5 Of The Best Flashlights You Can Keep In Your Car

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It’s always a good idea to keep a flashlight in your car. The light on your phone might help you in a pinch, but a real, quality flashlight can produce a much stronger and broader beam. You never know when you might need to change a flat tire in the middle of the night, flag down another car for assistance, or hike out of a dead zone to call for help. What’s more, having a dedicated light allows you to preserve your phone’s battery in case you need it.

There are a lot of different kinds of flashlights out there, from basic penlights and small but powerful EDC flashlights to rugged tactical lights. In general, a good emergency flashlight should put out between about 200 to 1,000 lumens of brightness. Yet different models also offer a range of different features that are targeted toward various uses. That’s why finding the right model for your car can get tricky.

Of course, you need a strong beam and a power source that can reliably survive extreme power fluctuations. You’ll also want to consider the tool’s durability, longevity of charge, extra safety features, and native charging solutions. By considering all of these factors and comparing feedback from both consumers and professional reviewers (when available), you can get a much better idea of which flashlights are the best to keep in your car.

There are very few flashlight brands with better ratings than Maglite, and none that specialize in the same kind of heavy-duty models. These flashlights are well known for their performance, reliability, and durability, but they’re also well known for their heft. The standard C-cell torches that the company built its name around are long tubes of metal that have a couple of pounds of weight to them.

The brand offers several different models today, but one of the better ones you might consider keeping in your car is the Maglite ML150LRX. This is a rechargeable, IPX4 water-resistant anodized aluminum flashlight with a 1,082-lumen beam, an adjustable focus, and a 458m max-throw distance. The flashlight is powered by a LiFePO4 battery that’s good for up to 2,000 charge cycles. It has three different lighting modes that offer some truly impressive run times. It lasts 3 hours 15 minutes on High and 18 hours on Low, while also having a special Eco mode that promises a whopping 79 hours of battery life on a single charge. It also comes with both AC and DC adapters, so you can charge it in your car.

Over 200 Amazon customers have rated it 4.2 out of 5 stars. Users were generally impressed with the build quality and overall performance of the product, though some didn’t like that it’s a bit thinner and lighter than Maglite’s standard C-cell models. Tom Price of Popular Mechanics loved it in his review as well, stating that the flashlight is still incredibly sturdy despite its slimmer profile. It retails for $139.99 and was going for $104.99 as of this writing.

If you want something compact but incredibly bright to keep in your glove box that you can rely on when you’re stuck on the side of the road or deep in the country, then you might want to consider something like the Nextorch P83 Rechargeable Flashlight. This is one of the best lights to have on hand if you ever find yourself in a position where you need to signal for help.

The Nextorch P83 model is a 2,100-lumen powerhouse that features a special multi-light source system, going far beyond what is typically offered in a standard white beam. Alongside its bright primary LED, it has secondary red and blue hazard signal lights built straight into the body, adding extra layers of eye-catching visibility. The dual switch also allows you to rapidly switch between 10 different lighting modes: Tactical Strobe, Momentary-On, three different white light levels (2,100-lumen with 380m throw, 350-lumen with 160m throw, or 25-lumen with 40m throw). It also has two low-profile Red/Blue signals. Finally, the product is IPX7 waterproof- and impact-resistant and promises up to 85 hours of runtime in the lower settings.

This light has a 4.3 out of 5-star rating on Amazon, with customers stating that it’s incredibly durable and a great emergency light to keep in your car. However, some note that it isn’t the best as an all-around utility light. On the other hand, ZeroAir also reviewed the light and found that it has great build quality, an excellent beam profile, and a reasonable cost. The website even states the red and blue light emergency features truly take it to the next level. This one retails for $69.99.

There are a lot of really popular flashlight brands that are made in America, but one that might surprise you is Energizer. The company that keeps going and going is best known for its batteries, but it also makes a number of different flashlights, including some specialty models. One of the better options that you might consider keeping in your car is the Energizer A-500 Automotive Flashlight. The light itself is a simple rechargeable 500-lumen LED with High and Low modes for brightness and runtime. There are also a number of features that make this the perfect safety tool to have on hand if you ever get into an accident.

This little gizmo is made of aircraft-grade aluminum that is IPX4 water- and impact-resistant, and it also has a shatterproof lens. The Energizer model has a magnetic base that makes it easy to attach to the underside of your hood if you ever need to do a late-night roadside repair. But the most important features are the safety seatbelt cutter and a glass breaker built into its sides. These might prove to be essential escape tools if you ever find yourself trapped in your vehicle after a collision.

This one has a 4.5 out of 5-star rating on Amazon with over 150 reviews. Customers regularly praise it for its straightforward design and it’s dedicated emergency tools. It’s well-regarded in terms of build quality, brightness, and portability. Most of the negative reviews appear to be from people who don’t like that it uses an outdated micro-USB charger. There didn’t appear to be any pro reviews at the time of this writing, but users generally seem to like it. The $18.77 price point makes it an easy win.

Extra features are nice, but sometimes you just want something that’s powerful, reliable, and borderline indestructible. That’s when you turn to the Fenix PD36R Pro. This is a bit pricier than most of the other’s on this list, retailing for $171.36, but that price is a direct reflection of the flashlight’s quality. This is one of the more premium tactical lights on the market.

This flashlight is powered by a USB-chargeable 5,000Ah lithium-ion battery and is able to generate a whopping 2,800 lumens of brightness on Turbo mode that it can throw up to roughly 400 meters. It also has a High mode that is 1,000 lumens, a Medium mode that’s 350 lumens, a Low mode that’s 150 lumens, a 30-lumen Eco mode, and a strobe mode for emergencies. It’s IP68 waterproof down to 6 ½-feet for 30 minutes and impact-resistant for drops up to 5 feet.

The Fenix PD36R Pro only had seven reviews on Amazon as of this writing, but all of them have been 5-stars. That said, it has 4.8 stars on the Fenix website, where it has received over 800 reviews. Sean McCoy of GearJunkie gave it a 9.6 out of 10 in his review and called it his favorite flashlight yet, arguing that despite its high price and lack of frills, it is a rock solid tool that will serve the vast majority of users well. Koen van der Jagt of Knives and Tools had a similar appreciation for the light. “The overall quality, the improved user interface and the powerful and wide beam are the strong points of this flashlight,” he said. “You can illuminate a large area (far and wide), with a compact flashlight that fits in the palm of your hand.”

A lot of these little pocket lights aren’t ideal for situations in which you need two hands to work on something like changing a tire on the side of the road. Then again, most people probably don’t want to store a massive work light in their car either. One of the better solutions out there for situations like this is the Klein Tools 56412 Rechargeable LED Flashlight because it comes with a built in floodlight.

This USB-C rechargeable flashlight has an FL1 Standard light at the tip with a 315-lumen Low mode that runs up to 10 hours and a 500-lumen High that runs up to 7 hours. It has a magnetic end cap that can stick to the underside of the hood and a glow ring tip that can help you find it in the dark. The floodlight is the real standout feature, though. This has three modes: a 35-Lumen Eco mode that lasts 30 hours, a 235-lumen Medium mode that lasts 11 hours, and a 375-lumen High that lasts 10 hours. The flashlight casts a wide flood of light that is fantastic for patching a flat, changing a tire, or any other small roadside repairs you might have to make. It’s also IP66 dustproof and water-resistant, while also being rated to survive falls up to 6 feet.

Over 700 Amazon reviewers have rated this one 4.6 out of 5 stars. People generally like the brightness, the value of the $43.01 price point, and the general utility, though there are understandably some mixed reviews in regard to the battery life. Kenny Koehler of Pro Tool Reviews gave the Klein Tools 56412 flashlight 8.5 out of 10 stars in his review. He had great things to say about the overall build quality, work light, and magnetic base, but he did dock some points for its limited brightness and runtime.

Choosing the “best” flashlight you can keep in your car is highly subjective. There are a lot of different qualities that can make a flashlight ideal for this purpose. Some things are no-brainers, such as getting a light with a lithium-ion battery that is more resistant than other battery types to the fluctuations in temperature that might occur in a vehicle. That said, there are other elements that will be more desirable to some individuals than others. Deciding if you want a basic light that’s sturdy and reliable, a piece of safety equipment, or a tool for roadside repair will dramatically impact the kind of light you’re looking for.

In making this list, we looked at some of the more highly rated flashlights available from top brands. We looked at factors like durability, longevity of charge, extra safety features, and native charging solutions. We also aimed to choose a selection of different kinds of lights that would appeal to a broad spectrum of user’s needs. Once we had a few picked out, we broke down their specs and features to explain why they would be uniquely useful to keep in a car.

Then, we looked at their user reviews to get an idea of what people who already own the lights have to say about them, highlighting any negative comments that readers should know about before buying one. Finally, we looked at what professional reviewers had to say about them (when available) in order to verify that the lights were able to stand up to rigorous testing performed by experienced pros.