Decent budget torch?

kuepper

I'll literally be in some very dark places on holiday and want to have a pretty bright torch to safely move about and maybe even some night spotting of birds/wildlife. Never had an LED torch before and bit confused about what lumens to get and whether to get one run on batteries / rechargeable batteries (and what mAh to have) / usb charged. There seems to be well-reviwed / high selling ones on Amazon for £6.99 or so but they're brands I've never heard of.

thara1996

Heya. 

 

You can start off by seeing if Amazon have any in order to get or not. Alternatively you can head to Mountain Warehouse in addition to find one. Best wishes. Otherwise try asking friends and family members for torch recommendations. Most of the household shops have a dedicated member of staff who can give you more advice on finding a torch. Check out a few different torch reviews online too. Seriously it is a very good idea to do your own Internet research and learn more. I keep my torch in a portable travel bag. Once a year I clean my torch with cleaning wipes and soap. 

oldernonethewiser

thara1996 said:

Heya. 

 

You can start off by seeing if Amazon have any in order to get or not. Alternatively you can head to Mountain Warehouse in addition to find one. Best wishes. Otherwise try asking friends and family members for torch recommendations. Most of the household shops have a dedicated member of staff who can give you more advice on finding a torch. Check out a few different torch reviews online too. Seriously it is a very good idea to do your own Internet research and learn more. I keep my torch in a portable travel bag. Once a year I clean my torch with cleaning wipes and soap. 

What sort of shops do you mean by this (genuine question)?

I prefer a torch that takes batteries rather than a rechargeable one as I can always carry spare batteries but not always possible to charge something if you are out and about.

A good wide beam is useful for seeing a decent area and strong narrow beam for spotting individual items.

Eldi_Dos

Maglite are good, last for decades if batteries are taken out when being stored away between trips.

Murmansk

There are vast numbers of LED torches (Flashlights as the Americans call them) available and good brands are Nitecore, Thrunite, Fenix etc but I'd avoid Maglite. Take a look at this site with all their stuff sorted into price order to get an idea of what is available.

https://www.knivesandtools.co.uk/en/ct/flashlights.htm?sort=price-asc

You can get some very small and very bright LED torches if that's what you want, but their batteries might not last long between charges on the small ones and it depends whether you want a wide beam or a narrow one. The small ones also tend to get quite hot after a few minutes on really bright settings. 

Avoid the unknown cheap brands with rechargeable lithium batteries as they are more likely to burst into flames as powerful lithium batteries need protection circuitry built into them to stop them overheating when being charged. 

theoretica

You might want to think about two torches.  Because a bright one will wreck your dark adaptation and mean you can't see anything it isn't shining on, as well as frightening wildlife in a larger area - not so good when you want to see it.  Personally, in a dark area I prefer a dim torch or even a red one, and save bright for being seen by cars or working at night.  There are torches with variable brightness, but many tend to cycle through all settings to get to the one you want.

Rechargeable is a pain if you are camping or something and don't have easy charging or need more hours than a charge will give.

twopenny

I tried all sorts but found the cheaper ones did just as good a job if not better.
I have a tiny and small led torches. The small do fine for walking and wouldn't disturb wildlife.
The batteries are small so easy to pack and last a couple of years.
Bought from Poundland and the local diy shop. £1 & £2

One of them saw me 560 miles up the Amazon and Borneo. Even went to town with someone who'd forgotten a torch. We bought one in the Dollar shop and it was fine.
I have a lightweight larger one with soft plastic casing. Also batteries.


With recharging you don't know when it needs charging. Batteries can be in your pocket.

I've bought a couple of all singing all dancing expensive ones and those are the ones that packed up quickly.

Jonboy_1984

I have had various issues with Ever-Ready branded ones, they seem to like flickering rather than a steady beam even with new batteries on both the ones I bought.

For travel I would invest in Maglite as they are very robust and should survive being dropped  etc...

chrisw

I've got a couple of the mid range unknown brands off Amazon and they're fine. If you go for one of the cheap ones, ignore the lumens rating such as 10 million lumens, they just make it up.