Bought my first official EDC

After spending a little time on this forum, I'm officially "out of the closet". I always felt a certain compulsion when passing by the flashlight section of various stores. Glad I'm not alone. lovecpf

Anyway, I stopped by Target on the way home looking for a nice EDC. I bought the River Rock 1W torch.

Pros: Small size, has clip, stands on end and produces a nice warm indirect light off the ceiling (very important in the middle of the night).

Cons: Clip faces the wrong way (for me), reverse clickie.

One annoying thing: the package claims 42Lm output. I brought it to work (naturally, since it's an EDC) and stuck it in the $30,000 integrating sphere and measured only about 21Lm.

Not worth returning it (only about 25 bucks), but still...

if that's the black 1xaa riverrock, slot it with a li-ion 14500 and it will be much brighter. one of my favorite lights. when i queried their cs about an updated version awhile back, they said one should be out, well, just about now. haven't seen it though.

Here's a previous thread about it: https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/161018

ab1ht said:

Not worth returning it (only about 25 bucks), but still...

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i disagree, return it, i have bought several 80+ lumen lights for $25.

look in the market place here.or any of the better know sellers of leds lights reccd here.

dont keep a dim light you dont like, return it and get something used that is better quality and makes you smile every time you turn it on.:naughty:

Thanks for the link.

Wonder why a 14500 would make it brighter. I thought this light had voltage regulation.

14500 will overdrive it in direct drive.

Just wait until you get something with current generation LEDs.

Update: My RR died after only a day and less than an hour of use! :shakehead

Target was kind enough to let me return it even without the packaging.

I took another look at the flashlight section and picked up the Life Gear AA (80 Lm). Turns out the death of that stupid RR was a blessing in disguise. While it doesn't look as nice (and no clip), the LG was a little less money and I'm blown away by the performance. Man that thing can throw!

I let the dog out in the back yard last night before bed. We have a lot of woods. I could stand on the deck and keep an eye on him.

Nice light.

ab1ht said:

Update: My RR died after only a day and less than an hour of use! :shakehead

Target was kind enough to let me return it even without the packaging.

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Easy fix for this is buy a new one and use the packaging for the broken return, this works for all kinds of items, even torches. I do this all the time when something breaks.

ab1ht said:

I brought it to work (naturally, since it's an EDC) and stuck it in the $30,000 integrating sphere and measured only about 21Lm.

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You have a what at work!!??

Guess who is everyone here's new best friend!!!

Can I give you a list of lights I need you to buy and test??

Theres the TK40 for starters, then the Eagle Tac T20C2, basically any Fenix, Eagletac or Olight MrGman hasnt tested yet.. please please please

Anyway, glad you like your LG light, but once you get a 500+ lumin LED (its going to happen sooner or later otherwise you wouldnt be posting on this forum... ) like the TK40 or M30 or that Jetbeam thing... then you will be awed

Unfortunatly, once you get your 500+ lumin light, you will be constantly wondering if your EDC is on low mode or where all the brightness has gone!! (i have to turn on the old maglight from time to time to remind myself what a not very bright torch actually looks like so I appreciate the brightness of my EDC (Fenix TK10) )

Then again, maybe you will be restrained

I had pretty decent luck with the river rock 1w light. I gave it away to a customer once I found Fenix lights. They kick the ever lovin crap out of all the lights at Target. Doesn't mean that I don't stop in at target once in a while to see if they have anything new.

Order a Fenix LD10 or PD20 and you will never look back. P2D/PD20 is my favorite light for EDC. I have been running the batteries for months and months each.

AusKipper said:

Can I give you a list of lights I need you to buy and test??

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I'll probably test a whole bunch as time goes on. Thing is, one has to wonder how consistent a given model of flashlight is. If I test one, I'll have to test at least 9 others to get a good sample...

Then there's the whole issue of whether I'm testing the Lm of the light or the inaccuracy of my sensors. They haven't been calibrated in a couple of years...

I'm sure I'll migrate to other lights as time goes on and I learn more.

Speaking of which, dumb newbie question...

Is Fenix pronounced "FEE-nicks" (Phoenix) or "FEH-nicks". I want to say the latter, but that doesn't really make sense

Juggernaut said:

You Have A integrating sphere and only live less then 50 miles from me!!! How big is it's opening? If you ever want to see any of my lights I'll come over, and you can try some of my lights, and test them in your machine as well:thumbsup:.

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Where are you? I work in Southbridge. Maybe we can do lunch sometime.

hmm i guess not bad for starters, my dad loves his river rock 2AAA thingy, but i say return it and save up for better light

ab1ht said:

Is Fenix pronounced "FEE-nicks" (Phoenix) or "FEH-nicks". I want to say the latter, but that doesn't really make sense

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I pronounce it "Fee-Nix" but i have no idea if thats "official" or not.....

ab1ht said:

Where are you? I work in Southbridge. Maybe we can do lunch sometime.

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I live in Lakeville, "near Boston" you work a little over 54 miles from my house, so it's not super close, but better then most CPFers.

I pronounce it the same as the city in that hot place named Arizona. It seems to be 120 degrees every time I go there for work!

ab1ht said:

Is Fenix pronounced "FEE-nicks" (Phoenix) or "FEH-nicks". I want to say the latter, but that doesn't really make sense

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Lol, this question is almost as famous as "what lube?". The answer : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k30lcKZ8YfI

OT: Just remember not all the words in the world are from english :devil:. The "fenix" word can be from spanish, portuguese and probably some more languages. In both (spanish and portuguese) it is pronounced like the salesman in the video.

I am very gratefull of how, in my mother tongue, you allways know how a word is pronounced, spelled or where you have the "strong syllable" just looking at how it is written. :thumbsup:

Thanks for the info.

Yes, English is quite the creole language. I read an article one time attributing America's rapid advances in science to the creole nature of English. We have so many words with which to describe things that it's easier to communicate ideas.

Pronunciation can also be a very local thing. I moved to Charlottesville, VA many years ago where there was a road called "Rio Road". They immediately knew I was new because I called it "REE-o road" and not "r-EYE-o road".

Go figure.

Any pictures?

Anyway, IMO, if its gonna be your EDC, you might as well get something better. For me, it'll feel pretty poop to stick with something inferior all the time.
e.g. Would you want a Miss Universe as your wife, or some fat ugly chick that no one wants for $25? lol

ab1ht said:

After spending a little time on this forum, I'm officially "out of the closet". I always felt a certain compulsion when passing by the flashlight section of various stores. Glad I'm not alone. lovecpf

Anyway, I stopped by Target on the way home looking for a nice EDC. I bought the River Rock 1W torch.

Pros: Small size, has clip, stands on end and produces a nice warm indirect light off the ceiling (very important in the middle of the night).

Cons: Clip faces the wrong way (for me), reverse clickie.

One annoying thing: the package claims 42Lm output. I brought it to work (naturally, since it's an EDC) and stuck it in the $30,000 integrating sphere and measured only about 21Lm.

Not worth returning it (only about 25 bucks), but still...

Click to expand...

berry580 said:

Any pictures?

Anyway, IMO, if its gonna be your EDC, you might as well get something better. For me, it'll feel pretty poop to stick with something inferior all the time.
e.g. Would you want a Miss Universe as your wife, or some fat ugly chick that no one wants for $25? lol

Click to expand...

Well it's his first EDC light, we don't all start off with Spy 007s and Mcgizmos. I EDCed a Lowes Task Force for nearly a year "still use it's holster".