Duracell 4-pack of 500-lumen flashlights

[ATCclears]

Duracell® Durabeam Ultra? 500 Lumen Flashlight 4-pack

I own these, and they are great for around the house. Well built, batteries included, 500 lumens.

Note that they take C batteries.

Peter

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[huthuthike]

I think these are $25 for the 2 pack in the store. The Hillsboro OR Costco has had them for the last couple months. Can you tell me if these zoom to a square shape? I have the previous version that Costco was selling and the zoom goes from a definite square light shape to a circle floodlight.
Thanks in advance.

 

[ATCclears]

Yes, same ones.

 

[1200bruce]

I have a couple of those, great bright flash light.

 

[Frankenrifle]

Who the hell has C batteries? AA, AAA, CR123 or D cells. C are more difficult to get. But if SHTF no one else would be taking them...hmmm.

 

[Sgt Nambu]

Very good lights for the money! I also like the smaller the smaller 250L ones. I have already dropped one on a hard surface, no problem at all!

 

[bwchase]

Costco has the alkaline C batteries for a reasonable price. They have a 10 year shelf life. Right next to the flash lights. For the price hard to beat.

 

[Sstrand]

Would these be any good as a tactical flashlight?

Sheldon

 

[ATCclears]

Would these be any good as a tactical flashlight?

Sheldon

It depends. They are approximately 10" long. If you are OK shooting with one hand and the flashlight in your other hand, then maybe. They are not heavy and certainly put out a good amount of light.

Peter

 

[SPHBS]

Just got a two pack a couple of day ago to go along with the 250 lumen 3 pack I got a few weeks back. They were on sale for $19.97 at the Clackamas Costco. Great light for the $.

Output wasn't as bright as my surefire x300u 500 lumens but it was close. The 250 lumen lights are definitely more than 50% of the the 500 lumens.

 

[Father of four]

This is what we have...3 Pack Techlite High Intensity CREE XPG R4 LED Flashlight 250 Lumens New | eBay

They are some awesome little flashlights.

 

[Benny503]

I just bought 2 Duracell 500 from costco on Sunday, two for $19.99. They are much brighter then the previous brand they Feit Electric. I was in love with the feit till I bought the duracell. It works well and built strong, i have not mount on any rifle yet so I dont know how well it be good. Does anyone know where I can the flashlight mount for this size if flash light?

 

[SPHBS]

This is what we have...3 Pack Techlite High Intensity CREE XPG R4 LED Flashlight 250 Lumens New | eBay

They are some awesome little flashlights.

Those look exactly like the costco duracell flashlights, including the packaging (except for the brand name.)

 

[Koda]

there are so many cree flashlights on Amazon.com for under 10 bucks that perform really well, come in a variety of sizes. I just ordered 2 400 lumen for $4.39 each (free shipping) they are coming from China so it will be a while. I already have 6 250 lumen lights from Costco that work really well paid 30 bucks for all 6 including Duracell batteries. At these prices I don't mind having a bunch to throw around the house and cars.

The downside to these cheap lights compared to a "real tactical" (name brand...) light is the controls and battery life. On my Costco lights the first push is low/dim... so that doesnt work so well when investigating bumps in the night. Regular alkaline batteries in the cheap lights can run on lose their peak brightness quickly. I have a nice Fenix light that lasts a long long time with excellent tactical controls.

 

[STNOSU]

Do they drain the batteries like the Cree ones do? I liked them and their brightness but them draining the battery when off kind of killed it for them.

 

[Koda]

Do they drain the batteries like the Cree ones do? I liked them and their brightness but them draining the battery when off kind of killed it for them.

All the lights I mentioned are cree lights and none that I have drain the batteries when off.

 

[44mag2ndamend]

Would anyone have any experience with Re-Chargable NiMh batteries with this new breed of CREE LEDs?

 

[Tomthebassplayer]

Would anyone have any experience with Re-Chargable NiMh batteries with this new breed of CREE LEDs?

I have no experience with this, however I do have some experience with this type of LED in manufacturing. They generally run on 3.3vDC, and I assume the flashlights have some type of voltage regulator in the LED circuit. Now for some simple math: 3 alkaline C-cells produce 4.5v (or a tad more.) 3 NiMH or 3 NiCd cells at 1.2v per cell produce 3.6v. Not knowing how the flashlight regulator works, it may or may not work with rechargeable batteries (depending on whether it'll boost a lower voltage and other factors.) On another note, even though NiMH batteries retain their charge for a longer period compared to NiCd cells, I would sooner trust good alkaline batteries over rechargeable batteries in a critical condition (would you rather use fresh ammo or stuff that's been sitting for several years? Think about it.)

Now, as far as the tactical aspect goes, it's a durable flashlight and even on low power with the lens set to flood it lights up a room. On high set to flood pointed at the ceiling it lights up my dining room like a 25-watt bulb. Yes, it zooms into a square spot which is due to the architecture of the LED. On full flood the dispersion cone is about 80 degrees (meaning more than a 6-foot circle at 5 feet.) With the right mounts I think this could be mounted on a tactical rifle or shotgun, the main handle is a big bigger than a 12-gauge barrel (approx. 1 3/16" at the handle, 1 9/16" at the lens, 8 3/8" long on full flood, 9 1/8" on spot.) The weight could be a factor though, somewhere between 1-2 lbs. (sorry, don't have a scale) but it's definitely plenty bright.

 

[RicInOR]

Clint Smith has shown a tactical rubberband to hold flashlights to long guns.

That is a cut up bike inner tube.

No, not as fancy as a $300 Tacti-cool light but for that money, you can get a long gun to go with it.

 

[AMProducts]

It's kinda interesting, for my weekly "meeting with the guys" we were having a lively discussion about flashlights (just like we do knives, guns, camping gear, trucks etc) but the really interesting thing that's coming up are some of these new lights that take the 18650, 18350 and other lithium-ion rechargable batteries. There are a variety of sizes: List of battery sizes - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
But the real power of these batteries is they are able to supply essentially maximum amperage (sometimes up to 30A from a 300mAh battery) until they run flat, they recharge quickly, and unlike most of the cheap disposable alkaline, heavy duty, and lithium AA, or CR123's they have much higher power density, and also higher cell voltage (usually about 3.7V). For the moment at least, I'm holding off on "new" flashlights, as I'm waiting for the next few generations of flashlights that take these batteries to start coming online.

That said, generally, what I have become more interested in lately are lights that are much less bright, usually 20-50 lumens as this is what I need for finding the right key on my keychain, digging through my toolbag, or working on the car. One of my current favorites is the nebo "larry light" which is essentially a small LED work light, bought one at the hardware store for like $6 or something: https://www.nebotools.com/prod_details.php?id=165 the other one that I use a lot is the nebo "CSI edge" https://www.nebotools.com/prod_details.php?id=31&cid=16 it's a 50 lumen light, and takes 1 AA battery, I stuffed these with lithium AA's and thus far I have yet to replace a battery in them (maybe one got replaced after being used every night for a week straight). I tend to think one of the things that's gotten lost with the push towards greater light outputs are the fact that it's pretty rare that you actually need a 300 lumen light, in fact fire up a 300 lumen light and you can pretty much kiss your night vision goodbye for the next 30 minutes.

Another good one, for those of us who have a few of the old military "crookneck" flashlights is the LED upgrade... Rayovac 3V LED Replacement Bulb, 2 Cell: Camping : Walmart.com (I havn't seen the LED upgrade sold anywhere else, so I think this may be a product rayovac did specifically for walmart) This drop-in replacement really breathes a lot of new life into those old lights. When I found this upgrade, I dug my old crooknecks out of the closet and popped them in, put in some fresh alkaline batteries, despite the fact that I use this light constantly (it sits by my bedside and I use it for reading, night time trips to the bathroom) I have yet to replace the batteries. Changing from the D-cell to another battery type (like putting adapters in to take AA's would be kinda pointless considering the bulk of the light) however the D cells just provide so much energy with the nice long draw that it would take quite some doing to really flatten the batteries using this bulb. A few people who have done time tests report run times over 250 hours (continuous) on one set of Ds. At 30 lumens it's plenty to be useful for task lighting, reading etc, but it won't wake up the sleeping wife.

I like flashlights, they are certainly one of the most under-appreciated, yet hyper innovative fields in personal electronics at the moment, however the trends really need to broaden a bit. One thing I would really like to see is an 850 lumen red, or UV led flashlight.