No battery, of any sort, should be short circuited, disposed of in a fire, or exposed to extreme heat or water. No rechargeable battery should be over charged or excessively drained, and it is always a good idea to be watchful and present when recharging any battery, not just li-ions.

Avoid the cheap junk and li-ions without protection circuits. Candlepower forum is a good starting point source for information. The payoff is that you will have a lot more light available, either lower light level for a much longer time, or much more light for a fairly short period.

I have two 18650 lights (Nitecore and Zebralight). They weren't cheap but they are very capable and versatile. I also have a bunch of AA and AAA lights, all using rechargeables. With a reasonable amount of attention, my portable light needs are well met.

Mom is considering this flashlight. She knows not to leave a charging battery unattended and she will be getting plenty CR123A backups.

Jeanette Isabelle

I don't own any Olights but they have a good reputation.

Personally I think lithium batteries are a good thing and more specifically I really like the 18650 format. In fact, I've standardized on the 18650 format with an HDS Rotary for EDC, Zebralights for headlamps and inexpensive Solarforce lights with P60 format LED dropins for the cars, drawers and kits.

H600w Mk II 18650 XM-L2 Headlamp Neutral White
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F8J71LE

Solarforce L2P HAIII Forward Clicky flashlight Body Version 2015
http://www.solarforceflashlight-sales.com/product_detail.php?t=FB&s=7&id=354

Solarforce 320Lms XPG Cree Led (Orange Peel Reflector) Bulb
http://www.solarforceflashlight-sales.com/product_detail.php?t=RB&s=29&id=212

There are safer chemistry 18650 options these days like these:

Panasonic NCR18650PF 3.6V "2900mAh" Rechargeable Li-Ion Batteries (2-Pack) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F58URPK

Also make sure you get a high quality charger like:

XTAR VP2 Independent 2-Channel Battery Charger
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00K9T265Y

Yes, respect lithium batteries in general. Don't buy questionable lights, batteries and chargers*. However lithium powered lights enjoy almost no self discharge for long shelf life, power devices for a long time, rarely corrode in a light and provide fuss free charging and operation.

Rechargables mean not worrying what to do when your batteries are half charged -- just throw in a fresh battery and put the old one on the charger.

Also note many of the most risk associated with litium ion cells can be avoided by avoiding multi-cell lights and using good quality chargers with independent charging banks (such as the VP2).

-john


* Admittedly, the Solarforce drop-in P60 "bulbs" may not be super-premium, but they seem to be good enough, at least when it comes to the lower power units like the XPG lights.

A few more thoughts about lights.

After many years of buying many lights, I grew weary of proprietary formats*. While many of the lights referenced here are good lights, and often have performance benefits over the lights I currently have in my cars and kits, they have a big downside.... time.

Given enough time they will be obsolete, and because they are proprietary you will be forced to replace them if you want newer tech which can be expensive depending on how many lights you have.

As a result I switched to lights that use the P60 "drop in" style bulbs. While these lights have some inherent compromises, you can simply replace the bulbs when a newer, better, brighter, longer lasting LED tech comes along.

The Solarforce P2P forward clicky light bodies are very nice for any price and insanely nice for $23.

Combine that with the $11.50 single mode XPG drop in makes a really nice light for $34.50 light that you can later swap out the "bulb" later if you feel the desire.

-john


* Technically the P60 format isn't an open standard, but it tends to be close enough.

P60 thread on CPF: P60 sized led drop-ins (part 3)
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=217252

let me make a constructive suggestion.
this is only one man's point of view.

I have owned a variety of flashlights in my time .. including the good old fashioned Maglites (big and small), a variety of LED lights, and one tactical flashlight that was so tough you could probably run a tank over it.

In the end, you just DON'T need a tactical flashlight that is so bright that you can illuminate the planet Mars. It's truly a waste of time, and a big waste of money.

If you get a small handheld flashlight that is dependable, has a few good LED bulbs, and works with standard batteries (esp. AA) - this is absolutely all that you need. You will save yourself a ton of money. Look at the suggestions on this thread, and get a very reliable LED light.

Just my $0.02

Pete

For home use I've moved to the 26650 Lithium LiFePo4 Cells.

http://www.amazon.com/KINGSOLAR-trade-3300mAh-Rechargeable-Phosphate/dp/B00QR7X32W

Using a generic 15 CREE XM-L T6 4x26650 cell torch.

On the lowest setting the torch gives about 250-300 lumens for about 25-30hrs of runtime.

Does anyone out there make a good quality 4x26250 cell Cree MT-G2 flashlight?

I'm a big fan of the P60 format, too. Most of my better lights use that system or one directly compatible. I'm a huge fan of Elzetta and Malkoff, and the two work great together (the Bravo and Charlie lights will both accept P60s and ship with a dropin licensed from Malkoff).

Speaking just for myself I think way too much is made of "features" on lights. To me the best feature is a lack of bells and whistles. I'm far enough down the rabbit hole light-wise to know what I want, and I don't want any multi-mode lights that have complicated UIs. My favorite UIs are the ones used by Elzetta and the JETBeam BC lines. They have one button that just does one thing, and two modes switched by twisting the bezel or tailcap respectively. This is ideal for me because they can easily be operated with one hand and will always come on in the mode I want. I'll grant that a multi-mode like the superb HDS would be fine but I like the KISS approach. I like to have a HIGH mode and a LOW mode. Hidden modes are fun but not useful very often. Theoretically I can see how a strobe/SOS could be useful but I don't really want it on my light. It's one more thing to fail or come on in the wrong mode.

I also think that "lumen drag racing" is a waste of time for most people. It would seem that brighter would be better, and sometimes it is, but lumens and/or candela does not tell the whole story. Beam color and throw are perhaps more important than the lumen ratings (especially given how extensively the ratings are "gamed" by vendors). A piercing blue 1,000 lumen light with a very tight spot will measure well and tick all the marketing boxes but it won't be very useful to change a tire or change a fuse. The human eye is more sensitive in the blue range, so it's easy to gain a higher output by biasing the LED blue. But CRI (color rendition index) is important. A more neutral temp around 4,000 K will render colors in a more lifelike manner. Just as an example, imagine you're stalled by the side of the road, looking at the wiring harness of your boat trailer trying to see which wire is which; it's very hard to tell the colors apart under very cool/blue light.

Lastly all the power and brightness in the world is pointless if the light isn't well made and durable. I've found the build quality of some (but not all) of the Chinese lights to be dubious at best. Especially the cheapo off brands. For instance years ago I picked up a bunch of AAA "Black Cat" lights for about $8 each and initially they were great. The color was a bit blue but they were rated at 100 lumens and had very good throw. But one by one every single one of them failed, with the switches going out or acting erratically. It seemed like a good value to pay $8 and get the same output and beam quality as the $20 Streamlight, but not if all eight of them fail within a year!

For most purposes a very durable light with a HIGH mode around 150 real lumens or better and a good "moonlight" or even "firefly" mode, biased around 4000-4500 degrees Kelvin, will get the job done. Just make sure you get a well made light that won't crap out on you.

Lastly, I do have some AA and AAA lights but all my "serious" lights run on CR123A. They're the best built batter around IMO. They pack a lot of power for the size, they're incredibly durable and reliable, and their cold weather performance is terrific. To date I've never known one to leak whereas I've seen dozens of alkaline batteries leak. They also have extremely low self discharge rates, and important consideration for a light that will be stored for long periods for emergency use.

Just as an FYI here are a couple of lights I really love for the price. First off BatteryJunction has an incredible deal on the JETBeam BC25 SE! I have two of them and paid $60 each; they're on sale here for under $40! In fact I might pick up another one or two. I keep one by the bed and one mounted on a Beretta Storm Carbine in 9mm. It falls short of the absolute build quality of an Elzetta but mine has taken a good bit abuse and kept ticking. At the current price I don't know of anything even close to as good. The old BC25 but great but the SE is 30% brighter and just as well built. On LOW mode it's still quite bright for everyday use with great runtime. On HIGH mode it's nearly car-headlight-bright.

Next is the JETBeam BC10. Same UI in all the BC lights but this one is much smaller, around 3" long. It's well made and bright, and I carried one for two years for EDC with no problems. Again, it might fall a bit short of my Surefire E1B in absolute build quality and fit and finish but it's at least as bright, and built to take a lot of abuse.

There are some other great lights by Fenix and Olight in the same general price range but anyone shopping for a $60 light would be advised to check out those two from JETBeam.

so many brands that require buying the extras (special batteries and chargers)...

for just a few dollars more, why not really simplify things and get your ma a simple tough 1xAAA (using regular alkaline or disposable lithium) 300-lumen american-made-&-warrantied 3-level small flashlight that she can always have on her?

Sureifre Titan Plus
http://www.surefire.com/titan-b.html