Flashlights!

[j2k4]

The search for great flashlights continues...

The Missus says "WTF w/all the flashlights?"

I've told her one is bound to accumulate excess in the ongoing search for the best/brightest.

As a consequence, I have about 100 flashlights, starting with one each of all the Maglites, most of them converted (a waste of money) but now we're seeing another leap in capability, and a bunch of flashlights are gonna be decommissioned in my house.

Anyway, I had a return at Home Depot almost a year old, so I took the store credit issued and bought a few more flashlights, natch.

Only thing worth mentioning is the ongoing confusion caused by the lumens/lux ratings - I understand the difference, but not the comparison - frankly, I don't care, because most of them are blindingly bright now.

Here's the deal - I bought one of those Atomic lights, along with a few others, but the Atomic was rated at 5K lumens, the others were like 300-400 lux.

At home, I discovered the Atomic was brighter than the others, also multi-function and adjustable beam.

Another thing I hadn't noticed on the packaging - I opened it up and found an offer for a supplemental lith-ion rechargeable set-up ($14 shipped) that - they claim - bumps output to 13K lumens.

Looking forward to seeing how THAT works.

[stealthee]

I am a little bit of a flashlight whore myself, though not near 100 like yourself. I like buying ones that are less expensive to see how they well they work. The output coming out of small flashlights is tremendous these days.

[j2k4]

I actually exaggerated a bit, Brian.

Just took a half-assed count - if I guesstimate Missus J has about 10, the total is round 70.

[DocWalt]

I've got a Jetbeam flashlight (WL-S2) that takes a single 18650 cell and outputs damn near 1000 lumens. Handheld (actually handheld and not one of those silly million candlepower 6V lights) and it's WAY WAY WAY too bright in most uses. I run it on really low light settings most of the time, but it's good to have that "fry your eyeballs" bright in the woods at night.

[j2k4]

Soon we'll be able to cook with them.

[anyonebutme]

I also use a single 18650 powered flashlight in the 800 lumen range, and there is no realistic use for 800+ lumens, lol. The most use I get out of it is using it as a spotlight to spot rally spectators entering danger zones, even on low power it's just too bright for the majority of uses. For general close use I recommend 150-250 lumens max. My weapon light is only 300 lumens and turns night into day even in large rooms, and throws enough light to ID people as far away as I would even risk taking a shot with a handgun.

Also, don't take manufacturers word for it, MANY chinese made flashlights have been shown to put out less than 25% of the rated lumens, and enforcing the advertising is impossible due to the non-standardized method for testing lumen output, or even what a lumen technically is.

The thing is, unless they tell you exactly which LED is in there, and you verify that it is what they say it is, you have no idea the real lumen output. My flashlight, the ultrafire XML-T6, is one of the most copied ones, many fake ones for sale with lower output LEDs, making it pretty hard to actually find a real one. In fact, most of the copies I see now for sale list it as being a 8,000-10,000 lumen light, which is impossible for the CREE XML-T6 LED bulb to produce. At maxiumum voltage it makes just under 1K lumens, and it doesn't get much better even overdriven, only gets hotter and life reduced.

[DocWalt]

I've heard great things about Nitecore and Ultrafire (good luck finding a real one though, like ABM said)... and I like Jetbeam cause cheap and still has a proper Cree LED

[stealthee]

I looked around and found a YouTube video where the guy was reviewing a real UltraFire vs a fake and gave the name of the eBay seller that sells the real one. I didn't end up purchasing it at that time because of the lead time and wanting to pick a 2nd one up for a birthday present for my dad that would have been too late for that.

[Steve '92ES]

Speaking of lights, I got a coupon in the mail for the NAPA Blue Fuel LED Cordless Work Light (NAPA's version of the Schumacher SL360 https://www.amazon.com/Schumacher-SL.../dp/B00LC65T98) and was wondering if it was any good. I know, I know, not a flashlight......

[j2k4]

Betting it's pretty good.

I haven't gotten into worklights as much, but LEDs are the bomb, and if there are a few handy ways to position/hang it, that's nifty.

I've got a small, emergency-type light with like a double row of LEDs that's magnetically-mountable.

I'd like to see more rechargeable stuff...speaking of, the rig I ordered for the Atomic light is supposed to be here in 5 days/Monday.

Eager to see how well it works.