Do you go through different phases of being a flashaholic?

I know i do for a couple of months every so often i get a little obsessive & want to buy & spend on mods with every bit of spare cash i can manage to save,then i'll go 8/9 months & not think about a purchase happy with what i have.Well i'm in the middle of one of my spending phases & i've bought 2 new lights & i'm not finished yet.So i'm in my obsessive phase right now i'll be back to my normal phase with one mod & another new light i think anyways.I hope so because christmas will be soon upon us.

Yes I have phases in my purchasing. Mine seem to stem from a jump in technology, as my lights get outdated I buy more. The first update was the neutral white LED's replacing the cool blue lights I had. Then the XM-L had such a nice wide floody beam that I had to update to Neutral XM-L lights. Still waiting for something to come along to spark another buying spree.

Mine also stem from a jump in technology. Every 2years I usually get a few new lights and repurpose the old ones but it's going to take a pretty big advancement for me to replace what I have now. I used to be all about lumens also, so any light with a new emitter that would blow away my old lights I had to have. I'm more into custom lights now and I don't really use a lot of light so I don't need high outputs, I like a nice solid build with a good tint these days.

Yes, there was a phase, that I collected serial lights over and over...
Now I'm in the best phase, 'cause I'm not more interested in serial lights except maybe the new Lupine's. So I can concentrate my interest on some nice custom lights.

I suppose i do get a bit of a trigger finger when there's an upgrade in the tech of certain lights,when the newer surefires came out i had to have one,now i've got one of their newer models i find i'm still wanting another one of their newer models.Thanks for the replies it's nice to know i'm not alone in jumping from one phase to another.

Malkoffs are my drug. Malkoff drop-ins are just impossible to pass up. I'm slowly drifting towards Oveready/Torchlabs though.

I definitely go through phases, there's a few reasons why, I believe every flashaholic goes through transitions too, I started out wanting BRIGHT lights with lots of throw which fall into the budget category, I'm not yet at the customs phase but I'm heading that way, my favourite light at the moment is a 9P with M2 bezel, Z59 tailcap and a malkoff HCRI Coupled with a frosted lense, it's awesome!

I'm in a self tortured turbid phase of cool vs warm indecisiveness. One tint looks blah one day, then good on another day. There's the middle ground ideal Hi CRI option but it takes a big hit in lumens.

It's like choosing between three different hot girls. Can't pick just - THE ONE.

yeah as technology improves my interest peaks again .im realy into 18650 and 26650 lights now

davyro said:

I suppose i do get a bit of a trigger finger when there's an upgrade in the tech of certain lights,when the newer surefires came out i had to have one,now i've got one of their newer models i find i'm still wanting another one of their newer models.Thanks for the replies it's nice to know i'm not alone in jumping from one phase to another.

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We're here for ya

I constantly yoyo between wanting high-output and long runtime, cool and warm tint, and the desire to see how large or small a flashlight can be. In addition to the aforementioned factors as well as others, there are so many possible permutations that I don't think I will ever stop buying lights.

ledmitter_nli said:

I'm in a self tortured turbid phase of cool vs warm indecisiveness. One tint looks blah one day, then good on another day.

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Gotta have a warm tint for the power outage ceiling bounce, comfy stuff.

I pretty much always have my basic needs covered, so it's always some unique and novel light that I may never find a use for that gets me to buy.

Funny thing is with a few mentioning malkoffs it's pricked my attention a bit,now i'm wondering which one of my lights would benefit from of their drop in's....or well here we go again:shrug:

My craving for flashlights started a year ago or so. First signs are slowly fading away: I got my hands on a few high-output LED's and HID's from our chinese friends. Turned towards lasers for a bit and got a 3W+ blue the other day that frightens the sh*t out of me every time I turn it on. Find myself in the fase now of turning back to flashlights again, being especially attracted to the way they look. I came across some very nice ones in the "collectors/show your copper" section on this forum (I think it was) this morning. This may be where I'll to head for next. But you know... part of the fun of this hobby is that I can't really tell where it's taking me.

I've been an avid flashaholic for about 4 years now. I've been through several phases and they all stemmed from what was innovative at the time, technology or styling:

• Just collecting any kind of flashlight I thought was cool (with the little knowledge I had as a newbie).
• Surefire 6p style lights and upgrading them (learned about boring and 18650 li-ion batteries)
• Multi-led P60 (Kenji and Oveready triples and quads)
• Neutral leds (this has never really phased out for me, but I've learned to appreciate cool tint lights for their efficiency in output)
• Cerakoted lights (started by Oveready and Bugsy714)
• Titanium lights (this is where it got expensive, Mac, V10R, Data)
• Tritium (V10R tritted out lights, jhanko, precisionworks, Kuku D10)
• Now back to modded Surefires (starting to like the classic styling)

I think as I go through these phases I'm learning what I like and what I don't like in flashlights:

• Headlamps are the most versatile as it lets you keep both hands free to do whatever. I think headlamps are waaaay underrated around the forums.
• Titanium lights are a joy to use once you get over the fear of using it. Ti lights look so pretty when new, but once you get some scratches and a little patina on it, they become much more enjoyable.
• Neutral lights are best during prolonged usage. Your eyes don't get tired as easily and so it makes them that much more enjoyable to use. Nichia 219's are my favorite. Browns, reds, and oranges are very pleasing with this led.
• 2000 lumens is cool. 200 lumens is all you need. With night adjusted eyes, 200 lumens of throw is all you need to see what's going on around you. For up close work, 2 lumens is enough. Any more and it just hurts to use.
• There's not one light that works for every situation. It all depends on what your primary use is. Figure that out and you'll be able to find the ideal light(s).

i´ll keep this simple: quality Ti lights (thanks Yitsan).

Spent the first 18 months or so of my flashaholism finding what I do and don't like in a light. Then, I spent a bunch of cash getting the lights I wanted to fit those requirements. Haven't bought much in the last 18 months. Maybe a handful of lights out of curiosity.

My various phrases:

1) 1 mode only, "throw as far as you can" dropins.
2) After a while, i notice the need for lower levels, so now I'm in LMH.
3) Next I got hit by the Malkoff madness.
4) Seeing how Malkoff dropins have internal potting, I dismantled all my dropin for potting & solder filling. (this took me a long time!)
5) I was lured to try triples next & made 3 sets (CW, NW & N 219)
6) After using NW & Nichia219 emitters, i slowly became a tint snob & replaced most of my emitters to those kinds
7) Now, my eyes are looking at custom/Ti lights these days. Gosh, my wallet & wife is not gonna be happy.. *McGizmo HDS*

- JonK

I think things have changed a bit - or perhaps my timeline is a bit extended! Anyway - it started for me with Maglites which at the time were the pinnacle of reliable flashlights - had 2xAAA, 2xAA, 2D, 3D and 4D lights at one point. I didn't know Surefire existed. Which for much of this time it didn't. But this phase lasted well through the 80s and mid 90s. Call that the hobby but in the darkness phase. Then I discover this place and things get interesting. My first LED light was a CMG Infinity Ultra - great little light but that angry blue tint was not quite what I was hoping for. Then I got an Arc LSHP and the die was cast. I've always tended to lean towards small EDC lights - so I've never really ventured past the 2x123 format. But once my eyes were opened I went on an acquisition phase trying lots of different lights and honing down what works for me (HDS UI being my favorite being one example) and what doesn't (twisty on/off to change modes among other things). Then I went through a culling phase and for a long time had really 4 lights that truly covered all my bases.

Once I hit that period - well - my interest in new lights became more fine tuning what I liked - sometimes repurposing older lights with upgrades, and dipping my toe into the custom market. These days it is less about chasing max lumens or quantity of lights (which it was at one point) and more about UI's, build quality, reliability, and even a bit of tint interest.

I have a couple XML lights but am not necessarily that impressed by them compared to a couple older lights that use less current emitters but otherwise just work with great beams. I still have two many lights - for no reason really other than I need to sell a few... but could go back to 4 if forced - maybe even 3.

Satisfied? Not sure you ever really get there only because I like the technology and trying new things just to see how they work for me and if they improve upon what I know I like. But definitely much more selective about what I'm interested in trying - in part because I've tried enough different things to get a sense of what actually works for my uses - due to the necessary albeit stressful on the pocketbook accumulationg/experimentation phase.

I definitely started off with "brighter is better," but now am more into runtime (by having the "right" amount of light) and tint. Warm LEDs make me smile.