Recommendation for good utility flashlight

[BigBlue]

Flashlight technology has changed so much in recent years and I haven't spent a lot of time paying attention to the latest stuff. I'm looking for recommendations for a good utility flashlight to use around the house. Does not need to be tactical, extremely small, or super high end. I just want something reasonably priced that uses common (read: cheap) batteries that I can buy a few of and have in various places in the house and shed for normal use. I see things like a 2-pack of 500 lumen ones at Menards for $9.99 that I assume are cheap, over-hyped junk. I also see ones on Amazon and elsewhere running over $150 that are too far in the other extreme. I'm hoping I can find something reliable and decent for under $50 or so.

For reference, I have a couple 'Element K2' that are small enough to pocket (6" long), run on 3 AAA batteries, and seem to be about what I want, but they are 5-6 years old and don't have all that much output, so I'm looking for today's comparable replacement.

Thanks!
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[Inspiribomb]

I have a 4Sevens Quark Pro Turbo (or something like that) and love it. I believe "burst" mode is 700 lumens, takes 2 CR123's, and is modular so you can swap out the head, battery tube (for other battery types), etc. Has several very useful modes, including strobe and moonlight (great for walking at night). I think I paid around $70 and am impressed with the size, quality and output. I keep mine in my nightstand and bring it camping.

[Ironbear]

A good place to check out:
http://www.flashlightreviews.ca/recommend.html

It is above your stated price limit, but I have a Sunwayman V11R that is great! It goes in my pocket during the day, and sits on the nightstand at night. Since I got it, I use it daily! I bought mine with the AA-extender. With the extender it will work with AA-sized batteries, from 1.2 volt NiCads and NiMHs to 3.6v 14500 LiPos. Without the extender, it works with CR123 batteries and RCR LiPos. Even on 1.2 volt batteries, it is quite bright (Supposedly really bright with LiPo batteries) and I love the fact that it dims down. The low setting is great to navigate around the house at night without waking or blinding anyone.

FWIW. After using this, I don't think I would buy a good flashlight without a "dim" or "moonlight" mode. Lovely feature...

[Bitter Bastard]

Menard's has some aluminum flashlights that are excellent. I have one from probably 6 or 8 years ago that takes 3 C batteries, 150 lumens, 100 hour run time. There is a newer version they have now that has dual modes - super bright and usable bright for most indoor tasks. I think it also takes 3 C batteries, my friend has that one, I don't. Price I think is $30. The older version was only $20. These are NICE flashlights for around the house or the car trunk.

Good luck!

Bitter Bastard

[Ghost]

I got one of these for Christmas https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QG1ZC3M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_hU34wbJ9Q45JP

The magnetic charging stand is pretty nice and it's plenty bright. Had never heard of this brand until I opened it.

[fine ape]

Mag-Lite XL50 http://maglite.com/shop/maglite-xl50-led-3-cell-aaa-flashlight.html#.VuOHHF23Opc

Payed $25 three years ago. Had to get another one, folks at work kept "forgetting" to return it.

Takes three AAAs, goes to low beam when the batteries start going flat.

[linksep]

I got a few of these: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00M9Z ... ge_o02_s00

With some batteries: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LM4 ... ge_o09_s00

And a charger: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KW2 ... ge_o08_s00

Yes I have a $9 battery in a $4 flashlight. They're amazing (both the batteries and the flashlights).

Be warned, these flashlights will run on AA batteries...for about 15-20 minutes in 1-5 minute bursts. They run an hour plus on the rechargeable batts (in the same 1-5 minute bursts).

At that price buy a dozen. In fact, I just added more to my Amazon cart. They're so cheap that if someone really admires it I'll give them the one in my pocket (without the $9 battery).

You could stash them everywhere with Costco batteries in them for emergency use and put rechargeable lithium batts in your 2-4 frequent use lights (pocket carry, car console, toolbox, kitchen "junk-drawer").

Specifically for your budget of <$50 and a "few" flashlight I am going to assume a "few" flashlights = 4. That's a $200 budget for flashlights (just barely over some of the single lights you mentioned).

Charger: $19
Rechargeable Batteries (4): $38
Disposable Batteries (42): $15
Flashlights (21): $84
Beer (2 flats of Talls): $44
Equals $200.
Profit!

(Seriously, if you go this route buy 1 flashlight, make sure it's the more legit model because who knows which sellers are selling from which factories. PM me and I can help you tell the difference between the "good" and "garbage" "UltraFire" flashlights.)

[viper8u2]

I have a couple of these that I bought in 2014 for the purposes you mentioned. They came with batteries and a charger and is very bright. I did have one of the batteries leak after about a year and now that I think of it I should order some extras.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00EOJKH ... UTF8&psc=1

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

[GeekyGunman]

Check out the Olight S2 Baton
$50, very small, yet 950 lumen and BRIGHT, deep carry pocket clip too.

18650 batteries are cheap and plentiful, so I'll leave that as an exercise for the reader, but they are a great form factor for size, power, and battery life.
(Even if you decide against this light, I recommend looking closely at 18650 lights, all the major "tactical" light manufactures make them.)
I used to run a single AA light, but this is just light years better.

[smurfman]

Menard's has some aluminum flashlights that are excellent. I have one from probably 6 or 8 years ago that takes 3 C batteries, 150 lumens, 100 hour run time. There is a newer version they have now that has dual modes - super bright and usable bright for most indoor tasks. I think it also takes 3 C batteries, my friend has that one, I don't. Price I think is $30. The older version was only $20. These are NICE flashlights for around the house or the car trunk.

Good luck!

Bitter Bastard

I have a couple of these types stashed around the house and the cabin. The ones that take the C batteries are around the front door at the house and both doors at the cabin. They light up the yard pretty well and one can easily see a raccoon or other small animal at 40 yards- at least well enough to shoot with open sights. The last one I bought was $20 on sale.

The back door at the house has the D sized flashlight. At the low setting I can see a group of bushes in the pasture which are almost 200 yards away and at high I can see the tree line closer to 400 yards away. At high with the narrow beam I can identify and hit a coyote at 200+ yards with a mid quality scope. I bought the one for $30 but they have gone up in price substantially as I recall. That is, if they can be found on the shelf as I haven't seen one in Forest Lake, Cambridge, Blaine, nor Coon Rapids lately. IF I can find another I will probably grab it.

The beams are adjustable, they can be pretty wide open or rather narrow. There is a clear ring just behind the bevel which allows light to bleed to the sides which is disconcerting as it does get into the eyes if you do not hold the light well in front of you. The other issue I have with them is the same I have with other battery lights, they lose effectiveness when cold. This rules them out for use in the car over the winter. For that I keep a Surefire G2 in the vehicles. The lithium batteries resist the cold pretty well and they have plenty of power for use on the street. I bought a bunch of them for $25 each a number of years ago and feel it was a good investment. I also bought a couple of pigtail converters for them which allows them to be used as a weapons light too.

In the bedroom I keep my old Streamlight SL-20 rechargeable. It is plenty bright and its heavy aluminum body makes it an effective club if need be. It gets the most use as a hammer when my wife decides to pound a nail into the sheet rock to hang a picture. She does this quite a bit but the upside is she is getting pretty good at patching holes.

[BigBlue]

Thanks for the tips! Some great ideas here. I think I'll try the Ultrafire WF-502B. Seems like a great price for a light of the size I was looking for.

BB

[yuppiejr]

Check out the LuxPro LP500's... should run about $15 a pop, super bright with an easy to use focus adjustment... and after throwing it 15 feet into the air repeatedly landing onto concrete, and playing fetch with my brother-in law's black lab on wet grass for a half hour mine still works perfectly even though it looks like ****. I was a Maglight/Surefire purist but the Luxpro products have impressed me a lot after picking a few up at Lowes on sale around Christmas.

[BigBlue]

I got an Ultrafire WF-502B from Amazon to check out. For $15 including two 18650 batteries and a charger it is certainly a bargain. It's nice and meets my needs pretty well. Seems to be decent quality, looks nice, good size, and reasonably simple to operate. Didn't come with any instructions so I had to Google a bit to figure out how the button works though.

Light output is not impressive though. They call it 1000 lumens but I highly doubt that. Comparing it to my old Element K2 that is running on well used AAA alkalines it is brighter (on fully charged 18650 batt) but I would say not even twice as bright. That K2 was rated at 150 lumens. For 1000 lumens I expected to burn the paint off the wall (or close).

All in all it is a good choice.

BB