I’m thinking about getting my first decent flashlight. I find that most of the time when I want a decent light, it’s when I’m walking the dog or taking out the compost, and I’m struggling to juggle a light with what I’m doing, so I’d like something I can tuck in a pocket and have it illuminate what I’m doing.

I’d prefer something with a fixed right angle; I’m not terribly interested in a swivel.

USB-C charging woul be best. I can see the appeal of magnetic charging, but I’ve got so used to having everything on USB-C that I’d rather not have another proprietary cable around.

I’m a little bit intimidated by some of the programming diagrams I’ve seen. I don’t think I need a light with over a dozen different lighting and strobe modes. On/off is fine, high-mid-low is also great, but much more than that and I worry about getting lost.

I’ve seen some with the option for a red light as well as white, and that’s appealing, but not essential. I like the idea of not having to totally lose my night vision when I turn on my flashlight. Powerbank function, similarly, is appealing but by no means essential.

Budget is $70, tops, but if there are models that are cheaper but still quality construction, I’m open to suggestion.

Thanks for the help!

  • potatopotato@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    2·
    11 months ago

    A note on the skillhunt stuff, their lights with magnetic charging connectors are really poorly designed, the charging contact is a dead short to the battery making them both not waterproof and a potential explosion hazard.

    • Zak@lemmy.worldMEnglish
      1·
      11 months ago

      It’s not a dead short; there’s a very fast acting circuit breaker when it’s shorted. It can spark and I do find that to be a significant design flaw, but it can’t drive the battery into thermal runaway or significantly heat objects other than fine wires, steel wool, and similar.

        • Zak@lemmy.worldMEnglish
          2·
          11 months ago

          That’s unfortunate. I have seven of them and I’ve used them in the rain without problems. Maybe I need to try something more abusive to see what happens. Salt water bath? I did that with an older Olight and got spicy bubbles.