do you actually NEED a nice flashlight?

look at the poll options.

i for one, don't actually need a nice light, powerful light. the most action my light is ever going to see is the very occasional camping trip/outdoor stuff, rummaging through the garage and other around-the-house tasks.

how about you?

(mods, please feel free to add aditional choices in the poll)

Yes indeed I do need a nice/reliable flashlight. Does it have to be quite expensive as it is? No. More of a want. But reliablility is one that I prefer, one which will not let me down.

I use my flashlights practically everyday, and I do alternate amongst the ones I have. But the single most torch that I EDC and use 10 times out of 10 is the 3[M]iniMag. Preference if for brightness over runtime, due to the fact that I am severely vision impaired and do "see" better with bright lights. . .

Enjoy!

Really, if I was only left with my Arc AAA-P, I could get by just fine. That said, this stuff is fun...

Solstice said:

Really, if I was only left with my Arc AAA-P, I could get by just fine

Click to expand...

funny you should mention that. the ArcAAA might seem mundane and ordinary to people at this forum, but most sane people would consider that an overkill.


the coolness and new toy factor of this hobby just kept me from being happy with an ordinary $2 light.

I look at it as a tool. I appreciate good tools that work better and last better than cheapies that break or are insufficient. My lights aren't near as expensive as some peoples though!

I think everybody should have some form of personal illumination, even if it's just a keychain light. I also think that everybody should have at least a Victorinox Classic on their keychain, if not a larger pocket knife. That way, everybody who doesn't "need" to carry one can stop bugging me to borrow mine. :laughing:

As for a real, "nice" flashlight, yes I need one. I'm nocturnal. I wake up at 4pm, go to work, and go home around 4am. I'm asleep most of the time that the sun is up. Add this to the fact that my transportation is pedal-power, a bright bikelight is essential, as is an EDC flashlight.

Do I "NEED" a $140, or even a $300+ flashlight (which I'll have when the HDS U85 is available again)? I suppose not, but I appreciate quality and reliability. Which is why most of my pocket knives are similarily priced. I could make do with a Nuwaii, but I prefer an HDS. I could make do with a $50 Spyderco (actually, I do, but that's my secondary carry), but I carry $110 Benchmade 710HS, $150 BM42MC, $400 Microtech Scarab, $250 MT LCC D/A, or most recently, a $245 Bradley Mayhem balisong.

There's people I know who think I'm crazy, but these are the same that put $2000 worth of rims on their crappy car, change cell phones every 2 months, wear $60 shirts, etc. Two different kinds of people, two different causes for credit card debt.

i use a light a lot in my work and also despise crappy tools.
i remember the $.99 eveready plastic wonder that used to be on my pcb rework bench.
if you knocked it over or even looked at it funny it would pop its top and shoot the batteries across the room!it was a long running joke.watch out for the guard flashlight!youl get shot by that thing!
i even wrote battery cannon on it with a sharpie.
now if i told someone from outside the store to go to my bench and get a flashlight they would never find one.
most folks wouldnt recognise an arc ls till you show it to them.
before i got a good light(arc-ls) the mtbf for a flashlight was 2 months.
after a few drops and rattling about in a toolbox they were done.
i figure after 3 years or more of owning a few good lights i have passed the breakeven point as opposed to buying throwaways.

I also look at the light as a tool. I read "nice" as quality. I have some special lights that I can depend on in a difficult situation..

I have to visit buildings during construction, and there are always dark areas that I need to look at, either because they don't have lights installed yet or because I'm looking above a ceiling or under a floor. I've really enjoyed using my good lights for these visits as opposed to crappy performance from mags in the past.

as much as I need a nice computer, knives, guns, electronics, etc.

Do we really *need* to see when it's not light enough to do so naturally?? If the power goes out, do we need to find where we're going, when we could just roll into bed and fall asleep?

I'm the type that if I'm going to do something, I'm going to do it the best way that I can. This is why I carry a nice light. And a nice knife. And so on, and so forth..

I live on the Gulf Coast, so I NEED a dependable and regulated flashlight, in case a Hurricane causes a power outage.

So the answer is yes.

I NEED a nice flashlight!

Do they HAVE to be as nice as they are? No... but I view it as a tool and I don't NEED Milwaukee 28V Lithium-Ion drills, Fluke multimeters, Mac tools, Leatherman Charge Ti, Ripoffs holsters and percision tools... but it makes everything I do higher quality, quicker turn-around and reliability to work when the world goes to hell.

The red and UV lights are used in really, really bad situations but always work and I gain valuable time. Regulated lights to give consistant output, variable output lights when just enough light is correct and too much gets noticed by people I prefer not to see me.

LED lighting systems for cycling has been showing up on the market in the last 10 months. Thanks to modders, custom mounts and upgrades... I have been using regulated Luxeons for almost 3.5 years now. My MillerMods L1P 1.7 watt R bin can kick out enough photons to see by and not just to be seen. The big punch with something that does not require a cable running to a battery pack makes my ride safer, light is always available and it is very light increasing comfort.

I don't NEED a nice flashlight, I just NEED portable lighting systems that always work, give outstanding performance and just happen to have the ability to be used as flashlights.

Well..........I guess not.

I could get buy with:

EDC
River Rock 2-AAA $10

Long Run Time / Camping

A minimag with either MJLED or Niteize for $15
and
LED Headlight $7-$20

Long Throw:
3 cell Mag with zenon bulb. $14 (possiable add LED drop in from Sears 3-AAA Lux $12)
OR
Brinkman MaxFire $17

Total for my NEEDS is under $60.

Now remember my Fenix L1P is $40 so evedently NEED doesn't show all.

wwglen

I work on Pressure Washers. Many with fuel tanks. I must look into many of these tanks to see if the idiots put fuel in.

My Minim*g with Lambda Minipro LUXIII and Kroll is PERFECT for my needs.

Bonus: It looks like a million other minim*gs so isn't in great peril of being absconded with!

Not sure what "nice" means to you. If you mean high doller OK if you mean
nice as in works that is not the same. So I guess you equate "nice" with costly. My answer would be no I do not need a really expensive light. I like them I prefer them but less expensive lights would work most times. Not sure if that helped or hurt? Define "Nice" and I will understand better if you wish. I have both costly and non costly lights all the same to me they all get a turn at real use.
Topper

There are lots of times when you need them, well maybe not the NICE ones. But I think it's just the fun and WOW factor that you get from your friends (or children, in my case). Even my wife appreciates a good light. She stole my ultrastinger, because she was so impressed. But I love her, so I had to,...

I just plain dont need one at all..... ahh well, doesnt bother me

-david

I have always used lights as a daily tool for most of my life. I find the "nice lights do make you more productive" Having a great light was hammered home when I was involved in a shooting and didn't have a light. It was that shooting that got me to seek out CPF.