Your flashlight is one of the most important pieces of equipment when night hunting. It helps you get around in the dark and get a better view of your target when the sun sets. The best hunting light is one that provides a long, strong beam, has a great battery life, is reliable in any type of environment, easily attached on a scope or barrel of a gun, and comes with a variety of accessories and features.
Such a flashlight can be used for much more than hunting, though. Search and rescue crews, security personnel and law enforcement can all take advantage of a quality hunting light, and since it’s such an important piece of equipment for people working in these careers and hobbies, picking the right one is of paramount importance. But with so many different flashlights today, how do you find the right one? Here are some of the best hunting flashlights available today, no matter the job or use.
Olight M2R Warrior
The Olight M2R Warrior is a rechargeable, dual-switch tactical torchlight that’s equipped with XHP35 HD LED and is powered by a high discharge rate 18650 battery, allowing it to output as much as 1500 lumens. It comes with a quiet tail switch, outdoor and tactical modes for many applications.
You can get an Olight pressure switch to replace the quiet tail switch to make it easy to activate when mounted on a weapon. All you have to do is press the Olight pressure switch for instant activation and illumination and then release the pressure to turn it off. The M2R Warrior is lightweight and compact, and comes with a firm, comfortable grip that’s ergonomically designed. Its construction is solid, allowing it to withstand the abuses that come with use in rough environments.
ThruNite TC15
This flashlight is heavier and it’s specifically designed for demanding tasks, such as hunting, law enforcement and search and rescue missions. It comes with a LED light that can be set to strobe mode for temporarily blinding subjects. It’s also fitted with an aircraft-grade copper circuit to optimise heat dispersion.
The ThruNite TC15 requires a lithium-ion battery to operate, which isn’t included in the box, so you’ll have to buy one yourself, plus a charger. This is one of its largest disadvantages, but once you get a battery pack, you can rest assured it will last, since the ThruNite TC15 comes with battery housing that’s specifically made to protect the batteries from abuse when the light is thrown or jostled around.
Nitecore MH10
The Nitecore MH10 has an illumination output of 1000 lumens and is battery operated. It comes with two disposable batteries, plus a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, so you can switch between the two depending on your intended application and frequency of use. The flashlight can run for over 500 hours, is completely waterproof and impact-resistant.
Additionally, the battery housing is specifically built to protect the batteries and to prevent the batteries from being inserted the wrong way. Besides batteries, the bundle includes a charger for the rechargeable lithium-ion battery. The beam is adjustable and features 4 light modes and 3 special models. The only “downside” of this flashlight is the inconveniently placed power button.
Orion H30
The Orion Predator is arguably one of the best hunting scope flashlights. It’s military-grade and can provide illumination of over 100 metres in front of you. It also comes with 4 light modes, is completely impact-resistant and waterproof and can withstand any type of use and abuse. In fact, the light comes with a 10-year warranty, and is equipped with a wide range of mounts for scopes, rails and barrels.
You can choose between a red or green beamed flashlight. However, the biggest complaint for most users is the inability to focus the illumination beam and the difficulty of the pressure switch. Even with the inability to focus the beam, some people praise it for the fact that’s quite focused already, and it reduces spillage light that occurs around the beam area.
PeakPlus
The PeakPlus has an illumination output of 1000 lumens, and is powered by simple, widely-available AAA batteries, or rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that are included with the torchlight. The LED lamp of the PeakPlus can last over 100.000 working hours, and it doesn’t take long to recharge. About 6 hours of charging is enough to get enough power for the next 3 nights. It also comes with adjustable zoom focus, is impact- and waterproof, making it ideal for outdoor applications and rough environments.
Furthermore, the PeakPlus comes with 5 light modes, ranging from very bright to very dim. The downsides to this flashlight are superficial, such as the requirement of a sleeve, a large charging unit and the exclusion of additional batteries. These flaws, however, don’t have an impact on the capability or operation of the light and are only a hindrance to the operator. Some people claim that the waterproofness of the flashlights isn’t effective enough, and it can’t submerge underwater as advertised. Other than that, this flashlight will exceed the expectations of anyone in need of a reliable, powerful hunting flashlight.
