How 'precious' are you about your torches?

At the moment my only modern LED torch is an Inova. It has a lovely black finish I find that when using it, I am rather careful with it, because I don't want to scratch it!

Yet I presume that in, say, 5 years time it will be rather more battered as I become less caring through familiarity. :sigh:

So, should I just act like that now (i.e. not worry about laying it down on concrete or wherever I happen to be), and let it become worn? Or should I keep it nice forever? :thinking:

I have a suite of near perfect Surefires that are spotless because I liked them so much I treated them with kid gloves, they've pretty much been upgraded now even though they were a pride and joy for a time.

However if you hit on the light that really is a user, let it be so and don't worry so much. The U2 is still a choice for me sometimes even though it has got fairly beaten up.

When I stumbled on "my favorate light of all time" I realised it was gonna go everywhere with me and really don't want to care how I treat it - thankfully it is bombproof and any marks wil only add its character. However I still bought a back up as a shelf queen:shrug:.

Simply put, I carefully use my lights. I don't toss 'em around, I don't drop them, I don't put them on rough surfaces unless necessary. I keep them in my pockets and I use them when I need to.

If your light is an HAIII you don't have to worry about the finish.. If you EDC it with keys/etc in a pocket it'll eventually start getting shiny in spots. Otherwise it'll probably always look new unless you bang/drop/drag it on something.

I don't buy shelf queens, and I don't spend money on fashion lights.

I use my lights, but treat them carefully. I try not to abuse them, as I would like to keep them around for as long as possible. I like each light I have, and have picked them carefully. I do not have a lot of money to spend on lights, so this is the collection I will have for some time. I am saving for a U2, but it will be some time next year before I can get one....unless I find a real good deal over at market place. I edc my Novatac 120P and SF ML1. The ML2 and Lumapower M1-R are my all purpose use lights with good spot and good spill. The MRV Q5 and A9S Q5 are of course my throwers and are used for spotting and distance purposes.

It depends on the light. My Pila GL3 and my Gladius are pretty much beater lights. I have other lights (SF L1, PD-S, CR2 by Larry, L1D CE) that I EDC without much regard to what happens to them. Then there are those that I use but I'm a bit more careful with: A2-WH-BK, SF U2.

I forgot about my ArcAAA - it resides on my keychain, and it sees plenty of abuse, day in, day out.

Except for an arc AAA, I'm pretty careful with all of my metal lights. It makes be cringe during those unfortunate moments when a light falls over or gets a tiny scratch on it. I really appreciate what I've been fortunate enough to own and I prefer to keep my things as new as possible while still being able to use and enjoy them.

I have the exact same thoughts about my lights. I really dont care much about thoose thoughts, but still I do treat them very carefuly...
I´d like to treat them as they should be threaten ( spelling of?) They should be able to take normal abuse, thinking of my SF lights, they cost way more than other lights, and they are supposed to be able to handle abuse since they are ment to be used by the army, and they cant think twice about what surface they put their light on. I really dont hope they need to think of such things while out there with flying bullets over their heads!

Id like to use and handle my lights as I need to, and if they brake when using them normally (not bashing them on a rock or something like that) i dont buy more of that brand. Im not quite there yet, I still treat most of them as eggs...
New things are often handled with great care, untill you get some what tired of them, then you use them, and dont care as much of how you treat them.
Do I ramble? Well....My state is...a couple of beers later...
Dont get me wrong, I still mean what I write!

Just use them. Get a nice leather holster for them and keep them close.
Don't worr if they get a ding or bright on them. The fact is they are tools. Tools get used.
If ou plan on keeping a collection of new unused lights then buy 2 one to use one to worship on a pedstal.
Most important thing is to have fun.
Yaesumofo

Most of mine are still new in the packaging I promise I'll use them someday I'm just taking my time :tinfoil:

Not careful at all

I want to rely on my lights without the need to pamper them. The reason to buy top quality gear is to eliminate one possible concern in order to gain freedom in my activities. Wear marks testify about the adventures I had. Of course you have to know the limit of each piece of gear. Bruno

I tend to be pretty careful with all my stuff. Lights are kind of like a new car. Until you get that first scratch they get babied. But, that's just me. Whatever floats your boat is right for you.

Geoff

I have sold al my nice metal expensive lights (all SF) now most of mine are plastic (pelican 7060, SurvivorLED ect) so I do not worry about them that much. My edc is a LP M3, but its going to get dinged up in my pocket, so I just do not worry about it. My favorite light is the Streamlight SurvivorLED because it is rated to survive a 30' drop test, and has the most solid feeling switch of any light I have ever owned.

If I had a really nice custom light, I think I would protect it though. Lately, I have just been buying things that if they fall down, it is not the end of the world. I kind of like it that way.

When I let my friends use my lights I tell them "you scratch them you buy me another light". That makes them very careful with my lights.

i buy my lights for users becasue in college you cant very well afford a shelf queen. i beat the hell out of my McG Ti PD-s, just today i slid it 45 feet across a concrete floor to my buddy that needed a light.

Any more questions ?

Some (most) of my lights can take some abuse -- so I'm not overly careful with them.

They're tools.

BTW, my Gladii are some of my favorite lights. It's a badge of honor that the older Gladius looks this way: It got used.

i imagine that my ti pd-s would look something like that gladius if it had a coating of some sort. that the best part about titanium it doesnt really show wear at all.

i dont baby my flashlights at all
my 6p has big scrapes all over itfrom living in an open top holster and being fallen on, scraped against stuff etc
same with my magcharger, stinger, inova T4 etc

my EDC rotation lights are also pretty beaten
my U2 has little dings and scratches around the head, same with my L4
my Novatac has been ordered, when it gets here it is getting stuffed in a pocket with a Sak
it will probably get a bit dinged and scratched within a week or 2

mossyoak said:

i imagine that my ti pd-s would look something like that gladius if it had a coating of some sort. that the best part about titanium it doesnt really show wear at all.

Click to expand...

Titanium, mmmmmm...

My newer, Seoul-upgraded, Gladius is HAIII. We'll see how well this holds up. The older one in the pic has the ceramic coating; guess there's a reason why they changed the coating .

I am like most of the posters here so far. I take care of my things within reason, but I try not to over-protect them, either. I tend to take care of all my possessions...I do pretty well, but I'm far from wealthy. I had a few more expensive lights (think..A2) that I couldn't bear to scratch, so they sat on the nightstand for months. One day, I noticed a tiny nick, so I threw the light in my pocket and never looked back.

I had a pristine old 6P original and that glossy black Type II was gorgeous. I couldn't bear to use it as an EDC (the reason I bought it). I finally gave the light a whack on the kitchen countertop at the advice of a SF collector here on CPF, and got the light into EDC service. That WAS painful, and I doubt I'll ever do it again, but it worked like a charm.

The majority of my lights are users, and most don't have a scratch. I won't intentionally abuse them, but if they get scratched up I won't go to pieces over it.

I have a few shelf queens, but even they get used around the house. I invest in stock, not lights. I collect other things, not lights (well... ) You don't have to abuse your light, but use it, use it often, or use it as much as you feel comfortable with anyway. Otherwise it's a shiny, expensive paperweight. Having a flashlight that doesn't make light is akin to having a 64-1/2 Mustang in the garage with the oil and gas removed.

I couldn't afford not to use my most expensive light. So it resides in my pocket every day, getting used and dinged and scraped and scratched. It still looks pretty good, but it certainly doesn't look new.