Dog walking and coyotes

I am new to this forum and to the flashlight world. I am tired of spending tons of Money on junk flashlights from Home Depot. On the other hand I do not yet have the desire or bug to spend 100's on a flashlight. Currently I walk my dog at night in a rural settting in north San Diego. I was literally followed by 3 coyotes who wanted a meal on my little westie. Of cause my high beam Home Depot light did nothing and they followed me home.. recommendations for a good home light for an acre of property and dog walking light would be appreciated.. a bit confused and overwhelmed looking at options
thanks
keith

I'm not sure a flashlight will really deter a coyote. I've encountered them at night, and all that shining a high-power light on them will do is perhaps freeze them in place for awhile. They seem more curious about it, than scared.

However, I recommend you get a decent, inexpensive thrower to start. Something like a Astrolux C8 or Convoy C8 will do. They're around $25, from what I recall when I bought mine. That will give you a high-powered narrow beam, which will throw the light pretty far out. However, the narrow beam isn't so great for general-purpose walking, if you want to see a lot of stuff around you up close. But it's great for seeing animals in the distance.

They're powered by a 18650 lithium-ion cell, so you'll want to buy one of two of those, plus a basic charger. A really simple charger is about $5, and something like a Samsung ICR18650-30Q battery is about $5 each. Needless to say, don't abuse lithium-ion batteries.

I second this recommendation. Another choice might be the BLF GT mini. Best of luck.

If it was me. I'd grab a Malkoff wildcat. Yes not cheap but will take care of your. Coyote following you home problem.

Get some bear spray for the coyotes - a flashlight is not going to scare them away, though you do need a light to see them. I would recommend a Maglite ML50 3C cell or ML300 D cell LED.

A bright flashlight is good when shined up ahead to sweep an area and alert the coyotes your around. Most coyotes don't want trouble and go away. If you have some that are following or attacking you need a weapon. A flashlight won't scare off an aggressive coyote.

I went with a Nitecore MH12GT for walking my dog at night. Its got a nice amount of flood and throw. On high it has enough throw to light up a large dog sized animal at 300 yards but most of the time I leave it on the second lowest setting for walking in the brush. Only thing I dont like about it is the cover for the charging port constantly popped open so I eventually glued it shut so I have to use an external charger or cr123 cells.

If your being followed by coyotes then likely a light will not scare them off and you should not rely solely on a light to deter them. If its legal there you might want to invest in a can of dog spray/ pepper spray.

ghostguy6 said:

... ... ... ...If its legal there you might want to invest in a can of dog spray/ pepper spray.

Click to expand...

I have seen more than a few coyotes while walking seven miles every day, for 11,000 miles in over four years in residential neighborhoods, but they have never approached me. They just run past me. I have never had any problems with peppers, either. They just stay still. Not so, three times, with my neighbors free-range animals. Their owners never thought that I would just do something non-ineffective. Again. And again.
Flashlights are for seeing things. Self defense things are for self defense. For best results, avoid purpose confusion. D18 for the former, and G29 for the latter.

I carry my Acebeam L16 and a mini-baton stun gun when walking at night in our coyote-rich neighborhood. I was able to back off a family of raccoons from my wall, and you know how difficult they are to scare.

---I Fought A Cat---

I am also going to echo the defensive spray advice.

Believe it or not my son and I were followed by a large black feral cat while cabin camping about a month ago. It was keeping low with its shoulders hunched. Clearly it was not intending to be friendly. When it got too close I hit with 1,000 lumens from a fully charged Fenix UC35 V2.0. It took three times at fairly close range before the cat stopped coming our way. Even then all it did was sit down and look up at the sky long enough for us to get away.

Unless you are carrying something exponentially brighter I would not count on a flashlight stopping wild animals. Do not get me wrong, carry a light everywhere and always. I would just warn against the thought that a light will effectively stop a coyote or even a cat. For the record I was completely surprised 1,000 lumens did not immediately stop the cat dead in its tracks.

I`m just curious here, but would a Laser work at all? not as a way to hurt the animal but rather distract it, I know cats will play for hours chasing a laser and some dogs will too, is it possible to make them chase the beam but in the opposite direction that you intend to travel?

An `LEP` flashlight?
I just bought the budget one from Skylumen.
I would think the bright spot wouldn`t be large enough and hard to target an animal such as a coyote and then again, it`s a laser.
I wouldn`t think an `LEP` would be robust enough to take a drop and continue working (not going to try it with mine either lol)

An Acebeam X45 would be an excellent choice for your needs.

I use an Alpha Ready Made MCE or a Malkoff Wildcat and green 5mw laser pointer - works well to drive off our Eastern Coyote and Procyon lotor here in SW Connecticut.

WalkIntoTheLight said:

I'm not sure a flashlight will really deter a coyote. I've encountered them at night, and all that shining a high-power light on them will do is perhaps freeze them in place for awhile. They seem more curious about it, than scared.

Click to expand...

I've hit Raccoons with my Olight SR52UT - XP-L HI V3, 1,100 lumen focused like a laser (800+ meter throw). Also my Olight SR MINI II 2015 - 3x XM-L2, 3,200 lumen, flood monster. In both cases I was ~20-25 feet away.

They just stared back with little reaction.

Same reaction from some neighbors dogs who were mis-behaving.

A bright flashlight might make you feel better but I don't think it does anything to deter animals.

I remember being very surprised when a fox came trotting straight towards me one night and didn't even stop/notice/change-his-route when I blasted a 1000+ lumen light in its face at about 10 yards. It didn't seem to notice at all and finally bolted at about six feet from me as I released the bolt on the rifle I was carrying and got ready to shoot, thinking it must have been rabid. (I was walking back to my car from hunting deep in the woods, with the rifle empty and the magazine in my pocket.) I've had other animals react --I should say "not react"-- the same way several times.

If I was concerned about coyotes taking my dog, I'd be carrying a good light AND a handgun or pepper spray at the least, depending on the legality.

I had a 300 pound black bear walk into the beam of a TN42vn pushing around 2500 lumens. It got within maybe 30 feet before it decided it wasn't worth the trouble. About 2 months before that I 400 to 450 pound black bear just stare back at the same light. Wild animals can be unpredictable at best.

Try carrying a green laser 5mw. Nobody likes that one...

I've said this 1000 times on this forum. Animals don't care about your flashlights. Carry something you can protect yourself with where legal. I've had very few instances out of many that an animal was deterred by a flashlight.

Or better yet just always go walking with a MUCH slower friend. 😁