jasonrohrer
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Dec 8, 2018
- Messages
- 1
My three boys are 8, 10, and 15.
I'm a little late for the oldest, and a little early for the youngest, but I'm getting them each a "real" flashlight this year.
I spent way too long on research last week, and here's what I ended up with:
ThruNite TN12 Neutral White for my 8-y-o
Olight M2T Warrior for my 10-y-o
ArmyTek Partner C2 Pro Warm for my 15-y-o.
I needed different lights for each so they could tell them apart, and they obviously get a bit more expensive and a bit brighter as they go up in age.
I also got them an Xtar VP4 charger (one to share, for now), and three of these batteries:
https://www.illumn.com/18650-lg-mj1-inr18650-mj1-high-discharge-protected-button-top.html
$270 all told.
Most of this stuff has arrived already, so it's too late for you to tell me that I made bad choices. But I'm pretty new to this world, and so are they, so I'm looking for any advice as we get started.
Our brightest flashlight in the house is currently a 2AA LED Mini Mag-Light. Amazing build quality, but poor performance (PWM kicks in when batteries get slightly low) and poor reliability (sometimes it just won't turn on, or flickers... uggg). Despite my disappointment with it, it still feels simple enough to last forever. I still have an incandescent Mini Mag from 1992 that works great (albeit dimly) after 26 years. Heck, it's not just Mag-Light. My grandfather had some simple slide-switch flashlights that must have been half a century old. There's pretty much nothing to break.
So, my main concern with these super-bright, hot-running, multi-function Chinese lights is long-term reliability. They will make pretty crappy gifts if they die in a year or two...
Anyway, we were out walking last night with the LED mini-mag, and my 10-y-o was having fun shining it up to the tree tops. "Look how bright it is!" he kept saying. I smiled as I thought to myself, "You ain't seen nothing yet, kid."
I'm a little late for the oldest, and a little early for the youngest, but I'm getting them each a "real" flashlight this year.
I spent way too long on research last week, and here's what I ended up with:
ThruNite TN12 Neutral White for my 8-y-o
Olight M2T Warrior for my 10-y-o
ArmyTek Partner C2 Pro Warm for my 15-y-o.
I needed different lights for each so they could tell them apart, and they obviously get a bit more expensive and a bit brighter as they go up in age.
I also got them an Xtar VP4 charger (one to share, for now), and three of these batteries:
https://www.illumn.com/18650-lg-mj1-inr18650-mj1-high-discharge-protected-button-top.html
$270 all told.
Most of this stuff has arrived already, so it's too late for you to tell me that I made bad choices. But I'm pretty new to this world, and so are they, so I'm looking for any advice as we get started.
Our brightest flashlight in the house is currently a 2AA LED Mini Mag-Light. Amazing build quality, but poor performance (PWM kicks in when batteries get slightly low) and poor reliability (sometimes it just won't turn on, or flickers... uggg). Despite my disappointment with it, it still feels simple enough to last forever. I still have an incandescent Mini Mag from 1992 that works great (albeit dimly) after 26 years. Heck, it's not just Mag-Light. My grandfather had some simple slide-switch flashlights that must have been half a century old. There's pretty much nothing to break.
So, my main concern with these super-bright, hot-running, multi-function Chinese lights is long-term reliability. They will make pretty crappy gifts if they die in a year or two...
Anyway, we were out walking last night with the LED mini-mag, and my 10-y-o was having fun shining it up to the tree tops. "Look how bright it is!" he kept saying. I smiled as I thought to myself, "You ain't seen nothing yet, kid."