DOING IT ALL OVER AGAIN, WITH HINDSIGHT

Guys, factoring in all the expense, time, experiences, all the choices and decisions you have made as a flashaholic, how would you do it, if you could start to do it all over again? :naughty::naughty:

I have been in this hobby a fair while.
If I could do it all again I would have bought my Maxabeam earlier.

I would have also not bought all of the cheap crud I have bought over the years - it would probably all add up to buy one very nice custom by now

I would have also started buying 123 cells from overseas sooner too - so much cheaper than buying them in brick and mortar stores here.

Other than the cheapest, I'm pretty happy with the choices I have made, I have some good lights, and some I have EDCed for years that I will never part with (6P, Novatac, L4 and a few others that have stories attached)

Of my current collection, I would have bought only:

the same 2 lights I edc for work (PD20 and Q123 tactical)
Quark mini neutral, High CRI
Quark 123 high CRI and neutral tactical
Fenix E0, E01, TK20, TK15, TK45 (actually, I didn't have to pay for his one :grin: and TK70
Malkoff MC-E neutral in a 6P host
Armytek Predator

and then kept the rest of my money for the nicer lights that are coming out this year and have hit the market recently:

Torpedo black/red
The possibly coming copper Torpedo in high CRI
Sunwayman Ti2 (can't even find it on sale now that I saw that, so the V11R will have to do for now, but I would prefer high CRI)
Lux RC 1X18650 high CRI

then wait for the next best thing in high CRI because I would still have more lights than I need.

Re-redaing my post, I would have bought almost only half as many lights, although I like all my lights...

Yeah, same with me guys. Since starting last January of this year, I initially bought 2 Chinese clones. Mind you, one is quite nicely-built and bright too but the other one I sold already. The one I sold was as expensive as its AW protected! Now I have a TK41, an SC600 and an XT11.
But in hindsight buying the cheap crud did make me appreciate the better ones more, but surprise, surprise the better Chinese clone that I keep is not that bad compared to the name- brands either! I'll be saving for a real thrower that might come along this December..

The Flashaholic path that I've taken, however short compared to some, has been a fun one. I wouldn't change a thing! Lots of money spent finding out what I really like and find useful, good learning experiences. That said, a good thrower, a few quality edc lights, a few bombproof backups and I could be good. Don't chase the latest and greatest. Low level floody beams with killer runtime rule. Rcr's and Eneloops will save you money. McGizmo, Malkoff, Mac, Milky and Muyshondt... A coincidence or an alphabetic conspiracy? Enjoy the journey... As always, your mileage may vary, and these are my two cents.


I'm sure the fact that this is my 2,020th post has nothing to do with hindsight, and is a complete coincidence...

I would have bought the whole lineup of different coloured Surefire L1's when they were current product.

Observation #1: I bought a few duplicate lights that were on clearance at low prices. Despite the killer deals, I probably would not do that again because the duplicate lights didn't provide anything new in the way of fun or capabilities. Could have used the money to buy something different later on.

Observation #2: I often had as much or even more fun using some of my less expensive lights than I did from using my pricey Surefire and HDS lights.

Observation #3: Some high end lights are touted as being tough enough to last a lifetime. I don't need a light built to last 10 years because I handle lights with reasonable care and I usually want to try a newer, different light after a year or so.

knowing what i know now, and starting over, i would get malkoffs for the family and work. and surefire L1s, titans, and HDS' for my EDC.

and not buy rechargeable batteries, and chargers, cause it seems i only use primaries these days.

its been a fun ride, and dont see myself getting off anytime soon:thumbsup:

I would change almost nothing. I would do it all over again. Started with junk, moved to modified lights, now I buy whatever seems to please me. Not sold one, not give but a few of them away. I have most all of them. And... they do get used. I played with flashlights long before joining CPF. CPF has been a place to learn what I need to learn and to help others. What would I have changed? I would have joined CPF long ago.

McGizmo, Muyshondt and Malkoff. Everything else was a waste of money.

I wish I could start with a Spy 007. Unfortunately, I've spent the money already and it may be a while before I get a chance to try one.

The lights that I am most consistently happy with all come from custom builders or Gene Malkoff (who isn't much different from the custom builders himself).

I'd gotten a few Alephs or an opened Surefire L1 and stayed away from a few mid priced disappointments early on. Haven't bought a bad light in years and mostly mod the ones I have when emitters get drastically better. Still very happy with my HDS, Surefires (should have gotten a McE2s or 2) and later my Arc6 and SWM V10s.

Joined CPF jan of 2011, account got wiped out during the great crash of 2011 (all accounts registered between nov 2010 and march 2011 got wiped out). Took a 9 months hiatus and registered again october 2011.
With hindsight i would have gotten into customs a lot sooner, and stuck with a bored Surefire host as primary light, with a Nailbender/Kenji/Malkoff. That should have saved enough money to get a 250W lightpipe HID.

I would have bought a Fenix LD20 and LD10 together with some Eneloops at least 2 years earlier than I did: that is sometime in 2009! Instead I spent two years thinking I'd save money and buy a Surefire but when it came to the point of doing I always hesitated to spend a large sum on a single flashlight that couldn't even use AA batteries...

So far my favorite flashlights are the JetBeam PA series but I have to say Fenix wrote part of the early led flashlight history and when I think about it I wish I had bought and enjoyed those lights earlier.
Better late than never though! : )

I would have refrained from purchasing lights from Fenix, ZebraLight and Foursevens (except for one or two), and instead just saved money for the HDS/Malkoff/SureFire lights I already have.

I also would have purchased a second 6P instead of 6PX Pro.

Aside from that, wouldn't have done much differently.

parnass said:

Observation #1: I bought a few duplicate lights that were on clearance at low prices. Despite the killer deals, I probably would not do that again because the duplicate lights didn't provide anything new in the way of fun or capabilities. Could have used the money to buy something different later on.

Observation #2: I often had as much or even more fun using some of my less expensive lights than I did from using my pricey Surefire and HDS lights.

Observation #3: Some high end lights are touted as being tough enough to last a lifetime. I don't need a light built to last 10 years because I handle lights with reasonable care and I usually want to try a newer, different light after a year or so.

Click to expand...

I suppose it depends on whether you see your lights as tools or toys, or a little of both.

I started off getting serious about flashlights about 15yrs ago i bought 3 types of Maglites then after a while terralux brought out Led drop ins for the mags so i upgraded them,then the best light available over here in the UK was a LedLenser,
i bought a key-chain Lenser then a T7 & then i progressed onto an M14.Then after reading reviews & threads on CPF i got my first HDS then i registered a year or two later.I've not looked back since my last two lights are a Mcgizmo & another
HDS.I wouldn't change the learning curve I've been on for anything,i believe it's made me wiser on the topic of flashlights by becoming more experienced as time has gone by.

Quiksilver said:

I suppose it depends on whether you see your lights as tools or toys, or a little of both.

Click to expand...

At my age, I've had plenty of each.

I wouldn't change anything, I've had the pleasure of owning more awesome lights than I can remember. It's great to have a place where you can buy and sell so easily, it makes the hobby much more enjoyable. I was also fortunate enough to stop buying certain modded lights, the ones that seem to be losing a lot of money for current sellers these days...

Except for a few lights that I have bought, sold, bought, sold and bought again - because I love them but they are pricey so there was some $$$ remorse because they wouldn't get a lot of use - I've been very happy with the journey I've taken since I joined this website.

Although I now know what I really like and what I look for in a light if I had known this all at the beginning the journey would have been short and kinda boring. Instead it's been filled with tons of learning, customizing, electronics, soldering and more learning. And that's whats made it fun. If I had just come here to research a light and buy it to fill a need it would have been much more utilitarian. Instead, this has been a great hobby for me just like my Miata before that and RC cars before that and something else before that and something else before that. With work, family and children I usually only have room for one major hobby at any given time - it provides an escape from everything, is relaxing and is just for me.