a Man of Few Lights

[bykfixer]

I find myself only using and carrying a few in regular rotation, but the shelves of cool and somewhat unique seem to have their own gravitational pull. It's tough to pull them off of there to sell rather than dust.

(To my credit, I've only purchased one flashlight so far this year. Which, for me, is unheard of...)

Dusting them off?
S'not hard. Not hard at all.

But I do like your light sales. I think half of my SureFires are ones you chose not to just dust off....

 

[scout24]

Lol. No more Surefires for sale, the ones I have left are keepers. After my "forced downsizing" last year, I've tried to be selective about what comes and goes. Sometimes a cool light I have no use for comes up for sale, and I can't pass on it. Or I'll convince myself I need 5th level redundancy of something I already have. I was terrible with SF C2 hosts for a while... 😁

 

[marinemaster]

SF C2 they were cheap and plenty-full back in the day. Ive seen crazy prices lately.....

 

[Hugh Johnson]

I also see value in low quantity and high quality.

I have a limited number if battery types and quantity. I buy lights that utilize what I already have. For example, I have 4x18650 for a BLF GT. However, runtime is so limited on those that by buying a BLF Q8 it actually helps me to manage their cycles. Buying more lights does not require any additional battery management.

Now, I'd only add 21700 because that will likely be the future and likely have as long a lifespan as anything.

This kind of misses the whole point, though. It's fun to try new stuff. And once you have the supporting gear you can buy special or unique lights for very little money.

 

[Random Dan]

I was thinking today that even if I could only keep these lights, I don't think I'd ever feel like I don't have the right tool for the job. Does this mean I'm going to sell all the rest? Haha no. But I could! Any time I want. Really.

Seriously though, I probably will be selling a bunch of stuff soon that has become redundant.

Zebralight H600Fc III - XM-L2 Easywhite 4000K
Zebralight SC64w HI - XHP-35 HI 4500K
Lumintop Tool AAA - Nichia 219B 4000K
Malkoff MDC Li-Ion - XP-G2 4000K
HDS Rotary - Nichia 219B 4000K
Emisar D1 - XP-L HI 5D 4000K
Oveready BOSS 70 - Nichia 219C 4000K
Malkoff MD2 M61NL - XP-G2 4000K

 

[likethevegetable]

My girlfriend and I try to be minimalists and avoid excess clutter and redundant items in our lives. Camping gear, especially flashlights, in particular, is the area where I struggle, whereas I think hers is groceries and clothes.

I'm always trying to optimize my collection and ask myself: if I had to pack up and leave in a moment's notice, which one, maybe two would I take? It would easily be the H600Fc IV. Then I would take my SC600w IV Plus for the power. BUT I also have an SC64w HI on the way... and now I'm asking myself if I really love the tint will it compel me to use it over the Plus and make it feel redundant, even though the thermal management will be far better and make for the perfect bike light. And then I also have my H53c for its awesome portability, a size that I actually can carry every day, is great for travel and, but it is just a weaker version of my H600Fc...

Part of me only wants to keep two lights and I sometimes feel overwhelmed with having too many choices, but damn it's nice having the right tool for the job. And I have ONLY less than 10 lights total...

 

[Crazyeddiethefirst]

Likethevegetable, I am the opposite...my collection has reached over 400 lights & at least 1100 batteries. Yes I have a bugout bag. But I also have a wooden tool chest with my best lights, and multiple cigar boxes with groups of lights...in case of TEOTWAWKI, I can actually have 2/3's of my lights/batteries/chargers/power banks and solar chargers loaded in under two minutes. My rationale is that in a try crisis these items will have high barter value for those who were not prepared. In case life as we know it goes on...I have all the original boxes, o rings and accessories and am working on a price list that will be updated yearly so my sons can keep the lights they want and generate some additional cash flow by selling the rest here on CPF(I suggested naming the thread "Mother of all sales"-keep your eyes open, could happen soon.....

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

Most of mine have a designated purpose.

Surefire G3/Malkoff M61LL - Kitchen drawer
Streamilight Stinger HPL - Hangs in wall charger by back door/regular nightly use
Malkoff MD2 - Vehicle
Surefire G2X - Wife vehicle
Surefire Titan Plus - EDC
Surefire Sidekick - x2 Me & wife keychains
Malkoff MDC HA AA - Office desk and travel.
Surefire XC1 - Weapon light

As it turned out my most expensive light, Surefire P3X, hasn't found a home/use.

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

Today, the story has changed so much. While there's so much choice, there's also so many great options, lights powerful and efficient enough that you don't need to get caught up in the tech progression.

This is much the way I see.

Flashlight tech progression reminds me of desktop computers. By the time ya got the thing home and plugged in it was outdated with more powerful and useful computers. That finally leveled off. I think the same with flashlights for most folks.

 

[likethevegetable]

I agree, especially for compact lights. I believe LEDs are fairly close to their theoretical efficacy limit, and thermal regulation will invariably be the constraint on how much light we can output. I think the major advancements we will see is in batteries (praying for better cold weather performance), and the emergence of diffused laser diodes (LD). LDs are much more efficacious than LEDs at high outputs, but less at low outputs.

Other than that, you could add accelerometers, LED displays, compass, and all that other fancy stuff to a flashlight, but us enthusiasts will probably not warm up to that if it means a compromise in performance.