Disaster Flashlight

[deranged_coder]

And the advantage of that over the Fenix's, other than that it can be turned into a headlamp with the Prism?

A few dollars cheaper. I recommended the Quark 2xAA Tactical (not the Regular) because the UI allows it to act like a simple two-mode light, but the two modes can be set to any of the available levels. Also, the protruding tailcap might be a bit easier for gloved hands. And the Quark's "moon mode" is significantly lower than the low of the Fenix, if you want to absolutely maximize runtime. If none of these are important to you, then the Quark 2xAA Tactical offers no advantage over the Fenix LD20.

Perhaps I should get more basic than this. What makes one light "better" than the other? I mean... throws, OK, beam size and features, right, battery life, OK, digital v. manual, OK, fine. Right.

But comparing two lights that have roughly all the same amounts of those things... I honestly am not sure how to compare, say, the Fenix to the Quark. I just think I don't know enough.

What makes one light "better" than another is really dependent on what you need the light to do. What is better for me may not be better for someone else and vice versa. That is why whenever someone asks for advice on a flashlight the most common reply is, "what do you need the light for?" The intended usage is a key factor in determining what is a "better" light. Beyond that, there are also items like budget, personal preferences, etc.

CPF often recommends "buy 'em both!" When we do that, it is not just to get you to spend your money. We also recognize that a lot of times, a person just needs to try two or more comparable lights to find out which one has that "X factor" that makes the light right for them. So we say "buy 'em both" so you can try it for yourself. You can always re-sell the light(s) you decide are not the best for you. CPF Marketplace will take care of that.

 

[Flying Turtle]

Don't forget to have one of the current single AAA lights in your pocket for the short range tasks in addition to your main light. The low on the Maratac AAA, for example, is about perfect for reading or writing in the dark, and the high may be all you need in most cases. It's real easy to mouth-hold out in the field, too.

Geoff

 

[KD5XB]

Perhaps I should get more basic than this. What makes one light "better" than the other? I mean... throws, OK, beam size and features, right, battery life, OK, digital v. manual, OK, fine. Right.

But comparing two lights that have roughly all the same amounts of those things... I honestly am not sure how to compare, say, the Fenix to the Quark. I just think I don't know enough.

I keep thinking about reliability. If you're inspecting houses after a flood, then you probably don't have such strict requirements as you might were you inspecting subway tunnels after that same flood. I've been lost in the dark without a working light, and I won't be again. I hope you don't ever experience that, it's not very comfortable.

That said, if you want my honest suggestion -- try a Mini Mag LED flashlight. Hand held, inexpensive, runs on 2 AA's, the LED is fairly bright, the flashlight has pretty good throw, and you can carry it in your pocket. LED lasts a loooooooooooooooooooong time. At the price, if it doesn't stack up for you, you haven't lost much. In fact, if it isn't what you need, keep it for your backup and try the Fenix.

As for a headlamp -- try this one. Handy and plenty bright for doing paperwork. In fact, if you're hiking outdoors at night, it's plenty bright for that, too.

I like that phrase -- "in fact"...

 

[slappomatt]

Hm, perhaps a Quark with Prism attachment?

http://www.4sevens.com/index.php?cPath=297_305
http://www.4sevens.com/product_info.php?cPath=297_304&products_id=1973

also my vote.

 

[Lynx_Arc]

I say go with 3 lights, a hand held flashlight of 2AA type with good throw and output, a headlamp with more flood, and a pocketable or keychain light. If I was going into semi dangerous areas I would not want my headlamp to fail on me and drop my handheld light and not have something I could pull out of a pocket that would be there with fresh batteries.

 

[Egsise]

Fenix TK20
ZebraLight

 

[hyperloop]

Fenix TK20
ZebraLight

Fenix TK20

+1 on both the above, went out last night with a buddy who wanted to see my flashlight collection, the warmer tints were better outdoors for 'penetrating' forested areas. And if you are around disaster areas, you also don't want to have to worry about the TK20 going off or spoiling if it drops on a rock etc.

The Zebralight H501 is good for close up work, with the TK20 for backup, you should be alright, both lights use AAs so you don't have to worry about carrying different cells with you. An 8 pack of Energizers gives you 3 loads for the TK20 and 2 for the zebralight or whatever combination you may find yourself using.

 

[dworker]

How much of a beating can the Quark Tactical take v. the Quark not-Tactical v. the Fenix TK20 v. the Fenix LD20?

 

[davidt1]

For disaster situation, look for small, useful lights that you can carry with you. I use a Maratac AAA and a Zebralight H501. They are so small and light I can carry them with me at all times. When disaster comes I don't have to think about which lights I need to carry cos I already carry them.

Both my lights are single cell lights. Besides being small, they take less time to change the battery. During a disaster/emergency every second counts.

I can't say enough how useful a headlamp is. Chances are you would be preparing to fortify your home or leave before a disaster comes (storm, hurricane, flooding). This means you are working with your hands. A headlamp is very useful here.

Chances are you are cleaning and rebuilding after the disaster. You will be working with your hands. A headlamp is very useful again.

Leave the show-off lights for showing off.

 

[jslappa]

I've got to also go with the Quark 2xAA Tactical. Here is why.......

Look, all the lights people have suggested are amazing lights in their own rights. Since you said you'd be using them mostly inside buildings and shelters, throw doesn't really matter because every single one of the lights suggested will reach the farthest wall inside a building. Great, got that solved, what's next? Reliability? Ok then.....

Quarks come with a 120 month warranty. That's 10 freekin' years! I agree that you need a backup light. My opinion is that your backup should be the same as your primary......two lights with different user interfaces (UI) can become challenging in a tough situation. having the same UI will allow you to switch from one (should it break) to the backup with little trouble.

I would get 2 Quark 2xAA tacticals, and one prism attachment. If one light breaks within 10 years of purchase, send it in and use the other while you wait for the new one to arrive free of charge. The prism will be able to move from your primary light to the secondary too.

I also love that the Quark 2xAA can run for 30 days in moonmode.

the Quarks also come with a bunch of extras too.

Did I mention the 10 year warranty?

 

[Lynx_Arc]

I've got to also go with the Quark 2xAA Tactical. Here is why.......

Look, all the lights people have suggested are amazing lights in their own rights. Since you said you'd be using them mostly inside buildings and shelters, throw doesn't really matter because every single one of the lights suggested will reach the farthest wall inside a building. Great, got that solved, what's next? Reliability? Ok then.....

Quarks come with a 120 month warranty. That's 10 freekin' years! I agree that you need a backup light. My opinion is that your backup should be the same as your primary......two lights with different user interfaces (UI) can become challenging in a tough situation. having the same UI will allow you to switch from one (should it break) to the backup with little trouble.

I would get 2 Quark 2xAA tacticals, and one prism attachment. If one light breaks within 10 years of purchase, send it in and use the other while you wait for the new one to arrive free of charge. The prism will be able to move from your primary light to the secondary too.

I also love that the Quark 2xAA can run for 30 days in moonmode.

the Quarks also come with a bunch of extras too.

Did I mention the 10 year warranty?

has quark been around 10 years? a 10 year warranty is worthless if the company isn't around 5 years later. I remember another brand that was supposed to have a long warranty that changed their mind.

 

[Kaamos]

Isn't a 2AA a little... big for a headlamp?

I have seen others say this as well. I don't quite understand - I don't find even a 4AA headlamp uncomfortable. Many of the better ones run on 3 or 4 AA's. They are just located in a separate case behind your head. Actually makes a slightly bigger and more powerful lamp better balanced. I find AAA often too low capacity and less reliable than AA.

 

[Roger Sully]

I remember another brand that was supposed to have a long warranty that changed their mind.

Which one was that?

 

[Lynx_Arc]

Which one was that?

wish I could remember the brand, but I have seen so many brands appear from nowhere here I have never heard of that could not keep up with the wild LED curve of latest LED emitter and features I don't see them all being around 10 years from now. The few that have been around were already making incans before LEDs. reminds me of the cutting edge car in Back to the Future..

 

[fyrstormer]

My standard recommendation for people is the Nitecore EX10 (or D10, if you must have compatibility with cheap AA batteries); given that you might be in a situation where there's a gas leak or something similar, the EX10/D10 makes even more sense because it uses an electronic latch instead of a mechanical switch, so there is no possibility of sparking.

As far as charging is concerned, as long as you have a car with a cigarette lighter, you can run a small battery charger with no problem.

EDIT: For longer runtime, the Nitecore D20 runs on 2xAAs.

 

[Kestrel]

I say go with 3 lights, a hand held flashlight of 2AA type with good throw and output, a headlamp with more flood, and a pocketable or keychain light. If I was going into semi dangerous areas I would not want my headlamp to fail on me and drop my handheld light and not have something I could pull out of a pocket that would be there with fresh batteries.

I am totally 100% with LA on this:

1. A general-use 2xAA LED light (with AA NiMH rechargeable cells, and you can easily carry AA Lithiums for backup, plus you'll be able to purchase AA spares just about anywere)
2. A headlamp (others will give better advice than I can on this)
3. A keychain-sized single-AAA LED backup (for ~$15, start with the Fenix E01 or the Streamlight Microstream, for example, ranging up to ~$45 for the Fenix LD01 or various Quarks or whatever). Some of these little backups can provide enough light to replace your general-use light in a pinch (with shorter runtimes of course), or can be clipped to a baseball cap or held in the mouth as an emergency backup to your headlamp. $15 here is a very inexpensive but critical backup, IMO.

You could probably spend less on three good specialized lights per the above than on one 'nuke-proof, try-to-do-everything-well uberlight', and would have a far better overall system. One example only, eventually your cells will crap out at a very inopportune time, and you will find that it will be far better to just pull out your reserve - it will take up very little space and you'll find it extremely useful in its own right.

 

[Pekka]

My standard recommendation for people is the Nitecore EX10 (or D10, if you must have compatibility with cheap AA batteries); given that you might be in a situation where there's a gas leak or something similar, the EX10/D10 makes even more sense because it uses an electronic latch instead of a mechanical switch, so there is no possibility of sparking.

As far as charging is concerned, as long as you have a car with a cigarette lighter, you can run a small battery charger with no problem.

EDIT: For longer runtime, the Nitecore D20 runs on 2xAAs.

For what it's worth(less), Nitecores are NOT intrinsically safe. Nor they are certified as anything but a dunkable flashlight: realistically speaking any of the IP-X8 flashlights is likely safe since there isn't going much stuff in nor out unless you screw it open... and in that case even intrinsically safe flashlight will blow you up. :laughing:

 

[KiwiMark]

A headlamp (others will give better advice than I can on this)

ZebraLight

For a while I never had a headlamp, then I decided to get a ZebraLight and take it camping. Then I bought a 2nd ZebraLight and now I wouldn't go camping without at least one of them. There are many headlights available, but not all of them have the option of clipping onto a shirt pocket. ZebraLights are good quality and they are versatile.

I also agree with the rest of Kestrel's post - put a decent light on your keyring and carry a nice 2 x AA light then you have some options going and a backup light too. This is far better than trying to find one light that does everything - especially if the light you are carrying fails or you drop it.