I know it doesn’t seem like it, but not everything in my life has to be high-end (or high-mid-end) tactical. Sometimes a $29 MagLite is plenty for the anticipated task and doesn’t call for a $150 SureFire.
I mention this because I was at CostCo the other day and beheld this:
It’s a made-in-China flashlight from CostCo, but it had a couple features that made me want to examine it a bit closer. It has a focusing head, which is, I suppose, a nice feature to have. But more importantly it runs off of either a USB rechargeable battery or a battery pack of AA batts. In addition, the flashlight has a port to allow you to use it as a battery source to charge other USB devices. And, of course, its got some heft to it for those occasions that call for percussive remediation.
The USB charging (both in a and out) caught my attention because it seems like an interesting potential for a vehicle flashlight. I currently keep a D-cell LED MagLite in the console but I have to change out the batteries every year…just in case. This would be a light I could leave plugged into a USB plug-in in the cigarette lighter. The more astute among you will think “Won’t that drain the battery?”. I don’t think so. First, the draw is not that much, and I believe that once it’s charged it’s barely a trickle to maintain that charge. However, I’ll hook it up to one of the backup batteries in the house and see how long it takes to draw it down.
But I also like that I can use it to recharge my mobile devices as well. A handy feature in an emergency. Also a handy feature when you only have one cigarette lilghter outlet in your vehicle and it’s charging your phone, leaving your USB speaker uncharged. (Yeah, my vehicle is a fleet vehicle trade-in so no fancy options like Bluetooth, USB chargers, or even a CD player….so, when I travel, its a USB Bluetooth speaker and Spotify off my phone. And both need charging.)
As far as light throw, this thing isnt bad. It’s worth the $22 I paid for it, and seems a decent choice for a light to keep in the truckbox or wherever for those situations that don’t require the best and brightest. At $22 a throw theyre fairly disposable and would make decent stocking stuffers. One drawback is that if you attach a lanyard to the back of this thing it precludes being able to unscrew the cover to the USB charging ports. Que cera cera.
This thing has three modes all from one button – Off-high-med-low-off… in that order. Pretty basic. The head on this thing focuses to a room-filling flood and can be narrowed down for more focused lighting. It’s no replacement for a MagLite, IMHO, but the ‘deaul fuel’ nature of the thing, and the USB charging features, are some very nice points. Footprint is about the same as a MagLite although maybe a bit longer to accommodate the focusing head feature.
Anyway,. for twentytwo bucks, its a reasonable choice for a light for inside the gun safe, the kitchen junk drawer, or for scenarios where you don’t wanna risk an expensive high-end flashlight.
Wow – what’ll they think of next ? This does cross a lot on the list of wishes, especially when you aren’t at home. Thank you for bringing it to our attention.
Just brought one home a couple of hours ago and is currently on charge. It will replace my 40 YO Maglight as my truck light.
They make splitters that plug into your lighter outlet to allow you to plug in 2 or 3 things at the same time.
Fair warning, as someone who uses those in my work truck, the male plugs will overheat and cause the internal spring to fail, leading to poor connection, more heat, and killing your lighter plug by melting the internal plastic. Be very, very careful with those damn things.
Personally, I just use a two-port USB lighter charger now. Dollar tree even sells them that way these days, and they’re not too bad. I use higher quality.ones, but have one to swap out if I need to charge something with an older USB type (micro, mini, proprietary, lightning, etc)
Saw it at Costco but did not pull the trigger,may get one now as a backup
Bought one in the spring, decent but has some quirks. Firstly, it doesn’t fine focus down to a narrow beam. Good light for area lighting but if u need a smaller area lit it’s high setting is overkill (and blinding). Compensate by using a lower setting. Light is VERY bright on high and burns thru the battery fairly quickly. Secondly, be sure u check the small blue lights which indicate battery charge (4 in row). When it gets to one u need to charge it or light will soon fail. By fail I mean u’ll be walking along and it will just die, no dimming or blink warning, just dead leaving u in the dark. U may get an intermittent couple of flashes but usually nada. Bulb end area will get really hot if left on high for a long time. Read the high heat warning in the manual. Light is heavy aluminum and is very functional for those needing to use it in a kinetic way on biological type items. (Would not recommend using it to pound stuff). Otherwise, the light is OK and great for the price.
costco also sells these https://www.costco.com/duracell-1200lm-hybrid-led-flashlight,-3-pack.product.4000257148.html …they won’t charge anything but they are rechargeable or can use AA batteries…1200 lumens and also has a focusable head…they appear to be pretty decently made…
I don’t habitually carry a flashlight. So I keep them all over the place.
I’ve become very partial to the Energizer brand models. These are a staple for me, every bit as good as much more expensive lights.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Energizer-TAC-300-LED-Tactical-Metal-Flashlight-300-Lumens-ENPMHT1L/313811534?source=shoppingads&locale=en-US&pla&mtc=SHOPPING-CM-CML-GGL-D25H-025_005_SEC_SAFETY-NA-NA-NA-PMAX-5762521-NA-NA-NA-NBR-NA-NA-NA-SafetySecurity&cm_mmc=SHOPPING-CM-CML-GGL-D25H-025_005_SEC_SAFETY-NA-NA-NA-PMAX-5762521-NA-NA-NA-NBR-NA-NA-NA-SafetySecurity-71700000113120999–&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADq61UfBlVvoc8Tfj2sDrZy0ZgCcC&gclid=Cj0KCQjwj4K5BhDYARIsAD1Ly2rAvanXHA7CY6pw-o6ZCmppBun9tDThKEan7rrstxZ4vkfGDdCk4WgaAvhKEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
For a bigger light I’m becoming partial to these.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Energizer-TAC-1000-LED-Flashlight-1000-Lumens-ENPMHT61/311802761?source=shoppingads&locale=en-US&pla&mtc=SHOPPING-CM-CML-GGL-D25H-025_005_SEC_SAFETY-NA-NA-NA-PMAX-5762521-NA-NA-NA-NBR-NA-NA-NA-SafetySecurity&cm_mmc=SHOPPING-CM-CML-GGL-D25H-025_005_SEC_SAFETY-NA-NA-NA-PMAX-5762521-NA-NA-NA-NBR-NA-NA-NA-SafetySecurity-71700000113120999–&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADq61UfBlVvoc8Tfj2sDrZy0ZgCcC&gclid=Cj0KCQjwj4K5BhDYARIsAD1Ly2rCqUEPSl5S5HWb8GHmMSc7vXPUbBDc9VIzoOoxJ41MmqPZZTIue4AaAlJ0EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
Off-topic, I looked for posts about vacuum sealers and didn’t see this.
About 10 years ago I got a deal on Off!. I knew pressurized cans leak, so I put two in a big Ziploc, two were sealed in vac bags with the vac sealer but not sucked empty, and two were full-on vacuum sealed.
The Ziploc blew out first, but the vac bags held as very, very overstuffed air pillows.
The point being, I guess, is that all those cans under the sink are leaking into the house. Or maybe that you can see how much those little bottles leak. Does anyone store propane?
Anyway, just an FYI post.
I’ve had a dozen of the fat one-pound propane bottles stored outside in a plastic locker for a decade experiencing midwest summer/winter temperature swings. Moved ’em recently. One was empty. So, 92% survived so far.
Very interesting… I have a couple smaller lights that use a single 18650 battery. I have a couple of those that have a USB plug on the side of them. Those lights also have a carrier for use with AAA batteries. Not nearly as useful for kinetic purposes, but much easier to stow in a glovebox. And 18650s hold a charge for a long time. That said, I will have to remember this next time I’m visiting Costco.
I keep a 3 D-cell maglight in the trucks – with traffic cones on the end. Aside from whatever utility they may have directing traffic (and frankly, I’ve only done that a couple of times this century) the light itself has some value as a bludgeon.
Because sometimes, you don’t NEED to shoot someone.
About anything Nitecore or stream light is something you can bet on. A lot of them are very reasonably priced
Off topic – earlier you asked about Hurricane preparedness accounts, what worked and what didn’t, etc. I have skimmed almost a dozen, and was generally shocked by how unprepared so many ‘homesteaders’ and canners and ‘non-gmo foodies’ were. Two of note that provided useful info (in addition to ones already mentioned and linked here in the past):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdoA7gCW1fY
And – https://pickled-prepper.com/blog/
$29 is a great deal. There’s no Costco nearby so I looked it up on the Zon and it’s $53.