What lights do you consider the most epic or influential on your hobby

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mickb

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Aug 10, 2015
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Fellas name the 2-3 ( or more) lights who/s develop,ment or arrival had the biggest impact on you. I am not a hardcore flashlight guy but for me it was probably

1. The army L shaped or right angle incandescent torch( as we call flashlights here) which I was introduced to in 1993.
2. The first led lenser P7 I ever saw with a 'whopping 180 lumens power'. I remember everyone had to have one back in 2008 or so.
3. Coming here and getting advice to try an Armytek predator in about 2015, first time I had heard of an 18650. The 600 luimens and 33 KCD throw blew my socks off.
 
By far the biggest impact on my was my Surefire Kroma. Its the light that got me into the hobby. It has saved my life. It has been on countless adventures into the wilderness, and all around the country. It is still the light on my nightstand and that is where that particular kroma will be until I am on the other side of the grass. No other light compares, although I use surefire 6P incans daily and more than any other light right now.
 
Night ops Gladius that Chip Willis had. First bright led flashlight I saw.
 
-Photon Microlight(my first EDC flashlight, pre Arc AAA)
-Malkoff M60 dropins
-Zebralight headlamps

Was just reading through some old posts last night. 12yrs ago tomorrow, I removed whichever 9V LA was in the Z3 w/black M2 bezel that I was using at work, and replaced it with a Malkoff M60W. The M60W was quickly followed by a M60WL, WF, WLF, and M30F. So ended my use of incans in anything but turboheads or modded MagLites(ROP, etc.).

Some time afterwards, Zebralight came out with their first headlamps, which had XR-Es with optics. I wanted a R123 headlamp with a neutral emitter, but they were not offered, so I emailed Lillian Xu. She said they had 5A emitters, but weren't sure about whether they would use them in the H30. I encouraged her to, and she let me special order two "H30w" headlamps. Don't recall if that ever became an official offering, but I still use them for changing the oil in my car and other stuff in my basement.
Over a decade has gone by, and I've tried(and rejected) lots of lights, due to UI or lack of quality. To this day, all of my "keepers" since have been from Malkoff or Zebralight.
 
Last edited:
Four-Sevens MMU-X3 got me started, followed by Niwalker MM15 and Meteor M43. My memories of when these lights came into my life are very strongly exciting.
 
In chronological order:
- Maglite Mini AA incandescent - These were the lights I had when I was a kid. Pure magic at the time.
- Foursevens Quark QT2A - First great LED lights I owned, and the gateway into the hobby about seven years ago.
- Nitecore EC21 - My workhorse lights for a couple of years, and gateway into 18650s.
- HDS Rotary NC57 - Was my entry point into high CRI lights, and really robust lights. It's been my work EDC since.
 
the small 2xAA plastic ever ready pocket lights from the early 70`s got me started and I still have some today! then a bit later was the 5D flashlight that Radio Shack started selling (the gray and red plasitc one), 5D was a Massive light to me as a child and I always wanted one but never had one because I could never afford to feed it even once, but I kept my promise that I`ll have 5D lights one day! (even got a 6D now).
but probably the most life changing for me so far is the Manker E02, it was by using that I discovered I didn`t need my glasses as often as I thought, and that just adding more light alone can help me see, Yes I still use my reading glasses but they often don`t work but adding more light and all`s perfect. So I EDC this light the same as I would my glasses now and whether it`s doing embroidery or reading sheet music etc... I won`t be without my light (even though I look like a walking lighthouse when I forget to turn it off).
 
Sure Fire original 6P incandescent.

It made me realize that there was more than just Maglites around for lighting. It was my EDC for ten years before it was joined by a Streamlight Stinger on my belt at work. Then one day I was surfing the net for some kind of an upgrade for my old 6P and found CPF and soon ordered a P60 from Thrunite. That XR-E drop-in made me realize that LEDs really were the future of lighting and got me very excited to see what the next generation of LEDs would bring.
 
Surefire 6P incan.
Introduced me to incandescent flashlights not too long ago. It was also the first light I really modified.

Niteye Eye10
I got into lights quite late, so this was the first higher quality light I ever owned. I remember getting it for a very good price back then. You could say this was the light that got me into the hobby.

G2X MV
My first Surefire, and also the light which completely changed my preference in regards to modes and interfaces. To this day, the "dual-mode rear forward-clicky" arrangement remains my absolute favorite.
 
A 2aa minimag was my go to light for years. It did the job for any and all of my lighting needs generally speaking.
One night I needed more light due to light pollution drowning out my little 6 or 8 lumens from a minimag with older batteries in it.

Next night I had a Coast HP7. It was plenty bright for the given situations and it became my new go to light for a while.

I joined here and bought a black SureFire G2x Pro for the much nicer beam. Then a tan one. Later a yellow one. It's still my favorite LED flashlight.

I put a nite ize in that minimag but opted to go back stock. It's retired and sets on a shelf. The Coast still rides in my truck door along with an upgrade to that minimag, the maxi minimag ML25 (gen 2). And the yellow G2x Pro still gets called into action from time to time.

Good thread mick.
 
1313 said:
Story time
Click to expand...

I was elk hunting in Montana. And I was making my way to where I was going to set up near the top of this ridge in the pre-dawn hours. It was about an hour before dawn and it was pitch black and drizzling. I didn't really have too far to go from where my truck was, maybe a few hundred yards at the most, but the goal is go to at a very slow pace and be as quiet and stealthy as possible. So, I had my surefire Kroma around my neck and I am using the red LEDs, so as not to spook the animals. Many animals don't see the red spectrum the way we do, and either can't see it at all, or don't see it well enough to be alerted by it the way they would a bright white light at night. Anyway, I don't remember if I heard some strange noises or what caused me to do this, but something gave me the chills and it was enough for me to "break cover", so to speak, and press that tail cap all the way in for the bright white beam.

Instantly, I saw ahead of me within what seemed about 50 yards (although it may have been further) there were 5 or 6 sets of glowing green eyes. I knew what it was right away, and my heart just sank. I thought this was it. I kept that beam on them as I slowly started backing away. They were moving around and I couldn't really tell what was going on. They seemed confused/annoyed/curious. And I just had this feeling that they were circling around behind me. Every now and again I would quickly turn around and shine the light back behind me, but I never saw anything. I kept trying to illuminate the direction from where I first saw them to try to hold them there. Which, I don't know if that works or not but it seemed like it was working at the time. Finally, I had made my way back to the truck and after a while my heart came down to a normal pace. Eventually it became light out, and it became obvious what had happened. A pack of wolves had killed an Elk and the carcass was directly in my path. I would have stumbled right into them had I not hit the high beam on the Kroma. A pack of wolves on a fresh kill is a very dangerous thing to stumble upon, and it has been the last thing that some hunters have ever done.
 
Thanks for the story Lumens83, glad it turn out ok and that you had the presence of mind to be alive today.
This also goes to show that Surefire once was a truly innovative company.
Truth of the matter is Paul Kim is a genius.
After he left none of the SF products interest me.
Be safe and well.
 
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