My first LED flashlight

[wjv]

Do you still have you first real LED light?

I bought this one ~20 years ago. (maybe even more!)

I don't even remember the brand, (maybe a TEKNA?). But I remember it was well over $40 at the time and the manufacturer claimed that it was waterproof to a significant depth.

Even though the throw was measured in single digits, it still was superior to any of the small hand-held AA penlights of the day. And the idea that you could get maybe 6 or so hours out of a single set of batteries was amazing at the time!!!





Dual headlights!



4 feet from the wall



Compared to my iTP C8 set on 6 lumen



All the pieces



The "high tech" part



Don't need no voltage regulation!!!

[ZMZ67]

Yes...the first one I bought was a CMG Infinity with a red led.I even have the box for it still! IIRC it was ~$20 and I thought it was expensive at the time.Don't remember when I bought it but it was before I found CPF.....10 years ago maybe? I don't really know It took me awhile to decide on the purchase as there was no way to replace the LED and I feared it would fail leaving me with an "expensive" useless metal tube .I have at least a half dozen CMG Infinity/Infinity Ultras now.Really wish I could remember when I bought that red one!

[hypostatic]

Looks cool! I'm trying to decide which will be my first!

[bushmattster]

My first LED was a Brinkman 2x123. Walmart for $20 I think. 40 or 50 lumens maybe? Happy when I purchsed it but realized it drained batteries quickly. Found Fenix after that, definite improvement, never had a problem with any of them, but I just bought a McGizmo and I'm sticking with the higher end lights from now on.

[inspirit]

Cant remember my first LED Flashlight.

[ragweed]

My first led was a Fenix E01. I still use it after all these years & is totally reliable.

[AnAppleSnail]

Don't need no voltage regulation!!![/SIZE]

We don't need no regulation...
We don't need no volt control...
No extra circuits in the flashlight...
Modders leave them joules alone.
Hey! Modders! Leave them joules alone!
All in all it's just another chip in the pill.
All in all you're just another chip in the pill.

That's a neat, simple light. These days 2xAA will run about like that with white LEDs.

[JohnnyBravo]

Mine was from Costco circa 2003/2004. A Coast/LED Lenser 3AAA; I think it was called a V2. And maybe 90 lumens and 50 hrs runtime - from a single led. I ended up returning it for full credit around 2010/11 and got something else there. I should've kept it; would've been nice to have a little collector's item and my first LED. Sigh, buyer's, I mean, returner's remorse...

[HighlanderNorth]

I never bothered to buy any early ones back in the late 90's, because I was always under this incorrect assumption that LED's were incredibly weak, and only useful as little indicator lights built into other devices to let you know when the power is on... I had seen those little LED beacons on devices, and figured that there was no way an LED was going to bright enough to be useful in a flashlight, and I didnt even pay attention to them. That and I dont really remember seeing LED lights for sale back in the early - mid 90's anyway.

[Gunner12]

Still got my first one, or at least the body of it. It was an EastwardYJ U2, one of the first budget Cree lights that I know of.

Before that, I had Minimag.

We don't need no regulation...
We don't need no volt control...
No extra circuits in the flashlight...
Modders leave them joules alone.
Hey! Modders! Leave them joules alone!
All in all it's just another chip in the pill.
All in all you're just another chip in the pill.

That's a neat, simple light. These days 2xAA will run about like that with white LEDs.

Awesome lyrics!

[HotWire]

I had one of those. I modded it by adding LEDs. Eventually the plastic head broke and I threw it away. Nice, primitive twisty! After that I bought an LED flashlight with optics. The salesman told me "It's almost as bright as a real flashlight." I still have that one somewhere around here.

[Federal LG]

My first LED light was a "Civictor". It had something around 35 lumens of output, single mode.

I bought from 4Sevens, when he just started his e-shop. It was around 2004.

[Cavannus]

As far as I remember, my first led light was a Petzl Tikka (the first version) bought around 2001.
My first non-5mm led was the Ledcorp's Epeion bulb for Maglite, featuring a greenish Luxeon I on a nice golden brass body.

Unfortunately I lost both of them.

[staghater]

My first was Fenix l2p v2.0 and i use it and i carry it sometimes.
45 lumens are enough for my needs

[mikekoz]

Double post

[mikekoz]

Mine was from Costco circa 2003/2004. A Coast/LED Lenser 3AAA; I think it was called a V2. And maybe 90 lumens and 50 hrs runtime - from a single led. I ended up returning it for full credit around 2010/11 and got something else there. I should've kept it; would've been nice to have a little collector's item and my first LED. Sigh, buyer's, I mean, returner's remorse...

You returned something to Costco 7 years after you bought it, and they took it back!!!??? I need to get a membership!!! And by the way, I have no clue what my first LED light was. I still have most of my old lights in a box, but do not remember where or when I got most of them.

[JohnnyBravo]

They sure did. That's why I spend $5000-$6000 a yr on stuff there; mostly food. They don't have a specified return period on nearly everything they sell. I believe just TVs, computers, and digital cameras have a 90 day return. But I did buy one of those Coast V2s for my brother. Hmm, if he still has it, I should see if he'll let me have or buy it off him??? ...

You returned something to Costco 7 years after you bought it, and they took it back!!!??? I need to get a membership!!! And by the way, I have no clue what my first LED light was. I still have most of my old lights in a box, but do not remember where or when I got most of them.

[Tyler_Hu]

it still works after 20years!

[holy_light]

Really amazing. 20years.

My grandpa had one,working for 10 years.

[may90]

my first light is ultrafire c2 cree Q5 .Very bright hot spot with copious bright usable spill. Awesome throw, completely blows my $100 rechargeable maglite out of the water in a much smaller, lighter package. Nice even matte black finish. Clean threads, lubed o-rings, clean glass and reflector. Takes sku's 6979 and 5790 without loss of brightness, but 6979 may flicker a little if shaken due to recessed + node.