megawatt
Newly Enlightened
Hello Everybody. I have been lurking here daily for many months learning about and BUYING flashlights. I am a 55 year old Jr. High and High School band director and I also own a sound and lighting production company in Louisiana which provides sound and lighting systems to bands, fairs, and festivals called Megawatt Sound and Lighting Systems. So, my name here on CPF was taken from my company name, Megawatt, and has nothing to do with flashlights or flashlight "wattage".
For years I have been intrigued with flashlights. Over the years I have bought several Mags. When I was a kid, my parents owned a "mom and pop" grocery store and we also sold flashlights. In those days just about every time we needed a flashlight which was one of those cheap, silver Ray-O-Vac's or Eveready with the red head, it wouldn't work and was very dim with those general purpose batteries. I would often say to myself "why doesn't some company make a flashlight that will last and be dependable?" Well, a few years later here come the Mags and I bought several. At the time, the Mag was the answer to my prayers. Recently, I overheard friends talking about the "new" LED flashlights. I thought to myself maybe I should give the LED light a try. I get this magazine from Sportsman's Guide that had some LED lights listed and ordered a couple. One had 4 LEDs and the other was a Smith and Wesson Galaxy with 3 LEDs. I put batteries in and turned em on. The light was much nicer and whiter than the Mags I was accustomed to but I thought the brightness was definitely lacking. I said to myself "there must be something better". I did a google search for....best LED flashlight, and one for ....LED flashlight reviews, and up came.......candlepowerforums and flashlightreviews. I NOW OWN 73 FLASHLIGHTS. As I stated above, I have always been intrigued with flashlights. I thought I was warped in the brain with this flashlight craze I have. After lurking here on CPF for many months I feel much better that I am not the only one crazy about flashlights. As many of you have said " it is a disease". I now own Inovas, many Nuwai's, Streamlights, Fenix, Dorcy, Aurora, Taskforce, Lightwave, and.......Surefire. More about Surefire later.
I like the Mags LEDs. They are what they are. Dependable, great throw, and good runtime. The Dorcy's came after the Mag LEDs which are nice too but I don't care for lights that need 3AAA batteries with low runtime. Then came several Nuwais. I really like the 5 watters and both Q3's. Next were the Fenix lights. Like just about everybody else here, I love the Fenix stuff. I have the L2D, P1D, and P1 among others and like everybody says the beams are great. I read a lot here about the Surefire stuff and thought I would NEVER get a Surefire because of pricing and with the tailcap issues of the U2 I was skeptical of Surefire. Then, I see the CPF20 discount from Spyder Tactical. Since I haven't bought anything for a while I thought I would try the Surefire L2 since I love a good flood and it has both a high and low. The L2 came in and when it got dark I tried it in the house and I was STUNNED. That L2 with it's Luxeon made a fool of my Cree lights as far as lighting up a room goes. I was amazed at how bright the L2 lit up a BIG 40' x 40' room. The Crees, of course, are awesome with much better throw but the L2, in my book, for my purposes is ...THE TOP DOG. So, NEVER say NEVER.
I will be using, primary, store bought batteries. After reading all of the posts here about the different types of batteries, I feel safer with store bought. I would like to get some rechargeables and a charger but there is the chance of over charging and causing problems and I don't have time to sit and watch a bunch of batteries charge just to make sure they don't over charge.
Modding. Sounds kinda complicated for me. I would probably destroy an expensive light trying to mod it.
Anyway, this is my first of many posts. I have spent hundreds of dollars on my new hobby and it's fun. I am really enjoying being a flashoholic and being a member of CPF. One question: Is the buying ever going to stop? Hmmm.....waiting for more Crees.
For years I have been intrigued with flashlights. Over the years I have bought several Mags. When I was a kid, my parents owned a "mom and pop" grocery store and we also sold flashlights. In those days just about every time we needed a flashlight which was one of those cheap, silver Ray-O-Vac's or Eveready with the red head, it wouldn't work and was very dim with those general purpose batteries. I would often say to myself "why doesn't some company make a flashlight that will last and be dependable?" Well, a few years later here come the Mags and I bought several. At the time, the Mag was the answer to my prayers. Recently, I overheard friends talking about the "new" LED flashlights. I thought to myself maybe I should give the LED light a try. I get this magazine from Sportsman's Guide that had some LED lights listed and ordered a couple. One had 4 LEDs and the other was a Smith and Wesson Galaxy with 3 LEDs. I put batteries in and turned em on. The light was much nicer and whiter than the Mags I was accustomed to but I thought the brightness was definitely lacking. I said to myself "there must be something better". I did a google search for....best LED flashlight, and one for ....LED flashlight reviews, and up came.......candlepowerforums and flashlightreviews. I NOW OWN 73 FLASHLIGHTS. As I stated above, I have always been intrigued with flashlights. I thought I was warped in the brain with this flashlight craze I have. After lurking here on CPF for many months I feel much better that I am not the only one crazy about flashlights. As many of you have said " it is a disease". I now own Inovas, many Nuwai's, Streamlights, Fenix, Dorcy, Aurora, Taskforce, Lightwave, and.......Surefire. More about Surefire later.
I like the Mags LEDs. They are what they are. Dependable, great throw, and good runtime. The Dorcy's came after the Mag LEDs which are nice too but I don't care for lights that need 3AAA batteries with low runtime. Then came several Nuwais. I really like the 5 watters and both Q3's. Next were the Fenix lights. Like just about everybody else here, I love the Fenix stuff. I have the L2D, P1D, and P1 among others and like everybody says the beams are great. I read a lot here about the Surefire stuff and thought I would NEVER get a Surefire because of pricing and with the tailcap issues of the U2 I was skeptical of Surefire. Then, I see the CPF20 discount from Spyder Tactical. Since I haven't bought anything for a while I thought I would try the Surefire L2 since I love a good flood and it has both a high and low. The L2 came in and when it got dark I tried it in the house and I was STUNNED. That L2 with it's Luxeon made a fool of my Cree lights as far as lighting up a room goes. I was amazed at how bright the L2 lit up a BIG 40' x 40' room. The Crees, of course, are awesome with much better throw but the L2, in my book, for my purposes is ...THE TOP DOG. So, NEVER say NEVER.
I will be using, primary, store bought batteries. After reading all of the posts here about the different types of batteries, I feel safer with store bought. I would like to get some rechargeables and a charger but there is the chance of over charging and causing problems and I don't have time to sit and watch a bunch of batteries charge just to make sure they don't over charge.
Modding. Sounds kinda complicated for me. I would probably destroy an expensive light trying to mod it.
Anyway, this is my first of many posts. I have spent hundreds of dollars on my new hobby and it's fun. I am really enjoying being a flashoholic and being a member of CPF. One question: Is the buying ever going to stop? Hmmm.....waiting for more Crees.
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