Awhile back the sporting goods stores got all us gun geeks to fork over our cash by the bale - for flashlights. I was the first in my circle to strike off the light race by buying a wee Mag Lite. It's the one that takes the two double AA batteries. Back in the 90's it was $20 bucks. I still have it and added a few more to my gear for extras. At the time it was just about the best of the breed.
For awhile there, I was The Compleat Tactical Stubfart. I had lighters and folding knives and a leatherman and a veritable Bat Man Utility Belt for all the junk I carried round. I carried this one around for a good three years and one day the power went out - and the guys from the seafood store came over to borrow it and I was left in the dark! HAR HAR HAR!!! Keep prepping Filthie!!!
I can say with a straight face that the Maglite is all you'll ever need. These things are built hell for stout and you will die long before they do. But - how long is good, good enough?
Hell's bells - now the new LED flashlights hitting the market are going for $150 bucks!!! And the damn things will poach your retinas to a crisp if ya look straight at them! I can almost see the reasoning for them - if you are jumping out of helicopters, and crashing the party at a cave full of smelly moslem sand rats in Afghanistan - you are going to need nothing but the best equipment...but for guys like us? The things sell like hot cakes too. If my Maglites ever DO die... I just may go back to basics.
Or... better yet:
I buy and carry little free led flashlights. They cost $3 or$4 each depending on the bulk buy? I get 5 at a time from Amazon and carry one until I give it away.
ReplyDeleteThey take a single AA battery
They have a tailcap switch for dim, bright and strobing bright
They have a focusing lens that slides out for a very bright long range stream of light.
Battery life is very good.
They look like this
https://www.amazon.com/UltraFire-Flashlights-Adjustable-Tactical-Flashlight/dp/B07BDGD8KR/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1544171859&sr=8-15&keywords=cree+aa+led+flashlight
They look just like those $150 jobs, don't they?
DeleteWe need new flashlights. It's the batteries that always get me with flashlights though. They never last long enough! The one I liked best was a $30 solar flashlight but they made the on and off button so poorly that it soon stopped working. It took forever to charge in the sun too, because its solar panel was so small, but boy was it bright.
ReplyDeleteI hear ya Leigh. I have a high end head lamp with a rechargeable onboard battery pack and I just love it... but it is pretty pricey too. It does 400 lumens and it's great. But those cheapies that Mark pointed out would be great too and they'd probably fit in a coat pocket better than my Maglite.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if kerosene isn't still the best solution of all... ;)
I pick up Mag-Lites and Mini-Mags for pennies on the dollar at yard sales these days; no one wants them. They want the retina poachers. I'll admit; I have one of those too. I'm what you'd call a "practical prepper. I'm not a bunker digger, but I do try to stay ready for whatever.
ReplyDeleteThe retina poacher is a Streamlight ProTac HL. I use it at work every day. I usually use it on low power. On high power, it'll scorch the paint on the barn when shone from the back door of the house. Turned skyward, it can probably been seen from space. There are times when that kind of horsepower is handy. For the rest of the time though, Mags and Mini-Mags do the trick. Having found several of them at yard sales over time, one cannot open a drawer in my place without finding one handy. One caveat; stay away from the 2xAA LED Mini-Mag. I've had NO luck with those. They last about a month...
Oh; and I have several "white gas" Coleman lanterns and kerosene lamps as well, along with the prerequisite fuels. PLEASE don't smoke in the barn!
Sad; those Deitz lanterns; the ones that used to be made in the U.S.A; made in China now... Woe is me...
You can get a LED replacement for the bulb in the MagLite. Brings your solidly built Mini-MagLite into the modern era.
ReplyDeleteYep, I got spares for mine. Like ASM mine were all fine kit. But like so many other things, maybe Maglite outsourced their production to some Pacific Rim chit hole and the quality dived? Unlike Pete's mine have been great. Who knows?
ReplyDeleteI like the kerosene lantern the best. Reminds me of the bad old days when the power would go out and we'd fall back on candles, flashlights, and the good old kerosene lantern. The flashlights were cheap and never worked when you needed them.
ReplyDelete