What do you use the big guns for?

I bought M2X thinking I'll use it often but I don't, it's so heavy that I don't carry it with me anywhere, so all it does is basically sits in a drawer.

So besides take it out and go ohhhh ahhhh for a while then put it back, how many people actually use the multi die/emitter light regularly? I may just sell mine since it's not being used and will go obsolete soon.

i literally thought it was a gun thread... :duh2:

I recently bought a Olight M30. It is replacing the old Surefire U2 as my edc light. I look at it in this light, the mid-range output of the M30 is 120 lumens for a bit over 9 hours. My U2 only does 100 lumens max for one hour. So even if I never use the max output, the mid-range will get used often, and exceeds the Surefire light by eight hours at that output.

And the max output? Yeah, once and awhile for ooohs and aaahs.

I was hoping to see M16s, M4, Aug, HKs, MG42s..... :sigh:

Mostly to impress friends to tell you the truth. I don't live by the shore or on a lake so the only time I really can let the "big guns" shine so to speak is when I may be on farm lands and then that even tends to attract attention.


Karl

PS Read this one too fast---I was thinking of "big guns" in the league of some hotwires and HIDs I have.

I use my Jetbeam M1X as an EDC light. It sees use all day night long. variable light settings, nice bright high makes it very useful for EDC use around the neighborhood, walking at night etc. Fits in my pants pocket nicely.

Nighttime hog hunting and wildlife counts. Occasionally lighting up neighborhood hoodlums.

brad

~600 lumens is just right for a suburban walking light; this is basically like walking around with your own personal car headlight, you see the street and details ahead the same way you would in your car, it's nice.

"Big gun" to me means an HID, which has a nearly 160-degree spillbeam that shines directly onto/into houses on the side of the street, with a hotspot that travels a half-mile, so you can't point it in any direction there's a house.. I use that just for fun in non-suburban areas.

They're designed for harassing javelinas..

TK40 works very nice on traffic stops, cuts through tint lights up the whole interior of a car.

I use my 35 watt HID mostly for impressing people, and also to justify the price tag of flashlights (people expect expensive lights to be bright, and often don't understand about "paying for quality" when it comes to flashlights). It has very little practical use where I live, and just alarms the neighbors. My ROP could still be considered a "big gun," but it has such a large hotspot that it is very useful for lighting up large areas, such as forests. It can't light things on fire directly, but if I use a convex lens it can burn holes in things pretty quickly. I guess that makes it somewhat of a survival tool as well...

Lighting up boats that are going to fast in a no wake zone on the lake when its dark out.:naughty:

Except for one time, when my neighbor was loading a trailer, I've never officially used the "big guns" for anything other than WOW factor. There are FAR bigger guns out there than mine, too! However, I can displace quite a bit of night with mine.

I have a:

Mag85
ROP (the one I used for the trailer loading)
Pilot Whale
M2XC4 cool and warm
TK40

Like I said, there are FAR bigger guns out there. I guess that list above is pretty much a list of "medium guns" but it goes to show how rare their (true "big guns") real need is. I've said it in other threads . . . . I sometimes wish I could justify the lights I own . . . and compared to some here, my collection is laughable.

The EDC is where it's at. I use that all of the time.

I use mine to light up Russian subs lurking off the coast.....

To walk around the house at night with

i use mine for lighting up small areas too...like the state of rhode island :devil:

My M6 is a stand-by light...Hurricane's/Natural Disasters/Search, etc., so I know it always has fresh cell's, and doesn't get broken "playing" with it.

When I'm too lazy to reach for the room light switch. :naughty:


I have taken my 3C P7 outside twice.

I went for a walk on Earth hour 2009. Hamilton was lit up normal. Turned the light on twice, no more than 5 seconds each time.
There were some stairs down that was so evenly lit I can not see the edges of the steps. I shined my light sideways to cast shadows so I can tell where to walk.
I passed a dark alleyway a shortcut to a local burger joint. Shined the P7 down it. The P7 hotspot went an impressive distance but I think my L0D CE P3WC with its floodier spill beam would be better at picking out the puddles. 60 lumens beats out 600 lumens!

Went on a hike in High Park with the Toronto area flashaholics last week. Mostly kept the light pointed at the ground to see the path immediately in front of me.

I use mine on night walks with my dog (my neighborhood is dark and wooded, no streetlights) and for spotting wildlife from my deck.

The Quad P7 is also enough to cause a scene. Same with the Kong, way too heavy and big to EDC anywhere unless it's a special occasion.