Addicting - The madness continues

Hello, I'm new to this forum and this week started to pick up some LED flashlights. I had a few keychain type LEDS but no real decent LEDS until this past week. I picked up the River Rock lantern, River Rock AAA and the River Rock headlight. Today I drove out to Sams and Walmart to see what they have.

I really like the River Rock lantern. I really wish it had a dim mode instead of the flashing light. I will be picking up a second one next time I'm at Target anyway.

The price for the River Rock headlight seems like a decent price. Its brighter then I expected. I have tried 2 or 3 different headlights and always took them back. I will be keeping this one. I really wanted the P.T EOS light but couldn't get myself to spend $38 bucks for it at Gander Mountain.

I also picked up the River Rock AAA. I have some mixed feelings about this one. It puts off a lot more light then my mini Mag light but it flickers sometimes. I don't care for the plastic cap where the button is. I may try exchanging it for another and see what happens. I really like the slim size.

I also want to pick up a nice AA and something nice to replace my 2C or 4D maglights. I need to do some more reading before I make up my mind on that. I'm hoping with the holidays some good deals will come along.

Playing with these LEDs can be addicting. I like camping and hiking so trying to justify all these lights. Just what I need something else to collect.


GeoScouter

RR Lantern
RR Headlamp
RR AAA
4D Maglight
2C Maglight
2AA Maglight

Re: Addicting

Welcome GeoScouter! Start thinking of more ways to justify your lights. You're going to need it.

Re: Addicting

Welcome to CPF

Get ready to hide your wallet. No seriously, do it, now. Then forget were you put it.

Once you start reading more around these forums there will be no stopping your addiction from continously growing

Re: Addicting

It is addictive... I've now got 4 headlamps, 6 flashlights, and 3 keychain LED lights. And now I really want a Fenix L1P!

Re: Addicting

flashlite said:

Start thinking of more ways to justify your lights. You're going to need it.

Click to expand...

Maybe I should start camping? That way I have a legitimate reason for buying so many lights!

Re: Addicting

jeremycollins said:

Maybe I should start camping? That way I have a legitimate reason for buying so many lights!

Click to expand...

That wont last long. A small lowish output LED for tent use. Maybe even a lantern. A MiniMag sized LED for general walking about. A nice incan for spotting them bears. A good headlamp for walking about. That should have you pretty well equipped for stuff around a camp.

Then what? You see that new purdy custom that is being built. It looks real tasty don't it? Do you really need it for camping? You don't do you? But you want it, ooooh you want it. It's so shiny and pretty and just look at that list of features. But oh my how pricey it is, surely you will never be able to justify spending that kind of money on a stinking flashlight when you can get a perfectly good plastic one at the grocery store? Bah, screw it, you only live once. You get the light and you are soo happy you got it. But... these batteries are getting expensive aren't they? Maybe a rechargeable would be a good idea? Yeah, that's a great idea! Let's get one of those. But wait, what about those other lights you bought... Hah, I've got it! I'll buy some rechargeable batteries for those.

Ok, great, now I've got everything covered. Wait a second... what's that post about using a rechargeable CR123A in that there flashlight I have to make it even brighter. Sounds interesting... but wait, I'm gonna have to buy a new lens and upgrade the heatsinking.

See where I'm going with this?

Re: Addicting

GeoScouter said: "....I also want to pick up a nice AA and something nice to replace my 2C or 4D maglights...."

There are many excellent choices in both LED and incandescent. One of the best 4AA LED lights is the Streamlight Propoly Lux 4AA, available in both black and yellow body, about $25:

http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/streamlight_propolyluxeon.htm

The Fenix L1/L1P might be the best 1AA LED light. Very compact, very bright, good runtime:

http://www.fenixlight.com/
http://www.lighthound.com/

The above two lights can actually replace a big D-cell Mag in many applications.

However if you want a larger more powerful metal body LED light, there's the LEDBeam, just $29 and free shipping:

http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/ledbeam_3c.htm

And Elektrolumens Blaster and Blaster Jr:

http://www.elektrolumens.com/

For incandescent, the Surefire G2 is one of the best, only about $34, shorter than an AA Minimag, and over 2x the output of a big 3D Mag:

http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/surefire_g2.htm
http://www.brightguy.com/detail_int.php?Sku=LASG2BK

Re: Addicting

Welcome GeoScouter -

Watch your wallet if you intend to hangout around this forum.

Another light ?
Why not ............ ............

Re: Addicting

joema said:

There are many excellent choices in both LED and incandescent.

Click to expand...

Thanks. I will check your suggestions out.


GeoScouter

Re: Addicting

GeoScouter said:

I also picked up the River Rock AAA. I have some mixed feelings about this one. It puts off a lot more light then my mini Mag light but it flickers sometimes. I don't care for the plastic cap where the button is. I may try exchanging it for another and see what happens. I really like the slim size.

Click to expand...

I just picked up one of these the other night from my local Target (along with the Dorcy 3D: Damn me for finding CPF!!! But oh what fun it is!) and mine doesnt flicker at all. So I think it would be a good idea to exchange it. Also, I agree with you about the plastic cap for a button. On the plus side though, it wont wear and tear after usage as a rubberized one would.

Re: Addicting

Robban said:

That wont last long. A small lowish output LED for tent use. Maybe even a lantern. A MiniMag sized LED for general walking about. A nice incan for spotting them bears. A good headlamp for walking about. That should have you pretty well equipped for stuff around a camp.

Then what? You see that new purdy custom that is being built. It looks real tasty don't it? Do you really need it for camping? You don't do you? But you want it, ooooh you want it. It's so shiny and pretty and just look at that list of features. But oh my how pricey it is, surely you will never be able to justify spending that kind of money on a stinking flashlight when you can get a perfectly good plastic one at the grocery store? Bah, screw it, you only live once. You get the light and you are soo happy you got it. But... these batteries are getting expensive aren't they? Maybe a rechargeable would be a good idea? Yeah, that's a great idea! Let's get one of those. But wait, what about those other lights you bought... Hah, I've got it! I'll buy some rechargeable batteries for those.

Ok, great, now I've got everything covered. Wait a second... what's that post about using a rechargeable CR123A in that there flashlight I have to make it even brighter. Sounds interesting... but wait, I'm gonna have to buy a new lens and upgrade the heatsinking.

See where I'm going with this?

Click to expand...

You forgot to add: "And then Nichia comes out with new LED's that are twice as efficient as the old ones, and suddenly you just HAVE to dig up all those old 5mm lights from two or three years ago and start upgrading them"....

Re: Addicting

Pwdrkeg said:

Another light ?
Why not ............ ............

Click to expand...

That's me! How do you know?

Re: Addicting

There are many excellent choices in both LED and incandescent. One of the best 4AA LED lights is the Streamlight Propoly Lux 4AA, available in both black and yellow body, about $25:

http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/streamlight_propolyluxeon.htm

The Fenix L1/L1P might be the best 1AA LED light. Very compact, very bright, good runtime:

http://www.fenixlight.com/
http://www.lighthound.com/

The above two lights can actually replace a big D-cell Mag in many applications.

Click to expand...

Are the SL PP4AA and the Fenix L1P meant for similar applications?

I currently have the SL PP4AA and the Costco Luxeon, and have been eyeing the Fenix for some time. I just dont know if it would be overkill having so many small Lux 1W lights when I could be branching out elsewhere - such as the Dorcy 2D at Target?

Any recommendations besides "buy 'em all!"?

Re: Addicting

I hate my gadget addiction!

I only joined today, and I've already spent $40 on a flashlight. Camping is one of my excuses as well.

Maybe I should leave and never come back...

Re: Addicting

Both SL PP Lux 4AA and Costco 2AA Luxeon are good lights. However the Fenix is substantially smaller and probably has more output than the Costco, although the upcoming Flashlightreviews.com test will investigate that.

The Fenix is an excellent light and probably the best bang for the buck in that size and output category. However you might want to go smaller and get and Arc AAA-P, Jil CR2, or Orb Raw. That way you have a totally different type.

There's a low cost $39 1 watt Orb Raw sale happening here:

http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=95675

Or you can go much bigger as you suggested and get a larger D-cell LED light, such as the LEDBeam ($25), or powerful compact incandescent light like the Streamlight TL-3 (about $55) or Surefire G2 (about $35).

Re: Addicting

Welcome GeoScouter. It was only four short months ago I posted saying I wanted to form a collection of four diverse lights. Now I have eight, and not such a diverse collection at that. The addiction seems to come from the search for the perfect small EDC (Every Day Carry) light. It's a fun ride and less expensive than most hobbies. . . I'm lovin' the Fenix L1P, and the much smaller (as Joema said) JIL 1.3, which can be had for about $70. The ProPoly AA Luxeon is cheap to buy, but in another class for runtime and a far reaching spot. So, I'm glad I got that one too but don't have a need for it that often. It's a great just in case emergency light though and is a fantastic bargain at about $25, just as the Fenix is a great buy at about $40. The most expensive of my lights is the Peak Caribbean, a high quality item at $100.

I just join this forum last week and tonight picked up another 3 lights. I picked up the Elements from Sams, the Dorcy 1W 3D from Target and a LED drop in replacement for the mini-mag at Walmart.

So this past week I have purchased the following:

Two RR Lanterns
RR Headlamp
RR AAA mini light
Sams Elements lights
Dorcy 1W 3D light
Drop in LED for mini-mag.


A friend is coming over tomorrow for a shootout with his Brinkman 4D LED light and his new 21 LED AAA light.

Now I need to decide to keep if I should keep my old 4D cell mag-light and the 2C cell mag-lights or consider modding them.

GeoScouter

and some day You realize the original lights You bought just dont fill Your bill (brightness, multilevel, runtime, battery size/number, seize, mechanical construction, ..., individuality)
and You are about to start modding, ...

still there are more powerful lights to do (bike, ...)
and then there is HID also, now beginning to get priced low enough to change from Halogen to HID, ....

watch Your bank account

I'm a fellow newbie and I'd definitely suggest adding a Streamlight ProPolymer 4AA Luxeon to your collection. Currently $23 + ~$6 shipping from Fox.
http://www.fox-intl.com/searchresult.asp?id=3034

Review here plus lots of info on the forums including a current thread where it ran 4h 45min on Sanyo 2500 NiMH.
http://flashlightreviews.com/reviews/streamlight_propolyluxeon.htm

The Nichia LED mod to the Dorcy 1AAA is also very nice.

Mike