Best flashlight

Reading the reviews on Amazon there seem to be dozens of people selling these things and they are all slightly different. Some have an on/off switch while others have a high, medium, strobe switch. There also are a wide variety of quality control experiences. I purchased this exact light and it seems pretty well built and it's a straight on/off switch. It's far from the "best flashlight" out there, but I would say it's definitely the best flashlight you can get for under $10, if not $15-$20.
 
Reading the reviews on Amazon there seem to be dozens of people selling these things and they are all slightly different. Some have an on/off switch while others have a high, medium, strobe switch. There also are a wide variety of quality control experiences. I purchased this exact light and it seems pretty well built and it's a straight on/off switch. It's far from the "best flashlight" out there, but I would say it's definitely the best flashlight you can get for under $10, if not $15-$20.

I'd have to agree. I got one a few weeks back when I got tired of using my Harbor Freight one. Mine has a zooming lens on it that can focus the beam down and I can shine useful light about 150'. Does chew through AA's though. If it breaks, I'm out less than $5 and it's already worked well enough past that margin.
 
Ultrafire XML-T6. They're sub $20 on feeBay. One of mine has some sort of dirty contact issue, but when it's less than $20 for a charger, 2 batteries and the light who cares. I buy extra ones and when I leave one behind I don't sweat it. It's very bright, and has 3 brightness levels. Main complaint is that it starts out in the strobe mode, then goes SOS flash pattern, then goes dim levels. I'd guess there is a microcontroller embedded.

In no way is it the best flashlight, but it's cheap and good!
 
So while I still keep an LED flashlight on my person, I've become a big fan of the flashlights that work with the batteries from the cordless tool line of your choosing. Its really great to have an incandescent, portable work light that can be recharged.
 
In my search for the best reasonably priced flashlight which uses standard batteries, I have a new entry. I picked up the Mini Maglite Pro LED Model# IP2PLPH. It's a two AA battery light with the good old Mag twist on/off and zoom feature. But here's the weird part if you search for that model you will find this flashlight. Which is the same thing but only 226 lumens. The one I got at Lowes is 272 lumens and cost $25 with the same model number. It appears that back in early summer Mag upgraded the output on the IP2PLPH from 226 lumens to 272 lumens. However, they still haven't updated the website and most sellers (including Amazon) still seem to stock the lower power version. This website sells both versions of the light. Also, watch out for the two level version of the Mag LED. It looks exactly the same but has a max output of only 77 lumens. That model has a funky high/low switch based on which direction you are tipping the flashlight while you turn it on.

So anyway, I'm really impressed with 272 lumen version of the Mag IP2PLPH and give it a big two thumbs up. 2 1/2 hour battery life on two AA batteries (and we've all got tubs of half used AA's at work to keep it going for ever). It's got a nice tight zoom with a nice white color temperature. Best of all it looks, works, and feels exactly like the good old mini mag we all fell in love with back in the day before surefire came along. When it comes to maximum bang for the buck in 2014, this is the light.

Here's a picture from Candlepowerforums showing a shootout between the older 226 lumen version on the left vs the new 272 lumen version on the right.
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In my search for the best reasonably priced flashlight which uses standard batteries, I have a new entry. I picked up the Mini Maglite Pro LED Model# IP2PLPH. It's a two AA battery light with the good old Mag twist on/off and zoom feature. But here's the weird part if you search for that model you will find this flashlight. Which is the same thing but only 226 lumens. The one I got at Lowes is 272 lumens and cost $25 with the same model number. It appears that back in early summer Mag upgraded the output on the IP2PLPH from 226 lumens to 272 lumens. However, they still haven't updated the website and most sellers (including Amazon) still seem to stock the lower power version. This website sells both versions of the light. Also, watch out for the two level version of the Mag LED. It looks exactly the same but has a max output of only 77 lumens. That model has a funky high/low switch based on which direction you are tipping the flashlight while you turn it on.

So anyway, I'm really impressed with 272 lumen version of the Mag IP2PLPH and give it a big two thumbs up. 2 1/2 hour battery life on two AA batteries (and we've all got tubs of half used AA's at work to keep it going for ever). It's got a nice tight zoom with a nice white color temperature. Best of all it looks, works, and feels exactly like the good old mini mag we all fell in love with back in the day before surefire came along. When it comes to maximum bang for the buck in 2014, this is the light.

Here's a picture from Candlepowerforums showing a shootout between the older 226 lumen version on the left vs the new 272 lumen version on the right.
proxy.php

I have (had) one of the new ones and they're awesome. To the point that at times it was too bright and you couldn't point it directly at something you're working on because of the reflection.
 

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