What’s your favorite budget flashlight? And by budget I mean inexpensive, cheap enough you could pay for it with all the loose change you find under the couch cushions.
Mine’s got to be this one, the Ozark Trail 50 lumen light. Robot or human?
I rarely shop at Wally world and this one caught my eye on the way out. It was under $1.50 back before the tariffs raised prices and came with batteries that are still working. I figured it was worth trying and it’s become the flashlight I use to pick out socks and undies if I don’t want to wake up the GF.
Solarforce L2T with custom drop-ins
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The Ozark Trail 50 lumen is ok at best. The cheapest good light is the TS10 @ $10.
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I don’t generally care about extremely inexpensive flashlights.
My EDC is pricier at $27, but it does offer a lot of bang for the buck… 
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My Ozark trail lights were $ 0.25 cents so I bought 60 of them for $15
only in one color but it couldn’t be a better choice.
It’s most redeeming quality is it’s ability to take an 18650 where almost no cheap lights like it don’t. Making it the single easiest way to sell an 18650 laptop pull .
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I’d rather buy one decent light for 15$ than 60 bad ones tbh…
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Same here.
There are some very nice Convoy/Sofirn/Wurkkos that are about $15 each, so I usually recommend those brands over cheaper brands.
I used to get really cheap 1xAA flashlights for my niece, but I don’t know if those are still available at a decent price. 
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Is that the same light I mentioned ? I was wondering if an 18650 would fit and be safe. Definitely overkill for selecting socks.
I usually don’t care for stuff that’s low quality and priced accordingly but for $1.50 with batteries the risk was pretty low.
And it’s the right tool for the job. I don’t need a gazillion lumens to pick out socks while waking up my GF and the plastic coating means less noise when the cat knocks it off my dresser. Again.
The cheap-as-dirt but still pretty good Glaree AAA twisties.
No idea what I got them for, but they made great zipper-pulls as long as you’d scotch-tape the head to the body to make sure it wouldn’t eventually unscrew and fall off, which applies for all twisties without captive heads, and not just the Glarees.
Solarforce L2T on ebay are about $100. How is that cheap.
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Solarforce lights were beautifully built like a tank . Truly tacticool
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Haven’t you ever found Benjamin under a cushion?
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Likely in 2005. Different world today.
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Nitecore Tube. 45 lumens of low CRI. This is all I need.
I got a pinchlight with some purchase that worked well for that until the battery died
Since this will descend into arguments about what “is” and what “isn’t” a budget light, I’ll go with lower cost lights that have a lot of use, my Sofirn SC01 is always on my keys so by default my most carried light. It’s a shame they discontinued it, I wish they’d bring it back in a similar format with USB C.
My Zanflare lantern has a pretty good $/hr used ratio by now, it still gets used a lot, despite the questionable UI (press n hold rubber button on base, or press it twice to cycle through red and flashing red).
Sofirn SP10 (Pro?) modded with a dedomed 519a gets a lot of pocket & usage time, too.
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Agreed! I run a Xenon drop-in in mine for ultimate nostalgia, because, why not 