Best emergency flashlight for the Home, Car Emergency Kit, and First Aid Kit

Best emergency flashlight is an audacious claim. What exactly are the capabilities of a flashlight that deserves top billing recognition? What product attributes must be met that allows a flashlight to be recognized as the gold standard?

Flashlight Attributes to Consider

Attributes for defining the best emergency flashlight are light output, impact resistant housing and lens, power source, maintenance requirements, single or multiple performance capabilities, water resistant or waterproof, size and weight.

How Bright Does the Survival Flashlight Need to Be?

Starting with light output, is the brightest flashlight always the best? No doubt seeing long distances can be beneficial, particularly in search and rescue. However, the brighter the light the more difficult it is to view objects closeup because of light saturation. In addition, flashlights with high light output tend to consume battery power quickly.

In general, during emergency situations a flashlight that illuminates the immediate vicinity to a distance of 20 to 30 feet away is practical. Identifying trip and fall hazards and obstacles that pose a bodily injury risk are of high importance.

Emergency Flashlight Robustness. How tough is tough enough?

Most emergency flashlights, of reasonable quality, are manufactured from aluminum or impact resistant plastic. A flashlight does not need to withstand being driven over by a car or truck for use as a survival flashlight or power outage flashlight.

What the flashlight needs to withstand is drops and falls from heights of approximately four feet. When purchasing plastic housing flashlights, we suggest polycarbonate and ABS bodies.

Power Sources. Primary Battery, Rechargeable Battery, or Capacitor. Which way to Go?

Flashlight power options are variable and include non-rechargeable primary batteries, rechargeable Li-ion and Nickle Metal Hydride batteries, and even capacitor powered flashlights.

Rechargeable flashlights such as Shake Light 40-B or NightStar Shake Flashlights, the only flashlight line that incorporates capacitor energy storage, are self-powered flashlights. These maintenance free flashlights provide years of dependable service, and we believe the best emergency flashlight for home, best flashlight for the car emergency kit, and an ideal flashlight in a first aid kit.

Flashlight Doesn’t Work. Why!

Flashlight maintenance is essential to ensure light is available when most needed. Some considerations when selecting a flashlight! Battery flashlights are subject to damage by battery corrosion, or the batteries drain of electricity when left installed. Rechargeable flashlights requiring an external power supply to charge are okay until it’s time to charge. This is a real problem when the utility power service is unavailable, sometimes for days or longer.

Again, shake flashlight technology saves the day. Human power or Faraday flashlights only require the motion of passing the magnetic through the flashlight coil to generate electrical power. When light is essential a shake flashlight is a life saver.

Survival Flashlight Features that Matter!

Modern flashlights have a host of features including variable light output, zoom focus, and strobe. All valuable features. Shake flashlights do not offer variable light output or focus but they do offer a strobe effect by turning the light on and shaking. This flashing capability can be seen from a significant distance.

A completely unique feature to shake flashlights is the ability to operate as a compass. With the flashlight suspended in a horizontal position the charging magnet orients in a magnetic north-south direction.

Can your flashlight withstand inclement weather?

Quality flashlights at minimum are water resistant. Some flashlights designed for professional services are waterproof. For most people professional caliber flashlights are not typical flashlights for emergency kits. An exception, the NightStar Shake Flashlight is not only waterproof to depths exceeding 200 feet it also floats in the upright position. Ideal for both land and marine environments.

What is the right flashlight size?

Flashlight size and weight are important considerations particularly when being stored in small first aid kits, vehicle emergency kits or even the glovebox. Numerous small flashlights are suitable, and the Shake Light 40-B Flashlight is no exception.

Purchase a Flashlight or Other Quality Handheld Lights?

EcoCentricNow LLC (ECN) sells a wide assortment of LED flashlights for a range of users including professional services and retail consumers.

Whatever your flashlight needs are we can supply you with the best emergency flashlight to weather the storm of your emergency or survival situation.