Wall-charger rechargeable flashlights for work (industrial use)

[jellydonut]

I've gotten carte blanche to buy whatever lights I want for work.

Which ones are good?

Surefire no longer seems to make any "charging station" lights. I recall they came out with some "duty type" lights that had a charging ring, but they seem to be long gone.

I don't want to buy your typical sort of these sorts of lights - yellow, plastic, barely has a tiny little glow from it.

 

[LEDphile]

Streamlight Stinger and Strion come to mind, as do the modern versions of the Mag Charger.

 

[ABTOMAT]

Streamlight is the dominant player in this market by a huge margin. They have a ton of duty lights in both metal and polymer, and a selection of industrial and firefighter's lights as well. Does your work have specific requirements?

 

[jellydonut]

Non-conductive would be neat, but is not a requirement. The usual choice here is your typical LED Lenser, which in my experience tend to break prematurely.

 

[LEDphile]

That sounds like you want the Streamlight Polystinger or maybe the Dualie Rechargable

 

[ABTOMAT]

At least in the US the Stinger/Polystinger platform is ubiquitous with police. Getting batteries or chargers or whatever would never be a problem. It's a small-ish light, like about as big as a 2C cell flashlight. They also make a model specifically rated for hazardous locations if your company needs to meet those standards. Streamlight makes the Strion too, which is kind of a pocket size Stinger. That one's also very popular with police. Only available in metal, though. The Dualie is kind of its own thing without a big system behind it. I've never used one but it looks like a solid industrial type flashlight and they're hazard rated already. Also appears to be about half the price of the Polystinger, depending on how far your blank check really goes.

If Streamlight is hard to get where you are, Mag also makes some cradle rechargeables. A couple different sizes of Magcharger LED duty lights and a pocket size Mag-Tac (not wall mounted--table mounted) model. These are all traditional metal bodied lights.

 

[RWT1405]

ABTOMAT beat me to it, but Streamlight is where I would start my search.

If you can't find what you're looking for from Streamlight, I would check Pelican Flashlights next.

 

[Hooked on Fenix]

For a work light, I'd look at Milwaukee's offerings. They have 3000 and 4000 lumen Rover floodlights, lights with clamps that work well on scissor lifts or mounted to boards or pipes, and have smaller flashlight and headlight options that are usb rechargeable. They also have tripod lights and lanterns as well. Their l.e.d.s are warm white and usually 80+c.r.i.. If you're using it for work, you may already have the batteries and chargers from using other tools.

 

[Fuzzywuzzies]

Hugely depends on your work environment and workflow. I live with an Elzetta Bravo holstered on my belt, and use it all day, every day for my work inspecting heavy industrial machines. I got the one with the flood lens for close work, bored it out to take 18650s, and at 850 lumens it is perfect for my work. Their electronics are built to take firearm recoil, and are fully potted for indestructibility. Can't recommend them highly enough. I've watched a bunch of them used and abused by colleagues for the last half decade and still going strong - we've replaced two tailcap switches, and one whole switch. (I have no idea how many zillion cycles those things have done)
That said, you may value a different balance of features, such as a magnetic tailcap like the ThruNite T1, or interchangeability with your power tools, as @Hooked on Fenix mentioned, or a form factor or size that works for your environment.
Care to share more details? It'll give the fellow candleites more fodder to cast recommendations your way...

 

[alpg88]

today you are pretty much limited to a maglite and a streamlite, for wall mounted chargers. with few exceptions, there is also a fenix rc20 light that has such cradle, there maybe few more lights from other brands, but most of them are maglite and a streamlight

 

[Plainclothesman]

Among the flashlights mentioned above, does anyone have a specific model or models recommendation for a rechargeable, general purpose home flashlight? I'm looking for a quality flashlight I can grab off a 120 v charger every few weeks or months and know it will be charged and provide a good strong beam for at least an hour or so as needed. Also, in general how long can you expect a rechargeable battery to last that spends 24/7 in a charger? Thanks.

 

[xxo]

Maglite ML150 or Streamlight Ultra Stinger. I would expect the batteries to last around 5 years or so.

 

[hsa]

^ Both great lights but I think the Maglite cradle is easier to use.
My 2005 Strion is still going strong.

 

[aznsx]

I use and recommend Streamlight products in demanding industrial (and other professional use) environments like mine, and for over a dozen years of my work, those have been Strion models (with Scorpions prior to that). Streamlight is likely your best choice after all factors are considered.

If you'd like a specific recommendation, my latest / current choice for my personal needs is the Strion DS HL, which I absolutely love, and so far, I would not replace it with anything else I know of on the market today - at any price. It replaced (as primary) a decade+ old regular "Strion LED" (which is my current backup), which itself had moved my Strion incandescent into backup role prior to that. Zero maintenance, failures, adjustments or repairs with the first two, so I don't expect any different with the newest one.

The current Strion HL is essentially the same light without the side switch (DS), and is slightly shorter as a result. As someone who practically never uses a side switch (it's like an unnatural act for me personally), in a very unusual move, I got the DS version anyway because first, it's only a bit longer, and it's well designed and is very innocuous and doesn't get in my way or bother me - so there's practically no (significant) penalty for having it. I carry it bezel-up in an open top holster, so that little bit more length doesn't really make a difference in practice. Second, I function in some difficult situations where I may occasionally need to grab my light in an unusual way, and it could (at least in theory) at such times be an advantage to have that switch option with some unusual 'hold' I might have to use. Most importantly though, and all that aside, as it's designed, it provides me with 100% functional switch redundancy. No single switch failure can put me OOS. Essentially, my light simply has to work - right now, and every time, so that's a big deal. That second switch takes the item with arguably the highest statistical failure rate out of the equation.

Here's the link to the DS HL model I'm using. Open the 'Documentation +' button for all the complete info, with the "Fact Sheet" being the primary doc for most all the specs and data on one page. While you're looking at that Fact Sheet, give a glance down lower right at that output graph. You'll find it's very unusual (in terms of its relative 'flatness') for a flashlight in 2023. The output of this light is highly consistent, which is a plus if observing something potentially changing, critical, and perhaps on the edge of visibility over a period of time. Application wise, that is one case where industrial may be a bit different from tactical. Anyway, if you end up looking at that one and have a question, just ask - as I have one here to play with.

Strion® DS HL | Handheld Flashlight | Streamlight®

BTW, my world is almost entirely electrical in nature, and while SL offers some good stuff that's purposely 'insulated', the reality is that if I'm using my light in a situation where it would matter, I'm already in total violation of all Co. / plant safety policy at that point, so I'm already in trouble. Therefore, I choose my work flashlight without considering that. As an aside, I do have a SL 'PolyTac X' on hand if I ever feel I need for that for some reason. Without the clip, it's pretty electrically inert, so I have that available as backup - if I should want it, and it can do a lot of what the Strion can do. Not that I would need it of course - just sayin'.

This is just my choice. If the Strion DS HL / HL isn't right for you, keep looking around the vast SL catalog and you'll almost undoubtedly find something that is!

Edit: Also keep in mind that this Strion uses a Borofloat lens, uses lithium ion power supply, has a FL1 2-meter impact rating, and other nice features that make it a tough combination to beat, so do read the fine print.

 

[Plainclothesman]

Thanks to xxo, hsa, and aznsx for your extremely helpful responses to my questions.

 

[aznsx]

Thanks to xxo, hsa, and aznsx for your extremely helpful responses to my questions.

I think I can speak for most here when I say: you're quite welcome.
I've learned a fair bit myself hanging around here!