I'm back - thought I was cured

This is not good. Thought I would never have to buy another flashlight again. In fact I haven't bought one for over a year. My last was a Fenix L1 CPF special with the higher bin (can't remember which now) 1W LED. Really nice high quality little single cell flashlight, it's great but I always wished I had something brighter in the same size.

Well I've been reading the reviews and discovered these new cree LEDs. Where did they come from anyway? No mention of them last time I was here Lol. How technology advances.

Anyway to make a long story longer, I went and ordered a Fenix P2D. This makes the most expensive flashlight I've bought to date. My decision to buy this was influenced by reading through CPF, plus having owned a Fenix before, but also the endorsement from Flashlight reviews guy. If it's good enough for him to have as his EDC then it can't be too bad!

Still feeling a little nervous though. I hope I will be happy with it. Hope it's nice and bright. Almost can't believe the quoted figures for it. That's like 4 times brighter than my L1.

I think we all tend to relapse after taking some flashlight time off.

:buddies:

Time off?

I thought that was bank account recovery!

welcome back. wish i could stop spending money on things i don't need.

Welcome back to the fray. I don't think you'll be disappointed with the P2D.

Welcome back You will be very happy with your new light...these Cree's are something else! The only problem is that it is gonna push you to buy more, and more, and more!!! Oh, and don't forget to pick yourself up a Seoul powered light as well

Now you've done it. Gonna have to look into these Seoul lights now too. Sigh...

Fenix overrates their lumen rating by about 20% (average). It's still pretty bright, apparently it is good enough to convince Quickbeam to change his EDC from a Peak to a Fenix.

Fenix's Cree beams have a ring around the hotspot that is "normal" for a Cree light, due to the metal 'reflector' in the LED. And sometimes the LED is misaligned, just send it back for a replacement.

Stay a bit, Luxeon is coming out with a new LED Gen X (supposed 500 lumen at 2 amp) and their new Rebel is out now. Maybe we will see lights with those LED before the end of the year.

Have fun withyour new light

I think you picked a good one. Who knows, you might like it so well that it satisfies your light desires for another year.

If the Fenix P2D does as advertised it may retire a number of lights of mine. All purpose and variable brightness may be hard to beat. Hopefully it will last me a while.

The 500 lumen Gen X sounds good too. Have to keep an eye out for that one.

Yeah I just got a Fenix L1D CE today and it is misaligned...the hotspot looks like it has a tumor...not happy.

sejvaar said:

Yeah I just got a Fenix L1D CE today and it is misaligned...the hotspot looks like it has a tumor...not happy.

Click to expand...

Does your hotspot kinda look like a persons head with the hair? My M-1 has that but for some reason I thought that was normal?!?! Hmmm...

You will like the Fenix L1D-CE, at least twice as bright,

RdlyLite,

Keeping to the head theme it was more like a bald guy with a Shriner's hat on

It WAS bright and had some serious throw in the backyard but the inside it just bugged me not seeing a smooth round beam. And I thought I could deal with the reverse clicky but it is just 'wrong' to me.

It went back today.

I'm a newish member, only joiing a few months ago, but have amassed a bit of a collection.

Seeing as how I don't need all these lights, and I'm unsure I am to comfortable with the endless spending (just can't stop!), I'm going to have to find some CPF therapy or something.




I feel that it is tons of fun joining now as the cree revolution has made for some amazing lights at amazing prices (so people tell me since I'm new).

It's a great t5ime to be a flashaholic, but man, how does one stop the spending?!

:lolsign:

sejvaar said:

RdlyLite,

Keeping to the head theme it was more like a bald guy with a Shriner's hat on

It WAS bright and had some serious throw in the backyard but the inside it just bugged me not seeing a smooth round beam. And I thought I could deal with the reverse clicky but it is just 'wrong' to me.

It went back today.

Click to expand...

hehe. Maybe you and I got the bad ones? :/

gunga said:

I'm a newish member, only joiing a few months ago, but have amassed a bit of a collection....

....It's a great t5ime to be a flashaholic, but man, how does one stop the spending?!

Click to expand...

You sure are keen. Over 500 posts in a few months. As long as your having fun!

TORCH_BOY said:

You will like the Fenix L1D-CE, at least twice as bright,

Click to expand...

I was thinking of getting a single cell AA type but wanted more light output (I'm greedy) but size to remain small so went for a cr123 type. Of course this means I'll be buying batteries on internet since stores sell them for $10 each.

What's with that anyway? Why can I get cr123 cells on internet for less than $2 including freight but stores want $10? That's an awful big cut for some middle man.

Learjet said:

What's with that anyway? Why can I get cr123 cells on internet for less than $2 including freight but stores want $10? That's an awful big cut for some middle man.

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You're probably primarily paying for a brand name and maybe a bit more for the overhead of a brick & mortar business. There's also demand to consider. 123s are commonly described as "photo" batteries, meaning something you replace once a decade in film cameras. Usage in flashlights seems to be limited to compact and/or high performance lights - a niche market IMO, ironicly, possibly due to the price of batteries. Anyway, there's not much incentive for a company to strike a deal with the manufacturer by buying in bulk if most of the inventory is going to just sit in storage.
Lowes sells Energizer 123 2-packs for $10, but that's still 2-5x what you pay on the internet. Looking at the package, the Energizers are made in the US - that could play a role as well.