Upgradeability a major feature or not ?

On one hand you have fenix/4sevens and loads of other "sealed unit" style flashlights on the other you have Surefire/Solarforce/Dereelight and all the other P60 style dropin and host combinations.

Now ignoring the aesthetics of the lights themselves which type of light do you tend to buy

Sealed Unit or User Upgradeable

Any comments regards previous experience, heat management and overall reliability welcome



This is personal interest not market research.

It depends on your end goal

I'm sure there's a few people here who buy "sealed" lights, just to go and upgrade them anyway!

While I voted from "Upgradeable," I could really go either way (I have--I own a variety of each).

Usually, being upgradeable means getting to play "Lego" with lights which is fun because you can construct a non-normal light from your parts. On the other hand, I have no problem buying a "sealed" flashlight if the flashlight is exactly what I want.

In the good tradition of CPF, buy both! :devil:

Yes it is. I don't buy anything I cannot upgrade. Everything is modular now.

One of the many reasons I like Dereelight or even something like a solarforce with a P60 drop-in.

although i like the lego and upgradeability of surefire lights and their clones, i prefer smaller sized lights these days, more along the AA, 2AA and AAA size.

that being said, if choosing between two lights, all things being relatively equal, i would choose the one that isn't all glued together over the one that is just in case i want to have someone upgrade it or have a custom body made for it down the line.

my 2 cents.

Eric

I have a physical disability in my hands so am not into modding.

That said I have upgraded a lot of plastic lights with LED bulbs. Still doing that as the Dorcy bulbs are $4 vs $20 for the Terralux. Also converted my 2C Mag into a MagLED.

But the main host for upgrading is the P60.
With today's LEDs the heatsinking requirements are huge and the upgrader has to start adding aluminium foil or arctic alumina to help.
The head size is small limiting reflector size and throw for the big die LEDs.
If you have a real P60 it is worse as 2*CR123A just won't do and you have to find a machine shop to bore the barrel for 18650.

If you want a P7/MCE/SST50 light buy a P7/MCE/SST50 light instead of upgrading.
If you want a SST90 light 2250 lumens you have to buy a SST90 light. There is no upgrade path for a P60 host at this time. You can get a SST90 module but it won't output 2250 lumens with 2*CR123A or even 1*18650.

The flashlight body is the cheapest part of todays torches. Buying 2 lights instead of 2 modules and one host gives you 2 working lights instead of one working light and a module on the shelf.

That being said a P60 modular light with multiple options is a fun learning tool. Much better than the Minimag 2AA we were stuck with in the past.

Like most things in life, there are compromises with either type of light: Modular lights tend to be larger than a comparable sealed light. Sealed lights are not future-proof.

About a quarter of my lights are sealed lights that were purchased because of their small size (MiNi 123, MiNi AA, MiNi AA2, ITP A3 EOS). Another quarter of my lights are modular hosts (SureFire G2 and 6P, a few Solarforce L2s, etc). The rest were purchased as mod hosts.

Most sealed lights that are available brand new today are so good that they're going to be very usable for many years to come. They won't seem outdated unless some major breakthrough increases the efficiency of LEDs in some major way.

I like modular lights because I can customize them to my liking. I just can't make them small enough to really EDC 24/7/365 like I can with my small sealed lights.

One of the reason I'm not buying anymore Surefire, HDS and Fenix is because they seals their lights in a manner they can't be opened anymore.
In the case of HDS, which produces the best designed lights on the market, the electronics is potted in black epoxy.

I have a box full of Arc4, KLx and U2, L1P and others, which I destroyed in the attempt to open them, to replace the LED and sometime to modify the electronics.

But... this is me. Modding is an important part of my flashlights hobby.
I believe the vast majority of flashlight users and CPFers don't care if the light is upgradeable or not. They don't mind to have a piece of unserviceable electronics in their pocket. I do.

Anthony

Another vote for upgradeable, I also value lights that can be run on more than one type of battery as well.

I have both types as well and I've been around quite a bit longer than most members currently on CPF. I have lights with LuxI emitters, so the ones with sealed heads have stayed LuxI or LuxIII. The ones with removeable heads/pills/etc. have mostly been upgraded to something slightly more recently (still a couple of years ago)...most the SSC P4 (a nice emitter...great beam profile). It's not only lights like the P60-based ones that are upradeable. Dereelight's C2H has a removeable pill that can be upgraded as new LEDs come out. Having gone through many generations of LEDs, I really appreciate the ability to upgrade, whether it be simple like dropping in a P60 module or having to solder things myself. If I really do like the light, I won't let it's sealed nature deter me from buying it, but it will be a factor that's considered.

For me, it is even less the Upgradeability and more the replaceability of parts. That is why I have Surefires of the 6P family and still buy more even though I would love to get others..... but first things first.


Cheers
Thorsten

I'm kinda new to this forum even though I'm not new to flashlights. Over the years I've bought serveral Maglights and Streamlights only to buy new ones every couple years as technology got better or parts wore.

After joining this forum I've recently purchased several lights from Eagletac T20C MkII, P100C2, Zebralight SC30/W, Fenix PD20-Q5, Solaforce L2 and Quark 123-R5.

My most recent purchase was a Solarforce L2X extended host and a ThruNite XP-G R5 1.5a drop in. I considered the Dereelights but thought it best to get my feet wet with the Solarforce. I'm looking forward to see what that relatively small flashlight will do. I'm even pondering what the differences might be if I had the larger head of the Dereelight.

It's just more fun to me than just buying new lights.

lovecpf

Most lights are unsealable This is why there is heat guns and strap wrenches around:naughty: Very few of my lights are still stock, but many are several years old (Surefires, HDS etc.)

I usually only buy lights that I can open and upgrade at a later date. Flashlights I buy as gifts can be sealed.

Sverre

The only lights I buy now are upgradeable. My only sealed light is a Fenix TA21 and once someone offers an upgradeable light with a selector ring I will buy that. I do also have a Mac EDC I have no intention of upgrading and hope to get a Neo-fab Air that is not upgradeable. I like my technology somewhat future proofed and dislike the current trend of non upgradeable lights.

Upgradeability is nice but it's not a necessity for me, particularly for an EDC light. For daily carry I want small, light, and immediately accessible; it's hard to get that with a P60 based light. And, for the kinds of things I use my EDC light for, I don't need that kind of output; 150 lumens is typically plenty.

For more serious duty lights though, upgradeability is nice for me, but still not essential. For emergency use, camping and other outdoor activities, I'm more concerned about durability. In this case though upgradeability is a lot more desirable because these kinds of lights usually cost more and so it's nice to be able to update them without losing a toe or a finger.

NoFair said:

Most lights are unsealable

Click to expand...

Yup. Two of my edc are formerly sealed lights I've open and upgraded.
I feel 4sevens started to address this offering specific tints (which is great) but given that i've already changed the emitter in a light once there's no reason to think I won't upgrade it again in a few years when the jump makes it worth while.

(until then, the xpg 5b tint is great)

So the poll is too limited for my answer: I upgrade sealed flashlights.