What was the first (and last) flashlight that made you go "whoa . . ."

My first was a Maglight.
Last, Streamlight 2lx

I know, boring.

My First light that made me go whoa was an Orb Raw that lit up my back yard and it was tiny. Unbelievable.
The last is my Emisat D4. Wow!

The first was an incandecent Surefire 6P (belonged to a friend of mine, but compared to my mini mag and 3D mag light- blew them away. My lights were the standard in my eyes, so never made me go- wow)

The last is my Manker Mk39vn Ranger. With both spot and flood on- especially with Vinhs magic- its bright!

Fire Foxes FF3

A few years ago when a incan minimag was my daily carry while working at night a piece of earth moving equipment got too close to an overhead cable and pulled it loose. It was draping across a busy roadway about 4' off the ground. Being dark cars did not see it. It was high enough where cars hoods drove under it but it would drag across their windshield. Good Gosh!!

Multi car pile up when cars began to launch on the brakes, then cars following too close and all that. A coworker walks up with a flashlight the size of my forearm. An LED flashlight. 300 lumens shone the wires origins and that they were just phone wires.

That 300 lumen light caused me to say "whoa". The last was my 2C Maglite ROP that when shined at neighbors light sensitive porch lights will cause them to turn off. After I finished giggling like a second grade boy who just got away with peeking up teachers skirt I said "whoa".

First was a cheap Chinese made flood-spot LED (conventional aspheric lens) that I got back around 2008/2009. Coming from crappy incandescents I had before then as a teenager, I was hooked on LED light technology since then. Incidentally, I still use that cheapie to this day during power outages to provide room light via ceiling bounce. Packaging for it at the time kept saying it was putting out 250 lumens.

Most recent light, Acebeam T36. That XHP35 in it continues to blow my mind when I use it on turbo. Even when it is far too much light than I actually need.

when I was new at this addiction I marveled at the Xeno E03, and bought it. Some +110 lights later I marvel at the Fireflies E07, bought it and still marvel at it.

First one was the Malahini I fell in love with it. It was my first high end light. Last one was the Eryx but I'm biased seeing as I make them.

Shark skin finish? Hmm...

I know the first - 3C Mag modded with a LuxIII (thanks 3rd_Shift)

Can't settle on the last.. I haven't gotten that one yet

What was the first (and last) flashlight that made you go "whoa . . ."

The first light that got me were these Tekna-Lite way back in the day I guess pre-1980?



The last or most recent is probably the Emisar D4!

Probably the first ever was the first time I ever saw a Surefire 6P long ago. My friends father had one out at their cabin.
First light of my own was an iNova XS. It came with a battery in it. At the time $35 for a single AAA seemed pretty expensive. Got out to my truck and before I left the parking lot I shined it on aimed at the footwell on the passenger side. 53 lumens. I was giggling like I had just invented fire. I couldn't believe the power of that little light. Even now with all the tint snobbery and such, I came back to that light and I'm amazed at how truly white the beam is and how nicely it actually renders colors. The new XS with the clicky, not so much.
In recent times I feel it's a bit murky, with so many lights that have had at least some type of effect on me. I guess I'd say my Prometheus Alpha ready made. That was my first light in the custom/high end/online only/not found in stores category. And it was a game changer. Suddenly all my other lights were basically obsolete, and the path to McGizmo, Cool Fall, Malkoff, HDS, 47s, LensLight, Oveready, Muyshondt, etc had begun.

Arc LSH first. Lemax 70 Super.


Karl

My first modern flashlight was my Fenix P1D. Still have it and it still works.

I remember laughing when I fired it up the first time.

Chris

Maglight incandescent Solitaire AAA, I said WHOA what a piece of junk! Dim,horrible weak beam pattern {if you could even call it a pattern}

Surefire Fury Dual Fuel,WHOA what a thrower,more like a handheld searchlight than flashlight.I laughed as I lit up the top floors of 26-30 story highrise buildings from the ground.I like the choice of using USB rechargeable 18650s or disposable 123s in this also.Makes it perfect for traveling.

First one that made me go woah? Hmm.... hard to remember exactly.

I recall some time in the early 90s I got a 3xAA LED flashlight. It was made from aqua colored translucent plastic with a clear plastic head. The light source was two 5mm white LEDs. I doubt it produced over 10 lumens.

However, at the time I got it, it was the very first white LED light I'd ever seen. And nobody else I knew had ever seen a white LED either. People would do a double-take when they saw it turned on, because the cool-white output looked so strange compared to the warm white incandescent flashlights which people were familiar with. Of course after the initial "woah" wore off people realized that the output was really quite dim.

Last one that made go woah:
My Emisar D18. 10,000 lumens of 95 CRI 4000K. Insanely bright.

First one was a Fenix AAA (LOD? LDO?) back in the say running on a 10440 ultrafire cell when I knew nothing about anything flashlight related or battery related. Bright as hell, and got hot quick! Dangerous. Over discharged those Ultrafires routinely, and am amazed the light held up as long as it did.

This new olight Warrior X has been the envy of all my coworkers. Definitely BRIGHT.

First was the Solarforce MPP-1 on an L2P tube.

Latest is the Emisar series. Wow!

First: I forgot the brand, but it was a smooth-reflector, battery-powered 1 million candlepower flashlight from Wal-Mart. I bought it (My dad bought it for me...) when I was around 8 or 10 or so. Some little poop at the summer camp I worked at when I was 19 broke it (Accidents happen, but he was a little poop because he had gotten into my lockerspace after being told NOT to **** with other people's stuff, he then took it apart, and broke some of the components. His answer was "My parents will buy you another light" (it was already well out of production by then.) I told him that his parents did not break it, he did, and he did pushups, squat lunges, and everything else I could throw at him until he nearly vomited while the rest of the kids racked out. That day, I hope he learned accountability and that YOU are responsible for YOUR failures, and went on to take that lesson with him and live a good life.), and I've missed it ever since. I'm 33 and miss that light.

Latest: Modlite 18350 PLH Weaponlight