Challenge Week #2: "E" Name or Model# Only!

[bykfixer]

My thought yesterday was to kick off the challenge at 6pm and posted at 5:49 saying it would begin when it got dark. Well 6 minutes later the ocd urge kicked in saying "brand name not model"…… "my left side brain said "wth are you talking about?" My right side brain said "you know, those old Emissive Energy Inovas and those AA Energizers you liked so much"……
Oh snap, what to do, what to do? I only had 5 minutes to decide and the tug of war between the left brain and the right brain ran out the clock so model it is.

Here's the brand lights I was considering along with an Elzetta Bravo hi/lo and G-Line EDC-AA.


The Energizers were pretty sweet and those TIR Inovas were too.
So back to the LED light museum with those……
There is no actual museum in my home with fancy display plaques and ambient lighting, but calling it the museum sure sounds better than "back to being dust collectors", right?

Long ago the Inova was a forward thinking US made (Rhode Island iirc) line up that were rumored to be competing with the mighty SureFire in the somewhat early LED period. Emissive owns numerous patents for early LED flashlight technology. Very durable, simple lights that grabbed the attention of law officers and first responders. Emissive bought Nite Ize and used that name to carry forward with the Inova line that began being produced overseas. Emissive also now makes Inforce lighting tools in America.

[Slumber Pass]

I'm in. I'm going with some HDS Executives. I'll carry the cool 250 during work in my doo-doo brown kydex holster. The warm 140 will be in the bag ready to go when I get off. Also threw a 325 XP-L in the bag as a back up. Six spare primary's in the bag and one in my pocket.

[Stress_Test]

Well, for this challenge I'll be going by model names, so that will allow me to bust out my ultra-rare, E01 "Halloween Edition" light!

[Jean-Luc Descarte]

Second night now.

As I'm only using one minitorch without clip that can easily be lost in a pocket, I've put a lanyard on the EDC01. That helps its volume in the pockets, and it can go around the wrist if in constant use. And I recently found out it can light up the walkway of the building in front of my bedroom window on High mode. Not bad for a TIR flooder!

Honestly the biggest change I've noticed in my routine is that I'm not fidgeting with my lights while idle or doing something menial like reading the forums. Not gonna lie, it's slightly frustrating.

[Stress_Test]

Second night now.

As I'm only using one minitorch without clip that can easily be lost in a pocket, I've put a lanyard on the EDC01. That helps its volume in the pockets, and it can go around the wrist if in constant use. And I recently found out it can light up the walkway of the building in front of my bedroom window on High mode. Not bad for a TIR flooder!

Honestly the biggest change I've noticed in my routine is that I'm not fidgeting with my lights while idle or doing something menial like reading the forums. Not gonna lie, it's slightly frustrating.

That Lumintop is also the same as I'm going to carry. Though, like you I'm not sure yet a good way to do it! I thought about clipping it to the badge neck-lanyard I wear at work, but that means extra stuff bouncing around. Maybe I'll just clip it to my backpack, since I'll normally have that nearby anyway.

The EDC01 is pretty impressive. I did some low tech runtime testing with just a stopwatch. On high it went about 40 minutes and then dimmed down; I shut it off at about 45 min when the battery was clearly empty (~0.8 to 0.9 volts). That is on spec or slightly better than the 30 minutes claimed.

On medium it went about 3 hours, 40 minutes before dropping way low. That's a bit less than the 4-hour spec, but pretty close! This was using the white-wrap Eneloop, so the Eneloop Pro would probably go 4 hours.

Pretty amazing when you think about it running at that brightness and duration on just a tiny little AAA cell!

[bykfixer]

For me the challenge is that I got new new lights at Christmas that A) aren't incan and B) do not have an E in the model name.

It's a bit like Tim the Toolman Taylor just got a Binford XR4570 100 volt battery operated super saw but he agreed to use a hand saw to build a shelf unit in the garage while Wilson is at the fence saying "now now neighbor, you did agree to that". It teaches us to enjoy the virtues of the tools we already had.

[Katherine Alicia]

Nothing really to report here, there`s been no real challenge beyond not being able to mess with my other lights when I feel like it, I find myself using my Manker E02II and my P60 with the ES-6 module almost exclusively, I`m actually quite happy with just those two and the E02 is my EDC light anyway.

[Jean-Luc Descarte]

That Lumintop is also the same as I'm going to carry. Though, like you I'm not sure yet a good way to do it! I thought about clipping it to the badge neck-lanyard I wear at work, but that means extra stuff bouncing around. Maybe I'll just clip it to my backpack, since I'll normally have that nearby anyway.

The EDC01 is pretty impressive. I did some low tech runtime testing with just a stopwatch. On high it went about 40 minutes and then dimmed down; I shut it off at about 45 min when the battery was clearly empty (~0.8 to 0.9 volts). That is on spec or slightly better than the 30 minutes claimed.

On medium it went about 3 hours, 40 minutes before dropping way low. That's a bit less than the 4-hour spec, but pretty close! This was using the white-wrap Eneloop, so the Eneloop Pro would probably go 4 hours.

Pretty amazing when you think about it running at that brightness and duration on just a tiny little AAA cell!

I just keep it in my pocket. The lanyard does wonders in making it easy to find by touch alone. But if you're a fan of the keychain system, clipping it to the backpack is far from the worst idea

It sure is impressive, which is why I jumped right away on this challenge - now it's no longer overshadowed by her Tool sister with the same internals but convenient rear button and pocket clip, so I can appreciate its smaller size and elegant form factor. Runtimes are definitely not too shabby, sometimes it feels like a 1xAA torch. AAA lights sure have come a very long way

[jabe1]

I used to have a few of those 1xAA Energizers. They are pretty easy to mod. I had fun putting colored XR-Es ( or maybe Cs) in them. Wish I had one now, they have a good feel to them.

My thought yesterday was to kick off the challenge at 6pm and posted at 5:49 saying it would begin when it got dark. Well 6 minutes later the ocd urge kicked in saying "brand name not model"…… "my left side brain said "wth are you talking about?" My right side brain said "you know, those old Emissive Energy Inovas and those AA Energizers you liked so much"……
Oh snap, what to do, what to do? I only had 5 minutes to decide and the tug of war between the left brain and the right brain ran out the clock so model it is.

Here's the brand lights I was considering along with an Elzetta Bravo hi/lo and G-Line EDC-AA.


The Energizers were pretty sweet and those TIR Inovas were too.
So back to the LED light museum with those……
There is no actual museum in my home with fancy display plaques and ambient lighting, but calling it the museum sure sounds better than "back to being dust collectors", right?

Long ago the Inova was a forward thinking US made (Rhode Island iirc) line up that were rumored to be competing with the mighty SureFire in the somewhat early LED period. Emissive owns numerous patents for early LED flashlight technology. Very durable, simple lights that grabbed the attention of law officers and first responders. Emissive bought Nite Ize and used that name to carry forward with the Inova line that began being produced overseas. Emissive also now makes Inforce lighting tools in America.

[Slumber Pass]

My HDS Executives are the pretty much the smallest lights I own. After one night at work, I find my self missing a 2xCR123/18650 sized light. I like the extra real estate for grip and when I dump it in my shirt pocket for a few moments, it's easier to dig out a larger light. It's just one week, I'll make due.

[novice]

I think that I momentarily strayed from the path. I don't even remember, but that probably means that I automatically grabbed the light I always grab when I open the safe to look for a light, a G2Z-YL (converted from a spare G2-YL) that has an M60nLLL. Slap my wrist for that one. I did, however, resist using my arrived-today Fivemega "Malkoff MD-1" that is now connected to an MDX16.5 bezel with hi-lo ring holding down an M30, and Z59 tailcap. Even got the new 18350 cells from Illumn dot com today. Really want to play with it. Sigh. It will have to wait until Sunday. Very grateful to have an "HDS', but slightly chagrined that because it is as old as it is, it is an "Ra Clicky", which means that since it is not technically an "HDS Executive", I can't grab it until Sunday.

[Jean-Luc Descarte]

I think that I momentarily strayed from the path. I don't even remember, but that probably means that I automatically grabbed the light I always grab when I open the safe to look for a light, a G2Z-YL (converted from a spare G2-YL) that has an M60nLLL. Slap my wrist for that one. I did, however, resist using my arrived-today Fivemega "Malkoff MD-1" that is now connected to an MDX16.5 bezel with hi-lo ring holding down an M30, and Z59 tailcap. Even got the new 18350 cells from Illumn dot com today. Really want to play with it. Sigh. It will have to wait until Sunday. Very grateful to have an "HDS', but slightly chagrined that because it is as old as it is, it is an "Ra Clicky", which means that since it is not technically an "HDS Executive", I can't grab it until Sunday.

Now, you may not be able to play with your new toy, but according to the rules, you can check if it works okay.

And remember, they're more like guidelines...

[Stress_Test]

Now, you may not be able to play with your new toy, but according to the rules, you can check if it works okay.

And remember, they're more like guidelines...

[nbp]

I Very grateful to have an "HDS', but slightly chagrined that because it is as old as it is, it is an "Ra Clicky", which means that since it is not technically an "HDS Executive", I can't grab it until Sunday.

Ehhh, technically true. But it’s the same light... I wouldn’t feel bad about using it if I were you. Anyone not very familiar with the brand would not be able to tell Legacy and current Gen lights apart.

[bykfixer]

Welp, I'm out.
I just received some incan aaa minimags and after dark will be comparing lenses. Glass vs factory vs a slightly diffused one called acrylite.

Now I did do a comparision to a stock Fenix E01 to one that was scuffed and dome colored with a pumpkin Sharpee to a non scuffed dome colored with same pumpkin orange Sharpee. I definitely preferred the non scuffed pumpkin orange dome'd unit for the throw. At 2am all that flood was just too bright up close. The stock had weird colors in the beam but I liked the light output being more forward. The unscuffed pumpkin colored dome placed light forward like I prefer but all the weird colors were masked by the slightly neutral beam.

The Pentagon eX2 with Malkoff M60T would drive wall hunters nuts but in practical use it's a great light warts and all. And the Pentagon body is a pleasure to use. A 6P it aint. But there are some things I prefer over the king of pocket sized 6 volt incan. Less travel to activate the light for instance.

The E2D with a 3400 kelvin 219c Tana module at 25% of the 300 lumen max does a great job of mimicing the factory bulb. That one has always been one of my favorite "fool your friends" numbers that causes the un-learn-ed to think it's a genuine light bulb tossing out a blinding beam.

So with the sun setting I officially bow out in order to start swapping lenses on those incan minimags before cooking dinner on the barbie.

[LeanBurn]

After deliberation I decided to go with "the Ugly" (Fenix E01), this is a challenge after all..... the LED dropped in Maglite would have been too easy.

It hasn't been as bad as I thought it might, I am 1/2 way there.

[Jean-Luc Descarte]

Have I really been doing this since sunset on Sunday? Wow. Doesn't feel that long.

Yeah, I'm definitely keeping the lanyard on the EDC01. If I know I'll need it constantly, I can just put it on my wrist.

This week also made me comprehend the true usefulness of diffusers. They are great to make ambient light when your torch just doesn't have the sustainable output to ceiling bounce with. Now I'm sad I lost the one from my Tool AA 2.0, but at least I still have one from an old Thrunite T10 I've lost long ago that fits the Tool. Starting next week it will see plenty of use.

[bykfixer]

Howz everybody doing?

I failed but still had fun until……

[Jean-Luc Descarte]

Still going all right, byk. Popped a new Eneloop in the EDC01 just in case before I went out yesterday.

Mostly I'm using it to take the trash out to the bin at the entrance of my home building during the night. The stairway does have lights, but they're triggered by motion sensors and more than half of them seem to be janky in calibration.

[bigburly912]

This is horrible but....... I haven’t used a flashlight all week long

[Slumber Pass]

I'm still in. It's over for me Monday afternoon before work. I'm mostly missing my bigger lights while at work, but really output-wise, the Executives are doing the job.

[jabe1]

I’ve been getting by mostly with a 10180 Eiger on my keychain. The e50 next to the back door has been used a few times; mostly checking for muddy paws after the dog is out.

[nbp]

This week has reminded me how flexible HDS lights are, and why I have had so many of them over the years. It really is a do-it-all light. If I could only have one light, it would probably have to be an HDS. I really haven’t lacked for anything this week!

Tomorrow I will probably be helping dad work on old cars again, so it will be sketchy. The only flashlight of MINE I will use will be my Executive, but he will likely fire up his Milwaukee Tool task lights so I am sure I will get some use of them by default.

[Jean-Luc Descarte]

My finish line is on this Sunday evening. I can make it, easy enough. 1xAAA torches nowadays are capable as heck.

Although, if the next challenge is an AAA or keychain light one, I'll pass. Gotta give myself some downtime with my toys

[Katherine Alicia]

it`s been a nice, quiet, uneventful week for me and I`v been perfectly happy using my E02II and ES-6 incan dropin.
My new LEP arrived yesterday (ordered in Nov last year) and I did test that out to make sure it`s all good, now it`s back in it`s holster until a LEP challege comes up

[Dark Attic Works]

I discovered this challenge late but thought I'd participate anyway! I've got Surefire EDCL1-T, EDCL2-T, E1B (x2), and E1E for day use and a Nitecore EC11 for low light night use.

Looking forward to the next one!

[Jean-Luc Descarte]

I discovered this challenge late but thought I'd participate anyway! I've got Surefire EDCL1-T, EDCL2-T, E1B (x2), and E1E for day use and a Nitecore EC11 for low light night use.

Looking forward to the next one!

You're always welcome to participate Keep us posted on how it goes!

[Stress_Test]

So, it's the end of the week and apparently no one caught my bogus "E01"? (take a closer look at the photo )

I didn't actually use that combo since I'd consider that cheating; it's just a gag!

The Lumentop EDC01 served as my tiny AAA light for the week. Useful when I had to look into a ceiling area above the acoustic tiles.

[nbp]

Did that head come off something else? There was an orange E01 so I figured you just swapped parts between two E01s; it didn’t even look suspicious to me!

[Stress_Test]

Heh heh, yeah, look close around the bezel. I figured someone would recognize it