A really good and basic flashlight...

[AJMD429]

I remember the days of our eight-D-cell Ray-O-Vac 'Hunter' flashlight, and how bright it seemed, in return for putting up with the weight and bulk (and lousy switch), so todays LED flashlights impress me.



I've used the 190-lumen Coast 'LED Lenser' P-7's (mine says 'T-7' I just noticed) on several 'Night Scout' project guns and found them durable (I seldom have to go to Afghanistan to get goat-feed, though, and never had to endure the jungles of Viet Nam to check on our chickens), and VERY bright. Enough so that I would not hesitate to shoot at a possum or feral cat or raccoon at 75-100 yards at night.

Here is their new HP-7 version I got for potentially similar use, but alas, found the body diameter just a tad too large for the 35mm scope rings I had. However, I am finding it an EXCELLENT all-around flashlight for home/auto/farm use.



The HP-7 is a brighter 251 lumens (has a dimmer power-saving 58 lumen mode upon second-click of the switch), and I've never seen a more UNIFORM 'flood' light on either setting, that with a push of the bezel goes to a nice bright central 'spot' setting (the manufacturer says is useful out to '642 feet'). It is very durable, uses ORDINARY AAA batteries (four, not three like many others), and the beam lasts for several hours.

I know there are 'military-grade' ones out there, but for $49, these are hard to beat...!

[92&94]

I have a smaller model Coast that I picked up at Home Depot....... Nice light so far, no complaints at all.

I almost bought that one instead, as it was brighter, but it was also bigger and more expensive, so I went with the smaller one. I was just looking for a general use light for my belt - the other guys at work never replace batteries in the flashlights there, so I gave up and provided my own. Now if I can get the other compulsive battery changer to do likewise, we'll get a good laugh at the dragasses complaining about all the flashlights being dead

[Mescalero]

Now that I have to provide by myself, it is another chore.
When the corporation provides, you get spoiled.

[nemhed]

My dad had an old Ray-O-Vac just like that. Brings back memories, I wonder what became of it.
I absolutely love today's crop of LEDs, and they keep making them brighter and cheaper!. Even my cheap Walmart specials will blow away that Ray-O-Vac and even my old 2,3 and 5 D-cell Maglights I used to love so much. Now I don't use anything that takes batteries bigger that AA, or uses incandescent bulbs.

[sore shoulder]

Out of habit I still keep a 4 cell Maglite in the truck and another in the house, mostly because I've had them for 20 years and they still work. But the smaller Maglites sit in a drawer. My go to lites are all small one AA LEDs that throw as much light as the 4 cell Maglites and cost $10 at the gas station. My most powerful flash lite is a rechargable mounted to the coyote rifle that throws a beam well over 100 yards that allows me to see clearly through the scope. I recharge it once a year and I've had it for 4 years and spotlight with it at night fairly often. I think it has the equivalent of 3 123 batteries. I would like to find a single 123 version. Flash lite tech has definitely come a long way.

[3leggedturtle]

I like them. A good site is batteryjunction.com Ordered from them and they ship fast and inexpensively. The big lights I had back in the 70'susually had a red light that would blink. Is it possible to ream out the rings a little bit to get the light to fit?

[Bill in Oregon]

Remember the old Boy Scout flashlights with the 90-degree elbow at the lens to make signaling easier? Then there were the ones that took those really big batteries ...