Am I past the point of no return?

...or is there still hope?

I recently discovered this site and based on what I've read here I think I may already be heading down the slippery slope!

Here's the list of lights so far, in no particular order:

1 no-name single led, 3AAA
1 no-name 8 led, 3AAA
1 incand. Maglite, 3D
1 3W Led MiniMag, 2AA
1 freebie Jameco incand light modified to use a red led (2AA)

I thought up the idea for the Jameco light modification, but my dad did the delicate work (my work with electronics can sometimes lead to burned fingers, small fires, and melted components..... but I've got some literature and I'm gonna start practicing :thumbsup

Anyway, lately I've been thinking of using an automotive high beam halogen headlight bulb plus a lithium poly battery pack to make a butt-kicking high power flashlight. (cost of the Li-po packs is still pretty high though...)

And where can I get ahold of one of those "Cree" leds I keep hearing about???

Oh yeah, I think I've got it bad!

:welcome:

Yeah, sounds like you're getting there, if you're not there already!

There are lots of new, bright, efficient LEDs out there. In the Cree family, from oldest to newest (and more efficient), most commonly you'll find P4, Q2, Q4, Q5 and the newest R2 bins within the Cree family. There is a WORLD of high output LED drop in modules if you have a Surefire 6p, G2, C2, Z2 or other lights that take "P60 sized" light assemblies. There is a sticky post at the top of the LED forums about these modules. Super cheap, and sometimes reliable/sometimes not, you can find these at $12 each shipped from Dealextreme.com. The higher quality ones are from Malkoff, Buguout Gear, Wolf-Eyes and Dereelight (and a few others). Then there are lots of dedicated lights that have Cree LEDs in them light Fenix and a bunch of others! Welcome, to the bright side... let your light shine!

Thanks!

Wow, the Led world is really starting to take off. I thought the Mag 3W led (luxeon?) was pretty awesome, but some of the newer cree stuff is downright astonishing.

Hello Stress_Test --


Welcome to CandlePowerForums !

:welcome:



Yes, the Mini-MagLED 2AA is quite a nice little light,
compared to its original, "classic" younger brother.

5 times as bright. Really nice if running on Rechargeable NiMH cells.

Can't beat the feeling of "guilt-free" Lumens. :thumbsup:



Sounds like yer' gonna' fit right in here on CPF.


But don't say we didn't warn you !


_

With a list like that, you need to go to Target.

You only have 5 lights. And two of those are Maglites.

There is a great deal of hope for you.... Let's see if we can correct that.

i want to say that there is no such point, its just "no return"

although, you may have some hope, dont look at surefires (www.surefire.com), and dont look at fenixes(www.fenix-store.com), and you may survive....

once you hit BST, theres no turning back...

Crenshaw

:welcome:

A good place to buy lower priced lights with the current gen LEDs is Dealexteme. Look in the Cree/Seoul/Rebel section for lights getting good reviews. It would take two weeks to a month to get the products to you though. The current gen LEDs are at least twice3 as efficient as the last gen ones(Luxeon I, III, V, and K2s) so just swapping the LED in your maglite to a Seoul P4 U-bin(the one that is most computable with the Luxeon I and IIIs) will give you double the output.

Also read the Welcome Mat, it would explain many things that you will come across.

Instead of the Halogen, just skip right to HIDs. I'd recommend going to the closest Sam's Club to see if they have the Vector Power on board HID or buying one from here.

Enjoy your stay!

:wave: Welcome!! this is a great hobby. I'm new too and am shocked how much knowledge gets shared... HIGHLY technical stuff too. Its a lot to understand. I had no idea flashlights are so technical.

For the past few months I've been very good about my spending. A minimag nite-ize drop in, Dorcy aspheric, river-rock aspherics from target, and a Cree XR-E Task Force.

The Lowes task force was the BIGoo:WOW purchase for me. SO much light for such little $$$. In-store availability, standard C cells. I'll probably get some AA-C adapters for it to reduce some weight. It completely screws together too, no glue or epoxy anywhere. So it should be easy to upgrade when new bins are created.

I think I have exhausted my local B&M places in the under $40 range. I just placed an order for a 6P and a DX drop in... time to turn UP the wick and get serious!!


definitely read the welcome mat and use the search tool as much as you can :welcome::welcome:

In your post you say "I have it bad." No, you have it Good!! Welcome

\\"With a list like that, you need to go to Target"

\\"You only have 5 lights. And two of those are Maglites.

There is a great deal of hope for you.... Let's see if we can correct that."

--------------------------

I thought I had a lot of lights for one guy.....then I saw the photo in another thread of somebody that had like 50 in a cabinet.

I like that Fenix cree light that takes 2AA; pretty good for only about 60 bucks. Maybe that'll be something I can spend part of my "stimulus rebate" check on.

For now I've been enjoying the Minimag led. My only real complaint is that there's not really any warning before it shuts off from low batteries. It's just like "hmm, the beam seems to be a bit dimmer than it was a second ago" then POOF it's off. When I'm out somewhere with it I usually carry some spare AA (NiMH).

Don't worry, that won't happen with the Fenix L2D(current brightest is the L2D-CE Q5, runtime charts). When the batteries get too low, the light goes into "moon mode" to give you some illumination, and there is also low mode if you want longer runtime.

I'd recommend getting the L2D, so you aren't as tempted by lower priced lights(though some are really good for the price).

Fenix Store has a 8% off coupon for CPFers, "CPF8".

Stress_Test said:

I thought I had a lot of lights for one guy.....then I saw the photo in another thread of somebody that had like 50 in a cabinet.

Click to expand...

Now you do realize that there was more than one cabinet.... right?

Stress_Test said:

I like that Fenix cree light that takes 2AA; pretty good for only about 60 bucks. Maybe that'll be something I can spend part of my "stimulus rebate" check on.

Click to expand...

you wanna be careful, after that theres no turning back.....there really isnt...:nana:

Crenshaw

It's genetic...you never really had a choice. Not to worry though, they're working on nanites that can resequence your genes. Really, why fight it? Enjoy the obsession.:thumbsup:

Welcome to cpf.....

Throw away ur cc cards before its too late!