Spoiled for choice and can't decide on my next light!

Matt7337

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Well, it's about that time again. I keep seeing more and more flashlights here on CPF that I would absolutely love to buy and try, and there are a few that could well be keepers. This week I have thought about the following:

- I would like to try a SureFire E2DL. It seems like a great light and I need another "glove compartment" light in that sort of format for my new car. I think the E2DL is a good starting point for my first SureFire.

- I've seen the new Nitecore line, and really like the look of them. Out of the D11, EX11 and Infilux IFE1, I like the look of the IFE1 the most, although I am sort of inclined to hold off on that until the next generation of them are released, to get rid of the small niggles that are present in this "beta light" as it has been labelled here.

- Speaking of Nitecore, I had contacted JHanko a while ago about getting a custom trit loaded D10 made, but put it off for funding reasons. I'm still dying to get my hands on one of those, and have been thinking about buying a standard D10 to give me that final "nudge" over the line. I'd also love to try a Defender Infinity, as that's where my beloved NEX began life and it is still available in OSRAM GDP flavour. I'm one of the rare few who actually likes a cool tinted LED in at least a couple of my lights. So, D10 to eventually get converted to Titanium by JHanko or a NDI?

- I've also been looking into what I might buy as my first Jetbeam, and really like the look of the TCR3. It's just gorgeous! If I was buying that, I'd be holding onto it forever. In this "form factor" of light, it's between the SureFire mentioned above and this.

- Today I discovered even more flavours of the Liteflux LF2XT - one of my favourite lights because of the versatility of the UI, warm tint and incredible output for it's size. Between the Steve Ku, JHanko and other (manufacturer?) Titanium customs this light is available in, I am completely lost as to what I would get. I have a donor which could be sent off to get customised, but I'd be hard pushed to let it go as I use it almost every day. This is something that I am really stuck on more than anything - what exactly can I have done to an LF2XT or what different versions are available? The custom models I have mentioned above seem to be only a few of the massive number of variations this light is available in. Could someone link me to where all these are? The JHanko one and the Steve Ku titanium one with the tritium tailcap (which I REALLY) want) being the two I am most interested in.

-I'd also like to pick up another (R2 version) NEX and see if I can get it down to bare aluminium somehow, although I'm not sure how this is done. I'd then load up the tail with Red Tritium and see about some custom laser engraving on the head and flats of the body, or maybe even some custom anodizing. I'm really taking a shine to custom flashlights and because I love the Nitecore Extreme so much I would love to create a custom one for myself with the R2 emitter.

Basically as you can see, I am totally lost and spoiled for choice. I can't decide, and every time I visit CPF I see something else I like! The question is not which one of these lights I am going to buy. As I'm sure most of you realize after reading a post from a complete flashaholic, it's a question of which I am going to buy first. :shrug:

Does anyone have any thoughts on what might be a good "starting" point on this list? Or any opinoins on any of the lights that I have mentioned?

[edit]

Also, as a footnote, I have a question about something that I have noticed CPF members doing recently - When a maglite is referred to, it is often typed as M*g (like in my sig) and I have also seen ***fire used several times. Does this denote what think? That the light is a custom or modified version of the Maglite or Surefire? I could be way wrong on that but I thought that's what it meant the first few times I saw it.
 
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Q732

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Re: Indecision about where to go next on my LED journey!

The e2dl was my first surefire light. The beam quality is really fantastic. Really don't think you can go wrong getting this.
 

Matt7337

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Re: Indecision about where to go next on my LED journey!

Nobody?! Gee guys, I know it's a long post but I could do with a little guidance here :sigh:

Anyway, I beat you all to it. Just bought a Nitecore D11 off the MP earlier tonight :D

Now, what's next? :naughty:
 

ak645

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Re: Indecision about where to go next on my LED journey!

I'm pretty sure Steve still has Ti button w/trit and clip for the LF2XT.I have both and they're nice.And you don't have to send your light anywhere.

Andy
 

Gaffle

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Re: Indecision about where to go next on my LED journey!

You could go for flashlight gold and get yourself the Ra Clicky.

Either the High CRI, or you could get either the Executive or Tactical.

Then again, you could make a customized Clicky.

This is the light that I will get in the near future.
 

Matt7337

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Re: Indecision about where to go next on my LED journey!

You could go for flashlight gold and get yourself the Ra Clicky.

Already done that bud, I didn't think twice about buying myself what I consider to be the holy grail of flashlights, a Titanium 170 Tactical Clicky!

@ Q732 sorry for my reply after you post, the forum seems to be having problems updating the database and that wasn't there when I wrote that. Thanks for your input. By all accounts the E2DL seems like a really strong choice and the simple but functional design really appeals to me for the application I would be buying it for.

@ ak645 yes, someone on the MP pointed those out to me yesterday after I inquired about them. A new button and clip for my LF2XT would be sweet, and they're not even that expensive. I really like the idea of not having to send the light anywhere as well, just add the parts to it as they come :)

Thanks for all the suggestions so far, keep them coming!
 
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ak645

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Re: Indecision about where to go next on my LED journey!

Don't know when you last updated the pills in your DBS lights but Nailbender is building some some very cool DBS modules.

ETA: Since funds don't seem to be an issue here I'd also suggest looking into a Mcgizmo light.I don't own one but from what I understand they are the ultimate EDC.And if you don't like it I'll take it off your hands cheap! :)

Andy
 
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Tbone559

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Re: Indecision about where to go next on my LED journey!

You can't go wrong with the E2DL...I carry mine everyday. Performance and style...not to mention head cracker if u need it!
 

Matt7337

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Re: Indecision about where to go next on my LED journey!

Don't know when you last updated the pills in your DBS lights but Nailbender is building some some very cool DBS modules.

I haven't - Just have a 3SD XR-E Q5 in the V1 DBS and a (very ringy, which I hate) 3SD XP-G R5 in the V3 at the moment. Could you link me to where the Nailbender Dereelight pills are available?

ETA: Since funds don't seem to be an issue here I'd also suggest looking into a Mcgizmo light.I don't own one but from what I understand they are the ultimate EDC.And if you don't like it I'll take it off your hands cheap! :)

Andy

Well, I wouldn't say that funds are an issue for this particular purchase, no... but I also wouldn't say that money is no object! :) I do tend to spend quite a bit on flashlights, but that doesn't mean that I can (or would) afford everything that I've mentioned there all at once. I have been saving for a few new ones for ages though - besides the D11 that I bought off the MP a couple of days ago, the last flashlight I bought was at the end of June. I tend to spend quite a bit on this hobby because I've stopped spending money on a couple of others in the past year - RC helis & cars and UAVs (because I haven't been getting enough use out of them to justify the cost) and Guitars (I bought myself a nice setup over the summer that will keep me satisfied for quite a while). I also just finished rennovating my business premesis which (thanks to a lot of hard graft from my Father, a couple of friends and myself for the past few months) I was able to complete for much less than I previously anticipated, so I have a little left over from that too.

So basically I'm not against spending hundreds of £££s on a flashlight every now and then as long as it's well worth it - but I definately won't be buying them all at once! I'd love a McGizmo. I've had my eye on an XP-G Titanium Haiku to put in my EDC rotation for months, and with all the hype that McG's get around here, they must be worth it ;)
 
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ak645

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Re: Indecision about where to go next on my LED journey!

Sure thing,Matt.Here ya go.

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/282416

You can order just about any output,tint or runtime that you want custom built.Dave's (Nailbender) work is top quality.Be sure to ask for DBS module.I can personally vouch for Dave as I recently purchased a high CRI drop-in for my CL1H.He also makes drop-ins for Surefire.

I doubt a new pill would do much for the lousy beam of your v3.If it has the smooth reflector then a new orange peel reflector can be ordered inexpensively direct from dereelight.Should help witn beam profile issues at the cost of some throw.

Andy
 

Matt7337

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Great, thanks for the link! I'll PM him once I decide what I want in each of them. I think that V3 needs an SST-50 personally :)

I tried a spare SMO reflector that I got from Dereelight in the V3 last night and it made the rings worse. Haha! It's okay though, I plan on ordering an aspheric lens for it anyway, so I won't need to get the OP reflector or sacrifice any throw.

Thanks again for all the suggestions so far everyone!
 

CarpentryHero

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Veleno designs (kuku427) was putting tritium on the Liteflux L2fxt. Saw the link on Facebook awhile back.
Liteflux are hard to get because the google page was tagged as having viruses. Saw a post in CPFMP about it, might be hard to get.

I am checking my mailbox daily for my Nitecore with tritium already installed :D
Start there is my vote ;)
 

CarpentryHero

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It's a D10, got it in the CPFMP and it's not camo, it's black so yeah it's a customized piston

The camo comes with the tritium slot but no trit.
 
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CarpentryHero

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Oops my bad it's an Ex10 with trit. I did order a D10 through LightJunction, the camo addition with trit slot. I'll be ordering up tritium and installing it once I measure for it.:oops:
Looking forward to there arrival
 

LEDninja

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Also, as a footnote, I have a question about something that I have noticed CPF members doing recently - When a maglite is referred to, it is often typed as M*g (like in my sig) and I have also seen ***fire used several times. Does this denote what think? That the light is a custom or modified version of the Maglite or Surefire? I could be way wrong on that but I thought that's what it meant the first few times I saw it.
Mag has always protected its patents and when the patents ran out used its copyrights which has no time limit to stop clones/counterfeits. Unfortunately for a while they abused this and used the threat of lawsuits to stop competition starting up. A number of CPF members developing then new fangled LED flashlights either went broke trying to fight the lawsuits or decided they can not afford the lawyers and closed up shop. So many CPF oldtimers spelled m*g, m@g, m/\g just to make it harder for mag's lawyers to find people to sue. When Mag finally realized they cannot successfully sue the new Chinese LED torch manufactures in China (guess which side the Chinese government controlled courts will side with) they stopped their bullying tactics and hunkered down to make their own LED lights.
Now that MagLEDs are available a number of CPF members are disappointed that Mag has not joined the my light is brighter than yours lumens race. So some people look down on Mag. In all fairness Mag really can't. They need to make millions of identical units in their automated factories to make money. 4sevens can afford to make limited runs of 150 units.
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Surefire became a top name for flashlights so much so that a number of companies making cheap flashlights used a similar sounding name: Ultrafire, Trustfire, Spiderfire etc. So rather than list them all ***fire is usually used. The ***fire designation also includes many companies that do not use -fire in the name, just make similar cheap crap. CPF has corralled them and moved the threads to the budget section.
 
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Matt7337

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Oops my bad it's an Ex10 with trit. I did order a D10 through LightJunction, the camo addition with trit slot. I'll be ordering up tritium and installing it once I measure for it.:oops:
Looking forward to there arrival

Very nice, enjoy your new light! I definately want more lights with tritium on them so I think I'll get a trit slotted tailcap on my LF2Xt first of all then load up the 6 holes on the tail of my Nitecore Extreme with some as well. After that - who knows? :)

Also thank you to LEDninja for that very informative explanation - I'd been wondering about that for a while and you answered my question perfectly! :thumbsup:
 
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