Prepare Better: Car Flashlights For Inside or Outside of Your Vehicle

Having a flashlight in the car—along with a blanket, a jump kit and some water—is a basic safety essential, which many of us haven’t prepared for. Whether you need to see what’s going on under the hood, change a tire or let other cars on the road know that you need help, a good flashlight could be a literal lifesaver.

Modern LED flashlights often tout their lumen counts, some veering into the thousands. This isn’t really necessary for a flashlight designed for your car, since nothing you’ll be doing with it requires an insane level of brightness. In fact, you may not want to harm your night vision or blind other drivers with a super-powered flashlight.

Because a car flashlight is usually used in the outdoors, you’ll want one that’s quite sturdy and can hold up against adverse weather. Opt for one that’s waterproof, so you don’t have to worry about it in the rain, and also look for one that’s rated to withstand drops. The last thing you want is for your light to conk out just when you need it.

Rechargeable flashlights are more popular than ever, thanks to the availability and power of built-in batteries. There are some advantages to these, for sure: you don’t have to have separate AA or AAA batteries and we all have plenty of USB chargers lying around. But before you go on any road trip, make sure these types of lights are fully charged—if your car’s dead, you may have no way to charge it up. You may also want to carry a USB battery pack, like the kind you use for your phone, with you just in case.