once a year I email my favorite flashlight manufacturer to ask if they’ve finally made a flashlight that just turns on and off when you push the button, and every year they’re like, “no, but thanks so much for your feedback!”
be honest, have any of you ever used the flashing feature on your flashlight? did it actually come in handy? handy enough that I have to scroll past it every single time I want to turn my flashlight on or off
Right there with you.
Why can’t I get a light with super simple controls (say low/med/high/off) with like a 18650 battery?
Nope, you want a 18650,you get all sorts of goofy UI crap. Uggh.
I do have some Duracell led flashlights that use 4 AAA, with a single button, low/med/strobe (uggh)/off. OK price as a multi-pack from Sam’s or Costco, about $7/ea.
But their runtime is about the same as an old incandescent, just with a lot more light.
I don’t know how it is with four AAA, but I had an Anker that had the three AAA cassette, where it holds them all side by side. the cassette broke, and when I called asking for a replacement part, they told me they weren’t making that anymore so no more parts, but these three cell AAA cassette could be replaced with a single 18650
Check out the Nitecore T4K. Not an 18650, but usb-c rechargeable, 4 brightness levels (1, 15, 65, and 200 lumens), plus a 4000 lumen turbo mode that it can maintain for about ten seconds before it has to drop back to 200 to cool down. Separate power and mode buttons, and it remembers what mode it was in when you turned it off. Great battery life, and small enough to fit in your pocket. The only downside is the price ($90), but.it’s worth every penny.
Why does it need to be low/mid/high/off?
What’s the benefit of those modes, and when would you use it?
I’m genuinely asking as I’ve never thought of using all the other modes and am just cycling through them every time to get to the bright setting or to off.
I use mine for either hiking, skiing, or biking. Skiing I want as bright as possible and will have extra batteries, hiking I want it to last a long time and be lightweight (lower light setting), biking I don’t want to blind people, and a red light for camp is nice. I don’t like cycling through, a dedicated intensity button with memory and a dedicated on/off locking toggle would be great.
Wurkkos FC12
18650, tail cap on/off, side button for modes, stays at the last brightness setting when you turn it off and on, built in USB -C charging port. Available on Amazon for about $30 on sale.
I carry one with me everyday at work.
Used to EDC one of those. Switched to an Emisar D4DV2, it’s way better.
Looked it up, lack of a tail cap switch is a bit of a deal breaker for me. Might get one as a backup, but probably won’t replace my EDC.
Tailcap switch could be nice, but I haven’t missed having one.
My SureFire has a tailcap switch and it would keep getting turned on in my pocket.
I hate SureFires… Had a Polytac that I carried for a while but same issue of pocket activation and the batteries wouldn’t last because of it basically running all the time. I was constantly checking to make sure it was off.
Haven’t bought anything from the brand since.
They have their place, but it’s not my preference for EDC
I have a few of these. Honestly don’t understand why more companies don’t make flashlights like this.
Most have modes that you can click or hold to change, but a simple click will turn it on or off. I’ve only noticed the forced mode cycling on cheap hardware store lights.
The convoy has this, 2 modes, one with flashy and one hi med low