Very first flashlight, and how old were you?

Now I'm a flash-a-holic, I've been digging back in my life when it all started:

I was about 7 or 8 years old when I got my very first flashlight. So that's more than 30 years ago! It was a Sonca, it took 2 C-cells and was, for me, very bright.... with fresh batteries that is. It was orange like an orange, you screwed off the head to put in the batteries. After a while, the switch broke down and the light was unusable. After that, I bought several cheap Chinese lights, until I discovered a certain series of Daimon flashlights. For that time (in the '80s) they were modern! They featured an "NF-brilliant" lamp, could be focussed as desired and finally, I owned the complete series, ranging from a small one taking one 2R10 battery (do you remember these 3V sticks??) to a 2C and 2D to, finally, the "kilometerschijner" which took 4 D-cells and featured a 4W Halogen-bulb. I still have them ALL today. They still work!
Then I switched over to Maglite. I must have over 30 of them. Including at least 11 Solitaires, 5 Mini-AAAs, 10 mini-AAs, 2 times the 2D, 2X 3D and 2X Magcharger.
The last thing I bought just arrived today. An Ultrafire WF-501B with 9V 10W bulb, which outshines the MagCharger :thinking:
I'm using it with 2 protected Ultrafire 16340 880mAh-cells. they are capable of delivering enough current (so at least 1,3 Amps) as the protection doesn't come in.
On the way are a Fenix P1D and that small, cheap light of them (E01??)
The next one may be a set of Lummis...... or the Ultrafire WF-500 Xenon.
Does anybody have experience with this light? I read different stories about them.... from extremely bad to WHOOOWWW !

I'm curious what you'll all tell me of your first flashlight :thumbsup:

This is a fun idea for a thread.

I was about the same age when I got my first flashlight. So that must have been about 25 years ago. It was a Camo Mini MagLite 2xAA. I bought it at the L.L.Bean store in Freeport ME on a trip with my father. I remember him razzing me for buying a camouflage light and joking that I would drop it in the woods and loose it.

I don't remember what ever happened to it, wish I still had it, I'd mod it. Maybe it's still in some junk drawer back at my father's house. I'll have to do some rummaging next time I visit.

I was 5 years old and got a 'Thomas the Tank Engine' torch that projected a face of Thomas everywhere I went :thumbsup:

I even used it in anger a couple of years later when we had a big storm that knocked out the power for a week in 1987.

Mine was a little 1AA. Don't remember the brand, but it was red and silver. That must have been about 1955. I recall using it to read under the covers at night when I was supposed to be sleeping.

Geoff

My first was the old army anglehead. My dad was a supply sargent at the local armory, so he brought one home for my brother and me. I must've been like 4ish. Damn thing magically vanished, but now I'm pretty sure my brother lost his and mine.

A MagLite solitaire about fifteen years ago... back when you could have any sort of lamp you wished in your EDC light, as long as it was incandescent.
Never bought another flashlight until LEDs came along, then it sort of went downhill.

I never bought one till I was 27. I always seemed to find one somewhere. I never had a "need" for one till I started doing A/V work.

I got one of those little disposable penlights that doctors use in a Christmas stocking when I was around 5 years old. I was afraid to use it too much because the batteries were not replaceable. That was 35 years ago!

I was looking at the flashlight section at the drug store last night and saw a Mag Solitaire. I remember getting my first one. I thought it was such a great light. Actually, for a little kid with a fascination with flashlights, it WAS a great light. I almost bought one out of nostalgia.

CuNim said:

I was 5 years old and got a 'Thomas the Tank Engine' torch that projected a face of Thomas everywhere I went :thumbsup:

Click to expand...

I had the same sorta thing as my first when I was 5yo... Except mine was a batman logo :twothumbs

mine, believe it or not, was a decent light, 6 years ago (im only 15), the inova x5!, its still working, and on the same set of batteries. ive beaten the crap out of it, and am surprized it has taken 6 years of abuse with no performance drop.

I was given a 2BF torch, with two brand-new silver Eveready 927 batteries.

It looked exactly like this:

I was seven. Of course I destroyed it, I was a boy.

When I was a kid I had a 2D light I played with. I was silver and had a side switch for constant on and a button beside the switch for momentary activation. Truthfully I played with it because it looked like a lightsaber and when you are camping and walking around the campfire, the smoke allows to pretend even more.

rockz4532 said:

mine, believe it or not, was a decent light, 6 years ago (im only 15), the inova x5!, its still working, and on the same set of batteries. ive beaten the crap out of it, and am surprized it has taken 6 years of abuse with no performance drop.

Click to expand...

Wow that's amazing. Lucky ******* lol.

I would say I was about five maybe. I got a red Everready light. That pretty much started it for me

8 years old and it was a railroad signal lantern.:candle:

I do not remember how old I was (It was a long time ago).

It was some sort of metal flashlight with two C or D cells and it had sliders to push a red or green filter around the bulb.
I can also remember a white flashlight with two D cells and a switch that was also a magnet.
My favorite light was a bit later (I was probably 12 to 15 years), it was a square light with four D cells placed around the reflector.
I also believe it was at that time somebody had a flashlight that impressed my so much that I bought something like it later on. It was a light with 6 D cells, an incan bulb in one end and a fluorescent tube parallel to the batteries, that was places as 2x3. That light was very impressive outside, either it was a searchlight or it could light a big area.

Except the fluorescent tube, I do not believe that any of these light would be worth looking at today.

When I was about 7 years old I bought a green 2AA MiniMag in vacation in Italy. I still have it today but I put it a Terralux dropin.

rayman

First purchase was about 9 years old; Ash Flash Searchlight Lantern 4-D cell.

The first light ever was an unknown brand 2xAA that had the two batteries side by side in a white plastic case; a red part with the bulb and switch snapped into the end. The switch was a ribbed wheel that could be pressed for momentary on, or rotated past a detent to remain on. The bulb was a screw-based penlight bulb. I had it in first grade so around 5 years old.