Flashlights, called torches in British English, have been around for a long time. Hand portable illumination is clearly desirable in many situations. LED flashlights use the latest LED lighting technology to produce a better product in almost every way.

Before the first flashlight hit the market in 1899, the only portable lights used flames. The invention of portable batteries was followed quickly by the invention of the flashlight. It’s light source was the incandescent light bulb, which dominated the market until a few years ago.

Incandescent bulbs produce light by heating a metal filament till it glows. They are relatively inefficient compared to more modern light sources, and they don’t last nearly as long. They also tend to be sensitive to shock, which is a problem since flashlights are frequently dropped.

Flashlights can be made with fluorescent bulbs. Their efficiency is between incandescent bulbs and LEDs. Even though they are bulky and easily broken, there used to be a niche for them. Now that LEDs have come down in price, fluorescent flashlights have pretty much disappeared.

The invention of the white light LED (light emitting diode) changed the flashlight game. Colored LEDs have been around for awhile, but are not generally suitable for use in flashlights. White light LEDs are incredibly efficient producers of light. They are shock resistant and have long service lives.

The major restraint on market success of LED flashlights has been their relatively high cost. Until the last couple of years they were so expensive that they were not used except for special applications. Their cost has been going down continuously and has reached the point where they are almost always the flashlight technology of choice, except in cases where extremely low cost is important.

LED flashlights are often very compact when compared to equivalent incandescent flashlights. The LEDs themselves are quite small. The inefficiency of the incandescent requires it to have much larger batteries than the corresponding LED flashlight would need. The weight of the batteries is often the majority of the overall weight of the flashlight.

If you look around you will see some creative designs for LED flashlights. The old headlamp has been reinvented in a much more compact, comfortable form. There are modular units that can be several flashlights or put together to form a brighter light. Key chain flashlights are now actually usable. There is a model that straps to the arm. Six LEDs spread around the strap illuminate whatever the arm is pointed to.

LEDs are the big story in the world of flashlights. Their currently reasonable cost is driving everything else out of the market. The LED flashlight is the way to go for portable lighting.

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