Flashlights are one of the handiest and most essential tools that you could own – from helping you find your way back to your campsite to providing illumination when the lights go out to warding off danger using light. The flashlight is the modern day equivalent of the ancient need to carry fire in your hand.

With the huge variety of flashlight options available in the market and a slew of confusing terms that define the specifications of the different flashlights it is easy to get confused. But there are a few things to determine what kind of flashlight you will need and that helps narrow down your options considerably. The first question is the intended application. There are different flashlights for everyday use, camping trips, hunting expeditions, and tactical operations. Once you decide what your intended use is, that will help filter your options. Then you need to decide what kind of bulb, brightness, battery power you require. That will narrow down the options even further. And then come two very important questions – what material do you want your flashlight body to be made of and how many modes do your require your flashlight to have.

Materials

In the early days, flashlights were made of vulcanized fiber or rubber with metal end caps. Other materials such as steel, plated brass, copper, silver, wood, and even leather have been used to make flashlights. But today, there are two main types of materials used to make flashlight bodies: plastic and aluminum. Aluminum is a good material since it is lightweight and strong. Two types of aluminum are used to make flashlights: aircraft grade which is hard, cheap, avoidable and weldable, and aerospace grade which is also hard and strong but is typically not anodizable or weldable. Aluminum is usually known to have greater durability, but it can get extra hot/cold and is heavier than plastic models. Some flashlight models are even made out of stainless steel which is harder than aluminum but also heavier. There is also the option of getting custom made lights in titanium which is heavier than aluminum but much stronger, but harder to machine. Whatever material you want your flashlight to be made of is your preference, but aluminum is the recommended option.

Modes

In today’s world with users asking for all kinds of features, it is only understandable that there would be numerous mode options available in flashlights. From adjustable beams to controllable brightness, a lot of flashlights come with a number of settings. The cheaper ones can give you 2 different setting whereas the more expensive ones can go up to 3 or 4 different settings. Some flashlights of the tactical variety even come equipped with emergency strobe lights – strobes are regular flashes of bright light that can stun, disorient, and even cause temporary blindness in an adversary. Some high-end flashlights even have the option of programmable modes that can be set as per user preference.