ab1ht
Newly Enlightened
The event: Not that long ago (maybe 4 months?), I shelled out about 20 bucks for the 1xAA LifeGear LED light from Target. It was my first 80(ish) Lumen light. For some time, it was my EDC. I recommended it to my brother and he got one and raves about it. I thought it was the greatest thing until...
My 5-year-old hands it to me: "Daddy, this light doesn't work. Can I have a different flashlight?"
I looked at it for a moment and then clicked the switch a few times. Sure enough, it didn't work. Swapped the battery. Still nothing. Then I felt a few different emotions: First irritation, then disappointment, then helplessness.
A truth dawned on me: I can't fix this. I don't have another tail cap. Nor does this light accept a replacement drop-in for the LED. Even if I knew what the problem was, I had no standard spare parts. All I had was a 20 dollar POS for the landfill!
Epiphany! Unless I have a collection of lights which I can disassemble, easily troubleshoot and maintain with readily available spare parts, then all I have is junk.
Paradigm shift: With only a few special exceptions (like my Zebralight), I'm going to invest my hard earned money on lights that I can maintain to ensure that they will be with me for many, many years and provide reliable light when and where I need it.
Strategy: I've decided to start with a small collection of Maglites and build a collection of spare parts. I have 2 and 4 cell D's and a handfull of AA miniMags. I have extra bulbs, LED drop-ins, and will be ordering some spare switch modules. From there, I'll move up to higher end lights with standard drop-ins (SolarForce and Surefire in particular).
So there you have it. I thought I'd share this because I think I've taken a significant step in my flashlight evolution. Anyone else had this experience?
My 5-year-old hands it to me: "Daddy, this light doesn't work. Can I have a different flashlight?"
I looked at it for a moment and then clicked the switch a few times. Sure enough, it didn't work. Swapped the battery. Still nothing. Then I felt a few different emotions: First irritation, then disappointment, then helplessness.
A truth dawned on me: I can't fix this. I don't have another tail cap. Nor does this light accept a replacement drop-in for the LED. Even if I knew what the problem was, I had no standard spare parts. All I had was a 20 dollar POS for the landfill!
Epiphany! Unless I have a collection of lights which I can disassemble, easily troubleshoot and maintain with readily available spare parts, then all I have is junk.
Paradigm shift: With only a few special exceptions (like my Zebralight), I'm going to invest my hard earned money on lights that I can maintain to ensure that they will be with me for many, many years and provide reliable light when and where I need it.
Strategy: I've decided to start with a small collection of Maglites and build a collection of spare parts. I have 2 and 4 cell D's and a handfull of AA miniMags. I have extra bulbs, LED drop-ins, and will be ordering some spare switch modules. From there, I'll move up to higher end lights with standard drop-ins (SolarForce and Surefire in particular).
So there you have it. I thought I'd share this because I think I've taken a significant step in my flashlight evolution. Anyone else had this experience?