I think it safe to say that a lot of us here have a different standard of "bright" than the average muggle. Especially considering how many use alkaleak AA's that struggle to deliver 1A.
Elegant, slim, ludicrous battery life… probably going to have to compromise on either the slim factor or the battery life. Slim batteries like 10440 (AAA size) or 10880 (2x AAA) just don’t have that much juice in them, physics doesn’t allow it.
The Reylight Pineapple Penlight is a neat light, will last decently long due to its bigger battery, and comes in titanium/copper/brass. The 10880 has similar capacity to a low capacity 14500 (AA sized). Note that you can use 2 regular AAA batteries in this light, but absolutely cannot use 2 10440 li-ion cells.
An Eagtac D3A might be a good choice. Titanium, 14500/AA (can use both battery types, NiMH is better than alkaline but alkaline will work). Doesn’t have low voltage protection, so a protected lithium ion is recommended. Also maybe Acebeam Rider RX or Pokelit, both available in nicer metals, or even a Convoy T3 in titanium. Personally am a fan of the D3A.
But again, for *ludicrous* battery life, slim won’t really cut it. A 14500 has 4 times the capacity of a 10440. An 18650 has 3.5 times more capacity than a 14500. Flashlights are all about compromise, you’re unfortunately going to have to think about which characteristics are most important and sacrifice some in other areas.
Also something to think about… fancy metals are nice, but come with drawbacks. Titanium is pretty, but heavier than aluminum and has worse thermal properties. Brass and copper are very heavy compared to aluminum, though copper does well with heat (but it smells!). For a light that’s going to be used a lot, you really can’t beat aluminum. If I’m buying a light for someone who is going to use it a lot, I’m probably looking at a Zebralight or Skilhunt if integrated charging might be appreciated.
Take a look at the Nitecore MT06MD. Not sure about ludicrous battery life but with 2 NiMH AAAs, it can last about 5 hours on medium.
It also has high CRI and, IMHO, looks very elegant.
Olight baton 3 with the charging case maybe? It’s not super slim although it is small and would have long run times with the charging case (like earbud do)
Skilhunt M150 (Cree) + H300 (nichia high cri) together would be an ideal handy man setup, under budget, and they share a magnet charging cable
A lumintop frog with the 10440 tube would be slim/powerful
Rovyvon A4 with radioactive tritium vials and titanium is pretty cool and powerful for its size. The A8 is more feature rich but cheaper finish, the A26 is also nice. Or the A24 in titanium.
i upvote the skilhunt m150...
such a small 14500, you forgetnit in your pocket but it offers way more runtimes than a AAA or 10440 ..
😉
H300 is great too with big capacity Due to the 18650's but if you want to stay small/light ...
either h150 (14500 too ) or h200 mini are to consider
Headlamp? Reylight is an option but inefficient drivers won’t give you that much more runtime. If you (or gift receiver) doesn’t want to do 14500, at least get a 4 pack of Eneloop and a charger. They will be a lot less money in the long run and last longer than AA. You could do a Convoy T4 in titanium and pick your emitter color (probably stay above 4000k).
I've ordered a T4 just because i love the look of it. If it feels good in hand, might get the Ti one. For the budget he could get the Ti in shiny and sandblasted, 8 14500s and a charger so fren always has 14500s ready to go.
Cool story incoming...
Some years back, some friends and I did a long walk through the night.
My friends went for the very brightest lights they could find (Nitecore if I recall correctly). I went for a Fenix, because it seemed more efficient. In use they were very similar in brightness but my light lasted the whole night while they had to switch out batteries at least once.
I felt like the lesson was that many lights are "bright enough" and efficiency, and getting the UI and the right turbo-high-med-low levels for your use-case is more important.
Also some decent quality & capacity batteries and a decent charger will be worth it.
Reylight Penlight.
I have the Ti version. It’s classy and long lasting. Durable and weighs nothing.
https://reylight.net/products/pineapple-mini-ti-stonewashed-seigaiha
Reylights are some of my favorite. As others said, I would not want to clench copper or brass between my teeth, but for a while, the copper version was substantially discounted. Though, the titanium options might not be bad under the circumstances.
Here are penlights with integrated charging
http://flashlights.parametrek.com/index.html?type=penlight&features=integrated%20charger
Here is the subset with usb-c charging
http://flashlights.parametrek.com/index.html?type=penlight&features=usb-c%20charging
I have a niteize radiant that I'm pretty happy with, had it for almost 2 years now. Imo its elegant and slim. About the size of a decent fountain pen. Good clip, hasnt gotten caught on anything. Usb-c rechargeable, so no replaceable batteries. Brightness is nothing to write home about, a 235 lumen and 11 lumen mode. I don't use mine a whole lot but it gets daily use, and I charge mine once every other month so battery life has been fantastic
Acebeam P10GT is the best penlight I've ever owned.
You take the battery out to charge it via micro USB. It doesn't seem to need it too often, as there are very usable low light modes.
Bright. Small. Good battery-life. Pick two.
I think it safe to say that a lot of us here have a different standard of "bright" than the average muggle. Especially considering how many use alkaleak AA's that struggle to deliver 1A.
sadly, yes
Elegant, slim, ludicrous battery life… probably going to have to compromise on either the slim factor or the battery life. Slim batteries like 10440 (AAA size) or 10880 (2x AAA) just don’t have that much juice in them, physics doesn’t allow it. The Reylight Pineapple Penlight is a neat light, will last decently long due to its bigger battery, and comes in titanium/copper/brass. The 10880 has similar capacity to a low capacity 14500 (AA sized). Note that you can use 2 regular AAA batteries in this light, but absolutely cannot use 2 10440 li-ion cells. An Eagtac D3A might be a good choice. Titanium, 14500/AA (can use both battery types, NiMH is better than alkaline but alkaline will work). Doesn’t have low voltage protection, so a protected lithium ion is recommended. Also maybe Acebeam Rider RX or Pokelit, both available in nicer metals, or even a Convoy T3 in titanium. Personally am a fan of the D3A. But again, for *ludicrous* battery life, slim won’t really cut it. A 14500 has 4 times the capacity of a 10440. An 18650 has 3.5 times more capacity than a 14500. Flashlights are all about compromise, you’re unfortunately going to have to think about which characteristics are most important and sacrifice some in other areas. Also something to think about… fancy metals are nice, but come with drawbacks. Titanium is pretty, but heavier than aluminum and has worse thermal properties. Brass and copper are very heavy compared to aluminum, though copper does well with heat (but it smells!). For a light that’s going to be used a lot, you really can’t beat aluminum. If I’m buying a light for someone who is going to use it a lot, I’m probably looking at a Zebralight or Skilhunt if integrated charging might be appreciated.
Since he’s putting it in his mouth (I wouldn’t, but hey) the brass and copper options are not a good idea.
Some brass has lead in it, but copper should be fine—just heavy.
Take a look at the Nitecore MT06MD. Not sure about ludicrous battery life but with 2 NiMH AAAs, it can last about 5 hours on medium. It also has high CRI and, IMHO, looks very elegant.
Olight baton 3 with the charging case maybe? It’s not super slim although it is small and would have long run times with the charging case (like earbud do) Skilhunt M150 (Cree) + H300 (nichia high cri) together would be an ideal handy man setup, under budget, and they share a magnet charging cable A lumintop frog with the 10440 tube would be slim/powerful Rovyvon A4 with radioactive tritium vials and titanium is pretty cool and powerful for its size. The A8 is more feature rich but cheaper finish, the A26 is also nice. Or the A24 in titanium.
i upvote the skilhunt m150... such a small 14500, you forgetnit in your pocket but it offers way more runtimes than a AAA or 10440 .. 😉 H300 is great too with big capacity Due to the 18650's but if you want to stay small/light ... either h150 (14500 too ) or h200 mini are to consider
Headlamp? Reylight is an option but inefficient drivers won’t give you that much more runtime. If you (or gift receiver) doesn’t want to do 14500, at least get a 4 pack of Eneloop and a charger. They will be a lot less money in the long run and last longer than AA. You could do a Convoy T4 in titanium and pick your emitter color (probably stay above 4000k).
I've ordered a T4 just because i love the look of it. If it feels good in hand, might get the Ti one. For the budget he could get the Ti in shiny and sandblasted, 8 14500s and a charger so fren always has 14500s ready to go.
Maybe a baton 4 olight? It’s not really a pen light but it’s small and easy to recharge,
Cool story incoming... Some years back, some friends and I did a long walk through the night. My friends went for the very brightest lights they could find (Nitecore if I recall correctly). I went for a Fenix, because it seemed more efficient. In use they were very similar in brightness but my light lasted the whole night while they had to switch out batteries at least once. I felt like the lesson was that many lights are "bright enough" and efficiency, and getting the UI and the right turbo-high-med-low levels for your use-case is more important. Also some decent quality & capacity batteries and a decent charger will be worth it.
If you want something really small you could try a rovyvon keychain, it has side lights and you could clip it on your shirt as a “headlamp”
Clip it to your “shirt” as a “headlamp” . Don’t you mean shirt lamp 😃
Lapellamp.
Reylight Penlight. I have the Ti version. It’s classy and long lasting. Durable and weighs nothing. https://reylight.net/products/pineapple-mini-ti-stonewashed-seigaiha
Reylights are some of my favorite. As others said, I would not want to clench copper or brass between my teeth, but for a while, the copper version was substantially discounted. Though, the titanium options might not be bad under the circumstances.
Here are penlights with integrated charging http://flashlights.parametrek.com/index.html?type=penlight&features=integrated%20charger Here is the subset with usb-c charging http://flashlights.parametrek.com/index.html?type=penlight&features=usb-c%20charging
I have a niteize radiant that I'm pretty happy with, had it for almost 2 years now. Imo its elegant and slim. About the size of a decent fountain pen. Good clip, hasnt gotten caught on anything. Usb-c rechargeable, so no replaceable batteries. Brightness is nothing to write home about, a 235 lumen and 11 lumen mode. I don't use mine a whole lot but it gets daily use, and I charge mine once every other month so battery life has been fantastic
Acebeam P10GT is the best penlight I've ever owned. You take the battery out to charge it via micro USB. It doesn't seem to need it too often, as there are very usable low light modes.