Portable illumination
Rules:
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The best flashlight is the one that you will use instead of using your cellphone.
I got my lady a Convoy S2+ for her to use at work. Come to find out a few months later she still always uses her phones light even when out in pastures after dark ๐ฎโ๐จ.
So even a cheap AA light is better than the brightest D4S if the former is in your pocket and the latter stays in a bag or purse all the time.
There's no best. There are tradeoffs.
My favorite flashlight for everyday carry is the Zebralight SC64c LE. It's compact for using an 18650 battery, it's easy to find the switch, but hard to press by accident. It has decent color rendering. Its driver is relatively efficient.
Some people would hate it because it doesn't have a charger built in or because the max output is under 1000 lumens. For a different use case like search and rescue where there's a bit less emphasis on size, it's not optimal compared to options with bigger batteries and optics.
Zebras for the win!
Best is very subjective, but if I had to pick one then I'd say get the Emisar D4V2 with a boost driver
Itโs tough for a newb to figure out all the potential combos of options, but yes that is an utterly excellent pocket light. The aluminum one is probably the best for EDC, with lighter weight and generally better thermal handling. The boost driver is a must, if you intend to use it regularly and not just have it be a show-off light.
I love my Nitecore T4k. $90, very compact, USB-C rechargeable, OLED display to show mode and time remaining. 1, 15, 65, and 200 lumen modes, plus a 4000 lumen turbo mode (runs for up to 10 seconds then drops back to high while it dumps the excess heat through the pocket clip). It's honestly fantastic.
Recently my most used light is my Emisar D1K with XHP70.3 90cri, in 4000k. I like to walk for about 2 hours, starting just after sunset. The D1K fits in my pocket, and has a beautiful beam when the blue hour turns to night. Not too throwy or floody, kind of in-between. The XHP70.3 90cri has a great balance of good color and high output/efficiency.