The one that started me off.

Recently have gotten back into lights....you know how it comes and goes. I still have my first "real" light. I remember seeing this thing frozen in a block of ice and still working. Instantly sold. It has stood the test of time.

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Very cool! :welcome:

Hello and :welcome:

For me, it was the SureFire L1 - deciding that I needed to get serious about illumination back in 2007 and my subsequent research on the SF L1 is what led* me here to the forums.
Three years of using the SureFire L1 - A short history

Mine, An E2E back in 2005 or so. Still got it.

My first one is long gone. Yellow 6 volt lantern or 2D number with a pumpkin face head……circa 1970?

But I still have the one that led to the one that lit the flashaholic torch. An incan minimag acquired in the early 90's that was replaced in 2015 with a Coast HP7, an Energizer hardcase, a few Lux Pro numbers and eventually a SureFire G2x Pro that really began a nearly 3 year long buying binge.

I still have the Coast in my truck, the Lux Pro hanging by the front door and the minimag collects dust on a shelf. The G2x Pro is a shadow lighter on my craft table and still has the factory batteries since it has probably only been on high less than a minute. On low it might get used 30 minutes a year. Why? Because I'm a flashaholic and have a bunch of extra flashlights laying around.

So I'd say the SureFire G2x Pro was the one​.

Only the body is original and I like P60's so she got an adapter years ago. Not much to look at but this is the one that started my insanity.

Man I remember those Surefire E series. I am pretty sure I dropped serious coin back in the day on the E1. I think I even bought another head for it, one for flood one for throw.

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I still have the first-edition Arc-AAA, that had a rubber sleeve instead of an o-ring. Still works, too. I also have lots of other Arc flashlights, including the Arc 6.

Laser Products 6P in 1996. It was followed with a 9P, then a 3P. Then the E's came out.
Previous to that, Kel-Light and Mag-Light.
Laser Products turned into Surefire and Kel-Light became Streamlight.
Still have a couple "moonbeams" from Fulton the taxpayers paid for so I could do "fire watch" effectively while dreading the next day and questioning my life decisions.

Alright, you must ​explain that last part Hogo.

bykfixer said:

Alright, you must ​explain that last part Hogo.

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Was issued a "moon beam" which is what they called it in Marine Boot. Fulton angle head flashlight. Fire watch is one hour out of you sleep time with a few other recruits to be the fire alarms for the squad bay. Generally this time was also for lamenting the brain fart we had for enlisting and wishing we were home. "It seemed like a good idea at the time...."

Thanks for clarifying hogo man. My feeble brain was thinking perhaps you had a gift that keeps giving thanks to a pro-gal in Guam or something……

Mine was a 4D MagLite. Thought it was the end all be all of flashlights. Still have it. Drooled over SureFire for years but couldn't afford them at the time. Bought a Streamlight HL-X couple years ago. Came here CPF looking for reviews. I then realized I was not alone in my love for lights. Now I have 2 Surefires and 3 Malkoff's and already thinking about the next.


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I remember getting my angle head moonbeam in basic while i was in the coast guard. Because it was training we were assigned a training officer on deck watch. He taught me the difference between a wave and a shark fin at 3:00 in the morning at 100 yards out without binoculars! I played with that thing for hours until I discovered it had lens filters hidden in the tail cap. But it was a passing fancy.

Every time I googled lights for work it brought me to CPF. I lurked for years in the early 2000's since my maglites and streamlights which i was modding from advice here, were too big for me when I moved to special assignments. I had to move away feom my energizer aa light which the guys remarked it looked like their wives personal massagers. Membership to CPF kept falling through for some reason and it took years to finally join. During this time i saw the huntlight ft-01, the fenix lod, arc aaa, photons int'l cr2 ion, ra twisty, and I think a novatac 85 lumen model, which I purchased all. I don't know which came first but one of them gave me the bug. It had to be one of them because I still have all of them but the huntlight which i gave to TJ at one of the early gatherings at his estate. I still have the tailcap for the one that broke on me, and I remember the wonderful package it came in.

This is my first "real" light. A 4D Mag from 1984 - still have it after many years of faithful service, now running a 350 Lumen LED drop in on NiMH D cells.



Before that a lot of junky wack-o-palm 2D lights, some disposable Eveready lights that whre not half bad, including the little "squeeze light" which was a good key chain light in the days before Solitaires and Photons. I also had a supposedly British army surplus light (I'm thinking it was a 3C but I'm not sure) that had a green rubber skin that had to be peeled back so that you could get the black plastic head off to change the batteries.

I always enjoyed light but the one that got me was a plastic single AA version of my (at the time) grail, the Mini-mag. I carried it everywhere and used it until the bulb burnt out. I don't know what company it was made by but I recall it had lines running from head to tail.

From there i got my mini-mag and 3D mag light and found CPF for my first LED light.

thermal guy said:

Only the body is original and I like P60's so she got an adapter years ago. Not much to look at but this is the one that started my insanity.

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I think I was the one who convinced him to keep making those finned adapters. Still look great as ever. :twothumbs

My insanity started back in the 80's back when all there was to do was collect rocks, flashlights, knives and Garbage Pail Kids, but I kinda forgot about lights for awhile. Then I bought a Surefire E2-BK around 2000 and it started again. I still remember the first time I turned that sucker on! How wide the beam... how bright... this ain't my 2D flashlight..

For me it was a LA Screw Smoke-Cutter in 1982 (while in Paramedic school).

Then a Mini-Mag in 1984, loved being able to actually have a decent flashlight with me at all times.

Then a StreamLight SL-20 in 1985.

Then a SureFire 9P and (2) 6p's in 1995 or 1996.

How did the Smoke Cutter hold up for you RWT?

LA Screw had some novel ideas, but some parts seem kind of fragile.