Josey
Flashlight Enthusiast
The typical flashlight-loving noob who stumbles onto this forum is quickly overwhelmed. What's a lumen? What's a lux? What's a Luxeon III? Can anything outshine a Mag? They have no frame of reference to weigh the answers.
So: What they need is a basic set of tools to kick off their education, a basic set of lights that give them a frame of reference across the spectrum of great lights. They need hands-on learning. I'm talking flashlights. Ideally, their starter set will be hall-of-fame lights that will cover their entire lighting needs. And ideally, these would be lights that they would buy anyway if they stick to their flashoholism. And the starter set should be relatively inexpensive. No Surefire Beasts.
My suggestion:
1) An Arc AAA. This is a classic EDC/keychain light. Standard battery. Every flashoholic needs one. And it's a good example of a 5mm LED.
2) A Surefire L4. This will expose them to CR123 batteries and a wonderful Luxeon V with incredible brightness and flood. The L4 has to be a hall-of-fame light. And, this light can be easily modded with rechargeable batteries, Aleph Luxeon III heads, two-stage tail switch, etc.
3) An ordinary 3D Mag. They already have this, but it's great for comparison. And it is a great platform for building their first Mag85 a little way down the road.
4) A TigerLight, which blows the 3D Mag away in terms of brightness and runtime off a set of rechargeable batteries and an easy-to-use charging cradle. This light will show them the potential of hot wires. It MAY give them the chance to take advantage of Jim Sexton's killer mod projects.
This set of lights is flexible and gives noobs a frame of reference. If someone tells them that the AE HID Power Light is twice as bright as a TigerLight, they'll understand.
And, these are all great lights. They can buy them new for about $300 or so, if they shop carefully on BST. And if they don't like them, these are easy lights to sell and get their money back.
Josey
So: What they need is a basic set of tools to kick off their education, a basic set of lights that give them a frame of reference across the spectrum of great lights. They need hands-on learning. I'm talking flashlights. Ideally, their starter set will be hall-of-fame lights that will cover their entire lighting needs. And ideally, these would be lights that they would buy anyway if they stick to their flashoholism. And the starter set should be relatively inexpensive. No Surefire Beasts.
My suggestion:
1) An Arc AAA. This is a classic EDC/keychain light. Standard battery. Every flashoholic needs one. And it's a good example of a 5mm LED.
2) A Surefire L4. This will expose them to CR123 batteries and a wonderful Luxeon V with incredible brightness and flood. The L4 has to be a hall-of-fame light. And, this light can be easily modded with rechargeable batteries, Aleph Luxeon III heads, two-stage tail switch, etc.
3) An ordinary 3D Mag. They already have this, but it's great for comparison. And it is a great platform for building their first Mag85 a little way down the road.
4) A TigerLight, which blows the 3D Mag away in terms of brightness and runtime off a set of rechargeable batteries and an easy-to-use charging cradle. This light will show them the potential of hot wires. It MAY give them the chance to take advantage of Jim Sexton's killer mod projects.
This set of lights is flexible and gives noobs a frame of reference. If someone tells them that the AE HID Power Light is twice as bright as a TigerLight, they'll understand.
And, these are all great lights. They can buy them new for about $300 or so, if they shop carefully on BST. And if they don't like them, these are easy lights to sell and get their money back.
Josey
