I'm Losin' My Mind!!!

[BOBBYBOB]

Lux, Lumens, Cree, Cool Tint, Smooth Reflector, Warm Tint, Orange Peel,
Q-5, Malkoff, Lumiled, Rebel, Luxeon, Thrower, Spill, Drop-Ins, 18650,
Q-2, RCR 123's, Li-Ion, pills or AA. Why can't I decide on a flashlight??
Aaaaaaaggghhhhh!!!!

 

[clg0159]

Re: I'm Losin' MY F----N Mind!!!

There is not a single person here that can decide on "a" flashlight. The only answer is to buy several!

 

[Niteowl]

Re: I'm Losin' MY F----N Mind!!!

That'll happen........

It takes a while to sort things out. I still get a headache sometimes when things get too technical.

We're here to help. Narrow what you want down a little and ask for suggestions. We love to recommend how to spend money.

 

[Norm]

Re: I'm Losin' MY F----N Mind!!!


Several? (hundred)

 

[One2gofst]

Re: I'm Losin' MY F----N Mind!!!

To answer your question, YES, allthe above!

 

[Beamhead]

Re: I'm Losin' MY F----N Mind!!!

Losing? :laughing:

 

[fnmag]

Re: I'm Losin' MY F----N Mind!!!

Your journey has just begun grasshopper. Stay on the path and keep following the light. :twothumbs

 

[bigfoot]

Re: I'm Losin' MY F----N Mind!!!

Discovering this site a couple of years ago has lead to a steady decline in my wallet.

Enjoy the ride!

 

[GreySave]

<< There is not a single person here that can decide on "a" flashlight. The only answer is to buy several! >>

CLG0159 meant several dozen.........It's addictive.

 

[Zenster]

Yea, I doubt if anyone who has been a registered member here at CPF for more than a month has just "one" light. That's because we all have different likes for how a light works and what we use it for, and we all typically get into different situations that "require" a different type of light.

My advice is to simply start with light #1, play with it, use it, form an opinion about it, and then get light #2 that fills in what light #1 is lacking.
Then when you get light #2, do the same, and so on and so on.
Hopefully, you'll end up with a nice, useable collection by the time you get to light #30 or #50 or #200 or whatever.

I'm at about 22 now, and I have to say that there aren't very many more that I feel I just "have to have". I've got all dark situations covered from EDC (120P and several single cell Surefires) to the "normal" nighttime excursions (DBS, A9, MRV... etc.), to when I want to really see something that has to be seen (running alarm calls with an AE Xenide 25W).

So you see, you can't just end up with "one" light because "dark" has so many personalities that you need many lights to light them all up. :welcome:

I can't even begin to guess where your wants and wishes are heading, but I will offer that, knowing what I know now, I would still own every light I do, but the FIRST one I would have bought would have been the 120P.
So I wouldn't have changed what I have, but I would have bought them in a different order.

 

[LEDninja]

Welcome to CPF.

It might be easier trying to select a torch that suits your needs rather than the preferences of over 3000 CPF members.

It might also be easier if you try to sort out and organize your search. You can eliminate a lot of unnecessary things as you narrow down the search.

1) Batteries?
1a) Common batteries AAA, AA, C, D. Available everywhere.
1a1) Rechargeable versions of above. Provides more current for more brightness/runtime.
1b) CR123A. 3V usually allows for more powerful lights than common batteries and a smallish form factor. A CR123A is 1/3 the length of 2AA required for the same voltage. More costly, may not be available at local B&M stores.
1b1) RCR123A. Rechargeable versions of the above. Some CR123A torches can not handle the higher voltage of RCR123A.
1c) 10440 (AAA), 14500 (AA), 18650 are newer common versions of Li-on batteries.
1c1) Exotic batteries from 10180 to D size Li-on batteries. Custom battery packs.

2) Use/Size?
2a) Keychain, pocket, EDC (everyday carry). Small usually coin cell, AAA, AA, CR123A size.
2b) House. Comfortable size to hold, fits in kitchen drawer. Bright but not too bright. You do not want to blind yourself with blowback from a light coloured wall. Also you may have to do close in work. A floody light is preferable to a thrower with it's super bright hot spot
2c) Car. Smallish, fits in glove compartment. (best place is in a box under the PASSENGER seat of the car).
2d) Outdoors. Thrower. From a handheld for walking the dog to a lantern for seeing if your friend is on that book 1/4 mile down the lake.
2e) Specialty. A very upset paint engineer found most of the highly recommended torches were useless for finding flaws in paint jobs. Others include explosion proof and dive ratings.
2f) My WOW light!!! A brite lite to impress your friends. The smaller the less likely they will expect soooo much light. Others prefer the stealth light a maglite moded to be extra bright. Mac's The Torch famous for it's ability to start fires got a pre-nom from the Darwin Awards for most likely to kill one of it's owners. And Ra's MegaBlaster got written up in Popular Science.

3) Price
3a) <$20. You can get them at your local discount store. From cheap plastic lights to older LED models.
3b) $15-$50. Low end LED lights from CQG, DX, Kai. Check CPF for quality or lack therof before you buy.
3c) $40-$200. Generally good quality lights. Surefire, Inova, Streamlight, UK, Pelican, Princeton Tec, Fenix, Olight, Lumapower. A couple of newcomers are Zebralight and Edgetec.
3d) >$200 You are into specialty or exotic lights here.

Select a battery type, a use, a price and your search will narrow considerably. You will eventually get one of each type EDC, home, car, outdoors but if you look for only one at a time it will be a lot easier.
For example if you want a coin cell keychain light you are down to Photons and Faux-tons pretty fast.
If you prefer AAA instead of coin cells you will find yourself down to the Arc AAA(-P) and L0D CE(Q4). Because the construction of the buckle is below par, 1/2 the batteries would not fit into the Ultrafire, the Huntlight has o-ring shredding problems, the Avenger is just too weird mechanically to assemble, the Liteflux err... do you really want to program your 1st light?
As these small lights simply cannot throw, you won't be drawn into discussions of smooth textured LOP MOP reflectors or TIR Fraen Cree optics.
As to battery type you are down to AAA alkaline, AAA NiMH and AAA LSD NiMH (Eneloop) and can ignore all the other battery types.

Hide your wallet and have fun.

 

[Illum]

Hide your wallet and have fun.

the statement is often held as contridictory...but thats really the way it is, especially on this forum

 

[Darien]

I like that, "dark" has so many personalites.:thumbsup:

And I feel lucky to be waiting on the mail for a 120P. I might be figuring out some of my "wants and wishes". Can't wait to get this one in my hand.

Good luck in your search BOBBYBOB. You might learn a little here. I have for sure and I enjoy it. :twothumbs

Darien

 

[Gunner12]

It's pretty much impossible to decide on just one light. But one light would be more then most people have on them and if you pick well, it would cover most of you tasks.

What would it be used for? What size? What battery?

 

[m16a]

Once you become a flerd(New term we are circulating flashlight nerd combined) there is no going back and you will lose your mind. I know I am!!

Welcome to flerdom my friend and of course,:welcome:

 

[primox1]

I spend hrs on this damn site, and at the end of the nite, I feel like nothing has been accomplished for me...no light, just feeding my obsession by drooling over everyone's cool lights.

And tomorrow will be a new day to do it all again!!!
Thanks everyone :grouphug:

 

[kramer5150]

I think at some point you just have to take the plunge and dive right in. I had been using a nite-ize modded minimag and an aspheric nuwai river rock for a while. Two polar opposites as far as emitted light goes. The nite-ize being all flood, no throw and a pukey blue tint:sick2:, while the RR lights are tightly focused, no flood but decently white/yellow in color. With use, I discovered neither of these were ideal for me.

From there I went with a Cree task force from Lowes. Decent light, around 100L (maybe a little more), standard C cells. Its a good entry level IMHO, with some nice throw. There are better lights from DX for less $$$, but as a noob I wanted the instant gratification, and a product backed by a good return policy. I used this light a lot this winter storm season, on the roof fixing parts of the house that had blown off in the middle of the night.

The TF turned out to be too big and heavy... So that led me to the next big dive, a 6P+DX drop in. I use it at work, around the house and night time walks with the kids. Ive only had it for a few weeks with RCR123 cells and so far I haven't had the urge to use any other light. There are a lot of mods and drop ins available. I could spend a lot of time here at this "plateau"... moding and tweeking things to my taste. There is some nice piece of mind, knowing that emitter upgrades are as easy as a module swap. So essentially the light will never really be out-dated with new bins coming out every 6-8 months.

I might get a cabelas clone, just to see what all the hype is about.

 

[Kraid]

Re: I'm Losin' MY F----N Mind!!!

There is not a single person here that can decide on "a" flashlight. The only answer is to buy several!

True story!