What’s your favorite flashlight EDC (Everyday Carry)

[Patriot]

Having always been a fan of all things Olight, my bride, navigator, and copilot gifted me this Olight Arkfeld Ultra for Christmas and it is now an integral part of my EDC kit.

I like the cool white light, green laser and UV light functions and how slim it is. Caution flag as the brightest CW light @1400 lumens is blinding as is the strobe. The UV light is impressive as well. It has a very strong clip for mounting on the bill of a hat or securing it in your pocket. Looking forward to field use using this during our travels in XPLOR and will update how it performs. So far out of the box this little light is a keeper. 

What’s your favorite go to EDC flashlight? 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D8SQYJW3?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

 

 

A fairly in-depth review.

 

Edited January 2 by Patriot

[Snackchaser]

Very Nice!

My EDC since February is the Streamlight 88812.  Roughly the same shape, and they both look like little Storm Shadow missles!  😄

I've also carried a Benchmade 470 Emissary almost every day for around 15 years.  Love it!

Cheers!  Geoff

[Patriot]

Very nice Geoff. Streamlight crafts a fine torch.
I am big fan of BenchMade knives.
My EDC is the Adamas “auto” folder. This has been an excellent EDC knife.

Edited January 2 by Patriot

[jd1923]

My son got me this for Christmas and a standard flashlight model for Chris. I spent a good part of today working under a car replacing PS pump and alternator. I would say this wonderful tool cut 20% off my time doing everything. I had it on all day. Wish I had this 40 years ago and ever since! So bright with 3 settings and angle adjustments. Just set it on my hat, nice! https://www.amazon.com/NEBO-Rechargeable-Waterproof-Impact-Resistant-Adjustable/dp/B09F6YKZ14/ref=asc_df_B09F6YKZ14?tag=bngsmtphsnus-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=79989588513701&hvnetw=s&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4583589117188773&psc=1

Edited January 2 by jd1923

[Ronbrink]

BoyToys, gotta love ‘em! My new EDC light, RovyVon!

Edited January 2 by Ronbrink

[Steph and Dud B]

Ooooh, flashlights! Steph will tell you this is my impulse buy weak spot. Everything from no-name Amazon lights to some nice Streamlight and Olight units with my fire/SAR gear. When I was working, this little Streamlight Microstream was my EDC. The blue one was special because the default power-on setting was Low, while the other colors defaulted to High. Not sure if that's still true, but it was important because I used it to check pupils and didn't want to blind my patients.

Don't have an EDC now but I added a Wuben H1 headlamp and a second Infinity X1 (Costco) to my assortment of lights over the holidays. 

And I still have my very first Maglite from the 1980s, with the LED upgrade kit from the original incandescent.

[Ronbrink]

EDC flashlights, knives and …., well some may recognize my other favorite!

 

[Ollie-Haus]

45 minutes ago, Ronbrink said:

EDC flashlights, knives and …., well some may recognize my other favorite!

 

Well at least if you have this one, you have both............... 🙄😁

[Steph and Dud B]

OK, so knives... I have a few rescue knives and a couple of pocket knives but my EDC knife is very different. 

I've been carrying one of these little Victorinox pocket knives in my pocket for probably 20 years and I use it virtually every day. (This is my second one, after the pen holder in my first one finally broke.) It has: blade, file/screwdriver, scissors, pen, toothpick (was tweezers, but I replaced), and a 16G USB A/C flash drive. Love this thing. 

Edited January 3 by Steph and Dud B
Typo

[Patriot]

My Olight Valkyrie Mini 2 -600 lumens. A blindingly bright torch for things that go bump in the night. 😎

 

Edited January 3 by Patriot

[Steve Morris]

Did someone say knives?

There may or may not be a couple dozen more since that photo, depending on if Deb is reading this thread or not. 😉 

My favorite is the Benchmade Model 970; their licensed version of Ernest Emerson's CQC-7 from the early '90s. I was trying to get in one Emerson's "Buy a hand made CQC-6 for you, and one for a deployed serviceman", but he was years out, so offloaded some manufacturing to Benchmade. Benchmade late made their own CQC-7, but not near the same quality.
 

 

These days, my carry knives are Opinel folders (simple, sharp, reliable, and cheap) and/or a Victorinox Swiss Army knife, with Leatherman in the truck, trailer, and around the house.

 

On 1/3/2025 at 8:23 AM, Ronbrink said:

flashlights, knives and ….,

That's the name of my Dropbox folder!🤣

 There a fewer flashlights than knives, but not by much of a margin. Like @Steph and Dud B, I still have my old 5-cell Maglite and a Surefire 6D Classic, both with incandescent bulbs. But several years ago, I converted both to LED using Malkoff Devices conversion kits. My only other Surefire is a G2X shown below.

Most of my flashlights are Olight, Fenix, NiteCore, and Streamlight, but there are a few no-name Amazon models scattered around in cars, the trailer, or home.

 

Deb says that I am a serial hobbyist, but I disagree. I can do all concurrently! 🤣

 

Edited January 4 by Steve Morris

[Jason Foster]

Honestly, my EDC flashlight is my cell phone.  It does the job and so much more.  And I can't find my other ones.

 

[Steve Morris]

All that, and I realized that I didn't answer the question...

Just like a knife or a camera, the best one is the one you have with you. So while my 40 year old Surefire is still my favorite flashlight, it is too bulky to have at all times. I don't carry a leatherman and a flashlight in belt pouches any more. So small, reasonably bright, and reliable are best for me. While I prefer a rechargeable flashlight, having a tiny AAA light and a spare battery in pocket covers most emergencies. I'm not sure when I last charged my pocket rechargeable. [putting it on the charger now!]

The Olight i1R2 Pro and Victorinox Compact on the left hang loose in my pocket. This light is rechargeable and has 5 or 180 lumens as well as red.

The Olight i3E EOS and Victorinox Classic Elox are kept in a small pocket pouch with spare battery, bandages, emergency pills, etc. This is a dead simple on/off 90 lumen AAA light with a usable spread.

 

Below are the Olight Baton 4 Premium Edition, with rechargeable battery and stored in a recharging holder. It puts out 1300, 600, 300, 60, 12, and 0.5 lumens. One of these is in the armrest of the Land Cruiser, and another in the Oliver's nightstand.
Also below is a tiny Olight Oclip rechargeable that puts out 300, 180,100, 10, and 1.5 lumens, as well as red.

 

Deb has an Olight Seeker 2 Pro, which puts out an obnoxious amount of light at 3400 lumens, and has the best spread without any hotspot I've ever seen on a flashlight. She likes to sit around a fire while all the guys are showing how bright their flashlight is, and then casually turn hers on to Turbo mode, and completely obliterate them. She's mean like that. 😉 The current Olight Seeker 4 Pro is even brighter at 4600 lumens!

 

 

Around camp I use a NiteCore NU25 rechargeable headlamp for hands free use. It is lightweight and has both a flood and spot reflector which can be combined for even more light. There's also a red light. Spotlight is 200 or 60 lumens, Floodlight is 200, 60, or 6 lumens, and combined is 400, 200, or 60 lumens.

 

All of the rechargeable lights, as well as everything else rechargeable on our persons or in the truck or trailer are USB-C

 

Edited January 5 by Steve Morris