Recommend a flashlight for a pizza delivery guy

JQP

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Nov 15, 2013
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Okay, I give up, I can't find the light I need on my own. I'm tired of looking.

I deliver pizzas until 1 or 2 am. I have two flashlight tasks that I perform a lot. Most frequent is when I have the heat bag in the back seat and I can't read the label without taking the box out and holding it right next to the dome light, which is retarded. Next most frequent is to try and find where the retards put their address, if anywhere, in lieu of putting it on their mailbox or out near the curb like someone with an above-room-temp IQ who wants to be found quickly by first responders.

The most frequent task is probably lower-ranked in terms of determining what I need from a light, simply because it's much easier to achieve than the second most frequent task. In other words, almost any light will make a label inside a heat bag legible, whereas brightly lighting an address 100' away is a much bigger ask. If need be, I can get a second pen light or keychain light to light inside the bag. What I really need is something with throw for the addresses.

In descending order:

Needs:

$30 or under.

Tight beam that will BRIGHTLY illuminate house/apartment building addresses from my car on the street at typical urban and suburban complex/development distances; usually no more than 100'.

Batteries that I can buy @ Wal-Mart or Amazon (Wouldn't hurt if they can ALSO use some exotic battery).

No modding. I'm not a flashlight enthusiast.

Wants:

Relatively small. It can be bigger than the palm-sized EDC lights I've been seeing, but it needs to be something that I can stuff into a pocket if need be (I don't plan to keep it in my pocket and I don't NEED to keep it in my pocket, but it would be NICE if I COULD keep it in my pocket).

Rechargeable, i.e., can take rechargeable batteries I can buy at Wal-Mart or Amazon, or even better I can plug the light itself into a mini-USB or whatever it is that phones and most small devices use.

Decent battery consumption rate.

Simple. The fewer modes and the less clicking, the better. This is NOT going to be a do-it-all light. It's basically just for lighting up addresses from my car, or while I'm walking around a cul-de-sac trying to figure out which ******* with his porch light off is the one who ordered the pizza.

And I think I want an LED light, unless there's some compelling reason for some other type.
 
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GoVegan

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FYI one of the admins will prob move this thread to:
Forum: Recommend Me a Light For...


Actually there was a somewhat similar request for a light just now here:
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?459486-Light-for-finding-street-addresses


Anyway for you, a little bit over your budget at 55 bucks, I'd recommend the Foursevens Preon P2, you can program it to high only. the penlight runs on 2xAAA, rechargeable NiMH AAA batteries are recommended (and as you wanted) and which will save you costs and save the environment too, win win.
https://darksucks.com/products/preon-p2

Or the Streamlight Stylus Pro USB that I recommended in the above post, but it has high/low modes, not something you wanted.

Anyway for hands free, reading etc, I'd recommend one of these to clip to your shirt pocket:
https://www.quiqlite.com/product/quiqlitex-dual-white-led/
Beats dropping someone's pizza!

I'll state the same here too...

If you found this info useful and end up getting one of these lights... [text cut], do me a favor and tell your boss to get some vegan cheese options on the menu, everyone loves pizza, only our options are often still very limited. :)


...while I'm walking around a cul-de-sac trying to figure out which ******* with his porch light off is the one who ordered the pizza.

I'd consider the people that leave their porch lights on all the time as jackasses, not the other way around. I'd expect any deliver guy to have a light, they all do where I live. Anyway you came to the right place for advice.

EDIT: I want to emphasize how nice the 47 lights are, I don't own the P2 (but I'll probably end up getting one), anyway the advantage with them being programmable, is that as you only need high now, in the future, if you change jobs or your requirements change then you can change the UI to something more practical (a feature that a lot of us HDS and Streamlight Protac users appreciate). Some of the Pelican lights are also now programmable too just FYI.
 
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Fireclaw18

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An aspheric zoom flashlight might be a good choice for Pizza Delivery. The beam from these lights produces no spill so won't disturb people with light shining through their windows.

Most zoomies are quite cheap in quality and not very bright however. To get the benefits of a zoom light with more power maybe contact Vinh to get a modded zoom flashlight.
 

GoVegan

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An aspheric zoom flashlight might be a good choice for Pizza Delivery. The beam from these lights produces no spill so won't disturb people with light shining through their windows.
...
maybe contact Vinh to get a modded zoom flashlight.

True about disturbing people, I'd wonder what the hell was going on if someone was shining their flashlight through my window. Got me thinking about the Coast lights.

This would do the job:
Coast HP3R RECHARGEABLE FOCUSING PENLIGHT
https://coastportland.com/collections/led-flashlights/products/hp3r

I don't think any normal delivery guy is going to want a Vinh modded light. Actually the OP requested no mods.
 

FLfrk

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I'd recommend the ThruNite T10. It has a side switch that allows you to double click from off to get to high mode, and it has mode memory for low/medium at 9/54 lumens, for single click from off (for close up reading). If you press and hold from off, it has a firefly mode of 0.5 lumens, and double click from high gets strobe. Nice hidden features. All for $19.99

The max beam distance is 68 meters, well over 100 feet, and the beam has a very well defined hot spot on the one I have, with enough spill to be usable.

It also runs on regular AA (160 lumens high) or 14500 lithium ion batteries (550 lumens high).

It does have an electronic switch (I'm pretty sure), which will have some parasitic drain over time, as the switch will draw power while the battery is installed, and the side switch could accidentally get pushed if you keep it in your pocket and it gets bumped. It does also have a magnet in the rear tailcap, which could be annoying in your pocket, but easy to stick somewhere magnetic in your car for easy access.
 
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AVService

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Convoy C8 seems the ideal cheap light for reading the address to me.
You can program it to as many or few modes as you want sort of and it throws a white pencil of light unlike the tiny lights others seem to think will light an address from a car somehow?
They are also really inexpensive and yet built better than you expect for the price!
I love mine!
 

thermal guy

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Just grab one of the new 2cell Maglites.

2-D batteries easy to find anywhere

Plenty bright. Easily throw 100 yards

Tough so it's not going to break when it rolls off your seat.

Can run it off rechargeable AA with a sleeve as well.
 
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Nichia!

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Look for sofrin and convoy they are what you are looking for!

I recommend sofrin because they have lights sold as a kit (battery and charger and flashlight) and their quality is more than Excellent
 

archimedes

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FYI one of the admins will prob move this thread to:
Forum: Recommend Me a Light For...


Actually there was a somewhat similar request for a light just now here:
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?459486-Light-for-finding-street-addresses

....

Yes, typically these thread topics get moved to the Recommend forum. With a hard budget of $30, though, I would probably think Budget Lights instead for this.

Still, neither of those subforums allow external direct sales links, and this thread is already full of 'em ... so we'll leave it here, for now anyway.

Thanks also for the link for the OP, above.
 

mckeand13

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Check out the Convoy S2+ with the XP-L HI emitter (neutral please).

You can find it at mtnelectronics.

Fits the budget, perfect hand held size, lots of throw.
 

eh4

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Home depot flashlight section.
Look through the lights with the bigger, smooth reflectors.

If you want a better light, get an Emisar D1, a lithium 18650 battery, and a cheap charger.
 

xxo

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There are a few good options that can be had at walmart or home depot.

one is the 2 AAA Mini Maglite, 100 lumens, good up to 100' but that is about it's limit - small enough to carry in a shirt pocket. Around $15 at home depot.

another is the Rayovac 2AA 300 lumen Indestructible - big and heavy for a 2 AA light (very ruggedly built), but still pocketable. good to around 150' or a little more, $15 at home depot.

last is the 2C Maglite ML25 this is the biggest but is still pocketable (barely) also has the longest range up to around 300', a little under $20 at walmart.

For batteries I would strongly suggest eneloops or rebranded eneloops (such as the Japanese made duracell Ion cores) with a panasonic/eneloop BQ CC 17 smart charger:

http://www.panasonicbatteryproducts...ies/cc17-advanced-individual-battery-charger/

This charger works very well and can be found on amazon.

For the 2C cell ML25, I would also suggest running AA eneloops in adapter sleeves, these are sold by eneloop or you can make them yourself out of pvc or even rolled up news paper in a pinch. there are also a bunch of designs up on thingiverse if you have access to a 3D printer.
 

JQP

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Thanks very much for all the recommendations folks, I really appreciate it. I almost went outside my budget and grabbed the Streamlight, but decided to give the ThruNite T10 a go instead. The trusty Maglite was tempting, but the TN has all those features, and they sound like they aren't a PITA to access (which is why I wanted a KISS light; to avoid cycling through a bunch of stuff every time I use it).

Want to hear the funny part? I had already chosen the same light and put it in my cart until I saw the differing performance with various batteries and wasn't sure if AA performance was good enough. So I saved it for later and started this thread. :laughing:
 
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InvisibleFrodo

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I recently picked up a Rayovac indestructible flashlight that runs on 3 AAA batteries. $15
My plan for that light is to take out the guts and put something else in. But I took the light outside to try it out the way it comes, and I was very impressed by how far the beam can reach. It has a low mode, which you would want when you're trying to read the label because high mode would be way too bright. The light works very simple. Click for high, next click goes to low, next click goes to off. And the head and tail of the light is wrapped in rubber, so even repeated dropping is not an issue. Easy to put in rechargeable batteries, although I haven't tried it yet. Rated at 3 hours of runtime on high at 250 lumens, and 39 hours on low at 20 lumens.
 

bykfixer

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The 2 Cell Maglite ML25 at WalMart runs about $20. Look for the 193 lumen model as it throws better, runs longer and has a low feature. The 173 lumen one aint bad if they don't have the newer model.
Buy some Rayovac C cells to carry with it. About $8 for 8.

Buy a $3 little 1aa Rayovac light that clips to your pocket and has a magifier to make the 3 lumens appear a lot brighter.

IMG-20190615-215135.jpg

The 2C Maglite, the Rayovac light and a pack of 100mm cigarettes for comparision.
 
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JQP

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K now for the punchline. I got the Thrunite and tried it out. And it's not nearly as good at throwing a spot from a car onto an address as my old light:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006E0QAFY/?tag=cpf0b6-20

Under $7. :D

That said, I am a fan of the Thrunite's controls. Don't much like where they put the switch, though. Tail switch is much better, IMO.
 
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Candlestick

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K now for the punchline. I got the Thrunite and tried it out. And it's not nearly as good at throwing a spot from a car onto an address as my old light:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006E0QAFY/?tag=cpf0b6-20

Under $7. :D

That said, I am a fan of the Thrunite's controls. Don't much like where they put the switch, though. Tail switch is much better, IMO.

Ditto, I used to like Thrunite a lot, great start towards an addiction to finding the ideal "Personal Illumination Device", Unfortunately the lights are not exactly commando-bada$$-ninja roll down the mountain durable, I never had a single one last me more than 6 months without some sort of failure. I have known people that take good care of electronics (The type of person that has a laptop for 11 years and still puts it to good use), that have had them last for years. I can recommend the ti3, it is puny with an ok pocket clip, and really great output for it's size, really a keychain light would be perfect for checking the box.

Personally I try to stay away from Chinese made lights except Zebra light, and I have a regard for Fenix (Similar to thrunite though I don't personally own any) After dropping a Fenix unknowingly in the street and having it rained on and run over by cars all night.

2 lines of thought: fairly cheap and disposable, if it breaks or is lost just buy a new one, or invest in a quality light (More in the $50-100+ range) and have it last until it becomes obsolete. I have 2 zebralights that I bought back in 2016 that still work just as well. I also have a couple of Peak lights that will outlive the cockroaches. I had a $400 HDS that was almost perfect, but is outshined (pun not intended) by more compact and brighter and longer running zebralights. That $400 HDS was lost in the woods, probably got the lanyard I made caught on a branch, and the pocket clip tbh was not very good. Yeah... my advice would be to not be afraid to invest a little more in a really good light, especially if the budget ones stop working on you, but don't go overboard unless you _really_ want a good one, because it could be lost at any time unless it has a really good clip or is on a keyring.
 

PartyPete

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I'm always been partial to the $20 Wowtac A1 for a tight budget. I've had mine for years, no complaints. Wish it had a moonlight mode, but otherwise the mode spacing is decent. Comes with a USB chargeable 18650. Sofirn and Thorfire have some decent budget options as well.
 
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