Inspection tools: Flashlights

[Mark Reagin]

What is the best, compact inspection flashlight in terms of total output and battery longevity? I appreciate any recommendations you may have.

[Brian E. Kelly]

Originally Posted by Mark Reagin

What is the best, compact inspection flashlight in terms of total output and battery longevity? I appreciate any recommendations you may have.

I have a bevy of lights Mark. My recent favorite is the Ultrastinger very bright. about $89.00. I can do three or four inspections between charges.

I also have some 1,000,000 candle power lights for attics and crawl spaces. These cost about $10.00 to $30.00 rechargeable with lead acid batteries they go about an hour flat out on a charge.

And I have a 3 c cell mag lite just in case. Oh yea and a carbide lamp.

[Paul W. Abernathy]

I have the Stinger ( 1,000,000) candle power and also a Large Floor Light ( 15,000,000) candle power. The downside to teh stinger is 1 hour is just not enough for me when I am poking around in a crawl, attic and dim utility room so it never seems to make it to the end of my inspections...lol....Yes, I am a slow inspector who looks for everything.

The nice thing about the 15,000,000 candle power one is it can sit in a crawl or attic and light the whole thing.......got it from costco for like 50 bucks.

[Richard L. Bennett]

Blind inspectors do not need light - they just feel their way

[Mark Reagin]

Thank you very much for your rapid responses! I believe this gives me what I needed. Much obliged.

[Doug Edwards, CMI]

I have several Pelican lights. Extremely tough and used by many Firefighters. check out their website
www.beaconww.com

www.pelicanlights.com

[Paul W. Abernathy]

Dang...I did not know you were blind Richard....sorry to hear that.

[Russel Ray]

One can buy 500,000 and 1,000,000 candlepower flashlights at the sporting goods stores for $9.99 to $39.99, depending on the sale. At that price, I buy whatever I need to always have two flashlights for each inspector. One is in each employee's tool bucket and one is in each employee's car. That way we're never without light. Additionally, they are rechargeable using the car's cigarette lighter, so we can recharge them driving between inspections.

[jmichalski]

Also check out this older thread (from the archives)...

http://www.nachi.org/bbsystem/viewto...ght=flashlight

[Brian E. Kelly]

I rarely have my light on for more that 20 minutes a house. I use the million candle power light for attics. 99% slab on grade here.

http://www.flashlights.com/ultrastinger.html

I have always found any eyesight questions amusing as I do not believe there are minimum eyesight requirements for HI's.

[ROBERT W. NEWLAND, JR.]

Originally Posted by pabernathy

I have the Stinger ( 1,000,000) candle power and also a Large Floor Light ( 15,000,000) candle power. The downside to teh stinger is 1 hour is just not enough for me when I am poking around in a crawl, attic and dim utility room so it never seems to make it to the end of my inspections...lol....Yes, I am a slow inspector who looks for everything.

The nice thing about the 15,000,000 candle power one is it can sit in a crawl or attic and light the whole thing.......got it from costco for like 50 bucks.

I have the Stinger too and would recommend it. I have the charger that charges both the light and an extra battery at the same time...just in case. Also take along the car charger.

[jkormos]

I also have the Stinger, it is a very nice light

[mgifford]

I use the Ultra-Stinger. It has an on time of about 1 hour. This is usually enough to get me through a basement and an attic. If it is a multi-family then I usually bring my drop light with an extension cord for the basement.

I mounted the 12 volt charger for the Ultra-Stinger under my dashboard and that is where the flashlight lives when not in use. I also keep a spare bulb in my truck as well as a triple "D" mag light for backup.

I've done several hundred inspections with the Ultra-Stinger (gone through 2 or 3 bulbs though) and would replace it with the same thing if I were to loose it.

[Mark H. Roe]

Guy's,
I just found the coolest flashlight around for $20. It never needs batteries. It is one of those that you just shake back and forth. It is very bright and if it starts to go dim,just shake it a couple of time. I bought it on a whim,boy was I surprised. I went back and bought another on to give to my partner. We still use the 10,000,000 2 stage lights for the attic & crawl space. Like they say LET THERE BE LIGHT...

[whandley]

Mag-Lite

Life time warranty

http://www.maglite.com/product.asp?psc=RECHARGE&pt=R