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A survival flashlight is a “must have” item when you are camping, in an emergency situation, or going to the outhouse in the dark. They come in all shapes, sizes, and lumens. In this article, we’ll take a look at a few of the different flashlights, penlights, and micro lights on the market and see if we can figure out what will work best for the situation we are planning for. Yes, I know this isn’t about knives, but it’s my blog, and I can write about whatever I want, so there. Besides, it keeps me from getting bored.
Fenix E12 V02 Flashlight
If there was a flashlight that was between a penlight and a micro light, the Fenix E12 V02 would be it. Being slightly over 3 inches long, it’s a good size to clip to the brim of your hat with the included reversible clip. The case is textured A6061-T6 aluminum which means that it’s high tempered and extremely strong. I will say if you’re going to be in extreme environments you may want to be careful with it. You don’t want to be standing in the middle of the desert at high noon about to walk into that dark cave to find the gold the old prospector said was in there and reach up to grab this light off the bill of your cap and burn your hand. I’m not saying that would happen, but I find old prospectors and dark caves of gold every time I go to the desert so…
There are three brightness options, the highest being 160 lumens. But it will only last about an hour at that brightness with a good fresh battery. Maybe it’s just me, but I always seem to have it on the highest setting anyway so that’s really the only stat I pay attention to. But just for you, it will run about 13 hours on the medium setting and 70 hours on low. Oh, and speaking of batteries, did I mention that this light only uses 1 AA battery?! One! As in the loneliest number! The tactical tail switch is a nice feature that I really like as well (that’s the push button thingy at the back of the light) and the aluminum actually sticks out past the button so that it could be stood up on end.
The older Fenix 11 had circuit protection. If you accidentally put the battery in backwards, you couldn’t blow up the flashlight. I sent Fenix an email and verified that this upgraded version has the circuit protection as well, they just don’t advertise it anymore I guess. I would almost rather this be bright orange or green. If you drop this tiny light in the forest at night with the light off you’re going to have a heck of a time finding it. At least a bright color would give you a fighting chance.
LRI Photon Freedom
This is considered a micro flashlight Photon Freedom LED Keychain Micro-Light. It’s tough to beat this one, this micro light is awesome. I’ve bought several and they work great.
LRI is the leader as far as many people are concerned in the manufacturing of this style of light. My only complaint is that the Freedom light doesn’t come with the hat clip anymore.
I don’t normally like to put a list of features in my articles, but WOW! All this in this little Photon Freedom Micro Light.
- Smart Circuit Freedom Tech, one button does it all
- Electronic, instant full power On/Off at any time
- Full-range adjustable brightness
- 5 Safety Modes: slow, medium and fast strobe, SOS and Morse code mode (Signal mode)
- Unbreakable high intensity LED
- Visible for over one mile
- Replaceable lithium batteries
- 24k gold plated contacts
- Quick release ring
- Ultra tough case
- Water resistant
- Made in USA
- AND it comes in about 10 different light colors. They even have one that lights up scorpions!!
One little known fact is that this micro-light has a nice hidden feature that automatically turns-off after 3 minutes, so it won’t run the battery down in case it inadvertently turns on in your pocket. You have to specifically set it up that way, but it’s a nice feature to have if needed.
The only bad thing about this flashlight is that it’s black. Again, if you drop it, it’s going to be tough to find in the dark.
Now we’re going to talk about headlamps. In the past, I hated them. They were too heavy or too much a pain to adjust or something. I never found one I liked and I decided a long time ago they weren’t for me. I’d rather fumble around trying to hold a flashlight in place while I was trying to burn the house down doing my own electrical wiringk. Well, all that’s changed now, I’ve seen the light! …get it? … seen the… oh never mind, let’s move on. Here’s a couple that I recommend, one expensive and one (two?) not so expensive.
Petzl Actik Core Hands Free Headlamp
If you’re serious about a headlamp the Petzl Actik Core is the one for you. I’ve read countless reviews on countless sites and this one comes down as the best all around light. If you’re a runner and looking for a headlamp there are better options out there for you that aren’t as bright, but for survival/preparedness/emergency situations I like this one.
I actually don’t personally own this headlamp yet, but it’s on my buy list for my bug out bag and I’ve done a TON of research on it. I’ve got a VERY long list.
A couple of things I DO like:
This is what they call Hybrid Core technology which means that you can use their rechargeable battery or you can use 3 AAA batteries. The nice thing about this one is that you get the rechargeable battery with it. On most of the other versions you have to buy it separately. It has a red beam mode to preserve night vision, flood and mixed beam with different light levels and the light has a locking feature so you won’t accidentally turn it on in your bag.
A couple of things I DON’T like:
It’s a little expensive, but you get what you pay for. It doesn’t have a motion activation feature for turning it on and off. The water proofing, while fine for normal inclement weather, could be better. And it still uses a micro USB to charge, they need to upgrade this to the USB-C.
Tinmiu Rechargeable Headlamp
That being said, if you decide to buy them you need to get them out and run through all the functions and test the batteries. I went through a TON of reviews on these and some work perfectly and some don’t. It just depends on which batch you get. The packaging says lifetime warranty, I tried to find the company to see who you would return it to (So did an Amazon reviewer) neither one of us could come up with the company so you’ll want to return them to Amazon right away if they don’t work.
All in all, there are some excellent products out there. Not all of it is “high end” gear but sometimes that’s not what you need. You need something that is going to work when you use it and work the way you need it to. Check out some of my other posts for more gear and knives. Happy Prepping!
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