the LED that got you started.

"You collect FLASHLIGHTS??? really?"

we've all heard it, and truthfully even as a collector, it sounds a bit off the wall.

But I do wonder... did we "collect" them before they were high powered retina burning LED lights? I wonder if many of us even collected them at all. I didn't.

Until I got hit with the LED wave, my hottest portable light was a 6-D cell Maglite.
It was basically THE light to have for brightness and durability. There were many of them in my neighborhood.
We didn't need or want anything else. A flashlight was a tool, and if you had one, or a couple, you were okay. Didn't need 30.

I guess the "bug" hit me when I grabbed a Surefire 6PL. It was an impulse purchase at my local Lowe's and cost it me nearly 80 bucks I think.
I have always had the "buy quality, buy once" mentality, so whatever it was I was buying it was gonna be the biggest, best, and baddest I could get. This light fit that bill.

The 6PL is old now, and is a joke by today's new standards, but this thread is about the light that got you started.

Tell your story.

The Brinkmann "Long Life LED light" 2xAA. 15 years ago its purple ringy beam was so different, mostly a curiosity I kept sitting in my cabinet, but was something I could always seem to count on having some juice left:

LedLenser V2 3xAAA Luxeon 1, 40 lumens. Was the envy of everyone around at its time, around 2007.

Aside from some 5mm Bike lights, my first LED was the Loews Task Force 2C.

Great budget light for the time - Aspheric lens with lots of throw.

I still have it! - But 'sleaved' with PVC for 2XAA Eneloops. - Works great!

You can read about it here:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...-Brand)-3W-Luxeon-2C-Cell-Very-Nice-My-Review

Thanks,
-Chuck

Limey Johnson said:

I have always had the "buy quality, buy once" mentality, so whatever it was I was buying it was gonna be the biggest, best, and baddest I could get. (..)

The 6PL is old now, and is a joke by today's new standards

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Makes one think about what it means to "buy quality" in a field of fast-changing technology.

For me, performance is always part of that "quality" equation. So why spend lots of $$ on something that will look poor by say, 5-years-from-now standards. :thinking:

Don't get me wrong: I understand paying for quality even if the tech in whatever you buy, is outdated in a -relatively- short time. My concern would be more with the question how to spend those $$ most effectively. For example a 90% efficient driver is nice, but who cares when a few years later you have an 80% efficient driver, using a LED with 2x the output, and vastly improved batteries? That's like spending serious $$ on a PC gaming rig, when you can buy something more powerful a year later at 1/3 the price. Again: I can understand why some people would go for that high-end gaming rig. But with a limited budget you have to pick your battles.

If I recall correctly, back in maybe 2008, the first LED light I had was a Streamlight TT 1L. Sort of single cell A2...well, not really like an A2, the incan beam was just awful, but nevertheless a cute little light. After that, and having found CPF, I purchased a Huntlight 1 x CR123 / 2 x AA light, and a Civictor (kinda wish I still had that little light) and I was hooked.

I shudder to think how many lights I've had since then.

Fenix E20. 2 x AA flood to throw zoom Still works great on current setting but head is frozen in brightest hotspot position (throw). I cannot adjust to throw. Must be rusted inside?

Inova X1 - 1st Gen with aspherical zero-spill lens.

Sort of the Maglite XL100. I was impressed by the output at the time, but still didn't "know" flashlights. I had several, but that was my first LED light of a somewhat better quality. That said, the XL100 had a lot of shortcomings, only I didn't know it. But, that light definitely piqued my interest in LED lights.

Then, one day someone told me about the Olight M20 and that was it. I bought it. Then stumbled across these forums and it has been an addiction ever since!!! Lol


Sent from my iPhone using Candlepowerforums

Surefire L1 Red, 4-flat. Still have it.
Never liked hotwires, I had no interest in flashlights until LED lights were fairly common.

Nitecore D10 R2. This is what got me interested in flashlights. And then I saw the Surefire C2 with Nailbender SST-50 P60 drop-in. This is what got me hooked.

Some guy sold me a 'Surefire C2 with Nailbender SST-50 P60 drop-in'... Burnt Bronze color. The first led drop-in was a malkoff M61 in a 6p.

I have been interested in flashlights since I was a kid. At that time I thought Maglites were the best of the best. In my early twenties a friend who was a veteran showed me his Surefire 6P which had 60 lumens. I couldn't believe that a flashlight so small could be that bright. That sent me on a mission to find a small and bright flashlight that would run on AA batteries. At that time the brightest I found was the Fenix L2D-CE with a Cree XR-E in it and put out something around 100 lumens. After I got that I was hooked on LED flashlights and the obsession has grown! That was probably back in 2006 or so when I got my first Fenix with the XR-E.

Amelia said:

Never liked hotwires, I had no interest in flashlights until LED lights were fairly common.

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Same here. Power LEDs ftw!

I started with the old incandescent 2AA Maglites. Then I modded mine with a first-generation Nite Ize LED that was very blue and very dim. My first nicer light was a Polestar A6 with an MC-E LED, and from then on I was really hooked, especially once I started buying Fenix and other branded lights.

over 3 years ago the Xeno EO3 was what got me started in all this illogical madness. Something like $30. Since then I have purchased something like 50 lights. Why? Something a bit over $1000 total. Why? Most are shelf queens. I can't seem to part with any, I like them all. I have not gone wild. My most expensive was $150, and only that one over $100.

oops, I have gotten way from the question, sorry.

Post maglite,the lenser t7 and p3 started it off ,t7 took many drops over the years,a true beater light. This i had for a few years before i discovered other brands like Fenix etc etc However i still went back and bought a t7.2 with no regret at all,great light imo.
The one that started the light rolling.........(oh and it does roll!!!)

ven said:

Post maglite,the lenser t7 and p3 started it off ,t7 took many drops over the years,a true beater light. This i had for a few years before i discovered other brands like Fenix etc etc However i still went back and bought a t7.2 with no regret at all,great light imo.
The one that started the light rolling.........(oh and it does roll!!!)

Click to expand...

Oh yeah, I completely forgot that I had some LED Lenser lights in between the Maglite and the Polestar. Those lights were pretty nice as well, but I wanted something brighter. They were all the 3xAAA variety.

Ven, looks well used and abused. :thumbsup:

Started with some old EverReady and Rayovac lights before discovering the Kel-lite, 5D cell light at a local police supply store. Needed a light to mount on a rifle for fox and coon hunting, so ended up getting a Surefire M961 to go along with my belt pack battery head lamp.

Needed some handheld thrower lights for the tow truck and picked up a few Cyclops lights and a Brinkman Q beam. The Q beam constantly blew the accessory plug fuse and the Cyclops batteries wouldn't stay charged.

Graduated to a 6 D cell Mag, along with a multitude of AA Mag lights. Mag finally came out with a LED version of the AA light and incandescent lights I thought were a thing of the past.

Purchased a Surefire 6P which was a lot tougher than the Mag lights and a world brighter. Picked up a few auto parts store 5-7 led throw away lights to keep i the glove box that ran on the dreaded AAA batteries. Found CPF, and that someone was making a drop-in for the 6P and another company made a conversion for the Mag 6D cell light.

A friend gave me a Led Lenser and after looking at their product line ended up purchasing way too many of them. Went looking for a high powered LED light that had more throw than the Led Lensers, and found both Nitecore and Fenix.

Now a few years later, I graduated into purchasing modified lights and don't know if I'll go back to purchasing off the shelf lights again.

blah9 said:

Oh yeah, I completely forgot that I had some LED Lenser lights in between the Maglite and the Polestar. Those lights were pretty nice as well, but I wanted something brighter. They were all the 3xAAA variety.

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Yes,main reason for my lenser lights,well at time one of the "good" brands and not that much to choose from for the "unenlightened" . Also free supply of cells from work,i do remember thinking :thinking: why am i spending so much on a light(around £40 iirc) at the time.............now its small fry :laughing:

One thing i have changed reg the newer t7.2,its fed on 4xAAA loops over alki cells........

Although not best flood or throw,the useful combination in work situations was and still is great.