A high quality flashlight is one of the most essential pieces of gear for any hunting or camping trip. Even if you don't plan on staying out past dark, you just never know what can happen, and you don't want to be left out in the dark without any means of lighting your way home. Still, while any basic flashlight is probably fine for camping, the best hunting flashlight offers a range of additional benefits that make it perfectly suited for the purpose.
The 6 Best Hunting Flashlight Reviews
The first step is choosing the right flashlight. These are the 5 we've found to be the top performers:
Gerber Recon Multi Colored Flashlight
Lightweight, compact and extremely durable, the Gerber Recon easily fits in your pocket or hunting pack, making it one of the smallest hunting flashlights on the market. Nonetheless, it packs a ton of excellent features into its small frame.
The flashlight uses bright LEDs to provide standard white light, as well as red, green and blood-tracking blue lights. A simple dial on the back of the flashlight allows you to instantly switch between the colors.
The small size is due in part to the fact that it's powered by only a single AA battery. Despite this, you can still expect quite a long battery life due to the energy-efficient LEDs. The flashlight also features a clip, which allows it to be clipped on to a hat or any other item for hands-free use.
Finally, the flashlight's rugged aircraft-grade aluminum housing keeps it protected from damage and ensures it will stay working for years to come.
Primos Bloodhunter HD Blood Trailing Light
While the blue blood-tracking light found on some hunting flashlights can come in handy, it still generally can't compare to the strength and power found on a specialized blood tracking light like the Primos Bloodhunter HD. In fact, the light is so bright that it can actually harm your eyes if you look straight into it.
Easily the most powerful and best blood tracker on the market, this flashlight makes finding and following a blood trail as easy as can be. It's also available in a less powerful (and more affordable) headlamp version.
Still, most people prefer the flashlight due to the increased power of the light. Nonetheless, if you'd prefer to have your hands free in case you stumble upon the animal and it's not yet dead, then the head lamp is a great choice.
Rayovac Sportsman 180 Lumen LED Flashlight
If you're looking for the best hunting flashlight for the money, you'll be hard pressed to find anything much better than this Rayovac Sportsman flashlight. This 180 lumen LED flashlight is the most powerful one in the range, which also includes a number of smaller, lower lumen flashlights suitable for those times when you'd prefer a dimmer light.
This flashlight features white, red and blue lights, all powered by Cree XRE LEDs, which are guaranteed to last a lifetime. In addition to switching between the three colors, you can also switch between the high, 180-lumen and low, 75-lumen modes.
For those times when you need a powerful flashlight, this is definitely an excellent choice. However, it is a bit bigger and heavier than many others, as it uses three C batteries.
Streamlight Strion LED Flashlight
Streamlight is one of the top names in the flashlight game, and this excellent LED flashlight shows why. One of the reasons it stands out is its tough, durable design and airplane-grade aluminum construction. The flashlight is fully waterproof and shock resistant, meaning it should be able to stand up to virtually anything and keep working.
Although it only features a white light, it does have three different brightness modes. The flashlight is also rechargeable and includes an AC/DC charger.
Still, the biggest reason this one makes the list is for its incredible strength and durability, as few others can match it in terms of toughness.
Fenix TK32 1000 Lumen Flashlight
A true tactical flashlight designed specifically for military and law enforcement purposes, the Fenix TK32 is definitely the brightest hunting flashlight on this list and also the most versatile.
Unsurprisingly, this also makes it by far the most expensive. Still, if you don't have a problem with spending around a hundred dollars on a flashlight, this Fenix flashlight is one of the best ones you can find.
The 1000 lumen light offers an incredibly bright beam that shines much further than most others. Still, it offers four different brightness levels for those times when you don't need quite so much light.
It also includes both bright and green lights, each of which has two brightness settings. The lights can be powered by either two CR123A lithium batteries or one 18650 rechargeable lithium-ion battery. It also includes a holster and lanyard so you can always keep it handy.
Zebralight H52W Headlamp
A fantastic choice for those looking for a hunting headlamp, the Zebralight H52W far outperforms most other headlamps in one key area—durability. While the majority of headlamps on the market are known to break quite easily—sometimes after only a few uses—this Zebralight headlamp is truly built to last.
The lamp offers a wide range of different brightness levels, from a super bright 280-lumen light down to an incredibly dim 0.01 lumens. It also features several different strobe settings.
Still, the reason it is by far the best hunting headlamp out there is its rugged construction, as it is fully waterproof (submersible up to two meters for 30 minutes) and built out of much sturdier materials than most of the cheaper, plastic headlamps out there.
Why You Need a Hunting Flashlight
A hunting flashlight is obviously an important tool should you find yourself having to track down an animal you shot in the dark. Again, any standard flashlight will generally allow you to see a blood trail. However, actually finding the trail in the dark is not always the easiest task.
Blood Tracking:
This is why some of the best hunting flashlights also include a special blue "blood tracker" light. The blood becomes more visible under this blue light, thus making it much easier to find and follow the blood trail wherever it leads.
Durability:
More than just being useful for lighting your way, a good hunting flashlight is one that has been designed specifically with hunters in mind. First and foremost, hunting flashlights are generally much more solid and sturdy. This rugged design means that the flashlight can take a beating and keep working, allowing you to rest assured that it won't fail when you need it most.
Brightness Settings:
It's more than just the design and construction that makes a true hunting flashlight a much better choice. Many feature adjustable brightness settings, different colored lights and other extras not found in most standard flashlights.
Many hunters rely on a flashlight in order to get to their stand or blind in the early morning hours to ensure they're set up and ready to hunt at sunrise. While any flashlight will illuminate your path to prevent trips and falls, a good flashlight for hunting is one that illuminates your path, while also helping to keep you from being seen by your prey.
In essence, this means shining only as bright of a beam as is required for you to see, as the brighter the light is, the higher the chance it could spook nearby animals. This makes a flashlight with adjustable brightness settings incredibly handy, as it provides both a dimmer light for hiking and a much brighter light for those times you need to dress an animal after dark.
Different Color Settings:
Some hunting flashlights also include red and green lights, as these colors aren't as visible to animals as the bright white light emitted by most standard and LED flashlights. Better still, some animals are unable to see these colors at all, such as hogs, which can't see green light, or coyotes, which can't see red light. As both red and green lights are less visible to most animals, these flashlights are also an excellent choice for those pre-dawn hikes.
Another reason you find so many hunting flashlights with red light is that it helps preserve your night vision better than standard white light. This means that you should be able to see in the dark better when you shut off the red light than you could if you were using another color of light. Therefore, the best flashlight for hunting at night is generally one that has a red light.
Consider Headlamps:
The one problem with a normal flashlight is that if you have to hold it in your hand, leaving you only one hand free to perform tasks. Whether it is climbing in and out of your tree stand, reloading your gun or field dressing an animal, there are numerous occasions in any hunting trip when you'll need to have both hands free.
For this reason, it's always a good idea to bring along a headlamp as well. With a good headlamp, you can still illuminate whatever's in front of you, while keeping both hands free for the task at hand.
Conclusion
As you can probably tell from the wide range of different flashlights on this list, there probably isn't such a thing as the best hunting flashlight. In truth, you're probably fine as long as you have something that helps light the way. Still, if you're looking for a truly excellent light, any of the above products more than fits the bill.
