Your Least Used LED Light and Why...

[TheBelgian]

Maglite Solitaite LED: because I didn't know better when I bought it. It did start my torchaholism. Maglites are still elite torches in Belgium (the best you'll find in brick an mortar stores are Energizer junk). Still thinking of getting a MiniMAG incan, for old times sake. They were the object of serious envy when I was in Junior-High.
Fenix E01: Awesome torch, horrible tint, little use because serves as back-up to my EDC, so I still carry it at all times, just doesn't get turned on since I usually have other torches to do the job.

 

[CelticCross74]

Wow great responses folks! Ill add another to my least used and why list: Nitecore SRT7. Ive had this light since it first came out and used it daily for a long time until lights like the PD35 came along and blew the SRT7 out of the water. I saved for a long time to buy the SRT7 and was drooling with anticipation of its release only to be seriously let down by its lack of output and near useless RGB LEDs it really broke my heart I actually believed Nitecores overrate and overstate marketing schtick. Once I acquired the 2014 TK22 and the Eagletac G25C2 MkII the SRT7 got kicked onto the shelf on which it has stayed for a long time now....I seriously wish Nitecore would update their SRT line to at least have the output that they claim....

 

[DellSuperman]

I have 1 shelf queen that I can't bear to bring out to use with fear of losing or damaing.
Its a Vinh modded V10R with my name laser engraved & body modified by Barry....
Other than that, it would be my Solarforce K3; too bulky & long. Haha.

 

[more_vampires]

I have 1 shelf queen that I can't bear to bring out to use with fear of losing or damaing.
Its a Vinh modded V10R with my name laser engraved & body modified by Barry....
Other than that, it would be my Solarforce K3; too bulky & long. Haha.

I have two shiny Vinh in EDC rotation, LD50 "Loaded" Fiat Lux engraved and E05SSvn. What the point of a kick ace light if you don't have it handy to blast some darkness? I love EDCing some Vinh. It's like my opposite of "least used." I white wall that E05SSvn 3-15 times a day for kicks. Still makes me smile.

 

[Desdinova]

Jetbeam BA10. Within days of receiving it, the pocket clip broke! The metal kind of reminded me of an ink pen pocket clip. I couldn't get a replacement from the seller (authorized Jetbeam distributor) and it just soured me on the light and Jetbeam in general (sorry Jetbeam). Straight back into the box it went and there it remains to this day.

 

[tphill]

I just received an E1L Outdoorsman today. This light is basically everything I didn't want in a pocket light. It's low is too high, it's high is too low, it has memory, and it's too big. I tried it for about 5 minutes, comparing it to my MDC, then pulled the battery out, put it in a box and in a cabinet where it will stay. At least now I know.

 

[f22shift]

anything that takes 3x18650. i always hesitate because of the size or weight. i never needed the output or throw of these lights.
a dedomed xml in a p60 host at 3a i find was all i really needed. i can't see any farther than that flashlight with my natural eye(20/20 vision).

in the headlamp category, i use my sd6(18650) the least. i've spoiled by their smaller sg3(r123) which is much more lighter in weight and can still do high output if i needed and it's plenty efficient in the lower modes.

i have no shelf queens.
i actually i use my modded v10r quite often because of the low low. i figure i can polish it out later if i wanted to. the beauty of titanium.

 

[cland72]

I just received an E1L Outdoorsman today. This light is basically everything I didn't want in a pocket light. It's low is too high, it's high is too low, it has memory, and it's too big. I tried it for about 5 minutes, comparing it to my MDC, then pulled the battery out, put it in a box and in a cabinet where it will stay. At least now I know.

Uh, it doesn't have memory. After approx two seconds it reverts back to starting in low mode first.

 

[Wellgate]

A Lenser V2. It was kinda cool when I got it, but has a very narrow beam soas to make it unusable, with plenty of nasty artefacts. Discontinued now I think. Oh and every maglite I own is now redundant.

 

[Burgess]

Great thread here !


Perhaps my Streamlight ProPolymer 4AA Luxeon (yellow).

This was my VERY FIRST " power LED " flashlight !

Received it March 31, 2006, from Bright Guy.

Could not BELIEVE how Incredibly BRIGHT this was ! ! !
and a GREAT thrower, too !


Alas . . . . .
It is simply TOO bright for My tastes, used Indoors !

and Outdoors, I seldom want to attract THAT much " attention ".



It really needs / needed a multi-mode control.
:sigh:

Now there are more Pocket-able flashlights available.

But my Streamlight will Always have a soft spot in my heart !

 

[a1mu1e]

Minimag 2xAA. And some infrared P60 that I still don't know why I bought.

 

[lunas]

incan 2 c maglight i got about 15 years ago i ran into a led kit by maglight for the 4-6 cell version i dropped that in and it was decent with just 2 c batteries so that is the way it sits now i was thinking about how to best go about powering it better but i dont use it enough and even if i did i have smaller lights that have much higher outputs.

 

[Rawk]

Nitecore D20 R2 on the shelf, but it was my first flashlight, still love it. Got a Nitecore D10 Tribute months later, that I still use almost every day around the house. <3
Thrunite Ti in a showcase, since I got the Ti2 for my keys.
I think that's it !

Had a Thrunite Neutron 2A on the shelf, barely used because of its greenish tint, sold it to a friend for her bicycle.
Had a Nitecore D11.2 for a few days, then sold it to a friend who didn't have any good flashlights. It just couldn't compete with the D10 Tribute UI and tint.

 

[Fireclaw18]

Letsee...other lights that I rarely use:

Sunwayman C20C modded with MTG2. I modded this one myself. Uses a 3 amp Nanjg 105c with zener diode mode and DrJones Lumodrv firmware. Great light, nice tint, beautiful very floody beam. Incredibly small for an MTG2 light. Runs on 2x IMR 18350 cells. Main reason I don't use it is running two lithium ion cells in series makes me very nervous due to the risk of battery explosion. And it doesn't seem necessary given how a small triple XPL can give higher output in the same size light while running on a much safer single cell.

Zebralight SC52. Great light when it came out, but I've since come to appreciate neutral tints. The ugly greenish tint of my first generation SC52 just doesn't cut it. My newer zebralights have better tint. This one was my EDC for about a year though.

Zebralight SC600. First generation 750 lumen XML model. Works great and barely used. Even when new it never got much use because it's just a bit too big for comfortable EDC pocket carry. Nowadays I have lights that are smaller with vastly more output and have better tint. I don't expect I'll use this one again.

Convoy M1 modded with MTG2. Came pre-modded by Richard at Mountain Electronics. 6-amp 3-mode driver. Works great.... it's just bigger than I need. This is my biggest and heaviest LED light. Runs on 2x IMR 18350. Another reason I dislike this light is the 2 cells in series. Same as my C20C.

Jetbeam TCR01 (early version). Fantastic titanium EDC light. Biggest problem was the ringy beam from the smooth reflector and cool white emitter. I did an emitter swap to XML2 T6 3C a year or two ago, but the beam was still ringy and ugly. Up until a couple months ago this light would have been on the list, but in December I replaced the emitters with a triple Nichia 219B and Carclo 10507 optic. This light is now just gorgeous and I do find myself actually using it.

 

[recDNA]

Letsee...other lights that I rarely use:

Sunwayman C20C modded with MTG2. I modded this one myself. Uses a 3 amp Nanjg 105c with zener diode mode and DrJones Lumodrv firmware. Great light, nice tint, beautiful very floody beam. Incredibly small for an MTG2 light. Runs on 2x IMR 18350 cells. Main reason I don't use it is running two lithium ion cells in series makes me very nervous due to the risk of battery explosion. And it doesn't seem necessary given how a small triple XPL can give higher output in the same size light while running on a much safer single cell.

Zebralight SC52. Great light when it came out, but I've since come to appreciate neutral tints. The ugly greenish tint of my first generation SC52 just doesn't cut it. My newer zebralights have better tint. This one was my EDC for about a year though.

Zebralight SC600. First generation 750 lumen XML model. Works great and barely used. Even when new it never got much use because it's just a bit too big for comfortable EDC pocket carry. Nowadays I have lights that are smaller with vastly more output and have better tint. I don't expect I'll use this one again.

Convoy M1 modded with MTG2. Came pre-modded by Richard at Mountain Electronics. 6-amp 3-mode driver. Works great.... it's just bigger than I need. This is my biggest and heaviest LED light. Runs on 2x IMR 18350. Another reason I dislike this light is the 2 cells in series. Same as my C20C.

Jetbeam TCR01 (early version). Fantastic titanium EDC light. Biggest problem was the ringy beam from the smooth reflector and cool white emitter. I did an emitter swap to XML2 T6 3C a year or two ago, but the beam was still ringy and ugly. Up until a couple months ago this light would have been on the list, but in December I replaced the emitters with a triple Nichia 219B and Carclo 10507 optic. This light is now just gorgeous and I do find myself actually using it.

You're a talented guy. I asked Vinh to do that with an rrt-0 and he would not try. Any trouble getting it to fit?

 

[sarge1967]

My Thrunite TN12. I just rides in a sheath on my EDC pack. I use my Fenix LD09 that rides on my belt much more. Though it will be replaced when my Zebralight sc52w I just ordered gets here. I do use the TN12 in the event I need more throw but that is not real often.

 

[credo]

My years old Maglite 2D LED, what I thought was a great torch until I literally 'saw the light' and bought proper stuff. It sits on the windowsill at the top of the stairs, so still handy in an emergency and a pretty hefty item to clobber an intruder with. I wouldn't use my TK75 for that!

 

[EvilLithiumMan]

Least used: download's Titanium Pocket Rocket, 6th run with SST-50.

Reason: I've misplaced it. Haven't seen it for over a year. I'm certain it's around somewhere. Perhaps this thread will inspire me to another effort to locate it

 

[Fireclaw18]

You're a talented guy. I asked Vinh to do that with an rrt-0 and he would not try. Any trouble getting it to fit?

Sunwayman C20C MTG2 mod: Took a bit of work. The star fit easily. The reflector needed a small bit of work with a handfile. Ultimately I ended up swapping out the smooth reflector and replacing it with an OP one for a better beam profile. The largest amount of work here was on the driver. The DrJones drivers I had were Nanjg 105c with custom firmware. I performed the zener diode mod using the kit from Mountain Electronics. The driver was 17mm but the space for it was 20mm. I didn't have any contact plates at the time so built my own with some sheet plastic and copper solder braid. The 17mm driver is mounted in the center with a Radio Shack tact switch right about. It works, but a genuine contact plate would work better. I have some, but haven't gotten around to remounting the driver yet. Amount of time estimated to do this mod: 6-8 hours.

Jetbeam TCR01 mod: Modding this to work with a triple was actually quite easy. Entire job only took maybe 3 hours. I used a triple Nichia 219B on a 20mm direct copper Noctigon triple star. The star was just slighly too big. It needed to be around 18mm, so I had to file the edges off with a handfile. Like the C20C, the TCR01 had a ledge halfway up the reflector compartment at just the right height for a triple. Sit the filed down triple on this ledge, insert the optic and screw on the bezel and you're (almost) done.

The stock driver wires were too short to use with the raised star. unfortunately, they're virtually impossible to replace due to their positioning inside the 2 piece driver board. I soldered additional pieces of wire onto the ends of the driver wires to lengthen them.

I also solder braided the tailcap spring (with 22 gauge wire instead of braid). Standard step to reduce resistance.

One step I didn't take with the TCR01 would be to make a slug to fill the space below the star. I've done this in previous lights by cutting copper sheet into disks then soldering them together into a slug. Properly fitted and drilled this provides additional heatsinking below the star and can help the light run at higher output longer. I decided not to do this mod with the TCR01, because of the extra time it would take, extra weight it would add, and because the light isn't really that high wattage anyways so heat isn't a big issue.

 

[more_vampires]

Yeesh! FC18, I turned out the center of a copper washer on a lathe. I'm not going to lie, broke a lathe cutting bit catching it on the first washer. It's an expensive oops. Got the adapater washer right second try. Got a drill press. No sweat.

Boring out the center of a copper washer on a drill press isn't that great either. Even with a nice vise, you get a lot of wobbling. For some reason I could do it on a lathe and not a drill press.

This was hooking some driver up to overdrive some weirder china noname host. Turned out the LED needed swapping out as well because it was (no surprise) wickedly misreported. The rest of the host and system were fine.

Just had to cut an adapter and chose copper. 6-8 hours sounds much like heartbreak. I respect your tenacity, Fireclaw18! I really do. I current boosted to ~3.0 amps by driver swap an LED that died by heat. Next is to swap the star out.

Hack it 'till it hurts, baby! :laughing: