EDCing.....from a utilitarianist's perspective.

[tempman]

** Disclaimer**
This could bore some looking for useful information....​

I am writing this with no hopes to provoke a long discussion or anything, just to blab/blog. Here is my short history of enthusiasm for flashlights. I started out at a very early age, just as I'm sure many here have. I grew up with a real outdoorsman lifestyle. Many camping trips, late night boating and fishing, and neighborhood games of manhunt at night.

I think the first light I owned and appreciated was a red minimag given to me as a Christmas gift around the age of 8 (older and younger brothers got a black and silver one). Neither brothers ever used them, and I had actually been EDCing mine for a few months. I took the liberty of trading random toys and stuff for my bro's minimags. I discovered that I could swap parts from the others to make bi/tri-tone minimags. Thats where it all started.

I stopped carrying the minimag around all the time after I just got tired of the size of it, and the novelty of it all. I had a camouflage 2D cell rayovac or something that I used camping and fishing for a long time until I discovered led flashlights. From the age of 12-18 or so I had no interest in flashlights, and just kept the 2D camo light in my house for that time. When I got an old jeep wrangler, I was at walmart looking for boat cleats for tie downs, and saw the black monster....the 6D cell mag. wow. I bought that, and the mounts on the shelf next to it, so I could mount it in my jeep as well. I still have that light, and have been through both bulbs it came with, and bought a led upgrade for it when I was about 21-22. Thats about the time I decided it was time for me to buy my own handgun.

So, at the gun shop, I walked by a surefire flashlight display. I remember the actual feeling that came over me the first 2-3 minutes I realized that there was an entire realm of lights that FAR surpassed any maglite/wal-mart light I have come to know over the years. My girlfriend was also amazed at the surefires by the look on her face (her jaw was very slack and eyes were wide). I asked her "aren't these things crazy?"...I quickly realized that she was not amazed at what I thought she was. She was awe struck by the prices. So was I. The "passion for high quality" in me did not care about the price at all. The only thing I knew was that I had to have one asap. The sales guy walked over and began to enlighten me on the surefire way of light.

After about 15 minutes of playing with every single light in the case, I walked out of the store with a plain old OD green G2 nitrolon. I couldn't wait for it to get dark, so I went into the closet with the 6Dcell mag and the g2. WOW. I must buy more surefires. So I researched online, and discovered CPF.com A few days later, I bought an L4 (luxeon). Not happy with how floody the beam was (I knew it was going to be floody, but wasn't expecting it to be that drastic), I ended up with an A2 aviator. I thought I had discovered EDC bliss.

It was bliss about 4 months, then the "CREE XR-E craze" started on CPF. So I decided I must have the P1D-CE to take the A2's place in my pockets since it had more lumens and smaller size. That remained my EDC for about another 4-5 months, and I discovered Novatac. I just KNEW that this was the final light to satisfy my EDC needs forever. Wrong. I got tired of how big it was for jeans pockets (my main article of clothing), so I sold it and recently bought a Nitecore EX-10. This is smaller, more output, and simple to use. I missed having the extreme low 'low mode' of the novatac, but the more I thought of it, the more I realized that I never really used it that much anyhow. Then I got to thinking, hmmm... I never really use the extreme high output mode either. So I tried EDCing the Fenix E01 instead of the EX-10. I loved the low profile in the pocket, I loved how simple it is (on/off....on/off). And I loved how I could trust that the battery will last for a long time when it is on.

I quickly realized that having a "torch" in my pocket is not that important in day to day life. A simple source of usable light like the E01 was all you really need 99% of the time. I still carried the EX-10 with the E01 when I had a cargo pocket to keep it in, but never used it. Then a few days ago I was at the army/navy store and noticed the streamlight Microstream 1xAAA light. I said to myself "wow a AAA clicky" thats what the E01 is missing. I researched the Microstream two nights ago and decided that would be my EDC to replace the E01.

I know the Microstream puts out more light for less amount of time, but its over 2 hours on an energizer lithium, and the thing THROWS light far. I now realize that with less output, you need more throw. The microstream to me, is what I truly think will be my last EDC choice for a lonnnng time. I don't expect the actual microstream itself to be the permanent EDC light, but the form-factor to be permanent (AAA Clicky with throw and over 2hrs output). I feel really confident in this choice, and I thought that a few others around here would appreciate the story. I Just find it interesting when I look back and see my progression from where I started EDCing to now.

Anyone else have an interesting progression of EDC lights?

 

[Gatsby]

Well I'm a bit older (but likely not wiser) and started with the old 6v lanterns and my first "real" flashlight was and anglehead military light with the cool red, amber and diffuser lens in the tail. I thought it rocked and to me as a kid it did. Flashlight tag and all that...

Then like so many here my father got me a Maglite and I thought it was about as good as it could get. For years. I had them sprinkled about in the house and cars, and several now have LED upgrades and still serve as backups. Around 98 or so I discovered the Photon Microlight. I'd had a solitaire on my keyring and was always disappointed in the light it put out. I don't recall how I found the Photon, but it wasn't here. And that light kept me going for a long long time and it still rides on my wife's key ring.

Then I found this place and lurked for a long time - and like many others got the fever - and the only prescription was, more lumens! I've gone through more lights than I care to remember, starting with a CMG Infinity and an Arc AAA. I had an Arc 4+ and thought it was the end of the road for EDC as it covered so many bases. But it had a dodgy switch, so I sold it and went through a bunch of other lights and finally got an HDS because I liked the Arc4+ functionality but not the reliability. Carried it for a long time but found the size a bit big for EDC along with the new AA lights tempting me and sold it. Went through some more lights.. and now I EDC ... drum roll please... a Novatac 85P!

I suppose plus ca change plus c'est la meme chose. I have yet to find a light that does what the Novatac does as well so I keep coming back and tolerating the size for the functionality... sometimes an EDC odyssey finds you back where you started, albeit years later.

 

[abarth_1200]

Thats a good story, i wonder how many of use didnt start with a Maglite.

Oh ive worked out how old you are,

so you take the age of 22 add the 3 minutes you took to realize how many lights were out there then add the 15 minutes of playing with them, so we have 22 years and 18 minutes so far.

Then you add on the 4 months bliss, then Cree craze came along add another 5 months that you had the P1D for then add on 2 hours of use on your new microstream, since you did say you know it runs for 2 hours must mean you have run it for 2 hours.

so when you add everything up i calculate your age to be,

22 years 9 months and 138 minutes... roughly

 

[adamlau]

No interesting story here, just simple and straightforward: From Micro-Light I to Micro-Light II to the Aeon. My EDC lights my be small enough to be carried on a keychain and bright enough to induce the "wow factor" to those around me.

 

[Black Rose]

Then I found this place and lurked for a long time - and like many others got the fever - and the only prescription was, more lumens!

I wonder if there is an SNL skit for that prescription

My EDC progression is rather mundane. Went from nothing to carrying a Garrity 2x2016 LED for a few years, and now carry a Fenix E01.

EDIT: Forgot to add that I am now looking for a small but brighter light to carry as well, for reasons LED-holic mentions a couple of posts down.

 

[Kestrel]

Part 1, "Genesis":
Thought Mini-Mags were the ticket. Except that they were too big for pocket carry so they belonged in car gloveboxes. Attempted EDC of a Solitaire didn't work out due to poor performance and unreliability.

Part 2, "One of my more expensive questions":
Me, after looking at the selection of flashlights on Cabela's website, asking security guard friend: "Have you ever heard of SureFire flashlights?"
Security guard friend: "Oh yes..."

Part 3, "Flashaholicism", 18 months later:
Myself: 2 SF L1's, 1 L2, 1 G2, 1 G2L
Purchased for friends: 4 L1's, 1 G2L
Lusting after a T1A for the change pocket in my jeans, as a backup EDC.

 

[LED-holic]

Tempman - where do you use your lights most of the time, indoors or outdoors?

In urban areas, where there is a lot of light pollution, I find the higher output of most lights are invaluable.

As much as I appreciate the E01, it's simply suitable only for close up tasks. When I need more illumination outdoors, the E01 and other lights like it do not cut it.

 

[sappyg]

i agree with LED-holic. since i started EDCing a light i am only on my 4th light. because i use it as much in the day as the night i need the light to cut through the ambient noise of other light. i could not use an EO1 for this.
i started with a G2 (still my allaround favorite) to a G3, to a P2d Q5 and now to a D10. the D10 is what i edc at the moment. this evolution has taken only a short while and a lot of money. i am new to flashlights and edcing them. i like my light on my belt rather than my pocket or keychain and i like them as bright as i can get for there size.

 

[Art Vandelay]

.

 

[tempman]

Tempman - where do you use your lights most of the time, indoors or outdoors?

In urban areas, where there is a lot of light pollution, I find the higher output of most lights are invaluable.

As much as I appreciate the E01, it's simply suitable only for close up tasks. When I need more illumination outdoors, the E01 and other lights like it do not cut it.

I think the E01 is an incredible light, but obviously not a suitable EDC for a "flashaholic", which I don't think I am. I am becoming less and less concerned with having a super bright and expensive light these days, and happy with mediocre output with great runtime.Also, I don't understand the concept of light pollution interfering with vision, and needing even more light to cut through it, but To be honest I don't use my EDC as much as the lights I keep at home.

EDC evening/night- Streamlight microstream.

Dog walking- Nitecore ex10

Walking through house/bedroom at night- E01 with red chapstick cap
diffuser

Junk drawer in kitchen- Old surefire g2, couple of riverrock leds, and lots of lithium batteries.

I forgot to add a tidbit of info about the Microstream....This thing throws! I am very amazed at how far this beam can reach, and still maintain a beautiful "novatac like" beam pattern.

 

[Gatsby]

Solely from an EDC perspective I agree to an extent that sometimes the simple and reliable functionality of a basic light with long runtime is useful and I've found myself gravitating a bit back toward some older and less excitign lights. I have found myself at night grabbing one of my Peak Kilimanjaros for knocking around in the evenings - the white and red models both run forever and put out a pleasing a useful low output beam. Not to mention they're great in a power outage. My Peak Pacific with a AA body and L91 is my backup briefcase light - not because of output but because of a very useful beam and 12 hours of runtime and the knowledge that it will work every time I need it. I carried it on a CR2 pocket body for a long time as my EDC light and it was pretty solid in that role actually - bright enough for most uses and quite small.

But EDC for me is as much form factor, weight, versatility, reliability (not necessarily in that order) more than wow factor. It took a long time to find a light that would displace my Photon Microlight II on my key ring - that had enough extra bang for the buck to make it worth the size and weight tradeoff. It had to be reliable, it had to have long runtime, it had to have a reasonable UI and a low low, it had to have a really great beam and it had to be as small as possible given the cell size. The LF2 meets those needs and is a really underrated key ring light around here it seems, but it meets my needs perfectly and got the key ring spot over a more powerful and arguably better light in my Jil JCR2IT, which is now something of an orphan it seems...

But as much as I like the LF2 on my keyring and the Novatac in my pocket - there are still lights that if produced I'd likely buy as a replacement - if there was a light with roughly the Novatac UI in a AA body I'd probably buy it. I accept the size of the Novatac for all the benefits it brings in terms of UI and versatility - but I'd prefer a AA size light for daily EDC purposes (ideally one with an optional CR2 body since they are the same size and other lights, like the Jil JCR2, Liteflux LF4/5 - although they never sold the bodies separately but they were interchangeable, and Peak Pacific have demonstrated that it is a pretty easy to manufacture setup - particularly with 14500 and RCR2 support you could use a variety of batteries from alkalines, NiMH, L91, 14500, CR2 and RCR2 - talk about flexibility and versatility!)

 

[JJV]

Not terribly interesting but here goes...

I grew up like you-lots of camping and late-night manhunt. (Do kids even play that anymore???) My first real light was (as has already been mentioned) an army angle light with all the lens covers. Cool!! Then I just had whatever I needed for a long time.

FF to 2001. My dad is a cop and I was looking for something in a dark garage. He pulled some small, really bringht light off his utility belt and I was in awe. I had to have one. I went to a police supply store and they tried to sell me a Stinger, but that was longer and more expensive than I wanted. So I found some 4AA Princeton Tec that is really bright with fresh cells, but suffers from the typical incan complaint-it grew dimmer and more yellow by the minute. Still, it would blow away most Mags.

This year, by luck, I found a Streamlight Scorpion and I thought I was in heaven. Small, hyper-bright (compared to what I was used to)-I was set. Then I saw a Surefire E2E at LLBean a couple of weeks later, and I happened to have a $100 credit. I could not believe I was dropping a benjamin on a flashlight. But I did and was happy to do so.

A couple of weeks later I found this site and man...it's been a short and very expensive ride since then. I bought a P1D, and that was my EDC until 3 weeks later, when I got an A2, which was my EDC until a month later and I got a P2D, which was my EDC until I got a D10 a couple of weeks later. That has maintained it's place, as I work in an office and flashlights on the belt might attract unwanted attention.

Sicne mid-July I've added an E1e, E1L, L1, 6P w/an M60, Novatac 120E, and a Jet II IBS. I might have forgotten one. When I get home at night I choose which I want to play around with at night.

But for EDC purposes, the D10 looks like it will be the primary for a long time. Now and then I carry another light (2 is 1 and 1 is none); usually the E1e for a little incan variety. And my A2 is in my work bag.

Now I want to start modding Mags. I just picked up a 2D the other day...waiting for funds to get the parts for a ROP.

Yes, I have fallen hard in a short time.

 

[shomie911]

I agree, if I had to keep two lights it would be my Arc-P (or E01) and my Streamlight Microstream. 99.999999999% of the time they're the only lights I actually need, and that's why they are the only two I carry.

 

[divine]

I love my microstream as an EDC... only thing is that the anodizing is wearing off more and more on it.

I guess we'll see how far I will be able to let it go.

 

[BlueBeam22]

I started with a 4D Maglite about 5 years ago when I started to become interested in flashlights. I then collected lots of 6V lanterns and 2D Incans. My first high output light was my Johnlight 2.5 million candlepower spotlight which I bought around 5 years ago and it still works and is in good condition.

I lost interest in lights for a few years until I was in Target about a year ago and saw the Vector 3 million candlepower Mega Sport Spotlight, and it triggered my flashaholism so I bought it, and I was completely blown away by it as I had never seen a light so powerful and bright before.
I then started lurking on CPF a few months after that and found out about monster lights like the 10 and 15 million candlepower Thors and HID spotlights. At that time I finally got to see a 10mcp Thor in person at the Sharper Image store, which had some added features. I couldn't believe its size and how unbelievably bright it was and how it blew away my 3mcp Vector, so I bought it. At first its throw seemed Maxabeam like to me. After that I bought quite a few smaller spotlights, most notably the Max Million II Rechargeable.
A few months after buying the 10mcp Thor I was in Advance Auto Parts and saw the Professional's Favorite 17.5mcp spotlight, which was much larger than my 10mcp Thor, and I was so amazed just by its size and appearance I bought it. Sure enough, it was MUCH brighter than my 10mcp Thor with a lot more throw, and it really did seem Maxabeam like to me for a long time (and still does).

I then spent a few more months lurking on CPF and I finally got my Power On Board HID which I was very impressed with, but I expected it to be brighter than it was, as it wasn't as bright as my Pro's Favorite and did not have as much throw.
Then, shortly before joining CPF I finally aquired my 15 million candlepower THOR spotlight from Pep Boys. I was completely in awe of it as it has such a huge hotspot and laser like throw, and had more throw than both my POB and Pro's Favorite... I had finally found my dream spotlight!

I then joined CPF and found out about LED flashlights so I bought my 115 Lumen Coleman Max 3aaa LED flashlight, my 150 Lumen Task Force, and my 530 lumen Coleman LED spotlight. The Task Force is now my main EDC. Before I joined CPF I was EDCing my little Coast LED Lenser.

Since joining CPF I have aquired many amazing lights. IMO one of the most amazing ones I have is the Brinkmann Qbeam Big Max 3 million MaxPower Rechargeable Spot/flood light, which has been my EDC when I am able to carry a larger light.

:thumbsup: To CPF for all of the guidance in finding the best lights!

 

[Moka]

Well mines relatively short and sweet...
I always had a 2C Eveready Incan for outings and around the house and grew tired of bulbs breaking and C cells being gobbled without getting much good light...
Enter the Inova X0 (optic)... I loved it! Stil love it... 2 Small cells and constant undimming brightness that put my incan to shame... And the Quality!!! But it was still a little too big for general edc, so I bought an X1 as well, small runs on a AA battery and bright for its size (and the time I bought it)
Still being a fan of quality I began searching for a new torch and came across Surefire...
Then I went and did a stoopid thing and discovered this site... lol
Since June I've got a Surefire C2-Led, a Malkoff Dropin for said C2, an E1B as my EDC and an Inova 24/7 as my tent light when I go camping...
Now (unfortunately for my wallet) I've got my sights set on a Milky Modded E1B so I can use rechargables and a D10 or Ex10 just coz I can...

Needless to say my financial troubles are just beginning...