Flashlight for OLD person!

[nbp]

Rayovac indestructible or energizer hardcase are good candidates. Cost efficient, decent runtimes, two modes, 2xAA.

Funny enough the reason I bought a new light for grandpa was because he said his broke after just a few uses. I was at his house this past week and he brought out the broken one. It was one of these Energizers. I tinkered with it and started by bending out the contact in the tailcap a bit to make sure that it was pressing firmly on the battery. Sure enough, that fixed it! Once it worked again and I got to play with it, I agree this is actually a really good flashlight for an older person.

Hard Case Professional Task Flashlight | Energizer

 

[greybeard42]

I'm not sure if the OP ever got his mom a light or not. Lots of discussion of the Mini Mag modes. The Mini Mag AA Pro Plus (+) has two modes only: High and low. Nothing else. Turn on the light while holding it horizontal and you get high. Turn it on while pointing it down and you get low. Simple and easy to use. A Litt tail clicky works both modes the same way if that's preferred to twisting the head.

The Olight i5T is a good suggestion also.

The Streamlight 1L-1AA uses one AA (can also use a cr123), but its a little bigger than most single AA lights so maybe a little easier to hold. Its progammable for high/low or high only so program it for mom and forget about other modes.

 

[M@elstrom]

Haven't bought a Maglite in years. A long time ago I had a couple of Maglites and both of them had problems with flickering. Complete junk lights. This was before LED was even a thing. Have they gotten better?

Never had an issue with Maglites... but I did with other's using generic el-cheapo off the shelf PR bulbs, bulb quality was a real consideration during the era of incandescents.

As for suggestions, how about a worklight? Or Energizer Hardcase angle/pivot head?

 

[bykfixer]

I think the Energizer hard case 2aa is one of the easiest lights to use out of many many flashlights I'ved used over the years. On/off if that's all you want. On/hold to adjust brightness if you choose.

Rectangle grippy body with easy to use side switch. Hard case means if dropped it probably won't break. Rectangle means it won't roll off a table. $15 means nearly everyone can afford one. It dims as the batteries deplete meaning no sudden lights out low voltage circuit. Wrist strap slot, heck they used to come with a wrist strap.

Good overall beam easily lights up stairs or a hallway, attic or crawl space. Decent throw to see if the cat is up in a tree. They used to be in box stores galore but I ddon't see them at the orange one anymore.

 

[jabe1]

I've had a 4aa energizer hardcase on the shelf by the kitchen side door for a few years. It gets used a lot, whether to check to see if the outside gate is closed ( so the dog isn't on a walkabout), or to look in the back of a kitchen corner cabinet. Easy to use for everyone, and the flood/spot choice is helpful.

 

[Kayaker530]

I have been looking for a flashlight with similar characteristics for a family member. I just ordered this one today and have no personal experience with it. Except that it is a 3 AA Light it may meet most of your requirements. Amazon tells me that I will have this light tomorrow and can give my observations after a couple of days. They also make a 2 AA version but the data sheet runtime chart doesn't look very good. https://www.streamlight.com/products/detail/dualie-3aa

 

[fuyume]

I can tell you that what I got for my 75 yo mother with multiple sclerosis was a Mini Mag LED Spectrum Series Warm White. It has too many modes, but as long as you don't fiddle with it, it works fine. 57 lumens from 2xAA, reasonable runtime, good color rendition.

If color and a tail button wasn't an issue, I'd also consider a Fenix E20 v2.0.

 

[M@elstrom]

Hey whatever works right?

I was contemplating manual dexterity as many elderly can experience issues holding items if unable to close their grip sufficiently, multimodes... will be curious how that pans out, my experience with older Citizens has been the more complicated the more likely there will be issues, enabling chime function on home alarm systems, altering software settings etc....

 

[Humpy]

I am 76 and I found a really neat small light that is rechargeable. It is a Luxpro XP976 and puts out 450 lumens and has a lifetime warranty. I got my first one at Tractor Supply for 25.00 and then last Christmas they put them on sale for 19.99 and I got three more. Abut 5 1/2" long, three light levels and has a built in recharger and comes with charger cord that plugs into light and a USB port. A small red light comes on when plugged in and when it gets full the red light turns green. Also comes with wrist lanyard.

 

[bykfixer]

I always found LuxPro tailcap switches easy to operate with a thumb or forefinger.

 

[Kayaker530]

I have been looking for a flashlight with similar characteristics for a family member. I just ordered this one today and have no personal experience with it. Except that it is a 3 AA Light it may meet most of your requirements. Amazon tells me that I will have this light tomorrow and can give my observations after a couple of days. They also make a 2 AA version but the data sheet runtime chart doesn't look very good. https://www.streamlight.com/products/detail/dualie-3aa

We have now had the Streamlight Dualie 3-AA model with the COB flood for a few nights now. We have played with it quite a bit and used it for tasks around the house like cooking dinner, washing dishes, doing laundry, reading, and fixing a simple project. We have had some of our friends and family who are trades workers play with it a bit. Everyone thinks it is a winner. It works well with Alkaline and NiMH batteries. The only concern I have is that it has an internal battery/LED tray that slides in and out of the body seems rather lightweight. Other than that concern the light looks perfect for our older family members who need a good general purpose light. The spot beam is reasonable and the flood beam is very very useful for close work. The clip and magnetic version gives it additional use options.

 

[aznsx]

We have now had the Streamlight Dualie 3-AA model with the COB flood for a few nights now. We have played with it quite a bit and used it for tasks around the house like cooking dinner, washing dishes, doing laundry, reading, and fixing a simple project. We have had some of our friends and family who are trades workers play with it a bit. Everyone thinks it is a winner. It works well with Alkaline and NiMH batteries. The only concern I have is that it has an internal battery/LED tray that slides in and out of the body seems rather lightweight. Other than that concern the light looks perfect for our older family members who need a good general purpose light. The spot beam is reasonable and the flood beam is very very useful for close work. The clip and magnetic version gives it additional use options.

Thanks! Good, hands-on owner/user feedback (the best kind).

I was just looking at the info for the latest version of this, which I thought looked interesting as well. Instead of side emission for flood, that one uses a second front-facing LED emitter integrated into the lower area of the reflector for flood (like a SL headlight I have), and also features SL's 'Color-Rite' enhanced CRI for that flood. Both interesting lights that would likely serve the needs of many!

Dualie® 3AA Color-Rite® | Intrinsically Safe Flashlight | Streamlight®

 

[Kayaker530]

Thanks! Good, hands-on owner/user feedback (the best kind).

I was just looking at the info for the latest version of this, which I thought looked interesting as well. Instead of side emission for flood, that one uses a second front-facing LED emitter integrated into the lower area of the reflector for flood (like a SL headlight I have), and also features SL's 'Color-Rite' enhanced CRI for that flood. Both interesting lights that would likely serve the needs of many!

Dualie® 3AA Color-Rite® | Intrinsically Safe Flashlight | Streamlight®

I did look at that later version. One of our family members lives off-grid in a very 'minimal' manner. She is elderly and does chores at night. She has tripped a few times at night due to poor lighting. She LOVES the flood light that comes out of the 'bottom' of the light when she is using the spot portion of the light. It gives her a higher degree of confidence in walking in irregular terrain at night. She loves that feature.

 

[aznsx]

I did look at that later version. One of our family members lives off-grid in a very 'minimal' manner. She is elderly and does chores at night. She has tripped a few times at night due to poor lighting. She LOVES the flood light that comes out of the 'bottom' of the light when she is using the spot portion of the light. It gives her a higher degree of confidence in walking in irregular terrain at night. She loves that feature.

Cool! I'm sort of laughing to myself here, because I posted that because I noted the word 'dualie' in a thread summary without really noting it was a thread about a light for an 'old person'. It's 'funny' to me because I am in fact what many consider an 'old person' myself, a 'night owl' (especially having worked an all-night shift for years), and also a heavy home flashlight user, so I tend to look at things from that perspective automatically, without needing to look through a special 'lens'. That said, you have succeeded in the most difficult objective of all, which is finding something she really likes. Bingo! You hit the jackpot if you did that! Well done!