad batch of bulk pak Duracells that ate 3 mini mag-lites and almost got my wireless mouse.
You can buy primary CR-123s that have a claimed 10 year shelf life, with a lot more juice on tap than a AA alkaline. If your careful you can buy a pair of rechargeable 123’s and an inexpensive charger for $15 or so and be close to budget WITH batteries and charger.
UltraFire 501a, P60 host from manafont.com - $5.89
From their website…
• An original accessory produced by Ultrafire
• Use it to DIY your personal flashlight
• Suit to install Q5 or R5 LED Drop-in Module(SKU 4594,4595,4596,4597)
• Installed Battery mode:1 x CR123A tail-tip battery
• Need a pocket rocket? This is your must have!
Over $7.00 left over in your budget. This one is my EDC, I gave one to my mom and my wife.
The Solarforce drop-in will take a CR-123 down to nothing, with a protected rechargeable battery you have a light that will last probably for years, (with recharges of course).
Another vote for the Lighthound single AA light, it is a quality torch.
I have the XM-L, but if you want longer runtime you might order the cheaper XP-G
You are not telling if your wife will have it laying on her desk or if she will carry it in her handbag as an EDC. For me this makes a major difference.
My choice of “desk light” would be a Solarforce L2T with a 3-8.4V 3 mode XML dropin equipped with two CR-123 primaries.
Good shelf life and no nonsens.
For an EDC, I think there are some more concerns to be taken:
- High WAF. If she doesnt like it, she wont use it.
- Lithium AA primaries and a flashlight which has no battery drain or minimal drain in standby.
No junky Clicky. It is not handbag safe. You need to make sure that there is battery left when it is needed. Thats why I would chose a Twisty ( or
a more expensive light with electronic lockout funcion.
But first of all, have you assessed the usage scenario? In my opinion, a power outage, a stuck elevator, failing emergency lights are more likely to happen than a fire.
So dont worry about flood or throw or many modes, anything will work and will be better than a flashlight app on a Phone.
You dont need an excessive amount of light when you are in a building.
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