When did you start carrying an LED light? Has it made a difference?

Prior to about 1.5 years ago, I literally had never considered carrying a flashlight with me on a regular basis. Now if I went on a camping or backpacking trip I'd carry a light, but even then its usually a headlamp and has been since the early 2000's. But the idea of carrying a flashlight in my pocket on a regular basis wasnt something that had ever even crossed my mind.

I thought of the idea of this thread from another new thread where a guy's wife asked "why do you carry that stupid light?" That would have been similar to how I felt 2 year ago, although I wouldnt have felt it was stupid, just unusual.

But then once I bought my 1st small EDC sized light, after a couple months I decided to start actually carrying it in my pocket. At the time I thought it wouldnt be of much regular use, but I started carrying it just to see. It didnt take up any significant amount of pocket space, so I gave it a go.

I didnt realize how often it can come in handy. I dont even work a night job, nor do I work in any security or law enforcement field, as most of my work takes place in day time. yet every day it would come in handy for some purpose, whether at work or at home. Before, there were times I really needed a light, but had to make do without one because I just didnt have one with me, and usually if I asked someone for one, they either didnt have a decent light, or its batteries are dead or dying.

But now, I carry my SC52 attached to the inside of my pocket almost at all time, and I use it at least a few times every 24 hour period. Now I dont understand why more people dont carry them, especially considering how small they have become and how powerful and efficient. But I guess most people are just like I was 2 years ago, in that the idea of carrying a light on their person just seems unnecessary. But I think most people would be surprised at just how often a good quality, small EDC light can make your daily(or nightly) tasks easier.

When did you start "carrying", and has it made much of a difference?

I started carrying a 1 AAA cell Mag Solitaire light (incandescent bulb) on my key ring maybe 15 years ago. It was extremely dim and had a very short battery life; nonetheless, it has saved my bacon a number of times finding door locks and the like.

About 3 years or so ago, I upgraded to the 4Sevens 1 AAA Preon Revo, a very compact light with anodized finish, 1 LED with 3 levels, nice beam pattern - on low, the cell lifetime is maybe 10 or 15 times that of the Solitaire. Haven't looked back. The difference for me is that "I don't leave home without it."

At the bottom of my car's centre console, I have a 1 CR123 powered 3 level LED light from Fenix. It has more power and run time which helps in highway situations. The lithium cell can endure the higher temperatures that occur in one's car in the summer time.

At home, I've got maybe a dozen or more LED lights that form my permanent collection, but I rarely need to fall back on them.

The first light I EDCed was my Fenix PD30. It was next to useless for that purpose. The low was way to bright, the reflector was too small to throw very well, and the XR-E emitter is ill-suited for flood. Plus, it wore holes in my pockets in little time, and its finish began wearing away very quickly.

I switched to a Coast LED Lenser David 15 Digitac. It was much more useful and had a nice warm tint, but the 1x AA was still too big for pocket carry. I started carrying a Coast LED Lenser 1x AAA freebie. The tint sucked, but the size and brightness were perfect for a pocket carry light. I carried it until it failed to survive a wash cycle when I left it in my pocket.

I currently keep the PD30 in a holster on my backpack, which I essentially EDC, in case I get caught without my bike lights after dark, so technically I EDC it. If I need a flashlight, though, I either use a flashlight app on my phone or I pull out a 9P or C3 that serve as my bike lights.

If I was not a bicycle commuter, I doubt I would bother with an EDC light at all. A flashlight app is generally sufficient when an unanticipated need arises, and if I anticipate a need, I'll grab the light best suited for that particular need.

10 years back I used to have a CR2032-based squeeze activated LED on my keychain along with a Maglite AAA incandescent in my pocket. Now I carry an eGear Pico on my keychain and a 4Sevens Mini ML-X in my pocket. I find AAA-based lights a little too big for a keychain since I also have a SwissArmy minichamp knife and a USB drive on the ring.

I use one of my EDCs almost every day in the winter, when it's dark 5pm to 8am. I'll take something bigger like a Quark Pro QP2L-X or a SF when I go for a walk at night.

Battery and LED advancements over the last few years have resulted in flashlights taking a quantum leap. My caveman vestigial instinct to light the dark is the only explanation I can come up with for my addiction to these brighter LED flashlights. My wife thinks I'm crazy.

For the last 25 years at work I always had a light with me, mainly a Mini-Mag AA light. About three years ago I made the switch to LED lights at work, one headlamp as needed and one in the pocket. With the lights getting smaller and brighter I started carrying one with me all the time. They take up less room then my keys in my pocket.

I think I started to carry back in the '60's, incans back then. I think I got my first edc LED in the early 90's...it might have been two Inova X5's, one white light, one UV. I also had some early PrincetonTec's, etc IIRC, a Gladius, etc, but the chronology escapes me at the moment.

I've had a few lights on me since about always though...they've just gotten a lot better as time passed.

Up until a few months ago I carried either an AAA or AA Maglite or a Surefire 6P. They were either too weak or too big. Not sure why, but I never kept up with the last 10 years of LED lights.

I now carry either a Surefire E1B or EB1t in my pocket, everywhere. As much as I use it, I'm not sure how I got by before. If I'm travelling, I'll bring my LX2 or dual mode Fury along as well.

Remember my cwp instructor in 2006 saying he saved money from teaching his last class to buy a $100 bright small light. Thought it was crazy but forgot about it. In 2009 rode with a guy from church and he mentioned he had an expensive light always with him after being somewhere and the power went out.

Then beginning of 2012 on weekend night shift googling various tactical items I remembered the two stories above. Different searches led me to a company I've never heard of, surefire. Couldn't afford one so bought a light on amazon that looked similar. Junk. Then got a nebo blue line. Ok. Kept reading but had to get a sf defender. Got one last spring. Mainly just carry around to have. It's biggest use was when I study (had twins and lost my office) I go to my building in the backyard with no power. Used it on low with a diffuser to read. Got an eb1t this valentines.

Not sure why I got so fascinated with lights. Maybe being a night owl has something to do wnith it. Three small kids, wife stays home so the biggest part I play in the light world is reading cpf and watching going gear videos but I guess that keeps me disciplined. I guess one nice light a year is reasonable.

My wife thinks its crazy (about the same I think about her artsy stuff) but if she hears a noise she doesn't grab her cricut she grabs my defender

It made a difference in my wallet.

I started carrying when only coin-cel lights were available. Then, when LED flashlights began appearing, I began to buy "high-output" LEDs and soldering them to the boards. I carry 3 lights most of the time--a keychain light, Peak 10440, and Sunway V11R. I've used them when the lights went out at work, while shopping at Home Depot, and when the lights at home went out. Just convenient--like computer connections. Nothing live-saving.

Interesting post.

Like a lot of folks, for years I just had whatever "junk" light I had. It sat in a closet for times the power went out or whatever.

Then I got one of those huge "portable" rechargable flood lights. Strictly for outside work. Tree comes down in the night. That kind of thing. Wow, that thing was bright. Ran for 5+ years but this year something in it died... Battery? Maybe... I didn't care enough to fix it. It was too big anyway.

Also, several years ago I got a PD30. I was amazed by the amount of light it put out for a small light. Not like that flood light but much more portable. Still too big to routinely carry in my pocket, I keep it in the car. Haven't needed it often but for night time roadside work, it's there (and it took the grandkids trick or treating a couple times) Now there are a couple PD32UEs stuck around the house for similar things.

Monday I got a Fenix LD12 G2. It's small enough I will actually carry it. Puts out decent (and really nice quality) light for most things. I guess the test, over the next few months will be to see how often I actually do use it. I don't anticipate it to be often but who knows? If it's even once a week, it'll stay in my pocket. If I go three months and never use it, probably not. But your post makes me think I'm kinda where you were when you started actually carrying one. We'll see.

Yorgi said:

My caveman vestigial instinct to light the dark is the only explanation I can come up with for my addiction to these brighter LED flashlights.

Click to expand...

I think this may well say it all!

Ken

I first started the day after having to walk a half mile in the woods, after leaving work, with not one star in the sky. When I finally made it to my car (a makeshift parking lot for contractors) I swore never again. Purchased a Gerber Infinity Ultra and have not looked back.

Started carrying an EDC LED in November 2010, a single AA Energizer Ultimate e2. Yes, it's made a difference. As I EDC my wedding ring, cell phone, Spyderco Merlin, and wallet; so shall I carry a light - a JetBeam RRTO XML nowadays...

2005 or 2006, with the Arc AAA-P (Nichia CS). Incans just weren't worth it. Well, now I rarely leave the house without at least 2 on me, and one or more in my car. So, yes, it's made a difference.

I can also predict when my car will give me problems: the few days each year I'm in a rush, and forget to either bring an extra flashlight, or don't have spare batteries (because, if I remember batteries, I also will be remembering to check the charge on, and swap out, rechargeable cells--so it's always when I forget that that I have near-depleted cells, and no spares ). I've been working on that, though.

I'm still trying to get used to an every day EDC; no luck so far (other than a Photon II on my keyring). What I mean is, the darn things drive me crazy. An E11 is a nice size but it just turns sideways in my pocket and feels annoying, looks even worse. I tried my H51 with the clip figuring it would carry nicely just like my pocket knife clipped inside but it just pokes my hip/waist/whatever bone when sitting and bending down to put shoes on, etc.

So I think my next option would be to try an even smaller light like an Fenix E05 for my pocket, NOT my keyring. If you're wondering, I decided against the E01 because the extra runtime is not worth the tradeoff in beam/tint.

Has it made a difference? (the few times I actually did EDC my E11) - YES! It's amazing how handy it is to have a light on you at all times.

When did I start?

I started about 3+ years ago with a Doug Ritter branded eGear Pico light. It was small enough that I could carry it all the time. I just loved having a light on me all the time and it was so useful (way more than I anticipated). I was showing my cool little light to a friend and he showed me his Maratac AAA light with 3 modes (wow!). By now the Pico light had become somewhat unreliable due to pocket lint and I just had to have these 3 modes (and it was *SO* bright at 85 lumens).

Carried that for a while until I decided that I needed multiple modes but twisting my way through them was a drag. I next found 4 Sevens and got a Quark123. Nice, programmable, head became hard to twist so I sold it. ... then I discovered Candlepower forums. lovecpf


While poring over the forums, thinking about what to get, I came across a thread about "If you had to keep only 1 of your lights, which would it be?". The overwhelming response was "My HDS Clicky". I thought "what the heck is an HDS Clicky?" I found Henry's website, fell in love and bought the 170T in all black. This is when the addiction really set in. Fast forward to today and I've spent more than I care to admit on lights, and my current EDC is:
Surefire EB1T (tactical pocket thrower)
Jetbeam RRT-01 (nice flooder capable of 600lm on IMR16340)
Steve Ku Quantum D2 clipped to my Swiss Army executive

Has it made a difference?
Hell yes. I cannot fathom how I went without for most of my adult life. Way too useful to give up. Oh and my savings account is somewhat lighter. :naughty:

ThumperACC

I started this winter with an AAA clicky. I stick it into my half-finger glove and it warms me up for 20 minutes. Because the light is small, most the heat is transferred to me.
After I got my roto-lock holster, the L2P sticks out of my belt. I saw people unwittingly glancing it. I felt like such a *******.
When I found out that Solarforce's stainless belt clip won't move and scratch up the host when it's paired with the landyard ring, I started to carry that instead. It's very concealable and won't make me look fat like the roto-lock hostler if my jacket is over it. A 18650 provides more than an hour of heat, and that's what I'm going to say if anyone asks why I carry a flashlight.
I think I'm going to carry it in the summer as well, especially after I upgrade it with Five Mega's copper 6P. If anyone asks, I'm going to say it keeps me cool.

I'll be taking a lot of night-time street photos this summer before the city replaces all the street lamps with LEDs. In addition to my tripod and camera, I'll need to carry both the Roto-lock and belt-clip flashlight. The adjustable-angle L2P will be 4000K, and dim (probably a 6A copper quad in firefly mode ironically) as not to attract unwanted attention down the block while I setup my rig. The copper Five Mega will be used to reveal shoot locations down paths with a 1-mode 6A XML and 1600mAH IMR, which will have full charge since it's not the designated worklight.

i first started carrying some crappy led light from homedeopt. it did the job. it used one of those 3 AAA battery holders. i then put a 18650 battery into it. got more light out of it. then was introduced to the t6 flashlights. now i carry the t6 when ever i go out. comes in handy and packs some major light at a cheap price.

It could be back in 2005 when Surefire just launched the E2E Executive.
That bad boy drinks batteries like water.
When they come out with the LED head, I jumped into the bandwagon and never gone back to incan head after that.

I carried a small, 1AAA Maglite Solitaire incandescent flashlight for a while. It was handy for looking into radio and computer cabinets. I realized how poor the Solitaire was one night when it was too dim and intermittent to light up a dark, uneven sidewalk. The Solitaire was shelved the next day and I eventually converted it to a pill carrier.

For a while afterwards, I carried no flashlight. Then, my wife and I were inside a large store when the electrical power failed. The store was completely dark -- without effective emergency lighting. I bought my first LED EDC flashlight shortly thereafter, a Gerber Infinity Ultra. That happened about a decade ago.