I'm looking for a few flashlights to keep in the tool kits in our vehicles.  Something cheap enough I can put in there and forget about it but I want something that will work when I need it.  Any suggestions?

surefire g2 and a 4 pack tray of extra batteries. keep it simple

If that's the case , whatever you get , leave the batteries out of it until you need it .



If you must leave the batteries in it , at least run Duracells ....Energizers have too many reports of corroding in place.



 

Honestly, for the cost and output of the G2's I've never seen the appeal.  I could get a Fenix with double the output for the same price.  I'm really looking for something around $20.00



Good tip thanks.  I usually buy Duracell batteries for everything except my backpacking gear, they get Energizer lithium to save weight.

There is a myriad of cheap 150 - 300 lumen lights on the market now.

 


















 

You can spend as much as you want, but Maglite LED ones are wonderful in my experience

I keep a $6 maglite or a few of those $3 chinese lights from the amazon thread.
They're reliable enough (and I have a backup) and I don't feel bad giving them away if need be. IE, stumble across some guys changing tires at fuck o clock.

Home Depot has a $10 headlamp claiming 200 lumens-put 3 AA lithiums in it and you should be good to go.

Streamlight 4AA ProPolymer LED

http://www.streamlight.com/en-us/product/product.html?pid=24

here is your solution...
Amazon LED $4

I would start with a headlamp, then back that up with a flashlight.

3D LED Maglite in my vehicles.

I have one of these plus a couple of smaller LED lights in my truck kit.

Huge +1 to this, all my vehicles tool kits have headlamps.  Good luck holding that flashlight while changing a tire.

Zach

$4 FordEx flashlight on Amazon with a lithium battery, so it is less prone to failure in cold weather.

If can find some of these on sale over Christmas I might pick up a few, I know Lowe's has usually has good prices on them this time of year.




That looks like a nice light and the wide beam would probably be perfect for what I need but at around $30 I'm getting into the price range of the Fenix E25 which is hard to pass up.



Headlamp is covered.  I keep a Princton Tec Remix strapped to the headrest so my daughter has a reading light in the back.

Pretty much any of that "class" of flashlights people have been discussing are good to go. Just get some of the 10 yr shelf life duracell batteries and leave them out of the flashlight in some some sort of small container in the car and you have no worries

A big-ass old-school Maglite with 3 D cells shoved under the drivers seat.

Doubles as a blunt instrument if needed.

How does the cold work on your batteries??   Ive heard the lithium are better for this, meaning cold temps draining the life of batteries.

I keep a 3D maglight in the truck too. I have way better lights but like it for the extra perk of having some mass in my hand any time I get out of the truck at night. I actually have 4 flashlights in my truck. Two 1AA lights in the bug out bag plus the 3D maglight and a little headlamp type. IMHO, having options is always a good thing and lights are so cheap now days that it is a no brainer to have extras.

Do you really want a 100 or 200 lumen light blinding you when you're just trying to see whats wrong with your car?  Try this swivel-head Dorcy from Amazon:





It puts out more than enough light to fix what needs fixing, the head swivels so you can stand it on the ground and aim the light up at the lug nuts you're tightening, and it takes AA batteries.

A good point I hadn't thought of.

I keep one of these in every car I own, a couple hanging in the basement for power failures, and in the bedroom.

Don't even open the packaging until you need it.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Rayovac-VB1DLED-B2A-Rayovac-Value-Bright-1D-LED-Flashlight-2-Pack/22086107

No, I really don't want a high lumen light but I don't want to pay the same price for a low lumen light either.  I'll look into to the Dorcy and the Rayovac 2 pack that was posted also.  Both of those seem like decent options and the Dorcy swivel head seems like it would be a handy feature.

ETA:  Is the magnet strong enough to hold the to the side of the vehicle or upside down under the hood?  The Amazon reviews said the magnet was too weak.

I got a pair of those magnetic blue point lights off the snap on truck a few years ago(Part#

ECFLED24).  One in the tool box and one in the car.  They still have the original batteries in them and both still work great.





The magnet in the base is pretty strong.  Just slap that thing to the hood, turn on, aim, and there's your light source.  Don't remember how much I paid but I don't think they're expensive.

 

Foursevens

probably want a lithium (CR123) model since the light will be stored in your vehicle for X amount of time.

Something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Foursevens-ML-AE-1XCR123A-216-Lumen-Finish/dp/B00915B72A

http://www.foursevens.com/products/ML-AE

If you want an AA light:

http://www.amazon.com/Foursevens-M2A-AE-216-Lumen-White-Finish/dp/B00915CZ4Y/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1386793679&sr=1-1&keywords=Mini+.M2A

extra batteries:

http://www.amazon.com/Surefire-Pack-Boxed-Lithium-Batteries/dp/B0035HB694/ref=sr_1_cc_2?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1386793367&sr=1-2-catcorr&keywords=SF12-BB

I agreee completely. I prefer fenix and actually a few other lights all over surefires as well. However, I've yet to see any light maybe with teh exception of some of the Petzl .mil models hold up anywhere nearly as well to the non stop daily abuse of constantly getting smacked around inside a toolbox while riding aroudn all day in traffic, going from days of 100 degree heat to in the back of truck in summer to 12-14 degrees right now in the winter, constantly getting soaking wet, bounced around etc. the way those stupid G2 models do.



I had both my Pelican Duty light, and a pair of different Pelican dive lights all crap out on me just from sitting around in my car for probably 12-16 months at a time doing nothing.



 

I should also add, just in my tiny little car and what I generally keep on my person, espeically in the winter, I tend to have probably 8-9 flashlights of some type when all said and done.
as others have pointed out, that's the real right answer, if were just gonna be honest here.
I have about 6 of the amazon 4$ amazon cree lights all floating around one place or another (I have two sitting 3 inches from me right now that I just used to tighten the cam chain tensioner of my car a little while ago,  wwith a constant rotations of 16340 and 14500 being charged and restocked ready to go. I have my work lights of course, in my car I keep a nice quality LED.





I also have about 10 or so dx, countycomm, and CPF lights of all different flavors and styles that I will grab whenever I need a serious light for whaetever reason





Then I metric shit ton of the countycomm SOLeds, with about a billion replacement leds and batteries which honeslty I use probably as my second most common light both at home and work. those things are great.
Finally as others have pointed out, really nothing beats a good quality headlamp. In fact nothign even comes close to be honest.
I have a couple of The petzl tactical or or .mil or whatever they call them which are great lamps, and as someone else I think said above. There is an energivzer brand headlamp that I thenk they sell at home depot which is a 4 mode adjustable lamp that lets you choose from a dual led strobe setting, to a wide beam then all 4 LEDS and finally a Red lamp. Which quite frankly is one of hte best damn headlamps ive ever owned anywhere.
This includes the 3-400 dollar dive lamps I have had a bunch of as well at the petzl lights which require you to swap out lenses on most of their lamps if you want to go between a wide throw and anarrow white or a white to red etc. which is just annoying.
 

A fella should always have a good fleshlight handy.

Get a headlamp.  

If you've ever held a flashlight in your mouth, or propped a flashlight up on something so it was shining in the right spot, or yelled at your kid (or girlfriend or buddy) for not holding the flashlight "right here" you should have had a headlamp.

ETA:  I would recommend Zebralight.

First off never make your vehicle flashlight choice one based on cheap.  You can buy a Streamlight poly tac LED for as little as $30 or so.  It's got a clicky tailcap so you can put it up and expect it to work when you need it 5 or 6 years from now.  Nothing sucks more than grabbing your cheap ass AA AAA AAAA C D or whatever battery light only to find the batteries blew up and the light is dicked when you need it.   On the headlamp, yeah they're nice to have too.  Just make sure you rotate the batteries.