Worse flashlight feature by far
- Thread starter raggie33
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Hooked on Fenix
Flashlight Enthusiast
- Joined
- Dec 13, 2007
- Messages
- 3,719
Worst flashlight feature ever was the shake light type flashlight. Sounded great. Free power to charge the light just by shaking it a bit. Unfortunately, the capacitor didn't hold a charge long and wouldn't charge at all after any length of time in storage. It was use it or lose it. The strong magnets also made it so you had to keep the light away from all your other electronics. Couldn't carry it next to your wallet with all those magnetic strip cards and couldn't carry it in a backpack with a laptop, digital camera, or any other expensive electronics. Couldn't have it near your phone either. The worst part was how bad it made you look in public trying to charge the light. Mad TV did a comedy sketch about it about 15 years ago (you can find it on YouTube if you look up Mad TV- Flashlights). I'm not going to post that video here but you can look it up if you want.
That sketch from Mad TV is great!
I own one light that's got both horrible features mentioned above...magnetic charging tail cap and proprietary battery. It's Olight H2R and I hate it. Turbo doesn't work most of the time. Either the battery can't sustain it or the tail cap has too much resistance. Sometimes if I loosen and tighten the cap a few times hard, it will start working. It's a house beater now.
I also have the original Warrior X, which luckily works with regular 18650's. The stock battery started self discharging a few months after buying the light. I keep an unprotected button top Samsung 30Q in it now.
I own one light that's got both horrible features mentioned above...magnetic charging tail cap and proprietary battery. It's Olight H2R and I hate it. Turbo doesn't work most of the time. Either the battery can't sustain it or the tail cap has too much resistance. Sometimes if I loosen and tighten the cap a few times hard, it will start working. It's a house beater now.
I also have the original Warrior X, which luckily works with regular 18650's. The stock battery started self discharging a few months after buying the light. I keep an unprotected button top Samsung 30Q in it now.
Jean-Luc Descarte
Flashlight Enthusiast
Even worse than proprietary batteries (though only by a slim margin) is next-mode memory, and by association, ON-time memory. Ho-lee jeebus do I hate that.
ON time for mode switching is annoying to me. Non-hidden strobe/sos modes. Proprietary & Built-in batteries. Li-ion-only AA lights. Tailcaps with recessed rear switches on long flashlights that cant securely tail stand anyway. Turbo modes.
PhotonWrangler
Flashaholic
I'm not a afan of the reverse on/off slide switch on some keychain lights. Sliding it towards the LED turns it off, which seems backwards.
I have several cheap light that have NMM, and I found a post that told me how to fix it with a #2 pencil.
PhotonWrangler
Flashaholic
I remember that! Some strategtically placed graphite marks could alter the resistance of SMD components.
Siriuslite
Newly Enlightened
Strobe
To top that, The M2R Pro had a proprietary battery and magnetic charging on it's switch, which was also used for a magnetic remote switch. That lead to paperclips activating turbo mode unintentionally.
I really don't like reverse clicky tail switches.
There are a couple that I own and use but much prefer forward.
There are a couple that I own and use but much prefer forward.
PhotonWrangler
Flashaholic
I generally don't like most lensed flashlights because of the chromatic abberations visible towards the edges of the beam.
#3 ~ Magnetic tailcaps.
(Don't wear a mechanical wrist-watch if your EDC light has this feature.)
#2 ~ Proprietary batteries.
(Even worse, the ones you can't get at, at all to replace with the same battery from the same company; even if you wanted to!)
#1 ~ Smart flashlights.
(The kind that shut off completely when the light, not YOU, decides it should shut off. And, the batteries still have plenty of juice inside the lights. I've had a couple of these lights over the years. Placed them where they belong.... in the trash!!! Seriously, who was the moronic excuse for an engineer who thought that would be a great idea for a flashlight?)
(Don't wear a mechanical wrist-watch if your EDC light has this feature.)
#2 ~ Proprietary batteries.
(Even worse, the ones you can't get at, at all to replace with the same battery from the same company; even if you wanted to!)
#1 ~ Smart flashlights.
(The kind that shut off completely when the light, not YOU, decides it should shut off. And, the batteries still have plenty of juice inside the lights. I've had a couple of these lights over the years. Placed them where they belong.... in the trash!!! Seriously, who was the moronic excuse for an engineer who thought that would be a great idea for a flashlight?)
knucklegary
Flashlight Enthusiast
Available at Harbor Freight
Megalamuffin
Enlightened
Proximity sensor that automatically dims the light and shuts off after one minute (olight WM2). Can't stand any feature that makes a light operate with a mind of its own. Like a self driving car; no thanks keep it away from me.
pancakeayaka
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2020
- Messages
- 52
Strobe mode in the cycle...so annoying
