What light for women?

Hi Guys,

I want to buy some flashlights for female family members and one issue is the lights have to be available for purchase inside the EU.
They’re big strong women so we don’t necessarily need something small. I’d like a tough light with a bezel that could be used for striking if necessary.

I’d like something with a strong high beam and a very low low beam, and a strobe.

I’d like a simple UI, few buttons as possible, and nothing that needs two hands (screwing, unscrewing the head).

I’m not sure I want to go with anything that’s rechargeable, so probably 2xAA or 1xCR123A would be best, but open to suggestions.

I have a bunch of lights from 4Sevens, Olight, Nitecore and probably others, but my favorites are not made anymore. And some of them have compicated UIs that would not be great for somebody that doesn’t use them often. I haven’t looked around much for a while and now I see a lot of companies I never heard of and I don’t know which ones are good.

So glad for your suggestions and thank you.

When you say you don’t think you want something rechargeable, do you mean specifically lights that require removal of batteries to charge, or rechargeable in general?

I find that the best flashlights for normal folks are those that have built in USB C charging, they can treat the flashlight just like they do their cell phone.

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Thank you! I think for them, anything rechargeable won’t be a good idea. For example, their phone batteries are dead all the time because they talk and forget to charge them. So for this I think it would be better to have single use batteries and hopefully they will work when needed.

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Got it. Well in that case, I’l let others comment, I don’t really watch the non-rechargable part of the market so I don’t think I’ll be be much help, but I’m sure someone here will be. Good luck!

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While I am not a radical “usb charge or no deal” kind of flashaholic like @Lumenheir, all of the lights I have purchased in the last couple of years have been those that use rechargeable cells. Mostly LiIon. So this is tough. I can think of some single AA lights with a tail switch that can use Alkaline or LiIon cells if that would be of any interest. Though they don’t typically have strobe.
Here is a link to lights that can use 2 CR123A cells:
http://flashlights.parametrek.com/index.html?battery=all,2xCR123A,1x18650&features=clip,sub-lumen

You can also change the search terms to search for things like lights using 2 AA cells or other things of interest.

Maybe you can turn up something using that database.

GOOD Luck… And Welcome to BLF !!

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Please enjoy your time here, gimmealight!

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Hi :slight_smile:
What do you call “strong high beam” in Lumens?
Because with CR123 you have physical limitations.
For example, and you have to be careful, on the site Mandrake50 gave it is indicating the light that are compatible CR123 but it does not indicate what maximum power is reached with, I take the case of the Nitecore MH25GTS

  • battery:1x18650 2xCR123A 2x16340
  • modes:1800 lum / 0h 30m (turbo) 950 lum / 2h 240 lum / 5h 45m 70 lum / 19h 1 lum / 250h 1800 lum / ?h (strobe, sos, beacon)
  • features:battery check clip dual springs lanyard hole micro-usb charging regulation sub-lumen tailstand
  • switch:tail side momentary

It simply says that the maximum power is 1800 Lumens, but when you look at the manual for the MH25 GTS it clearly says that the turbo will not be reached with CR123.

It’s clearly written that the turbo is inacessible, so you’re only going to get 950 Lumens maximum with CR123.

Generally , you won’t exceed 1000 Lumens with CR123s, and AA/AAAs are even worse. :frowning:

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What lights for women? Same lights as for anyone else.

Personally, I like having a nice clip so I can attach a light to my purse or at my waist. By “nice clip”, I mean smooth, deep carry, 1-way. For example, the old Olight S-Mini had a good clip, and the Noctigon KR4 has a good clip. They can be attached at the waist comfortably without digging in to skin, and the clip isn’t one of those 2-way clips which sticks out and catches on everything.

For convenience, I’d recommend something with built in charging and a color coded indicator for the battery charge level. That way, people can just plug it in when the battery light turns red.

The type of light depends on what the user plans to use it for. Like, will they be using it indoors for short distances, or outdoors for long distances, or a mix of both? Will it be aimed at the ceiling to light up a wide area, or focused on a small area? Do they prefer a headlamp or a handheld light?

The type of LED also depends on the user’s preferences. Some people like cold white, some people like warm white, and almost everyone likes neutral white. If you don’t know which, it’s probably best to get something in the 4000K to 5000K range… though new users frequently find cold white looks more impressive since it is brighter and does not look like other light sources.

Anyway, for recommendations, the /r/flashlight community maintains a list of popular lights, and it gets updated every 3 months. Here is the latest version.

If I was gifting a general-purpose light to a new user who doesn’t care about LEDs and batteries and stuff like that, I’d probably get a Wurkkos FC13 SFT40 w/ Anduril, upgrade to the latest firmware version, and put it in simple mode with some safe but sensible settings. But I’m biased. For something which doesn’t need any modification, I’d suggest browsing the list linked above.

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I still got a pink(ish) '501 that I threw together with an actual pink LED.

Why? I have no idea.

I bet the women in you family are more than able to operate the same flashlights as the men in your family. So there is no need to make a different choice. Though I must admit that, when it comes to the size of a light, women hardly ever wear cargo pants. Which is a good thing, to me.

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Thank you guys for the info and warm welcome!

Yeah I’m aware of the fine print and I do read the specs. It’s true a lot of the turbo modes I have seen only work with the top spec battery and not the compatible ones that also fit in the flashlight.

As far as something different for women, to me it’s obvious that men and women have different sensibilities. If you look at phones and other stuff we choose, there are things they like that we can’t understand and verse vica. So, it has to be mentioned who this is for. And maybe there are women on the forum.

The purpose of the lights are something that could be used for self defense. The strobe mode needs quick access one-handed, some of the lights I have seen need three hands to turn on special modes. Just no… and of course the low light mode is useful much of the time, dark hallway, can’t find the right key or the lock on the door, basic stuff.

Thanks, I will read the links posted above and I’m looking over the local shops online and then going back to the manufacturer pages for details. I’m gonna have to search for Wurkkos, I haven’t heard that company before.

I meant to thank all who replied by clicking the thumbs up icon, but the system told me I’m fresh outta likes after clicking a few. So thank you all :slight_smile:

Yes, women’s clothing frequently has no pockets. That’s why the first thing I recommended was making sure it has a good clip, to make it easy to carry without pockets. :innocent:

It really depends on the individual person though.

As a general guideline, instead of one light, it might make more sense to go for a set. Depending on the person, one tiny 10180 or AAA light for a keychain, one really compact light for daily indoor use with AA or 14500/16340/18350, one 18650/21700 size light for outdoor and more serious use, and one compact thrower for seeing a long way outdoors. Not all styles will be useful for all people, of course… and there are more styles. These are just the most likely to be useful.

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Or like the old Wuben “necklace” series, E-soandso.


Whoa… desolation. I found E345 and E348 in my old orders, but nothing goggles.

Well, they were nice. Twisties, came in silver, “rose gold”, other metallic colors, forgot if 1- or 2-stage brightness, but could literally be worn as a necklace, as they looked nice enough.


Me, I got a i2R2D2 or whatever, on one of those loooong lanyards, like a wrist lanyard but way way longer. If I’m putzing around outside with no pockets, I “wear” that around my neck, Just In Case.

Red Convoy T3 with 519A.
It works with every battery You can put in it.
14500 which came with it is good quality, one good nimh and simple charger like Liitokala lii-100 is good kit for everyone and I think that women will like that red carmine colour of body.
If You don’t like recharging options, it will work with lithium primary AA or eventualy alkaline on lower power stages.

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I was not able to find the lights mentioned in the EU. Nitecore lights and batteries are available here and I’ve been buying a bunch of different ones for myself and also to give as mentioned. I like the brand, build quality is good, prices are ok. Not thrilled with the UI and switch type and layout, which also differs between lights. Annoying.

Anyway, probably it’s gonna be the Nitecore MT10C. It’s tiny, it’s bright, it has useful modes including strobe. It can run off CR123A or IMR RCR123A. The holster is good, the lens and light won’t get totally ruined in a bag. It’s different but still reminds me somewhat of my old favorite SRT3.

Thanks for the help, everybody :slight_smile:

Nitecore has some good products that mention “strobe ready” for easy access to the turbo, essentially the “P-series”.
The P10v2 is “reasonably priced” at around 70€ and is super easy to use.
You have a double button on the back, the big on/off button and the switch button that allows you to vary between 3 power modes and holding it down activates the strobe.

It’s a 1000 lumens light and you can access these 1000 lumens with 2 CR123.
I have it and it’s nice, a big hot spot and a relatively bright spill, you don’t get blinded when you light your feet and you have an acceptable range at 1000 lumens.
Good 1000 Lumens strobe to, i’ve just a doubt if it’s variable strobe or normal strobe, for me it is a normal strobe, I can’t check I don’t know where she is store for this moment :stuck_out_tongue:

Nitecore’s RCR123 IMRs are rechargeable, RCR 123 = R(echargeable)CR123.

I had made a quick comparison video ( pretty mediocre at the time, but if you want to get an idea, that’s enough.) if you want to see the beam profile

Edit, I’ve found it :stuck_out_tongue:
It’s a normal strobe.

Thanks, I don’t want anything with 2xCR123A, and I prefer the small form factor for this application.

Just to clarify. it mentions both RCR and CR123 are supported… but it is a bit on the big side.

I recommend maybe something from Sofirn or Wurkkos. You can get 14500 lights with usb rechargeable 14500s now. The Loop SK03 is on my desk for review and so far I really like it. The others would be maybe the Convoy T3, sofirn sp10 v3, Skilhunt E2A, or maybe even a Wurkkos FC13 like toykeeper mentioned. Go check out 1Lumen for our recommended flashlights.

Don’t hesitate to look on Amazon or other marketplaces.
The brands mentioned above do not have an official reseller in Europe, but resellers may exist on marketplaces.