PaulKersey
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Jan 13, 2008
- Messages
- 13
Howdy all,
I became fascinated with the concept of strategic EDC last summer and have been on a roll ever since. My latest bit of research is for my first serious light, so I have been lurking here and searching through tons of old threads. You have quite the community here, so thank you, and I am inspired to tell a little story.
Today at work I had my first major "breakthrough" on why I definitely want a new light to play with.
Briefly, I pull low voltage wiring, install custom residential A/V and home automation systems, program remote systems, etc. Most jobs take place inside homes in well lit areas, but we do need battery driven light all the time. Wall cavities need to be peeked into, attics and crawls, much more. I carry a Home Depot $10 AA Mini Mag on my right hip, and a Streamlight Stylus in my front pocket.
Mag works well enough, gives me enough light to see in a dark space and is easily accessible via the stock holster. We get free AA batteries so I am never out of pocket for them, and the price of the Mag itself is right, because it gets dropped fairly often I would freak out if I lost a Surefire or something down into a wall cavity. It dims and dies pretty quickly, partially because it rolls itself on a lot if I bump it while crawling or whatever and don't notice it being on until later.
The Stylus pen lights are great, we use them a ton for peeking into single gang holes or for trying to see a fish line in a small hole we drilled. We also get these for free, so this combo of Mag + Stylus is basically fine. That said...
This past week and today we were pre-wiring a huge Crestron job and the house is still under construction, and very cold (Chicago -30F wind chill much?). Tonight we had to stay until about 7 PM, so for about 2 hours we were working in a very dark house. Dark pre-wires are nothing new, but I have never had new-LED-on-the-brain-itis at the previous ones. We had some lights up in the basement, but not upstairs and we were cleaning up and checking our work on floors 1/2/3. Scraps and debris all over, wood to trip on, etc.
I was using the Mag, in all of its dim yellow glory. I mean it still works "fine", it beamed across the house and basement wall to wall, and I had light... but I would really have loved to fire up a more powerful LED beast in that house and see what it could have done. The dust and snowflakes were flying all around me and creating a nice effect when they passed through the beam of light, but it was still weaksauce. I have never owned a serious LED light. Memories of a big D cell Mag throwing beam across a camp ground in the 90s is all I have. Spill in this case would have been supreme, but there is no sense in denying that I am lusting for a light saber first.
I don't think this new light I am looking for would replace the Mag or Stylus for my day to day use, but this latest dark house scenario gives me even more motivation to nail down my EDC light choice so that I can have it for personal use, and have it with me just in case I am working in the dark again and want to blaze up the job site.
I am currently researching a total of 3 light types to fill roles and specific form factors. A keychain AAA, a pocket or belt clip carry EDC semi-thrower AA, and a holster carry super thrower of any battery type.
I have a red LED Photon II on my keychain, right now am leaning to Arc AAA to give my keys some white light power in a rugged package. My alternate pick is Liteflux LF2 for the 100%/1% programming options. This combo of either full blast or absolute minimum for peak efficiency is very appealing to my semi-OCD personality.
The pocket carry AA is for EDC versatility, lots of use and common battery acquisition, with hopefully the option of using a high powered battery for better performance. I would like to use it with Eneloops mainly. This is the type I wish I had on me today. My preference is throw/build quality, and I know I am probably sacrificing by choosing the AA power source, but I can't jive with making my first LED a 123 muncher. The NiteCore Defender Infinity seems decent, but the reported gaudy markings is a huge turn off to me, as is people calling it worthy at $40 but not $80. The Fenix AA seems like perhaps the best bet, a safe buy. I normally research for periods longer than a few weeks but I am starting to itch.
The holster carry light is a long ways off because I need to research that one much much more.
Thanks for reading and I look forward to my stay here. No pressure intended to give me buying advice, the main point of this post was to share a story about the lust for light I thought you all might enjoy. I added my current research and buying conclusions because it was a natural progression from the story and to give you a bit more info on my thought process as a light user.
=)
I became fascinated with the concept of strategic EDC last summer and have been on a roll ever since. My latest bit of research is for my first serious light, so I have been lurking here and searching through tons of old threads. You have quite the community here, so thank you, and I am inspired to tell a little story.
Today at work I had my first major "breakthrough" on why I definitely want a new light to play with.
Briefly, I pull low voltage wiring, install custom residential A/V and home automation systems, program remote systems, etc. Most jobs take place inside homes in well lit areas, but we do need battery driven light all the time. Wall cavities need to be peeked into, attics and crawls, much more. I carry a Home Depot $10 AA Mini Mag on my right hip, and a Streamlight Stylus in my front pocket.
Mag works well enough, gives me enough light to see in a dark space and is easily accessible via the stock holster. We get free AA batteries so I am never out of pocket for them, and the price of the Mag itself is right, because it gets dropped fairly often I would freak out if I lost a Surefire or something down into a wall cavity. It dims and dies pretty quickly, partially because it rolls itself on a lot if I bump it while crawling or whatever and don't notice it being on until later.
The Stylus pen lights are great, we use them a ton for peeking into single gang holes or for trying to see a fish line in a small hole we drilled. We also get these for free, so this combo of Mag + Stylus is basically fine. That said...
This past week and today we were pre-wiring a huge Crestron job and the house is still under construction, and very cold (Chicago -30F wind chill much?). Tonight we had to stay until about 7 PM, so for about 2 hours we were working in a very dark house. Dark pre-wires are nothing new, but I have never had new-LED-on-the-brain-itis at the previous ones. We had some lights up in the basement, but not upstairs and we were cleaning up and checking our work on floors 1/2/3. Scraps and debris all over, wood to trip on, etc.
I was using the Mag, in all of its dim yellow glory. I mean it still works "fine", it beamed across the house and basement wall to wall, and I had light... but I would really have loved to fire up a more powerful LED beast in that house and see what it could have done. The dust and snowflakes were flying all around me and creating a nice effect when they passed through the beam of light, but it was still weaksauce. I have never owned a serious LED light. Memories of a big D cell Mag throwing beam across a camp ground in the 90s is all I have. Spill in this case would have been supreme, but there is no sense in denying that I am lusting for a light saber first.
I don't think this new light I am looking for would replace the Mag or Stylus for my day to day use, but this latest dark house scenario gives me even more motivation to nail down my EDC light choice so that I can have it for personal use, and have it with me just in case I am working in the dark again and want to blaze up the job site.
I am currently researching a total of 3 light types to fill roles and specific form factors. A keychain AAA, a pocket or belt clip carry EDC semi-thrower AA, and a holster carry super thrower of any battery type.
I have a red LED Photon II on my keychain, right now am leaning to Arc AAA to give my keys some white light power in a rugged package. My alternate pick is Liteflux LF2 for the 100%/1% programming options. This combo of either full blast or absolute minimum for peak efficiency is very appealing to my semi-OCD personality.
The pocket carry AA is for EDC versatility, lots of use and common battery acquisition, with hopefully the option of using a high powered battery for better performance. I would like to use it with Eneloops mainly. This is the type I wish I had on me today. My preference is throw/build quality, and I know I am probably sacrificing by choosing the AA power source, but I can't jive with making my first LED a 123 muncher. The NiteCore Defender Infinity seems decent, but the reported gaudy markings is a huge turn off to me, as is people calling it worthy at $40 but not $80. The Fenix AA seems like perhaps the best bet, a safe buy. I normally research for periods longer than a few weeks but I am starting to itch.
The holster carry light is a long ways off because I need to research that one much much more.
Thanks for reading and I look forward to my stay here. No pressure intended to give me buying advice, the main point of this post was to share a story about the lust for light I thought you all might enjoy. I added my current research and buying conclusions because it was a natural progression from the story and to give you a bit more info on my thought process as a light user.
=)
...you've got some reading in store. :thumbsup:
