Experience changes what light you buy?

Now that I a decent collection of lights (34) I have stopped "pulling the trigger" on a whim but now see if that new light fills a niche I haven't filled, many times it's the looks, other times it's who builds it (custom lights) The other thing I notice that the lights I favor cost much more than the lights I previously purchased.

Is it the same for YOU?

lyrrag

I was at your stage about two years ago but went a little further! I made a decision to reduce the number of lights and types of batteries to bare minimum (excluding shelf queens). I now use only three lights (one in my truck, briefcase and bed stand). The three lights that I initially decided to go with were SF G2 in my truck and briefcase and a SF A2 on my bed stand which use on 123 primaries. My three lights now are SF G2L in my truck, E1B in my briefcase and U2 on my night stand.

I will probably replace one of the three lights this year with something that catches my fancy. The variable output lights that are now being offered or will be offered in the near future are very tempting!

Same here...I use to buy lights on a "whim"...but I find my self being more and more "picky"...I can walk by ton's of "decent" lights, but they no longer really appeal to me...but then I'll come across a unique light (or a quality light at a good price), and then it happens, LOL. For example, yesterday I went to Battery's Plus for batteries (Honestly)...(AAAA's to be exact), and then I saw the SL Twin Task 1L...since it was a single cell, it was the perfect light to run down my 123's (single cell 123's are hard to come by) and it just looked cool. I had bought my light for that payday and was content...or so I thought...then I got my state tax return, and the wife wanted to stop by a local "Buy-out" store (Tuesday Morning), and I found a Coast 3 LED (Nichia) submersible for only $8!!! (normally $25). I NEEDED another submersible light to accompany my Peli Stealthlight. So, yes, you are not alone!!!

Yes it is the same for me.

I used to buy light after light when I didn't know much about the different brands and models of lights and when there were many I wanted, but now I have most of the best lights (in my opinion) available.

Now I buy a very expensive light every now and then if it is better in some way (brighter, bigger, nicer looking) than the ones I own.

I've slowed way down from my purchasing habits of several years ago, instead of 6-8lights a month, I'm down to maybe a dozen or so a year now. I still occasionally make impulse purchases, but those are much rarer than they used to be. I bought a lot of Surefires in 6-8 months time, I had around 20-25 of them, but I spent a few months using them all and evaluating which ones met my needs and ended up selling about half of them, and keeping the ones I used most often. I am also not an early adopter anymore, I typically wait until a light has been out for a few weeks or a few months, and has been reviewed by a number of CPFers whose opinions I respect.

I've also found the virtues of simplicity - a complex UI is not a good thing, IMHO...

Yes: more, and more expensive. But that's because I have a bit more money available to spend than I did a year ago, and now I try a few and sell the ones that don't live up to my expectations.

My first "real" light was a Surefire C2, I researched it pretty well and have carried it everyday. I liked the one I had so much I bought another as a back up and kept it in the truck and then again, I've found that I liked the C2 even better with a M60 in it so I bought one in HAIII and that is my new EDC.

So in that respect experience hasn't changed anything but I think I got lucky with my original choice that I keep going back to it.

That being said, unlike others who have slowed down their light purchases I'm at the height of my light purchases, this addiction has hit me hard. Hopefully with the money I spent this past week I'll be done until the UB2 and UA2 come out and I can read some good reviews.

lyrrag said:

Now that I a decent collection of lights (34) I have stopped "pulling the trigger" on a whim but now see if that new light fills a niche I haven't filled, many times it's the looks, other times it's who builds it (custom lights) The other thing I notice that the lights I favor cost much more than the lights I previously purchased.

Is it the same for YOU?

lyrrag

Click to expand...

Yup!

I'm far more picky now, about which lights I'll add to my collection than I was just a few months ago. It started when I got my Solarforce L600.... and soon discovered what an absolute piece of junk it was!

Only high-end quality lights for me! I'll buy a low-end one if the light does something special and the quality is at least barely decent.

My last order from Lighthound includes a Novatac 120-P, and a C to M 2x18650 Leef Body. Quality all the way! :thumbsup:

I think it's a natural progression for everyone in the hobby. At first, you buy whatever looks cool, or is priced cheap. Then you move onto better lights because of research and forums like this one. I went from any and every light, to Surefire only.

I still purchase other brands on ocassion, but it's only to strip and polish. Then I give them away

I've had a couple of production lights "ruin it" for me (in the sense that I can't justify buying any other lights to upgrade these):

Arc AAA
SF U2
SF A2
PT Eos (headlamp)


I can think of other lights that I "want", but none of them I really "need". Even if I got them, they wouldn't add much more to the lights I already have.

Specifically to answer the OP question; experience has most definitely made a difference.
In the beginning, I was looking for the best and brightest "throwers".

After I had them, I found (through experience) that "throwing" was almost useless for most of my real-world light requirements.

So then I looked at all sorts of other lights that were much less powerful (while still more than I needed) but had features that were way more beneficial to me than simply raw brightness.

So out of 35+ lights (none of them being "cheap"), I've found that the ones that work best for me are:
120P
6P w/Malkoff M60L
CL1H Q5/3SD
Surefire E1B
Surefire E1L/dual
6P w/Malkoff M60
Surefire E1L/single
Surefire L1
AE Xenide 25W

In the list above, I've ordered them in a general rank of how much I use them and how useful they are to me. If I had to pare down my collection, those would be the "keepers".

So yea, experience from actually using a lot of the lights that we talk about here in CPF has led to my buying many less lights because I've (almost?) ended up with a group of them that I see no reason to replace, even as LED's get brighter over time.
Hell, most of the above already blow out my night vision as it is, and I use the lower light output settings (when available) on those lights probably 90% of the time. So what's the use of sitting and waiting for the even brighter LEDs to arrive on the scene?

My .02... because you asked. :wave: