What is the brightest/smallest flashlight?? HELP

Hi I'm a Ups driver, and people dont know how to put their addresses on their houses around here. It helps a lot to have a very bright flashlight with me, but aside from having this huge yellow spotlight, which i have to recharge every two days, is there a small, spotlight, or very bright small flashlight that you know of?? Any help would be appreciated Thanks.....

Well...sounds like it'll be for frequent use, so I would recommend a rechargeable. And for weight and size purposes, the first model recommended is the Streamlight Polystinger. Second would be a regular Stinger (aluminum).

If you wanted to use a light that was powered by conventional batteries, you have several more options:

--Surefire E2 series
--Surefire G-2, or original 6P
--Pelican lights

Many more people will chime in....hopefully

--dan

Princetec surge, It's small very bright runs on 8 aa batteries about 7 watts. Little over 20 bucks.

UK 2L is quite small & bright. TX

Agree with dano's and RickLux suggestions.

One addition is the Streamlight Stinger HP or the Tactical version Stinger HP XT. One has a tailcap switch, the other has a side mouted switch. The XT version might be better to turn on the light while holding packages.

I really like the Stinger HP. My friend just got one from www.brightguy.com. Very reliable, and rechargable, and with 40,000 CP, with a very white beam, very nice!

The Princeton Tec Surge is also a nice light.

Another one to consider, is the Streamlight 3c, 10 LED light. Not piercing like the first two, but for snooping around the front of a house, might actually be a better suggestion.

But for sitting in your truck, looking for a address sign, the first two would be perfect.

Any stinger

For reading house numbers? If you want a non-rechargable light, the Underwater Kinetics SL6. I used mine for just that the other day. It's not quite as bright as, but otherwise works like a handheld spotlight. It doesn't have the close up wide angle brightness of the surefires, but has better range/throw. Not the smallest light, but should fit in a winter coat pocket.

If your yellow spotlight is something like a Vector CO137 that you got at CostCo (one of the best versions of that ilk, by the way), the Stinger line will need recharging about 1/3 as often as the spotlight and is about 1/10 as bright...the UltraStinger I just measured was 16,000cd at 10 feet (don't believe anyone's ratings). My yellow Vector CO137 measured about 100,000 cd at 30 feet (cd--candela-- is corrected for distance, the distances are just for reference).

The other Stingers are less...it's all a matter of throw.

How far are you looking for these house numbers?

The Vector CO137 has a car cord, so does that big brown Santa-Mobile have a cigarette lighter you could plug it into? There's nothing with equal light output that's hand-held, but that's not to say an UltraStinger (or perhaps a Stinger) wouldn't be enough for you.

The UnderWater Kinetics SL6 is also a real good choice. It uses six standard alkaline C batteries and runs for about 12x longer than the Vector.

Many of the other lights mentioned use more expensive lithium 123 cells--very useful if you're in the great white north and the light will get COLD.

It's a tough choice--I know some house numbers are 50-100 feet away. I think you want something with a LOT of candelas--and don't compare my numbers (actually measured) with the numbers on any Web site (other than Craig's of course).

Cheers,

Richard

Originally posted by wiseguy642:
Hi I'm a Ups driver, and people dont know how to put their addresses on their houses around here. It helps a lot to have a very bright flashlight with me, but aside from having this huge yellow spotlight, which i have to recharge every two days, is there a small, spotlight, or very bright small flashlight that you know of?? Any help would be appreciated Thanks.....

Click to expand...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Dano's point about frequent use is well taken, but I get the impression that your light would often be used for very short periods, in which case a non rechargeable could be a viable choice

All the lights mentioned are good choices, but if I take the title of your thread seriously, there are currently available two lights that fit the smallest and brightest category. Both lights take 2x123s and will out throw all other 2x123 and 3x123 non-turbo lights of any manufacturer currently on the market or mentioned on CPF.

They are the ASP Taclite (Internal focus model using teardrop shaped Triad lamp), and the TACM III.

TACM III…..L: 4 5/8".….Wt:3.8oz…...Bezel D:1 6/16"

ASP TACLITE: 5".......……...5.4oz....……….....1 6/16"

For more about these lights see thread:

"Flashlight challenge prize: free Surefire clickie"

Brightnorm

i would agree with most of the posts so far. if you decide you want a rechargable, a streamlight stinger would be most ideal. if you want a 2x123 light, i would advise either a surefire G2 or a streamlight scorpion. if you want to get a G2 cheap, now's the time....botach has them on sale for $29.95 (US dollars).

If you're looking for small and powerfull, my absolute favorite so far is the surefire C3. It is very small and will easily light up a front yard. However, they only have a run time of 60 minutes @ 105 lumens. So at that rate you would probably be replacing your batteries nightly, or every other night ! So, my next suggestion would be the 8NX rechargeable. It's a bit pricey @ $124.95, but it's what you're looking for. It's small and powerfull (110 lumens for 50 minutes), AND it comes with 2 batteries and the AC/DC rapid smart charger. You can buy this anywhere, so I'm not saying this to get your business. It truly is my favorite light. When I showed my brother-in-law my C3, he ordered one as soon as he saw it.

Hmmm. Going to be used routinely right?

Seems like you'd want to avoid pricey batteries like the Lithium 123a.

As far as rechargeables goes...this is a great idea. Although, unless your flashlight has a removeable battery module, you could be "out in the cold (dark)" when the battery suddenly quits on you (rechargeables run pretty flat, then suddently dive off to nothing). So...I'd recommend a light that uses commonly available battery sizes like the AA. You can use NiMH rechargeables and always have a spare set handy. Heck, you can even get lithium AAs for cold weather emergency use or just regular Alkalines for back up.

Now, if we are talking bright spot type lights that run off of NiMH AAs...I'd recommend the UK 4AA AS2. It is quite pocketable (probably the best 4 AA light for that) and has a really easy to use switch for one handed use. It will light up a house number from probably 100-150 feet plus a piece of the surrounding house as you look for the numbers.

Others to consider...

PT Surge, REALLY bright but not a spot type light (depends on how hard it is to spot the numbers in the first place). Runs on either 4 or 8 AAs; nice switch for one handed operation.

Stealthlite, smallest, tightest (and therefore brightest) spot in a 4AA light; also has a nice switch for one handed operation.

If your light is never going to leave the truck...then something you can run off of the cigarette lighter is probably best. Something like that can be hugely bright!

If you truly want the "smallest, brightest" light, you're probably talkin' the PT Rage (4 AAAs). Although, it has a broad beam and requires two hands to turn on. But...it is really small and really bright.

I've used a light for the same purpose, and what I found worked really well and was cheap to buy and feed is the Streamlight ProPoly 2AA light. It has a very narrow, but bright beam. It's great for seeing the house numbers, without alarming the residents inside...give it a try! It's only about $20.00 or less.

I'd get a Streamlight Ultrastinger.

1 hour solid runtime (can be extended to 1 hr, 45 minutes with a 'stick' of higher cap Sub C batteries), HUGE throw for a fairly small light, and will recharge overnight. If you have a 12v cigarette lighter plug and a fast charger, you can buy two, and swap them when one gives out.

The Ultrastinger uses NiCAD....yes?

So...you have to wait until fully discharged to recharge? (memory effect)

yes, Streamlight Ultrastinger.

No "memory effect" with the Ultrastreamlight.

In the above UPS service he would want to recharge the light at home and use it throughout the day without charging.

Either way, Nicads do not suffer from memory effect.

Originally posted by Tombeis:
Nicads do not suffer from memory effect.

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Hmmm. I've been hearing for years that NiCAD do have a memory effect (need to be discharged all the way or lose capacity).

This is supposed to be a big advantage of NiMH (no memory...can charge whenever you want).

Originally posted by ikendu:
Hmmm. I've been hearing for years that NiCAD do have a memory effect (need to be discharged all the way or lose capacity).

Click to expand...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">It seems OK to leave my US on its trickle charger for long periods. Perhaps Streamlight has licked this problem.

Brightnorm