Rugged 1x unprotected 18650 light?

Hi all,

I'm looking for a flashlight to keep in my tool box when I work on cars. I'll mostly use it for inspecting components in dark areas.

So far I've found rugged lights that don't work with unprotected cells, and fragile lights that work with unprotected cells.

I actually bought the zebra light s64w hi. I have a couple Zebra light headlamps and love them. This flashlight won't be durable enough for me. The glass is right near the end of the light with almost no protection. I'm pretty much guaranteed to drop this since I'll be sticking it into awkward spaces with greasy hands. Related: water proof/resistant is also a must.

I know the conventional wisdom is to buy the flashlight and get whatever cells it needs, not the other way around.

I really don't want to have a mix of cells since my main lights work with unprotected. Is there a 1x 18650 light that works with unprotected cells and can handle a drop to the ground?

Budget ?

Fraz labs Tiny Nugget.
Not inexpensive, but simple and robust.

Beat me to it!
I'll add Malkoff and HDS.
P

I don't own any, but Olights are tested to extremes, including being thrown on the ground. And have magnets in the tail for adding to the hood when working on the car. But does have proprietary batteries. Might check Elzetta, as they can now use 1 x 18650 in the Bones model.

Not sure that a drop to the ground will always be ok with the light I've been using to work with a Wowtac A2S headlamp.
I've dropped it several times from 6-8 feet to over 12 feet onto concrete floors with no breakage whatsoever only scratches and slight dents in the light. I've used it to work under cars also It does come with a 3400mah USB 18650 cell but can use unprotected 18650s either flat top or button top. I can't guarantee it will hold up to everything but seems to be pretty tough as I wear it on a hard hat and have dozens of times banged into things with it like cast iron pipes and support beams. It is a right angle light that can be removed from the headlamp band that comes with it. I got mine for $30 on Amazon (plus tax if applicable). I got it in neutral white (yellowish).

peter yetman said:

Beat me to it!
I'll add Malkoff and HDS.
P

Click to expand...

A HDS? In a toolbox? 😁

What about a convoy s2+? LVP so safe with unprotected, fairly durable but cheap enough that replacement isn't a big deal. If you need more durability you could swap to a borofloat or acrylic lens and pot the pill.

Rugged..... .... ... ?

Here are two topic threads that I have bookmarked for this topic:

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/v...03-What-is-a-truly-robust-survival-flashlight

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/v...ximum-durabillity-reliability-class-of-lights

Buck91 said:

What about a convoy s2+? LVP so safe with unprotected, fairly durable but cheap enough that replacement isn't a big deal. If you need more durability you could swap to a borofloat or acrylic lens and pot the pill.

Click to expand...

Seconded. The S2+ is about as killable as a cockroach, and if you rugged-ize it, you'd have to do some wrong stuff to it to make it fail.

flashlights are tools

thermal guy said:

A HDS? In a toolbox? 

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I threw my MD2 as high as i could in the air until something broke i had the M61T head on it at the time.
Each landing was on asphalt or concrete.
When it stopped working i discovered the switch had detached from the light tail and pieces had gone into the night never to be found.
Head and tailcap took a beating, losing switch means i just need another one.
DON'T do this to a light i could not help myself but test out the Malkoff durability.
It's DURABLE the head is severely dented and scratched but still works.The tailcap is scratched to everywhere but did not dent.

thermal guy said:

A HDS? In a toolbox? 

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Yes of course, all my lights work for their livings.
P

archimedes said:

Budget ?

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My budget is under $100 for this light. I'm hoping I can still get "buy once, cry once" quality at that price. It looks like the HDS is probably out of my budget.

The crenelated MD2 looks like what I'm looking for. The metal shield around the lens will protect the glass some.

Dang that S2+ is so cheap! I could buy a couple and have no worries about losing one or breaking it. Is it any good?

Whatever light I get will spend a fair amount of time neglected in a tool box so maybe cheap is the way to go as long as long as the light is pretty good.

Having both the Malkoff and the Convoy mentioned above, their durability is not similar, pretty obviously.

As with most tools, there are tradeoffs between price and quality.

Whether Snap-on versus Harbor Freight, or whatever :shrug:

jabe1 said:

flashlights are tools

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R/whooooosh. : D

He knows, it just seems many others don't. Especially HDS.

To OP. Buy a fraz. My new favorite lights!

My 5 year old plays with my tiny tank every night. Hasn't broken it yet. Enough said!

pontoon said:

The crenelated MD2 looks like what I'm looking for. The metal shield around the lens will protect the glass some.

Click to expand...

The lens of the MD2 is of abrasion-resistant, hardcoated acrylic. The optics of Fraz Labs offerings are either polycarbonate (Carclo) or acrylic (Gaggione). No glass anywhere.

Does the Malkoff work with unprotected flat top cells?

The MD2 does indeed fit and run off an unprotected, flat top 18650. However, the driver lacks low voltage protection in that once the lower input voltage is reached, the device will run in direct drive and possibly overdischarge an unprotected cell if you are not careful.