I’m thinking about getting my first decent flashlight. I find that most of the time when I want a decent light, it’s when I’m walking the dog or taking out the compost, and I’m struggling to juggle a light with what I’m doing, so I’d like something I can tuck in a pocket and have it illuminate what I’m doing.
I’d prefer something with a fixed right angle; I’m not terribly interested in a swivel.
USB-C charging woul be best. I can see the appeal of magnetic charging, but I’ve got so used to having everything on USB-C that I’d rather not have another proprietary cable around.
I’m a little bit intimidated by some of the programming diagrams I’ve seen. I don’t think I need a light with over a dozen different lighting and strobe modes. On/off is fine, high-mid-low is also great, but much more than that and I worry about getting lost.
I’ve seen some with the option for a red light as well as white, and that’s appealing, but not essential. I like the idea of not having to totally lose my night vision when I turn on my flashlight. Powerbank function, similarly, is appealing but by no means essential.
Budget is $70, tops, but if there are models that are cheaper but still quality construction, I’m open to suggestion.
Thanks for the help!
Here are 11 right-angle lights with USB-C, a sub-lumen mode to preserve dark adaptation, and a standardized removable battery of some sort. If you can wait a couple weeks for shipping from China, the Convoy H2 with Nichia 519A LED for excellent color rendering is a good choice.
If the USB port can be on the battery instead of the headlamp, there are several good options using the 14500 (AA-size Li-ion rechargeable) and 18650 (larger Li-ion rechargeable) batteries which can be found with USB-C ports on them, such as this 14500 from Skilhunt and this 18650 from Acebeam. The Skilhunt H150 is an excellent 14500 right-angle light, and their H04 series are nice 18650 models. Nichia 519A LED suggested in either case.
If you can give up the sub-lumen mode in favor of faster shipping and USB-C on the light itself, the Sofirn SP40A is a reasonable option. I suggest it over the HS40 due to color rendering, though the latter has higher maximum brightness.
I like my Sofirn HS40. It only has a few modes but it has USB-C charging, a fixed right angle, and water resistant to 2 meters submersion. Throw the magnetic tailcap on there and you can stick it where you need to.
Seconded. I’ve got a couple of Sofirn lights and they’re excellent value. Their UI is pretty straightforward as long as you avoid their pro models which use Anduril or other “enthusiast” firmwares.
I carried a streamlight on my bunker gear for years. It’s survived a large number of structure fires and car wrecks and still going strong.
For something small, I’ve really been enjoying my hanklights, he released a smaller right angle light last year, ordering can be a little overwhelming, but r/hanklights has some good guides. Mine has survived going through the washer and the dryer, and is my duty light on the ambulance I am working on. Yes, it has a lot of features in the UI, but you don’t have to use them, and there are good guides to figure out the basics. 99% of the time I just use on off.I can provide my build list if you are interested to simplify things.
Head lamps. You look like a total idiot, but there’s no chance of it falling out of your pocket into a pile of dog poop.
Skillhunt H02 has been my go-to for years. I’ve bought several of them for myself and as gifts
A note on the skillhunt stuff, their lights with magnetic charging connectors are really poorly designed, the charging contact is a dead short to the battery making them both not waterproof and a potential explosion hazard.
It’s not a dead short; there’s a very fast acting circuit breaker when it’s shorted. It can spark and I do find that to be a significant design flaw, but it can’t drive the battery into thermal runaway or significantly heat objects other than fine wires, steel wool, and similar.
