Flashlights for Camping and Hiking

Camping & Hiking: Brightest LED Flashlights

Flashlights are a necessity around every home and have multiple needs. In this post series we will discuss different scenarios and the best flashlights for that purpose. Ask yourself “what am I using the flashlight for?” Do you need a flashlight when working on cars, inspecting construction work, camping, hunting varmints or warding off a possible attacker? In Part 1, we will look at the best flashlights for camping and hiking and what the brightest LED flashlight for your needs may be.

Today’s flashlights use a Light Emitting Diode (LED) to produce the beam. Just like most things, LEDs keep evolving. The LEDs keep getting brighter and a new version seems to appear every few months. Because of the LEDs brightness and durability, they are used in many applications, such as traffic lights, vehicle break lights, televisions, etc. because they last a long time and do not use much power. What’s great is they are also used in flashlights and depending on your needs; you can get them at many different brightness levels.

When camping, consider a flashlight with various brightness (lumen) power setting modes. Having the ability to go from a normal brightness mode to producing a beam of light that is good for 500 feet can help determine what’s howling out there in the dark. Using the brightest LED flashlight and shining a bright light into an animal’s face will usually send them running. In the case of an emergency, a flashlight with a lower lumen setting which extends the run time and a S.O.S mode are useful.

Look for the flashlight’s water and impact resistance rating. What materials were used to construct the flashlight? You want something that can survive being dropped or dunked in water/work in the rain.

If you need a hands free flashlight, look into purchasing a head lamp that straps around your forehead. Most are available with multiple LEDs and offer some of the modes found on handheld flashlights. Some have very bright LEDs, which could be considered the brightest LED flashlight available as a headlamp. They can also have great battery run times, are light weight and there are many to choose from.

Finally, what’s the size and weight of the flashlight? If you are backpacking, a small and powerful flashlight with a long battery run time makes sense, while having a larger flashlight with the above mentioned features back at the main camp site works well.

Crank Flashlights: The ones I have seen just can’t produce enough light to throw a bean any great distance. Sure you can crank them for a few minutes to get some light, but if you need bright, white light, it’s not going to happen. The main feature of crank flash flashlights is you don’t need batteries. If having enough batteries is an issue, grab a 10 pack of CR123a Lithium batteries. They have a 10 year shelf life and maintain 95% of their power when 9 years old. These batteries are plentiful and can be purchased from the web, at most sporting goods and general merchandise stores.

On the other hand, if you could get by on low light requirements, and need a lot of inexpensive flashlights to store in a secure area for years on end, then having these flashlights would work well in areas where you didn’t a lot of light and distance is not an issue. They would probably work well as marking a path,  used as a low light location beacon or even  standing 3 or 4 of them on end while eating dinner could work well. Due to their low price, you can always purchase one and see how it works. You don’t always need to have the brightest LED flashlight – it just depends on your needs!

Part two of our flashlights series discusses flashlights for school and travel.