Need suggestions for a survival torch/flashlight stockingstuffer :)

Im looking for suggestions concerning a present Im looking at for my husband. Ive thoroughly confused myself now.. and want to see other options. He is a combat vet long time prep minded fellow.. and I dont want to disappoint him as he has used the best.. now Im trying to find the suitable. The perfect light will be able to be used with his handgun ( desert eagle), NOT attach to a gun so its multiple use, and Id love to find one with enough candle to basically temporarily blind someone! LOL! I recently bought a tactical light from a law enforcement supply.. and was VERY disappointed in the thing. We have other super cool flashlights, but I want something special.

Fire away! Let me know what you use or what you WISH you had. Give me some advise. School me on cool flashlights that he will gasp, ohh, ahh, and etc over on Christmas morning! LOL!

There is this one flashlight that you can shake up and down to make it reusable...

I am unsure what the name is my sister bought one a long while ago..

It looks kinda like your masturbating when charging it...

I will look for it online and see if i can find it.. If not maybe someone else might know what it is...

It needs no batteries as i recall also..

::EDIT::

www.amazon.com...

::EDIT AGAIN!!::

I found this interesting site here that talks about how to make them..

express.howstuffworks.com...

reply to post by ThichHeaded


Very cool We have a few of those types.. though not that specific one.. for emergencies but the one Im looking for is VERY much more bright. like 1000 plus lumens!

reply to post by Advantage



I know just the one (actually, a few to choose from), and it's not a bank breaker either like some of the tacti-cool ones can be. LumaPower.

www.batteryjunction.com...
Most of the ones on this page would do nicely, what you'll want to consider are a) battery type and b) brightness

For reference, both of mine use the CR123A battery, I have an incendio V3U for everyday pocket-carry (1 battery), and it's big brother the trust model 2 (2 batteries).

They have several brightness settings, which are programmable as to which one it defaults to when you turn it on, and don't have any of the funky "strobe" or "code clicks" to activate different modes like the high end tacti-cool lights, which in my opinion are a pain in the butt.

They are rugged and dependable, and the trust model will light up an entire football field enough to spot someone on it. I know because I walk the dog past one twice a day, usually in the dark.

He'll love either one, guaranteed.

LED is the way to go.

I've got a Class II flashlight with a 3W LED.

I can't tell you how much lumen the output it, but you better don't look into it.

But in case you like to go pro, I recommend "The Dazzler"

A good brand is Surefire makes some powerful flashlights.
I know that is one of the brands that police like to use.

The downside to those is they batteries do not last a long time and the replacement bulbs do not make them a good choice for a shtf scenario.

The previous poster mentioned the shake light or whatnot, they are ok but do not put out much light. But better then no light.

I have a suprabeam Q3R If you seek something to blind people, that's the way to go
greeetz

Love my Surefire lights. The one that isn't attached to a gun I carry when I take my dog on the trails around here at night. I have abused the hell out of the thing and its never had a hiccup. It's the model with the crenelated housing around the light which makes it one awesome makeshift ouch tool.

Expensive at around $180 as I recall but worth it. Two modes, blinding bright and soft. The batteries do go quick.

I've had a few mid range lights that were horrible, and oddly a few cheapos that were really good.

I have four Faraday flashlights, that can be recharged by simply shaking them in your hand, no batteries to change because the shaking motion charges a capacitor. It is very unlikely that anyone could ever wear one out. Shaking for one minute will provide over one hour of light. Just search Faraday Flashlight. The link shows you how they work. Bigger is better because more light.

www.shake-flashlights.com...

Originally posted by Domo1
Love my Surefire lights. The one that isn't attached to a gun I carry when I take my dog on the trails around here at night. I have abused the hell out of the thing and its never had a hiccup. It's the model with the crenelated housing around the light which makes it one awesome makeshift ouch tool.

Expensive at around $180 as I recall but worth it. Two modes, blinding bright and soft. The batteries do go quick.

I've had a few mid range lights that were horrible, and oddly a few cheapos that were really good.

Surefires and Crees are what Ive been looking at mostly. Im getting ready to look up the other suggestions in the responses.. but I was at the gun shop on Sat and was looking at a Surefire E2d Defender ....dual output. The guy was telling me that even the 200 hundred lumen Surefire is a blinder. He said that when he was in New Mexico he'd carry it and it would literally temp blind and drive away mountain lions.

Oh yeah, edited to add.. he told me that the 200 lumen surefire would totally overwhelm night vision of an opponent.

I like my simple black diamond gizmo headlamp. Uses aaa batteries that I haven't even had to change out on it yet. One reason for this is that you can conserve battery life by turning down the lamp power on it. Very functional! What good is a headlamp if you need to change out the batteries or plug it into a wall after every hour of use? No good, imo.

$20 bones. Small, light, effective. I'm a top quality gear junkie and recommend it. You don't need a 3 pound whiz-bang 500 lumen headlamp.

reply to post by Advantage


In my opinion, one of the best lights for the money is the Nebo redline. Nebo makes a variety of different tac lights and all of them are top notch. I own 2 and they have never let me down. I disagree with a poster stating that strobe and code setting are a pain in the butt. I have used the strobe function for signaling on more than one occasion.

edited for spelling.

reply to post by Advantage


It's painful even in daylight. There's a mildly aggressive dog nearby that stopped in his tracks running up to me and my boy one night when I shined it in his eyes. It's surprising.

Hands down baddest handheld flashlight on the planet if,..... you are only interested in light output.
www.wickedlasers.com...

Originally posted by unsteadystate
~snip~
I disagree with a poster stating that strobe and code setting are a pain in the butt. I have used the strobe function for signaling on more than one occasion.

edited for spelling.

edit on 12/3/2012 by unsteadystate because: (no reason given)

Then let me clarify....usually the advertised intent of a strobe function in a tactical flashlight is to blind/disorient an assailant. Each flashlight has it's own way of accessing different "modes", so in order for "my" strobe type flashlight to do that, I have to half-press the on button a couple times after remembering to screw the bezel all-the-way tight.

This simply isn't going to happen in a surprise scenario, too much fiddling, plus, in extreme darkness, strobe lights disorient ME as well.

But if I was simply signalling, I would have plenty of time to scroll thru the button presses, tighten the bezel, etc...

So in conclusion, MY preference is a simple light that comes on to the brightness I want with a single click, since 99.99999% of the time I don't want a strobe light. The other .000001% of the time, if I felt I needed to deal with an attacker, a flashlight would not be my tool of choice.

So when I said "pain in the butt", I was speaking regarding my typical usage of a flashlight. YMMV

Originally posted by TAWonATS
Hands down baddest handheld flashlight on the planet if,..... you are only interested in light output.
www.wickedlasers.com...

The Torch can burn hot. You can hold the body of the flashlight as the heat-resistant lens burns plastic, lights paper on fire, and cooks eggs and marshmallows. For a bright light or light-grilling this is the perfect accessory for the outdoor enthusiast. Built for the 21st century. A flashlight this bright and powerful can't be made of flimsy plastic. You can be confident in the quality of the construction when you're buying from the home of the world's most powerful lasers. The 100 Watt halogen bulb is fitted with a durable high-heat rated lens. The casing is made of a military-grade aluminum.

That is one cool flashlight!

You can cook with it and start a fire.

Originally posted by kdog1982
That is one cool flashlight! You can cook with it and start a fire.

Battery Lifetime: 5-10 Minutes

Originally posted by METACOMET

Originally posted by kdog1982
That is one cool flashlight! You can cook with it and start a fire.

Battery Lifetime: 5-10 Minutes

I didn't read that part.

Still,I don't care if I have to pack a bunch of batteries it's still cool.

great stocking stuffer, and it clips right to his bob!
www.sciplus.com...

Got an ATAC A2 which runs off of two AA's. Not cheap, but nice strong beam and you don't have to go anywhere special to get AA's. Also has good battery life at half-bright mode. There might be better out there, but it was something I saw and had to have at the time. But it sounds like you probably already have something like that.

Now if you want something that feels a bit more "old school" you could get a Nite Ize "Maglite 1w LED upgrade" for somewhere under $20. Technically it's not a flashlight in itself, but I believe it's something worth considering. Also it's not really specific to the Maglite brand. I believe it's a Cree 1W LED with a fairly common style bulb base for incandescent lamps. (So it'll upgrade almost anything. Works in an old Rayovac flashlight just fine, and presuming from the looks Energizer uses the same socket type too. Makes a nice option for one of those old swivel or anglehead flashlights that are hard to find newer LED equivalents of. Also looks like something that would work in some older Cateye or Bell bicycle headlights too.) I consider it "old school" as you can (at least) triple the brightness and quadruple the useful battery life of an older rugged two to four battery C or D cell flashlight. With the way high-powered LED flashlights are styled these days, most people won't think to yoink what they presume is an older and less attractive incandescent flashlight (technically that's what it originally was, right?) - so it's a nice upgrade for a camping or work flashlight that may be left out in the open.