Plug in\rechargeable flashlight

S

Shann

Joined
Sep 2, 2004
Messages
5,249
I recently had a 24 hour power outage. When I grabbed my flashlight off the shelf it was dead (predictable). I used my Photon coin light I keep on my keychain to navigate out to my truck for my Fenix flashlight with lithium batteries so not a big deal. However, I was thinking it would be handy to have a couple decent flashlights that I could keep plugged in all the time. This would kill two birds with one stone. (1) The flashlight would always be charged and (2) I would always know where it was.

I used to have an old Duracell flashlight that actually had prongs sticking out the side, you just plugged it directly into the receptacle. I don't know where it went.

My only real criteria is that it is safe to leave it plugged in all the time, although I'd like to have a good quality one as well. I am less interested in rechargeable ones with separate charging stations but if that is what is out there that's fine.

Thanks.
 
I wouldn't recommend a light that is constantly in a charger unless it is of high quality and designed for that. Those $10-15 walmart special lights aren't going to cut it.

I would look into the professional series of Streamlight flashlights like the Stinger. They have bases for AC and DC voltage and are designed for that type of use, but I still don't think I'd recommend you leave it in the charger for weeks/months/years at a time.
 
For me, the gold standard would be a Streamlight Stinger LED. Its not cheap, but it a quality light used by professionals. I use them with traffic cones to direct traffic at events. The smaller Streamlight Strion would be another good option. Streamlight says that you can leave these in the charger 24/7, so its always ready to go. Once or twice a year, it pays to do a runtime test to make sure the battery is still healthy. Any rechargeable battery will croak eventually, though you should get years of service from a Streamlight battery. They are easily user replaceable.

The "Nebo Slyde King" goes for about $40 on eBay. Nebo is an excellent "entry level" brand that makes quality lights. I think that very few people are familiar with the brand. The new "Slyde King" is USB rechargeable. Its probably not what you are after, but it is a viable option if you are willing to top it off once a month or whatever.

Another option is to buy any AAA or AA light of your choice, and get about 8x Eneloop rechargeable batteries and a charger to go with it. The Eneloop battery has a very low "self discharge" rate, meaning that it will hold 90% or more of its charge for one year. So, every few months you top off your Eneloop batteries and they will be ready to go.

But the Streamlight Stinger or Strion may be the way to go, as you can just leave it on the charger and forget about it. The only real downside is that its going to cost $100 or more for the light and charger. But I think it is well worth it. Rock on. I keep 2x on the charger 24/7, plus one in my vehicle.
 
^--- What Cougar said, and I don't know what the battery companies are doing but the alkalines are leaking all the time now.
I have a two Nitecore EA-81's with 8 Lithium Primaries in them and the tailcap loosed so there is no current drain.
 
I have two of the below in the house, they automatically come on when the power goes off. Walk to it, pull it off the wall and go find what you need. Nice if you are taking a bath(or dump) at night and the power goes out ;)

http://www.cs-power.com/litesaver-ls1000x2.html

Daily EDC is an Olight S15R- has a USB driven magnetic charger stand. I keep the dock plugged into my home PC, while I surf, it sits on the charger. Great light and convenient.

Bill
 
Take a look at Prometheus/Dark Sucks lights. They have a rechargeable battery; you can either charge it by USB or plug into the wall. And with these, NO, you are NOT supposed to leave it plugged in all the time. I LOVE my light!!
http://darksucks.com/store homeT.html
 
My Streamlight Stinger LED has been on charge for at least 5 years. Worked just fine last night.
 
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