Flashlight for vehicle

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nightowl66

Newly Enlightened
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Apr 7, 2009
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NW Ohio
I am looking for a flashlight to carry in my vehicles. I hardly ever need one but when I do I want one that is not dead. I used to carry the D cell mag lights but batteries were always drained when I needed it. I was thinking of something that takes cr123's that would hold a charge for along time. I work nights and am always driving home thru the country at night. Any ideas? Nothing too expensive. Thanks
 
Hmmm...If your like me, and like to buy locallly (so you can see/feel what you're buying), Target is known to carry Inova's. A good two cell CR123 will run you around ~$40.
 
I would actually recommend a flood to throw light from ebay. You can get one for 10 bucks shipped that uses 3xAAAs. The trick is to buy 3 Ultimate Lithium AAAs L92s or similar. These wont leak, work in cold weather, and last a lot longer than alkaline. They wont poop out on your either.

The flood to throw is actually pretty cool as you get a nice even beam for fixing a tire or wahtever, but can see really far off with the throw mode. You can adjust it however you want.

look for "zoomable led". Ignore the lumen claims...they are lies. The emitter will most likely be a Q5.

OR, you can go to shiningbeam.com and check out their ROMISEN lights. These are pretty high quality lights and you can get flood to throw, or a fixed beam. They are around 25 bucks and you can go with AA or AAA, or CR123. Whatever you want. Some even work with several types of batteries.

Just make sure to NOT use alkalines in em, as they might leak.
 
It depends on what you think you might need your light for. If it's for changing a flat tire or looking under the hood for a leak, then a headlamp, Zebra light has quite a few, would be a nice option. These are nice to have when two hands are needed to do something.
 
You could get what ever AA light you want and stick energizer lithium's in it? But yes 123's would be a good choice but unless you state more criteria any light on those batteries could work.
 
The Bright Star Razor would seem like a good car light to me. I like mine - check it out, you might like it, too. :)
God bless,
Joel ><>.
 
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That Razor light is only 40 lumens which is terrible. You can do much much better than that. Even the cheapo flood to throw for 10 bucks puts out 150ish lumens, along with having a high and a low mode.
 
I got a Sipik SK68. It runs on a single AA and when compared to a 3xAAA zoomable CREE from amazon, the light output looks almost identical. It can also take the lithium AA.

I'm also looking at getting a Trustfire Z1 from DX soon. Not zoomable, but I've seen some good feedback and it uses the CR123A battery.
 
joe1512 said:
That Razor light is only 40 lumens which is terrible. You can do much much better than that. Even the cheapo flood to throw for 10 bucks puts out 150ish lumens, along with having a high and a low mode.
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Forty lumens or not, it's reasonably bright (my Razor's package says that it's sixty, oddly, and that seems much closer to the truth :shrug:), and it has quite decent throw. It also has great runtime, which would be a big plus for a car light. And it's made in the USA. :thumbsup:

A Maglite 3D LED is also inexpensive, has good runtime (79+ hours), and would light things up better than the Razor. It will undoubtedly perform better than your former, I assume incandescent, D-cell Maglite.
God bless,
Joel ><>.
 
Fenix E21 for about $35 with 2 x Energizer AA Ultimate Lithiums in it. I've given several as gifts to my family - can't go wrong.
 
I like those PALights, takes a 9volt. Has good modes for roadside but you should still replace the battery yearly.

+1 on the Sipik68 those are great little lights.
Xeno 03 XML is what I have in my glovebox, with a 14500 there crazy bright 500 lumens
 
thanks for all the suggestions. What about upgrading my 2 D cell and 4 D cell maglite to LED and using lithium batteries?
 
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Yeah, the fusion 36 is 400 lumens on a 2D mag and 600ish in a 4D.
It's all flood (the shower head) EBay
Malkoff makes Maglite dropins and so does terralux
 
nightowl66 said:
thanks for all the suggestions. What about upgrading my 2 D cell and 4 D cell maglite to LED and using lithium batteries?
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That is exactly the setup I keep in my car. Maglites are solid, sturdy, and adding a LED unit enhances their functionality. I can also loan one or give away in an emergency without too much concern about replacing one. The D cell lithium batteries are however, a different issue. The first and only complaint from anyone will be how expensive they are. I say shop around, find the best price and get 2 or 3 to keep in the light and not have to worry about alkalines leaking and then you have a non functioning light; and if need arises, you can swap them out with alkaline D cells that can be found almost anywhere batteries are sold.
 
I also have a Mag 2D in my trunk. I also purchased a Dorcy 3aaa 120 lm to keep in the glove box. A couple of months ago I purchased a Dorcy LED drop-in for the Mag, same style and size as the original bulb, nothing fancy, and it was about $5. It's rated at 30lm, iirc. You can still use the flood/spot ability. It's quite a bit of light and still throws quite well.
 
I have one of those tripod lights. I think it is made by Stanley Tools. Lowe's here in the USA carries them. for about 12 USD. I've had mine in the car for about 2 years now and it has proven reliable and useful. It will run on either 3, 6, or 9 AA batteries. which gives you some flexibility.

I'm not allowed to post a link, just Google "Stanley tripod flashlight" and you can look at the specs for yourself.
 
I dropped a little Terralux TLE-6EX bulb into my 6-D Maglite. Terralux have the best upgrades, imho. I thought my batts were dead but they're good as new again. It works for the newer 4-6 D-Cell Mags. If your 4-D has a threaded nut to hold the bulb in place, then I think you can use it. The old ones don't... There are a few 500 lumen -1000 lumen upgrades for the big Maglites too.

It's a slightly different bulb for 2-3 D-cell and 4-6 D-cell Maglites. I have upgraded 3-D and 6-D Maglites... You have to get the right bulb or it won't work right with the reflector and bulb depth.
 
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I have a Malkoff MD2 with a M61LL for a drop in. 10 hours at full output (100 lumens) with 2-123's, or even longer with an 18650.
 
diesel79 said:
I have a Malkoff MD2 with a M61LL for a drop in. 10 hours at full output (100 lumens) with 2-123's, or even longer with an 18650.
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Are the Malkoff lights as good as I have heard? I am a complete newbie with lights and want to upgrade.
 
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