Rechargable Flashlight?

[ToolJoe]

I'm looking to go with a rechargable Flashlight I can carry in my pocket. I've found options from Streamlight and Maglite that have a replaceable rechargable batteries when it gets to that point. Some of the Olight options don't have the replaceable battery option. Am I on the right thinking track? Am I missing any other options for rechargable?

[gregozedobe]

I'm looking to go with a rechargable Flashlight I can carry in my pocket. I've found options from Streamlight and Maglite that have a replaceable rechargable batteries when it gets to that point. Some of the Olight options don't have the replaceable battery option. Am I on the right thinking track? Am I missing any other options for rechargable?

Anything that takes standard AA or AAA batteries can use a rechargeable eneloop battery - that has been my rechargeable strategy for many years now.  In a pinch you can also use primary (non-rechargeable) batteries as well.

[Aloha]

 

There are also lights that use a micro usb to charge.  The keychain lights like Rovyvon and Nitecore for example.  Those Rovyvon Aurora's push a nice amount of light too.  My Olight S1R can use standard CR123s but charges with their proprietary battery using a magnetic charging cable.   

[greenbear]

Have you considered the LED Lenser P7 or P7R?

The P7 takes 4 x AAA batteries, so you would need to add a charger and 4 x the batteries, but AAA rechargeable batteries are plentiful and cheap and you would have the fallback of using disposables if needed.

The P7R is slightly more expensive but comes with a replaceable cell so can be kept running for years.

I use a P7 most of the time and find it just sits nicely in a pocket but still gives out a 450 lumens (brightest setting) light, which seems sufficient for most situations.

[enki_ck]

By your question I'm guessing you are nott a flashoholic. So the simpler the better, right?

I would advise the MTO favorite, Lumintop Tool AA 2.0, you can get it in a bundle with a 14500 rechargable battery that has a USB mini charging port integrated, so no special charger needed. (Litium ion batteries require a special charger, there are chargers that can charge both standard recharge batteries and li-ion ones, but that's an added expense.)
You can use it with alkaline batteries, eneloops or li-ions. And it comes with two tali switches, so you can carry it with either a clicky or a twisty switch. And all for under 30usd shipped from a number of online stores, bang good, ali express, ebay, ...

[Echotech]

RovyVon A28 and it’s brothers highly recommended

[nate j]

My current favorite little pocket flashlight is a Fenix E30R.  I like the magnetic charging, water resistance, battery level indicator, five brightness levels (ranging from a blinding 1600 lumen turbo to a 30 lumen eco), and the fact I can carry a couple of CR123As as backup.

It is more of a floody beam than a spot.  Also, the pocket clip is not reversible.

The only real negative, in my view, is that you do need to remember to use the lockout function.  If you don’t, there is a good chance the light will be activated in your pocket, and out of power when you need it.

[ToolJoe]

Lumintop 2 looks like an interesting option. Also, I might go the standalone rechargable battery option.

[dks]

How bright and big do you want it to be?
How low do you want the lowest setting to be?
How long do you want it to run for?
How heavy?
How easy is it for you to charge it?
How robust or waterproof do you want it to be?
How many different light modes do you want?

I have some notes on some of the lights I use in my signature, for reference.

Many are happy with the light on their phone, which you are carrying with you anyway.

[ToolJoe]

I've been pretty happy with a single mode light. My last edc flashlight was an Olight Eos (sp?) With a pocket clip. The lighter the better and plug in USB would be ideal.

[dks]

There are many options and most lights these days are reasonably solid. 20 to 50 dollars should get you a decent one, even less if you look around, online.

I suggest that you just get something you like the look of, avoiding too many modes. If the modes are there, look for a light that hides the weirdest modes, so you do not have to cycle through them.

Any branded light, olight, nitecore, klarus etc. or semibranded sofirn, convoy, etc. should suit you.  Avoid the expensive super tactical/fashionable brands, to save money.

[Scorpion Regent]

I have a Streamlight Stylus Pro USB that I keep in my knock around bag.  It's a single intensity penlight with no extra, bells or whistles.  It charges with a USB cable.  I top it off every two to three months, but I have never had it run out of charge.  After five years it's still the poster child of reliability.  It may have it's design limitations, but it has no flaws.

[ezdog]

There are also several lights now that have rechargeable batteries where the battery itself has a micro USB jack built-in! It can not get much easier than that as you just remove the battery and charge it directly with USB and keep going.

You can also just buy the battery and use it in any light that you like that takes that battery type and get the same benefits.

There are several Streamlights that offer Ten Tap Programming too which lets you easily set the light to a single mode light if you want or a combination of a few different modes again as you prefer.
If wanting a single mode light these days the Sy=treamlights are one of the few options left that are higher quality anymore.

[engineer_in_nj]

I'm looking to go with a rechargable Flashlight I can carry in my pocket. I've found options from Streamlight and Maglite that have a replaceable rechargable batteries when it gets to that point. Some of the Olight options don't have the replaceable battery option. Am I on the right thinking track? Am I missing any other options for rechargable?

Omapoo is my current favorite. Has a battery life indicator and easily switches from rechargeable to disposable.

[Scorpion Regent]

You asked in July, did you ever decided on a light Tool Joe?

[jag-engr]

There are also lights that use a micro usb to charge.  The keychain lights like Rovyvon and Nitecore for example.  Those Rovyvon Aurora's push a nice amount of light too.

I agree.  I have a couple RovyVon lights, and I have stopped carrying anything else on my person.  I always have a headlamp and a Fenix FD30 in my satchel, but the RovyVon covers 90% of my lighting needs.

[Aloha]

   Still really liking mine. 

[Etherealicer]

I really like the newer Nitecore with USB-C recharging (e.g. TINI2 or T4K). What makes them even better is that they can be used while charging, so you can run them off a power-bank.

[Scorpion Regent]

I just remembered something.  It's not proper flashlight, but I rigged up a improvised hands free light by putting a power bank in my shirt pocket and using a goose neck USB lamp made for lap tops.  It wasn't super bright, but it was the very definition of a rechargeable light.  If you always carry a power bank it would be a good option if you were going minimal.  It barley costs anything, it's reliable, and doesn't take up much space.  The power bank is as heavy as it is, but the lamp is super light. (hey I made a funny) 

[buggs]

Late reply to the topic but...

Not sure where you stand on Olight.  I can certainly see many arguments against them (proprietary batteries, etc.) and can make a few more on my own but they may have a nice solution now.  On their recent flash sale (are there more days with flash sales than without now?) I was intrigued by their i5R which is the newly released rechargeable version of the i5T.  The i5T is the AA version that takes a variety of batteries in that size (i3T is the AAA version and not surprisingly a little smaller). 

I have the original i1R keychain light on my keychain from the day I bought it, I've charged it all of once and it holds its charge remarkably well.  The i3T and i5T are great everyday carry lights.  Given the success of the i1R on my keychain I was curious to get one of the rechargeable i5R series.  That I could get one in copper sealed the deal and it arrived today. 

The battery is pretty much an exact match in size for AA.  It's USB rechargeable and seems like a decent little package.  As the battery comes with only a partial charge I hooked it up right away and decided to play around a bit.  Not surprisingly the instructions indicated to not use anything but the provided battery.  Naturally being very good at following instructions (ask my wife) I grabbed a regular old AA Energizer and popped that puppy in there to see if it would work.  No problem powering up the light and both low and high functions worked just dandy.  I didn't do any run time tests but just wanted to know if it would accommodate a regular battery and in the short term at least no problem at all. 

I didn't weigh the batteries to compare but the i5R is noticeably heavier than the i5T.  It's likely the copper versus the regular version.  In the attached picture the i5R looks larger but that's an artifact of the angle of the picture, the form is the exact same for R/T.  Apologies for the poor quality of photos. 

[smiller43147]

According to the OLight Store website, the i5R uses:


Customized 2.4V 1420mAh 14500 Lithium-ion Battery (Compatible with standard AA alkaline batteries)

[Smashie]

I've been using Olight for a few years now and to be frank, I'm getting rid of the ones that use customised batteries.

They discontinue the batteries leaving you with a very expensive chunk of metal, R50 seeker Pro for example.

The models with standard batteries fine.

I'm going to give Nitecore a shot but I have the horrible feeling I'm going back to Surefire.

Not happy with Olight at all

[GearedForwards]

Does the R50 Seeker need a modified battery to function? ime the customised batteries just facilitate the tail switch charging most of the time.

Personally I'd just be inclined to by a few back ups fpr the batteries, they won't make something forever and if you want to use a light for several + years then it's worth the small investment 

[buggs]

I've been using Olight for a few years now and to be frank, I'm getting rid of the ones that use customised batteries.

They discontinue the batteries leaving you with a very expensive chunk of metal, R50 seeker Pro for example.

The models with standard batteries fine.

I'm going to give Nitecore a shot but I have the horrible feeling I'm going back to Surefire.

Not happy with Olight at all

Can't say I blame you.  I have more flashlights than I'll ever need in my life now, but I can definitely see your point.  I love my Seeker 2 but it's a proprietary battery and they're onto the Seeker 3 now anyway (don't think the battery changed but didn't really look).  Something I've noticed is they'll upgrade lights by herks and jerks but not much support for the older stuff at all.  So good business model but not from the perspective of someone that has dropped $$ on an older model.  I've had a few upgraded in my time but nothing negatively just yet, though in time they'll be dated.  Thus far it's been mostly CR3 powered light going to proprietary batteries; sure the performance is better but I'm still able to retain the older lights with older power sources so no big deal to me. 

[buggs]

According to the OLight Store website, the i5R uses:


Customized 2.4V 1420mAh 14500 Lithium-ion Battery (Compatible with standard AA alkaline batteries)

I should have looked a lot closer no question: the leaflet that comes with the light indicates:

available batteries:

` customised lithium battery (included)
`1.5AA alkaline battery (compatible)
`1 AA NiMH battery (compatible)
`1 AA lithium-Fe battery (compatible)

So it has a wide range of power options which is kind of a pleasant surprise.

It does say DO NOT install other lithium batteries into the flashlight.  It may cause the LED or electronic components to burn out and irreparably damange when installing the tailcap. 

[GearedForwards]

I should have looked a lot closer no question: the leaflet that comes with the light indicates:

available batteries:

` customised lithium battery (included)
`1.5AA alkaline battery (compatible)
`1 AA NiMH battery (compatible)
`1 AA lithium-Fe battery (compatible)

So it has a wide range of power options which is kind of a pleasant surprise.

It does say DO NOT install other lithium batteries into the flashlight.  It may cause the LED or electronic components to burn out and irreparably damange when installing the tailcap.

Throwing a standard 3.7V 14500 into it (or the original i5T) would make them single mode and get hot very quickly, so best to be avoided but it wouldn't make it instantly explode.

I got my copper i5R in today and I'm liking it too!

[Smashie]

Does the R50 Seeker need a modified battery to function? ime the customised batteries just facilitate the tail switch charging most of the time.

Personally I'd just be inclined to by a few back ups fpr the batteries, they won't make something forever and if you want to use a light for several + years then it's worth the small investment 

If you want it to charge in the cradle then yes, that was the point of the Pro, it came with a cradle I could fit in the car. The light is big enough that it's a problem to have it rolling around loose in the vehicle.

It's not just the charging, the modes don't work properly without olight batteries either.

I don't think there is an excuse for this behaviour, I just put new batteries in my laptop, it's 4 years old and I bought them direct from lenovo.

[GearedForwards]

If you want it to charge in the cradle then yes, that was the point of the Pro, it came with a cradle I could fit in the car. The light is big enough that it's a problem to have it rolling around loose in the vehicle.

It's not just the charging, the modes don't work properly without olight batteries either.

I don't think there is an excuse for this behaviour, I just put new batteries in my laptop, it's 4 years old and I bought them direct from lenovo.

The cradle will stop it rolling around regardless, what's wrong with the modes using a standard cell?

[Tasky]

I'm going to give Nitecore a shot but I have the horrible feeling I'm going back to Surefire.

IMHO, Olight make only two torches that are worth having. The Perun (and Mini) and the tiny i1R 2 EOS.
Nitecore make some cool stuff, but seem to focus more on being the first to bring innovation to the market and less on making it really usable.
Fenix have turned out to be my personal favourite, with their stuff generally being very comfortable and easy to use. No proprietary cells, except on very small models, and while their UI is a bit backward, it still makes sense. They tend to avoid Mode Memory which I really prefer, too.

[Aloha]

Still loving my Rovyvon Aurora A5.  Its been bumped up to my everyday carry light.  Do I need anything thing to remember to recharge?  No but, its really not a hassle.  With everything else I keep charged I just add it to the list.