Who really carries expensive EDCS?

Im curious who really CARRIES there expensive every day carry lights? Im talkin like the Twisties and the Aeons and the Clickys and the McGizmos and such. I know there are alot of them out there and Im curious how many are shelf queens and how many are used the way they were built. Rough and tough and the ability to take abuse and every day carry. You can add pictures of your light if has some use on it if you like.

I frequently holster an M6...
:nana:

clicky here. not that expensive tho, relatively. and not shelf-queen material: its made to be used.

I have some nice lights and, I carry the most expensive of them. I USE my lights though as I have always stated, I don't Abuse them. They all look like new.


Karl

I guess you'd have to define expensive, everyone would have their own point. I would consider even a Fenix LD10 or a Nitecore EX-10 as "expensive" as there are a lot of cheaper lights. That said I carry both of these alternatively. They are tools to me, but in a collectible way. I'd carry an Aeon if I ever get around to buying one!

Tim

SF TITAN here on the keychain since it came out.

McGizmo LunaSol20 or SF U2 or McGizmo RedEye (one-off) as to-go lights.

bernie

I don't see any problem with carring many of these. I have my Twisty on me right now, and a BitZ. I don't have my Aeon, but that one I would be least worried about if I put it on my keychain. I mean if I lose my keys I'm going to be more upset and disruppted about the keys than a flashlight. I do worry a little about caring the Aeon if it is not attached, because it is so small. I would just be upset at myself if I lost it, due to carelessness.

I love the BitZ and it is not easily replaced... but that's life... I don't keep my expensive watches in the drawer, they are on the wrist and my main one costs a lot more than a handful of great lights.

Shelf queens are nice, but I'd rather enjoy them while I can.

So if it's on the keychain securely I don't see a problem. If it's a real nice light you just have to hope if anyone was to find it they would love it or find someone who does.

Having a twisty as a shelf queen is kind of perverse. It would be better to play baseball with it for a day than sit it on the shelf for years.

IMHO

When I'm at work I EDC a Surefire L4 in a holster. And I also carry an Inova X5, Arc AAA, and a Photon 2. I guess "expensive" is a relative term. Pretty much everyone I show my EDC's to think all of them are expensive, except for maybe the Photon 2.

I carry my Twisty every day. I have often told my co workers about it's durability but to really no avail. Two days ago, after having one of them really question what I showed him on the RA website (the picture of the Twisty all banged up), he still said that he didn't buy into the fact that someone could spend $150 on a "simple flashlight" and not worry about it being all scratched up.

So I turned the light on to the medium setting and told him to take it outside and throw it as high as he possibly could and to "let the chips fall where they may." After he asked if I was serious, he went outside and really did throw it as high as I think he could. **Now I gotta admit that I was a little nervous about the possible outcome, but somehow trusted everything that I had read about this light before I bought it.**

Needless to say, the light came down, smacked the parking lot and was still shining like it was before the light took its trip. Without letting out a verbal or visible sigh of relief, I simply said....Told Ya.

No shelf queens for me. Ever.

Btw, very little damage to the light. A slight dent in the bezel and two places on the tail end where the ano came off. Tomorrow morning, as it has every morning since I got bought the light, it will go into my right front pocket and hopefully never have to be used in a life or death situation. But if it does, I would trust that light fully and completely. Period.:twothumbs

My NDI is both the most expensive and the most used light I own. I can't afford, and wouldn't buy even if I could, ridiculously expensive lights such as Titans and such, but I agree on the "no shelf queens" philosophy.

WOW wacbzz that is truely a cool story. Ill admit that i would be nervous if someone took me up on that offer with my twisty. I think henry should have a true story section on his website like surefire does. That would be a winner in my book. lol :twothumbs

My HDS U60 was my EDC until I got a RaLight Clicky (my current EDC).
RC

Wow this is really cool. I am suprised at how many people actually carry there lights. I personally carry every light i own... I think partly because I realized Im a user and not so much of a collector. Thats not to say there is anything wrong with collecting. This is just what im trying to figure out. I can appreciate ppl just collecting Twistys or Aeons or any number of Surefires etc.. Expensive, true is in the eye of the beholder but what i was gettin at was more than say $50 or so like a Fenix or the likes.

I carry my Aeon on my keychain. Love it and would not have bought it if I could not use it. Stands up nice to wear, and allows me to one-up my non-flashacholic friends who are trying to show off their latest pocket light!

T.

I think yes it is important to make the distinction between collectors, and users or enthusiasts.

In the case of the collector they are basically all Shelf-Queens, and that's fine because they are collecting them. There are people that collect every possible thing I think, and that's a different motivation.

I carry mine. The best way to enjoy what you own is to use it, IMHO, so my most expensive lights are what I carry most, in fact I'm never without at least one of 'em. I am not afraid to drop, use, or otherwise dirty them up.

They are, of course, so expensive because they are designed and engineered to be the amongst the most reliable, durable lights on the market, and to not carry them would be a real shame.

(Click to enlarge)


Also, I've never found a system that worked better for me than one of Don's PD lights. The head twisty and momentary switch is perfect.

Been carrying my SS DragonHeart every day in a Holester.

Bill

I edc a spy 007 for work.

it already has scratches.

i'm using a modified cloth cellphone case, that also holds an L0-Ti as backup to the spy.

Most days since purchasing my Ti Draco, I've EDC'd it. It's not banging around with keys, but I do have full confidence that the AlTiN coating would keep it looking like new; I just don't want anything additional on my keychain. Now, I'm rotating my Olight Titanium Infinitium into rotation. No worries about it being a shelf queeen.

The earlier post about what makes a light expensive in different peoples minds is something all of us have probably thought about a lot over time as we've seen our own perceptions change.

When I bought my first Browning AAA for $30 I really had to wrestle with whether or not to spend that kind of money; a question which vanished with the darkness as I finally found the first light I ever felt happy with.

Now as you folks here at CPF have willfully passed your affliction on to me I now find myself not really thinking of my D10, NDI or 120P as particularly expensive lights but definitely as every day work tools.

Not sure yet how I'll feel when I get my Draco and Titan, but I'm sure at very least that the Draco will live in my pocket!