# Best Survival Flashlight?



## Rednec (Jul 13, 2009)

I have a Streamlight re-chargeable (11in) for house, now, i need one for easy carry, it has been recommended to get 
Olight M20 Warrior PREMIUM Tactical LED $95,,,What say you?


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## sharpeblades (Jul 13, 2009)

*lights*

Surefire


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## Cornelia_Hiker (Jul 13, 2009)

Me say WAY TOO SPENDY....unless you're just rolling in cash.

LED's are the only way to go with flashlights now. Batteries last many times longer as LEDs do not produce (waste) any energy making heat like incandescents do. 

There are many sources for good quality, heavy duty aluminum cased LED flashlights cheap. I've got a bunch of 'em in various styles and sizes.

My favorite sources is http://www.ledshoppe.com

Free shipping and you can get great flashlights for $5-10 bucks


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## Hogtown (Jul 13, 2009)

Gotta agree with Sharpblades - Surefire. I've got one Steamlight and a couple of Surefires - I think the Surefires throw a cleaner, brighter light. In addition, and dang importantly, it is easier to get parts for a Surefire.  Having said that, these high power Lithium lights are expensive and burn through a bunch of batteries, so for strictly survival situations I say if you can only have one light, get a good water resistant/proof LED headlight and a handfull of AAA batteries.  You'll have working light for hundreds of hours and at a cost of less than $50.


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## Wiskey_33 (Jul 13, 2009)

Surefire G2L. I bought one and upgraded my lamp to a 290 lumen and it's REALLY bright and lasts a long time. Keep about 10 extra batteries in a case when I go camping.


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## clown714 (Jul 13, 2009)

surefire!

buy once cry once.

LED of course,my EDC L2.

clown


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## Rednec (Jul 13, 2009)

No, not rolling in cash, i sold some things that i havent used in long time & ended up with a windfall of $100.  Thanx ill continue to look around.


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## WTM45 (Jul 13, 2009)

Inova makes some pretty good products.  At affordable prices too.

http://www.inovalight.com/


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## afterfire6942 (Jul 13, 2009)

Fenix makes quality lights for far less inflated prices than surefire. Not a knock on surefire, they are great lights but fenix does it right for less


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## Lightninrod (Jul 14, 2009)

I don't have this(just a Maglight) one but here's another choice.


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## whitetaco02 (Jul 14, 2009)

Look here in this thread.  This guy has done some pretty research!

http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=121679&highlight=which+flashlight


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## Rednec (Jul 15, 2009)

Thanx guys, ive looked at all your suggestions & for a vareity of reasons, im gonna order the Olight M20 Warrior PREMIUM Tactical LED@$95 ...from Battery Junction.com


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## Capt Quirk (Jul 15, 2009)

The bestest, most expensive flashlight ain't worth a darn if you don't have fresh batteries in it. Just remember that 


I wish I could...


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## REDMOND1858 (Jul 15, 2009)

Iv had 2 surefires and 2 brownings, both were great lights........until the batteries went dead, which was just bout every hour of use. The batteries cost way to much for these flash lights. Get a good old fasion maglight, most durable, longest lasting. Cant nothin touch it. Bestlights ever made


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## Cornelia_Hiker (Jul 15, 2009)

REDMOND1858 said:


> Iv had 2 surefires and 2 brownings, both were great lights........until the batteries went dead, which was just bout every hour of use. The batteries cost way to much for these flash lights. Get a good old fasion maglight, most durable, longest lasting. Cant nothin touch it. Bestlights ever made




Maglights are good. I don't know if they're coming with the Luxeon style LED in them now, but you can get one as a replacement bulb and gain the benefit of a large, high-brightness LED.


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## kletzenklueffer (Jul 15, 2009)

I bought a G2 at Bass Pro with a gift card. Batteries only lasted about an hour with the 60 lumen bulb, so it sat in my truck unused for two years. I bought a cheap rayovac LED at wally world for about $20. Brighter than the G2 and batteries last for about 6 hours. When it starts flickering, the batteries are dead. Takes AA's.

So I thought I'd try to do something about the G2 and found a cree Q5 5 mode LED for $13. It works well, batteries have lasted for multiple hours and it's nearly as bright as the head lights on my truck. It'll light up deer's eyes at 125 yards.

I bought one of these..
http://www.tadgear.com/x-treme gear/flashlights main/photon_x-light.htm
and need to pick up a couple more. Batteries last about 60 hours. It's surprisingly bright (I wouldn't want to have to search my camp for a gun part or something, but plenty bright enough to walk to a stand in the twilight or for an emergency if your bigger light died). It glows in the dark, so it's easy to find, the LED is durable. Mine stays on my keychain 95% of the time, so gets bumped, dropped and banged around often.


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## yelojaket (Jul 15, 2009)

Just picked up a pair of flashlights at Sam's Club for $29. Element Performance Lighting by Allied Int'l. Next Gen Luxeon Technology. 150 Lumens on high, 75 lumens on low with I/O switch in the tail cap. Takes 3 AAA's (included) with a max run time of 40 hrs.....and is surprisingly bright. Weighs 5.9 oz's Also, a great size to use as a weapon in hand-to-hand combat.

Flashlight technology is advancing pretty rapidly allowing consumers a better value for their hard earned dollar.One for the truck and one for the nightstand.....what's not to like?


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## Miguel Cervantes (Jul 15, 2009)

Rednec said:


> I have a Streamlight re-chargeable (11in) for house, now, i need one for easy carry, it has been recommended to get
> Olight M20 Warrior PREMIUM Tactical LED $95,,,What say you?


 
I say that is a fine tactical light, but for survival mine is a crank light. My high performance xenon lights eat lithium batteries and aren't practical for survival purposes.


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## WTM45 (Jul 15, 2009)

Exactly.
When I think survival I think LED's and commonly found batteries like AA and AAA.  Long run times!


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## Rays123 (Jul 15, 2009)

i bought a little steamlight at dicks a few months ago for $20.00 and its the last flashlight ill ever buy. its better than the biggest maglights


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## Howard Roark (Jul 1, 2013)

I carry a FENIX PD32.

I am researching CREE lights which sell directly from China at very low cost.


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## 7Mag Hunter (Jul 3, 2013)

LED replacement bulbs for maglites are $10.00-$15.00,

100lumen in 2D cell
140lumen in 3D or 4C cell...
Batteries last longer and throws a tremendous beam....


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## Oldstick (Jul 3, 2013)

7Mag Hunter said:


> LED replacement bulbs for maglites are $10.00-$15.00,
> 
> 100lumen in 2D cell
> 140lumen in 3D or 4C cell...
> Batteries last longer and throws a tremendous beam....



+1 on that.  I ordered one off amazon for a 2D cell maglight.

Tremendous improvement, the beam was bright white even with weak batteries that burned dim with the original incandescent bulb.

In fact there is a place in Macon that is a warranty repair for maglights.  They told me Maglight itself stopped selling the LED upgrade bulbs for the older lights because it was slowing sales of their newer designed LED only models.


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## OleCountryBoy (Jul 7, 2013)

The best you will ever buy...and cheap.  I have bought about a dozen of these, have them in all my vehicles, tool box, hunting buggy, etc.  you will be amazed how bright.  These use Cree xm-l t6 led, the brightest, highest quality led you can buy.  
Find them on eBay shipped from china....for about $14.
1600 Lumen Zoomable CREE XM-L T6 LED 18650 AAA Flashlight Torch Zoom Light Set


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## GunnSmokeer (Jul 8, 2013)

*the best flashlight*

The best survival flashlight has never been invented yet.

First of all, it needs to have three levels of lighting.

A big powerful spotlight type bulb for occasional use for short-term tasks. 

A fairly dim LED (no more than 3 LED bulbs) close-range area light for inside a shelter, or outside with just enough light to bring in another arm full of firewood, and enough light for  close-range tasks that might last for hours.  Walking on a dark trail at night may be such a task.  

Finally, the best survival flashlight should have a "glow" feature where, when you activate it (let's say when it gets dark), some parts of the flashlight  will glow dimly for the next 12 hours, or until you shut that glow feature off.)  The Glow feature lets you find the flashlight in the dark when it wasn't turned on.  The Glow feature should use 1/4 the power of even a single low-performance LED. It's just supposed to be enough light so that you can quickly find the  flashlight in the trunk of your car, in your duffel bag, somewhere in the tent, around your campsite, etc.

Oh, and the flashlight must not go dead when dropped, even if dropping it momentarily separates the electrical circuit by briefly making the batteries lose contact with each other or the terminal ends of the battery compartment.  (OR, it would be OK if the flashlight went dead when dropped so long as the "glow" feature came on automatically at the instant the other light(s) went off).

They'll never make such a flashlight. But it would be ideal.


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