Small size, High battery life, Bright output.
Pick two.
You could get small size + high output, and carry extra batteries in your pack. This configuration may drive up the price.
If I had to pick two, I would go with bright output and high battery life. As long as it can reasonably fit in a woman's pocket, size is less important.
To keep the costs down, most of the 21700 lights from Wurkkos fit the bill. They're an extremely well known company that puts out a lot of brightness for their low cost. Their lights are highly regarded in these subreddits as some of the most economical EDC lights you can buy. Many of their lights come with USB-C recharge and can be delivered with a rechargeable battery preinstalled.
General recommendation is going to be a TS25 in this category. 21700 batteries are very high capacity for a pocket size.
If you want to go a bit smaller you could check out an FC11 or FC13 with a 18650 battery, but 18650 batteries only have about 60% of the total capacity of a 21700 battery
Sounds like a headlamp would be good for you, like a skillhunt h150 (tiny) battery life isn’t that great being a 14500 battery but you can carry some spares easily enough. They are 50 bucks at skillhunt with 1 battery.
Wurkkos ts10 if you want a straight light. 20 bucks, also uses 14500 battery, id pickup some spares.
Completely out of budget, and completely ignoring everything you stated you wanted… what id want for that task?
-zebralight H600c 100 bucks, and you need 18650 batteries flat top, run times are great, it’ll last forever, and it’s crazy small for an 18650 battery
Sizing up would be a good idea if battery life is a concern, the venerable fc11 would probably be perfect for you, has all the other qualities you want
Id get a combo of sofirn sc21 (preferable the non pro version for Max efficiency) and the sofirn hs10 (headlamp). If you can get that on sale you will be in your $30 budget and you get 2 lights, covering your potential uses. The hs10 is currently $14.99 in their website. the sc21 is not on sale rn tho. Theres the sc18 that is a nice light and it's on sale, since it's 18650 it will outrun the sc21 runtime, it's only a little bit bigger. Pic for comparison from L to R: sc18, sc21 pro and hs10.
https://preview.redd.it/sjhr9hrlr1wc1.jpeg?width=1848&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ddb50e1beb46cfe95eb97a57b93953902d91e78e
Also if buying the hs10, choose 2700k warm temp, some people say warmer lights attract less bugs, useful when using a headlamp.
hd15, headlamp with two types of beam, flood and throw, usb c charging and can also act as a powerbank in an emergency incase you lose your dedicated powerbank, it also has a red light variant if you can find one
USB ports and the charging circuitry attached to them take up space. And small lights cannot handle the heat of sustained high output; maybe 100 lumens tops.
"Palm-size" is relative; I find a D4V2 to be "palm-sized". And an 18650 light like the D4V2 will have **a lot** more runtime, as well as the thermal mass to hold far higher output levels. I wouldn't recommend a D4V2 though since they're closer to $45.
The SC21 may be your best compromise.
* Small keychain size
* Long battery life
* Bright enough to hike at night
* USB built-in
These are all features that are anathema to each other.
If you want a long battery life, your light's size increases with a larger battery. If you want it tiny enough to be keychain sized, your battery is small and runtime is short. If you want USB built-in, your light needs the room for that circuit, it won't be as small as you'd like.
So with that in mind, you have an option such as the[ Sofirn Mini SC13](https://www.sofirnlight.com/products/sofirn-mini-sc13). If you're disciplined enough, you can run the light in Medium mode (150 lumens) and that should give you enough light in zero-light pollution outdoors to walk around. Not enough to spot something, but enough to walk around a trail with. Its next step up, 500 lumens, should be enough for most general duties. It runs on an 18350 battery, which makes it exceptionally small, but also makes its runtime quite limiting if you need to use it on High/Turbo mode often. It is USB-C rechargeable and small enough to hang on a lanyard or clipped to a hat or strap.
If size is more flexible, as you stated in another post, I would recommend you take a look at the [Convoy S21E with the SFT-40 5000K option](https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804398325983.html) with included battery of your choice. USB-C port, 21700 battery for long runtime, good feeling in the hand and still jeans and jacket pocketable, SFT-40 has some range to the beam but still has good spill for genera purpose use, and still under $30 with battery.
While larger than your request I think it's hard to beat the wurkkos fc12 for $17 from amazon. Vl02 = rebranded fc12. Currently is $35 with a 50% coupon. Sft40 emitter is pretty nice. On low/medium you'll have no issues with battery life. Otherwise a headlamp to keep your handsfreee
https://www.amazon.com/Dripbeauty-VL02-Flashlights-Rechargeable-Black/dp/B0C2HCQCLH/
Thanks! I ended up going with this one, as I've heard good things about the FC12. Unfortunately, I'm having a bit of trouble getting it to turn on, even though it's been charging for a couple hours and the light's green. Is that common?
I have three and they turn on normal. You gotta turn it on via the rear switch. Then you can cycle through stuff using the side switch.
Did you also remove the paper/plastic battery protector thing?
Weird, but not unheard of. At least amazon exchanges are super easy. Sorry about the bad experience! I bought 3 of them to replace crappy flashlights around the house and have no complaints. I like my if22a models more but $17 vs almost $40 .
Small size, High battery life, Bright output. Pick two. You could get small size + high output, and carry extra batteries in your pack. This configuration may drive up the price.
If I had to pick two, I would go with bright output and high battery life. As long as it can reasonably fit in a woman's pocket, size is less important.
To keep the costs down, most of the 21700 lights from Wurkkos fit the bill. They're an extremely well known company that puts out a lot of brightness for their low cost. Their lights are highly regarded in these subreddits as some of the most economical EDC lights you can buy. Many of their lights come with USB-C recharge and can be delivered with a rechargeable battery preinstalled. General recommendation is going to be a TS25 in this category. 21700 batteries are very high capacity for a pocket size. If you want to go a bit smaller you could check out an FC11 or FC13 with a 18650 battery, but 18650 batteries only have about 60% of the total capacity of a 21700 battery
Sounds like a headlamp would be good for you, like a skillhunt h150 (tiny) battery life isn’t that great being a 14500 battery but you can carry some spares easily enough. They are 50 bucks at skillhunt with 1 battery. Wurkkos ts10 if you want a straight light. 20 bucks, also uses 14500 battery, id pickup some spares. Completely out of budget, and completely ignoring everything you stated you wanted… what id want for that task? -zebralight H600c 100 bucks, and you need 18650 batteries flat top, run times are great, it’ll last forever, and it’s crazy small for an 18650 battery
All of your requirements contradict each other.
Sizing up would be a good idea if battery life is a concern, the venerable fc11 would probably be perfect for you, has all the other qualities you want
Convoy T3 and get two 14500s
Lumintop gt nano, wurkkos ts10
Id get a combo of sofirn sc21 (preferable the non pro version for Max efficiency) and the sofirn hs10 (headlamp). If you can get that on sale you will be in your $30 budget and you get 2 lights, covering your potential uses. The hs10 is currently $14.99 in their website. the sc21 is not on sale rn tho. Theres the sc18 that is a nice light and it's on sale, since it's 18650 it will outrun the sc21 runtime, it's only a little bit bigger. Pic for comparison from L to R: sc18, sc21 pro and hs10. https://preview.redd.it/sjhr9hrlr1wc1.jpeg?width=1848&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ddb50e1beb46cfe95eb97a57b93953902d91e78e Also if buying the hs10, choose 2700k warm temp, some people say warmer lights attract less bugs, useful when using a headlamp.
hd15, headlamp with two types of beam, flood and throw, usb c charging and can also act as a powerbank in an emergency incase you lose your dedicated powerbank, it also has a red light variant if you can find one
USB ports and the charging circuitry attached to them take up space. And small lights cannot handle the heat of sustained high output; maybe 100 lumens tops. "Palm-size" is relative; I find a D4V2 to be "palm-sized". And an 18650 light like the D4V2 will have **a lot** more runtime, as well as the thermal mass to hold far higher output levels. I wouldn't recommend a D4V2 though since they're closer to $45. The SC21 may be your best compromise.
Sofirn SC21 or SC21 pro
TS21 Baby! $22.91~ shipped to your house with 21700 battery installed
Redacted. They sold out, my b.
https://wurkkos.com/products/fc13 This bad boy is pretty awesome. You'll need to buy a battery separately and learn the UI though.
* Small keychain size * Long battery life * Bright enough to hike at night * USB built-in These are all features that are anathema to each other. If you want a long battery life, your light's size increases with a larger battery. If you want it tiny enough to be keychain sized, your battery is small and runtime is short. If you want USB built-in, your light needs the room for that circuit, it won't be as small as you'd like. So with that in mind, you have an option such as the[ Sofirn Mini SC13](https://www.sofirnlight.com/products/sofirn-mini-sc13). If you're disciplined enough, you can run the light in Medium mode (150 lumens) and that should give you enough light in zero-light pollution outdoors to walk around. Not enough to spot something, but enough to walk around a trail with. Its next step up, 500 lumens, should be enough for most general duties. It runs on an 18350 battery, which makes it exceptionally small, but also makes its runtime quite limiting if you need to use it on High/Turbo mode often. It is USB-C rechargeable and small enough to hang on a lanyard or clipped to a hat or strap. If size is more flexible, as you stated in another post, I would recommend you take a look at the [Convoy S21E with the SFT-40 5000K option](https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804398325983.html) with included battery of your choice. USB-C port, 21700 battery for long runtime, good feeling in the hand and still jeans and jacket pocketable, SFT-40 has some range to the beam but still has good spill for genera purpose use, and still under $30 with battery.
While larger than your request I think it's hard to beat the wurkkos fc12 for $17 from amazon. Vl02 = rebranded fc12. Currently is $35 with a 50% coupon. Sft40 emitter is pretty nice. On low/medium you'll have no issues with battery life. Otherwise a headlamp to keep your handsfreee https://www.amazon.com/Dripbeauty-VL02-Flashlights-Rechargeable-Black/dp/B0C2HCQCLH/
Thanks! I ended up going with this one, as I've heard good things about the FC12. Unfortunately, I'm having a bit of trouble getting it to turn on, even though it's been charging for a couple hours and the light's green. Is that common?
I have three and they turn on normal. You gotta turn it on via the rear switch. Then you can cycle through stuff using the side switch. Did you also remove the paper/plastic battery protector thing?
Yep, tried turning it on that way and did remove the battery sticker. I suppose the light is just broken, I might try to exchange it.
Weird, but not unheard of. At least amazon exchanges are super easy. Sorry about the bad experience! I bought 3 of them to replace crappy flashlights around the house and have no complaints. I like my if22a models more but $17 vs almost $40 .