The Best Flashlight

After hours of research and testing, I present my picks for the best flashlight.


1. The best all-around flashlight:

The Coast TT7438CP Tactical Flashlight

This German-engineered super-bright, focusing LED flashlight runs for 85 hours on 3 AAA batteries, is 5 inches long, weighs less than five ounces, and is brighter than a 4D Cell Mag-Lite.

It is the perfect flashlight to keep in the nightstand by your bed.

I was surpised at how much I like this flashlight. I've never heard of Coast before, and their name (Coast Cutlery) definitely doesn't sound technology oriented. Despite that, their standard flashlights are way brighter than the competition and I liked that they use standard AAA batteries, instead of the specialty lithium batteries that Inova and others use in their tactical flashlights.

The best price I found was $63.95 at UtilitySafeGuard.Com
http://www.utilitysafeguard.com/Coast/Tactical-Use-Flashlights/LL7438-Tactical-Focus-Beam-Flashlight

You can also buy Coast products at www.lightsandknives.com, which is a seller that operates out of Coast's warehouse in Portland, Oregon.

If $63.95 is too much, Coast also has a whole series of flashlights, including lights that use a single AA battery and rechargeable versions. http://www.coastcutlery.com/. Coast also makes very affordable utility knives.


2. The best keychain flashlight:

The Inova Microlight

This LED light is perfect for every keychain in the house. It has three modes, bright, dim, and flashing. It comes with varying color bodies and LED lights. The translucent body looks the best. You get the light in white, red, and many other colors. Red is supposedly best for preserving your night vision.

This flashlight is perfect for every keychain. The only downside is that it uses watch-style batteries, but given how often I'll need to replace them and my preference for a smaller light on the keychain, I'll take it.

$5.49 at BatteryJunction.com
http://batteryjunction.com/inmi2witrbo.html


3. Best Multifunction flashlight:

The Inova 24/7

The Inova 24/7 is the most versatile flashlight I've ever seen. It has six modes: (1) Bright white light, (2) dim white light, (3) bright red light (to preserve night vision), (4) SOS Light (sends SOS in morse code using the bright white lights), (5) emergency signal light (flashes multiple colors - Red, Yellow, and White in a very bright, noticeable pattern), and (6) warning signal (Red and Yellow alternating).

It also comes with a number of useful accessories, including a headband (to make the light into a personal headlight), a magnetic mount, brackets for making the light a fixed mount, and a neck-strap to wear the light around your neck.

I've put one of these in each of my car emergency kits and I keep one in my backpack.

The only downside is that this light also uses a specialty lithium battery that may be hard to find in an emergency. The upside is that the light has a very compact form factor and is very, very bright.

$37.95 at BatteryJunction.com
http://batteryjunction.com/24smwiackit2.html

Note that despite my recommendation of Inova's Microlight and the 24/7, I hate Inova's standard tactical flashlights. They all use specialty lithium batteries, have very short operating times, and are nowhere near as good as the comparable Coast products.