Hi guys, when did you become crazy for LED flashlights ?

[earthlight]

When a guy I know showed me his LedLenser maybe some three or four years ago. I was instantly hooked and bought a LedLenser myself. It turned out to be a crappy design shakehead) but at the moment I have three Fenixes in the mail and one in the pocket.

Before that it was Maglite after another.

Earthlight

 

[don.gwapo]

When a guy I know showed me his LedLenser maybe some three or four years ago. I was instantly hooked and bought a LedLenser myself.

. That's when I started too in the beginning of this year and bought myself a P7. And I find solarforce and stayed for this light up to now for it's upgragedability.

 

[distrbd]

I became a member here a year ago ,All I wanted was to know more about Maha chargers and Eneloop batteries,,,,, ,but a couple of weeks ago I saw a coworker looking inside a gas tank with this cool looking flashlight .:devil:

Up until then my only flashlight was Maglite(2XAA) but since then I just cant stop my self from buying or at least wanting more flashlights ,!up to now I've managed to have a Fenix E20 ,E01 ,LD10 ,TK11,and an Ultrafire SSC P7-D ,and now I keep thinking about TK45:thumbsup:

 

[JS_280]

About a year ago I decided that I needed a good EDC light to carry in addition to my weaponlight. I stumbled across a thread on one of the gun forums regarding the 4 Sevens Preons. I checked out their website and was amazed at the flashlight technology that was out there...not only the sheer number of lumens in such a small package, but the multi-mode capacity as well. Long story short, I ordered a Preon 2 for my wife, a Quark AA Tactical for myself and since then have purchased a QMini 123 for myself and have purchased several more of their lights as gifts.

 

[Gaffle]

It had to be 1999 or 2000 when I became a LED addict.

I was at a fly fishing store with a bunch of friends and we were in a major purchase mode. We all purchased this little push button LED keychain light and some water bottles with filters. The keychain lights all came with blue LEDs. These little suckers were so hella bright compared to anything else at the time. We went back to a friends house, stuffed ourselves in a room, turned off the light, and took turns turning on our keychain lights.

I have been hooked since then. Here is a pic of my once favorite Jetbeam C-LE. I liked this light for a long time until the circuit went and a battery leaked.

Check out that badass lanyard GreenLED made. That lanyard made my light 10x better.

EDIT : Forgot to add that once I found Flashlightreviews.com I finally made it into the legit flashlight world. It was a must to purchase a Streamlight ProPoly 4AA. That was my entry level light. It was all over after that.

 

[LEDninja]

About ten years ago I got a Dorcy Cool Blue. Then I discovered The LED Museum and CPF. I was hooked.

Geoff

Back in 2001 I came across the Radio Shack branded version of that. Quite dim but I like the artifact free beam. The artifacts in the cheap incans are horrid.

In 2003 I found my Solitaire was dead during the big blackout of Eastern US and Canada. Had to feel my way up 7 flights of stairs.
Went looking for an LED replacement for the Solitaire. Google brought me to CPF. The Arc AAA gave me sticker shock. 4X the Soli's price + courier charges + customs brokerage charges. Ended up with a Dorcy AAA instead.

Fenix LiP, Civictor, L0P SE, L0D CE, L1T v2.0; Elektrolumens Little Friend, 3C P7: Millermodded Arc AAA; Nitecore EZAA, EZAAw; Preon WARMS, Quark MiNi AA WARMS, Quark MiNi AA2 later (amongst others) here I am.

 

[Cascade Range]

Hi Jack.

Good thread. I'm new here and became interested in lights about a month or so ago after arriving on an accident scene where a vehicle went off the road into a ditch. Between the dead of night, blackberry bushes, and no flashlight I was thankful to be able to follow my girlfriend, and the taillights of the offending vehicle all to find an abandon SUV.
I figured it was about time to get into this hobby and have enjoyed being here ever since.
My first LED was a Cree/Noma then the week after I picked up a Surefire
G2L. That kinda finished me as now I have an E1E, and Commander, (incan's).

 

[Beamhead]

My flashaholism goes back decades,( I have a 3D Streamlight m@g clone made in Barstow Ca bought new in the early 80's) that being said during the 90's I would receive $5 off anything $5 or more coupons from Sears and every time I would go straight to the flashlight aisle and get one of their Craftsman incans, I still to this day have a ton of them.
One day I was there and they had a Dorcy LED flashlight so I got it, well in a nut shell it sucked, a single purple 5mm LED in a 4 AA light, so I wasn't into LED lights at all.

Then around 2000/01 I ran into a 2 pack of Dorcy Spyder "tactical" incans at Costco using these bazaar and expensive CR123 cells, so in my quest to find those cells at a better price I came across CPF on the interwebs and was introduced to real LED lights and have since learned so very much, met so many interesting people all the while going broke. :laughing:

Thats my story and I'm sticking to it. :candle:

 

[TITANER]

I said to myself, "There's got to be something better than this."

Hi guy,you gave us a good story.I think everyone should has his own story about why he or she started to crazy for flashlights .Because ,them are so fascinating.BTW，i like your these words "There's got to be something better than this.:thumbsup:Sometimes ,life is not easy,we should learn to encourage ourself

 

[TITANER]

Hello Jack -

I carried a 3D Mag between the seat and console in my truck for years, many years. Trusty light, never let me down. Early this year I discovered high tech lights and THIS site.

Six purchases later, and here I am . . . . . . . . .no regrets

Joe

Hi Joe ,thank you for your friendship."Six purchases later",wow,sounds great

 

[TITANER]

My flashaholism goes back decades,( I have a 3D Streamlight m@g clone made in Barstow Ca bought new in the early 80's) that being said during the 90's I would receive $5 off anything $5 or more coupons from Sears and every time I would go straight to the flashlight aisle and get one of their Craftsman incans, I still to this day have a ton of them.
One day I was there and they had a Dorcy LED flashlight so I got it, well in a nut shell it sucked, a single purple 5mm LED in a 4 AA light, so I wasn't into LED lights at all.

Then around 2000/01 I ran into a 2 pack of Dorcy Spyder "tactical" incans at Costco using these bazaar and expensive CR123 cells, so in my quest to find those cells at a better price I came across CPF on the interwebs and was introduced to real LED lights and have since learned so very much, met so many interesting people all the while going broke. :laughing:

Thats my story and I'm sticking to it. :candle:

Wow ,sounds a little complex :thumbsup:

 

[Sub_Umbra]

It has been a long but simple progression for me. As a kid I spent lots of time camping, and that was long enough ago that there were only two types of batteries --- dead and nearly dead. In my 20s and 30s I spent great amounts of time in remote places -- homesteading in the Interior of Alaska, sailing tugs in the Gulf of Alaska and working all over some of the hardest to get to places in the Third World...

One thing was always the same, having light when you need it can mean life or death and when LEDs came along with their enhanced reliability and runtimes -- I was all over them. Now I'm just a geezer who only needs to deal with adventure when it finds me, and it still does. LED lights make up all of the lights in my preparedness program, which is somewhat extensive.

 

[Toulouse42]

With me it started when I wanted something better than my 4D Maglite a few years back. Local shops stocked some Led Lensers (OK but weak)and Inova Bolts, but it was the Inova Bolt 2xLithium that really did it, being so much more powerful than anything I had before. I still have it in the trunk of my car.

Then I discovered a review website (now closed) and bought my first Fenix P3D. I've bought about 50 in all, and I'm still looking for that "perfect one". I blame CPF as I'm never quite satisfied with my last purchase.

My biggest disappointment was a Led Lenser Giga which was a 5C cell with a "3 Watt emitter". It cost me well over £100 pounds (about 180 US dollars at that time). Today my little Zebralight SC50 (1xAA) far outperforms it.

Yesterday I almost bought a fenix LD40, but the CPF reviews made me change my mind. That and the fact that I actually have no need or use for it (as if thats good enough reason).

:wave:

 

[Mathiashogevold]

I got crazy for flashlights when i got my first BIG flashlight at the age of 3, in 1997. It was a large and bulky Varta 4D Cell, but it is still surprisingly bright, It is a thrower, and will throw a tight beam well over 100 meters
It still works, and have exceptional quality and feels very solid
I would like to make a mod of it, i have had so many good times with it!

The Varta 4D will always be my friend!
It has pretty good design too, beautiful too look at I wish they could continue with that design, but i haven't seen anything like that after i got it. No design can compare to it!!!!

 

[jh333233]

Ive been liking flashlight since essensal school.
when i was grade 8 three years ago, i had my first high flux led flashlight, and then i am truely addicted to it.
now i have 10 flashlight.

 

[lightfooted]

My first LED light was a Photon II, the one with the little switch on the top to lock it on. I still have that light in fact and keep it around though not always with fresh batteries now that I have a few similar ones from LH and BJ.

I had been hoping since I was about 10 that LEDs would eventually replace incandescents for portable lighting...but when I discovered the Surefire 6P I thought it would take longer for them to really achieve any comparable performance. Sometimes it's good to be wrong.

I purchased an Olight I15 about 8 months ago and an M21 not long after. I retired my Streamlight Stinger after the I15 proved to have almost as much reach with a brighter beam up close. I finally upgraded both of my Surefires to LEDs and now just sit back and wait for the next wave of advancements.

 

[Ishango]

My flashlight interest started about 18 years ago when I was a boy scout (age 12). I had quite a few flashlights then. I really liked them and some were pretty expensive (at least from a 12 year olds' views). I went through quite a few light bulbs and flashlights.

Then several years laters I got myself a Maglite 3D and started collecting them (bought a few over the next few years). Those really impressed me at the time (and why wouldn't they? If police and military used them, they must be good enough for me).

Then a few years ago I was walking through the caves (more a quarry) in Valkenburg and saw a guide use a LED light to point out some details the gaslamp didn't show. I was so impressed of its' power compared to my still trusty Maglites that I wanted to know more.

2 years ago this resulted in buying a Fenix E20 and now I'm interested in all kinds of flashlights (as long as my budget can keep up with me ).

 

[KevinL]

Went camping with school a couple of decades back. All the kids had nice lights, and I had this generic $2 light with a PR bulb, 2C batteries and I swear that it was made out of recycled coke cans, the metal was that thin.

Next was the mini Maglite...... bulb blackened after a couple of hours of use, always pathetically dim, lens scratched very easily. Even as a non-flashaholic at that time, I wasn't very pleased, but it was a nice size and it was convenient.

Ironically, my first EDC was a 10mm red LED my company gave to me in 1999. I thought it was tremendously cool and I still have it today. It would pretty much have been cutting edge in those days.

My second EDC was a friend giving me a Maglite Solitaire before I left on a journey through a part of my life I will only describe as 'difficult'. Dim, donut hole and whatnot, I went through 2 of them and I liked them - they did the job and they got me out in one piece.

Fed up with dim lights, after those days I went out and bought the biggest damn light I could lay my hands on - the 4D Maglite. Finally, a decent amount of light but the light was so huge it never left the house.

I work in computing and IT and one of the magazines mentioned the Surefire 6P as the 'ultimate computer technician's light'. The seeds have been planted, the rest of the story is history. I acquired my E1e and 6P shortly after that (still have them). The E1e's original 15-lumen bulb is pretty ..... weak. I switched to the KL1 LED conversion head, got a 30-lumen OTF unit. This is pretty much the defining moment when I went LED: more than 2x the runtime, 2x the output compared to MN01, easy on the batteries, more light output: what was there not to like? I got a nice warm tint too.



Fast forward thru the years......

The 4D Maglite passed away, killed by defective batteries that literally welded them to the shell of the light and were completely unremoveable. The battery company lived up to their guarantee and gave me a new one, which was appreciated. The new 4D became the ROP with a six-SubC powertrain and 1K lumens at the bulb, spawning the Original ROP and the Cult of the ROP that has spanned half a decade

The 6P is still here, and is slated to receive a Cree XP-G 350 lumen drop-in.

The U2 has become my top favorite light. If I had to pick *ONE* light to go to the end of the world with, it would be the U2. This is a complete no-brainer. This is still true today. Although I must say, out of my pair of U2's, I really like the output of the one that received an aftermarket upgrade to a Cree MC-E

The E1e+KL1 is still in business although severely battered on EDC duty. Recently received a brand new Cree XR-E, 110 emitter lumens at 350mA. Waiting on new reflectors. HURRY UP DX!!!!!


As for the future........

The 4D ROP is now awaiting its next destiny: The Flamethrower Project - 4K lumens with nine XP-Gs and a LiFePO4/A123 powertrain. I just need Download to build more heatsinks so I can buy them.........


Oh, and if I ever go camping again, I'll never need to worry about having the biggest, baddest, meanest flashlight.

 

[Xacto]

I think it must have been that SF6PL that convinced me that LEDs have enough power, but that didn't really started my craze. That took another 2 years and the strobe feature / new hobby taking less space than scale model boxes.
Regarding the incan vs. LED thing - I think it is the superior power and runtime. In B&M stores, two CR123 retail for about 16 Euro. 16Euro for one hour runtime or 16 Euro for 11h runtime (P60L) - you do the math. (Nonetheless I do buy online)

Cheers
Thorsten

 

[TITANER]

I got crazy for flashlights when i got my first BIG flashlight at the age of 3, in 1997.

"at the age of 3",Wow ,unbelieveable.Maybe you started to contact and use flashlights with the youngest age :sick2: