The defining moment....

Its been a long while since iv posted much of anything until tonight so figured id start this thread and see what ur defining moment was. Im referring to the moment when u stopped thinking maglite was the best light brand and realized that dropping 100 bucks for a light wasnt a waste of money. The moment when u realized what a joy lights can bring and what a great hobby it can be.

For me it would have to be my first surefire purchase. My brother had bought a G2 and i really liked it. I decided it was time i spent a little money on a nice light. iv always researched these types of purchases so naturally i had to research my first good quality light. He introduced me too cpf and i began researching. It wasnt long until i discovered there was much more to lights than meets the eye. I finally decided on a E1L and after i finally got it that was it. My eyes were forever opened to good quality lights. Id say it was the whole process of researching and finding exactly what i was looking for. I certainly spent a lot of time figuring out what i wanted. Iv never gone back since. What about u?

A kama'aina as well as a fellow CPF members showed me, a total stranger, his Nitecore Defender Infinity in front of the flashlights section in Iwilei Home Depot.

I still don't know who that gentleman is nor his CPF handle, but right after he told me to look up CandlePower Forums, the rest has been very "enLIGHTening".

By the way, I still have not bought the NDI, but I was really surprised but impressed by what LED can do.

:twothumbs Two thumbs up to all those nice and friendly CPF members!

With Aloha,

Clarence

My thinking that Maglites weren't the best came gradually as better options became available. When I started backpacking when I was in 7th grade, the 2AA Minimag was one of the only options and had the most reliable switch. I soon realized that when the batteries were fresh, it had just enough light to be useful for hiking at night. The bulbs burned out in 10 hours so I could only use it for 20 hours total even with the spare in the tailcap. That wasn't good enough for longer trips. I got a 4AA Coleman 4 watt florescent compact lantern. I got 4 hours of way brighter light and the bulb lasted much longer, but it wasn't waterproof. I got a Princeton Tec 20 flashlight. It had one 30 hour bulb and was as waterproof as you can get. Unfortunetly, it melted to my hand when I had put on Jungle Juice bug repellent. Plastic melted, and I needed either a headlight that wouldn't be touched much or a metal or non-plastic flashlight. In 2000, LRI Photon flashlights came out, particularly the white ones. I got a white Photon II. Runtime was better than any other option, bulb life was unbelievable, and bug repellent didn't melt it. However, batteries couldn't be changed in the field without a screwdriver many times the weight of the light. One watt l.e.d.s came out and I got a PT Yukon HL. In 2006, the PT Quad came out and I got one. This was the first light I found to be sufficiently bright enough, light enough, waterproof enough, with long enough runtimes to be useful for backpacking. It lasted all night on medium to 50% brightness, giving 3 hours a night for a 4 night trip. I soon discovered lights like the Inova X5, and Fenix lights. Once I did the math on how efficient a Fenix L2D Q5 is compared to a 2AA Maglite or an EO1 compared to a Solitaire, I realized that a $60 light running on low could pay for itself within a battery change or two. I'm never going back to a stock bulb Minimag. I don't miss being left in the dark when a bulb burns out and having to wait in the dark for it to cool off before putting in a new one.

I had purchased a few Dorcy LED lights from my local store but knew there was more to be had.
I searched for reviews for the Surefire Flashlights, and all the reviews kept sending me to CPF.
I read and read and finally decided to drop some major coin on a nice light.

My defining Moment was after the first "Click" of the Z58 on a Surefire L5.

Needless to say, I've been hooked since and can't stop.
Oh well, better than a drug or alcohol addiction and cheaper than other hobbies.

For me, it was several years ago when I purchased an Arc LSL-P. I paid about $100 for it, and all the positive reviews convinced me to pull the trigger on it. I found it was well worth it. It's been all downhill since, purchasing many more expensive flashlights.

But for the record, I still like MagLites. Especially the new Rebel-equipped ones, and I'm looking forward to the multi-level MiniMags and their other new offerings.

Still pretty new to this, but I have always loved anything that
lights up. House is full of lamps and lights of all kinds.
I guess my interest started when I was out in the woods with my
brother one night and he had his HID spot.
That was the first time I had ever seen anything that small put out
so much light.

When I got my first GOOD flashlight, I took it with me on my evening
after dinner walk. I would normally take my Everready cheapo.
It took about 1 second after turning it on and totally freaking out at
not only the sheer amount of clean white light, but also the clean
perfection of the beam. When I got home, I compared my new flashlight
with my cheapos's. WOW!!!!! the difference was profound.

That was my defining moment.
Now, I believe you cant have too many flashlights

What kills me is, why havent I discovered them sooner?!

I'm not sure what my moment was.

For me Maglite has always been just another company. I knew about Surefire before I bought my first mag, a Minimag, through Popular Science so I knew there were better lights.

If I had to pick one, it would be receiving my first, and currently only Cree XR-E light.

Although I realized maglites and other cheapos weren't the best when I owned my incan Surefire G2, I did not encounter a defining moment until I clicked on my Dexlight X.1 and saw the power and versatility of a single light the fraction of a size of the G2, or a mag for that matter.

It all went down hill from there. So long full and happy wallet!

I came to the hobby in steps. After replacing one too many M*glite bulbs (and slowly learning that the spare bulb in the tailcap is not a 'nice-to-have' but a downright essential item) I got fed up and went to REI and bought a bunch of Nite-Ize upgrades. I wasn't crazy about the blue tint triple LED configuration but loved the idea of not replacing bulbs anymore. Fast forward a couple years later and I stumble across a Surefire 6P in Cabelas. I really needed a new bright light and I had heard good things about Surefires so I bought it. Wow, what a difference. Then I realized I was going back to replacing bulbs again and started researching LED upgrades (again). I bought a 6P LED upgrade by blind dumb luck off of GoldenGadgets. Sometime after I performed my first successful 6P LED upgrade I found a reference to CPF. I started lurking the forums and buying LED flashlights for the whole family

Now I am the proud owner of one of Don's (McGizmo) new Haikus!

After accumulating many mostly small incands. over the last thirty years, I think my defining moment was when I bought a Dorcy Cool Blue about ten years ago. Except for a big spotlight all my lights since have been LEDs. No more burnt bulbs and long battery life. I was hooked. Finding first the LED Museum, then CPF was icing on the cake.

Geoff

My defining moment was when I got my first McGizmo. I had some Fenix lights prior to that but when I first held it and used it I realized that the value I place on lights is just that. It's what I deem to be of value and it did not matter that others may think $200.00+ for a flashlight is crazy. I realized it is my hobby and if it makes me happy then who cares what anyone thinks.

My defining moment is when I chanced upon this site while looking for a EDC to replace my Maglite Solitaire. And it has been VERY defining since then :huh:
lovecpf