Flashlights- short-lived obsession?

reformed flashaholic here,
sold my ARCS for knives. didn't make a killing but how many items you can sell at your at new price for an used item.
I think I'm all done with the flashlight thing. I too like small and bright at a reasonable price so I'm getting nuwai q3 for my belt and for a bright light, that will be my car headlights and a rechargable spotlight.
Yes, I have a SF G2, that was my first.
I'm more than covered considering I live in an urban environment. during the blackout I didn't see many flashlight users, lots of candles and lighters that were used to guide one out of the subway. Sure a light would be better but you make do.
another reason: I have this guy locally that keeps on offering me crap trades for my ARCS. I had an used arc aaa offered at $20 shipped via priority and some people still tried to low ball me.
Maglites have a xenon bulb nowadays, anyway. not bad considering they cost around $16.
again, to each their own.
 
dunc5 said:
Have you ever compared a surefire alongside one of your mags ? :D
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Yes. And the Surefire beats the hell out of the Mag every time. I know all of that. But for the price, the Mag is durable and overall is a great light. I may break down and get a Surefire to carry in my pocket because the 2AA Mag is a little big for every day carry.

I've used my 4D Mag (wrapped with a cloth) and a Ka-Bar for chopping fire wood and it holds up well.
 
Psychopomp i have to agree with you that mags are very good and i own a 6D cell for the car a 3D by the kitchen door in brackets on the wall ,a mini AA with a niteize litebite in my firstaid box and a solitaire in my leatherman charge sheath but its my E2e sg and 6P that really impress me , just could not believe how bright they were when i first got them . living by the coast its great to go down to the beach at night and light everywhere up.
 
Never did become a true flashaholic, never posted on CPF. It's a excellent site for someone looking for a practical EDC. Two years ago I spent several weeks researching a good EDC light . Ending up with a Surefire Aviator and two of the Arc Luxeon lights. The Arc's were purchased as "seconds". Great coin pocket lights. Much cheaper than the $150-$180 "firsts". Many of the lights offered now appear to be a knock off of those Arc lights or Surefires designs. Until there are big leaps in technology and lamp design, I believe these lights should serve me very well until that time. But you really can't have too many sharp knives ;)
 
sputnik, I bought ARC "seconds" too. I can't afford full price.
Even though they're seconds, I still made more than what I paid for them.
Look at it this way, I could of sworn we would get another blackout last yr but we didn't. But then again, I've been buying flashlights way before I've found CPF. Only back then the most one cost was $15. So call me Frugal.
I've noticed there is a large "flashaholic" following overseas, I wonder if one part of this is because they have such strict laws regarding handgun ownership so flashlights is another self defense weapon.
I see lots of members of the trade with 2AA miniMags, I just gave one to my brother in law a MM with a LED bulb conversion. I carry mine with a blaze orange tape rule and BM mini grip in yellow. (he carries a SAK)
 
Tiberius, agreed. NOTHING wrong with frugal. The SF Aviator I acquired was part of a trade at a local knife show. I really admire this light, but will not pay the current retail for another. The design is economical, the circuit allows a very long incandescent lamp life span. Using the leds for most everday tasks, I change out batteries roughly every 7-9 months. :) There are many manufacturers out there that offer a bang for the buck. The Underwater Kinetics line comes to mind for durable, dependable flashlights. I would rather have 4 durable $ 25.00 lights than one hot-rod $100.00 light. Redundancy is a good thing too.
 
I like the way you think sputnik.
The SF aviator is under appreciated. I've acquired my knives through some trades, too. The next on my wish list is a wegner mouse or mouse 2
 
I'm feeling "lighted out" too. Opalec Newbeam, X5T, E2E, G2, Arc AAA, Tikka Plus.
I've got lighting covered. I don't feel the need for a 6000 Lumen Throwmeister.
 
Chiro75 said:
I check out CPF every now and then and there's nothing new in the LED world.
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I feel the exact opposite is true. Have there been any tremendous breakthroughs in the knife world lately? Nope. There are only so many feasible lock and blade designs. When we see newer steels, which are few and far between, the performance differences are small. They're there, no doubt, but how big are they? The "new" CPM steels have been out for years, and offer only marginal performance increases over similar previously existing steels.
On the other hand, there is an ongoing revolution in the LED world right now. Much brighter, more consistent, more efficient Luxeon and 5mm LEDs, along with rapidly advancing Li-ion battery technology, improved optics and reflectors, circuit boards, you name it.
Nothing has really changed with knife performance, while that of LED flashlights has easily tripled in the last year or so, and continues to improve almost daily it seems.
I guess whether the obsession with knives, flashlights, or anything else is short-lived depends on what you're looking for. I could meet all my knife needs for the next several years, if not my lifetime, with half a dozen well chosen knives. I could probably meet all my portable lighting needs with half that number of flashlights.
Finding a practical combo that works is one thing, while keeping up with the latest & greatest, and always having the "best" tool for the job is something else entirely. And it never ends.

I love it :p
 
underaged! said:
Ah, I saw this on the JD forums posted by Beau T (G Pilot on CPF)

quadamire013ni.jpg


"These are the newest of the new modded Maglites. Fully adjustable dimming switch. Just like on your wall at home. Rotate the small knob up and down to get the brightness you want. Batteries last from 2 hours on high to 100 + on low. Made with 3 or 4 3watt luxeons, each with their own reflector and a glass lense."


I thought they were sooooo damn sexy, I just had to post it. :D
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looks cool to me......
 
Nothing new in the flashlight world?
I don't agree with that.

Flashlights - short-lived obsession?
When does obsession become an addiction?!

That said, I agree with those who have found their EDC flashlight and are happy with it. For a long time (months) it was the A2. But currently for me it's the L2 ever since I got it. Nothing released and nothing I see on the horizon or under the radar is coming close to replacing the L2 as my EDC.

That is kinda sad I guess. One thing is for certain - there is huge scope for new developments and that is one of the things keeping me very interested!

Al
 
take that mini mag, head to the dat2zips sandwiche shoppe and grab a badboy next gen. wont be dissapointed
 
I used to be more of a flashaholic, but CPF is so darned slow I don't have the time to wait while each page loads and loads and loads...

I'm pretty sure the delay is due to the ads on every screen, it has to retrieve the ads from other servers before the page loads.
 
The CPF forum software is going to be updated soon, which should fix a lot of the speed problems.

The thing I like about flashlights is the minimal investment. For 300 bucks I got the best dive light I've ever handled, bar none. What would the best folder out there cost?

I've got special uses for all of my lights, but some of them see more use than others. I rotate my EDC between an X5T-HA and an L4 depending on what I need that day, I've got customs and one-of lights and everything. Some see more use than others, of course. It's the same with my knives, really. .
 
Yep, those LED maglites will be out later this summer or in the fall. I heard that from a guy at maglite after I registered my latest maglite.
 
Size15s said:
Nothing new in the flashlight world?
I don't agree with that.

Flashlights - short-lived obsession?
When does obsession become an addiction?!

That said, I agree with those who have found their EDC flashlight and are happy with it. For a long time (months) it was the A2. But currently for me it's the L2 ever since I got it. Nothing released and nothing I see on the horizon or under the radar is coming close to replacing the L2 as my EDC.

That is kinda sad I guess. One thing is for certain - there is huge scope for new developments and that is one of the things keeping me very interested!

Al
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Al,
My first post on this site and it is good to see you are here. I believe Flashlights are at their most exciting point since I first saw my first big Maglite back in the late 1970's. I think what turned me into a flashlight addict was Surefire. Never before has quality and performance been put in a flashlight like they have on a large scale. I remember my reaction to seeing a E2E when they first came out and wondering just how did they do that. I still have a little kids wonderment at flashlights and I am over 50. :(
 
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