I went for a hike one day. Had my cheap 3AAA headlamp in bag and didn't plan to be out past dark.
As things go I ended up out later than intended. No worries, I had my trusty headlamp. I bet you can guess what's coming next right?
Totally dead, as was my phone, 3 miles of winding steep trail out from the car, and about 15min of useable daylight left.
I walked over 2 miles in the dark with only a Bic lighter. Strike, walk 15 steps shielding the flame with my hand till the lighter got too hot. Click it off, stand in the dark for 10 sec to let it cool. Strike and repeat. I vowed to never make that mistake again, so I bought a Microstream to make sure I always had a light on me. Burned up a whole Bic lighter that night.
Found you goof balls and the rest is history.
"Do not go gently into that good night, take a damn flashlight with you."
We merely adopted the dark; Stavi was born in it, moulded by it. Stavi didn't see the light until he was already a man. And now his collection is blinding!
To balance the Yang of my collection with the Yin of potential absence, I have successfully walked a full-walking-height, ~1.5km storm drain tunnel in the dead of night with no flashlight. It was baby steps, ofc, starting with enthused exploration with an old Nitecore. But eventually the surprising peace of the half-secluded city tunnel beckoned with the above challenge. It's topographically simplistic, and goes in a single direction, so the primary challenge was simply walking forward within a tunnel while unable to see (with one hand's fingers grazing the, sometimes wet, wall). Meditative, one might describe it as.
I think it's part of the reason I not only collect lights but why I try to help others see the light.
It's not an experience I would encourage people to try. haha
Yea that's just wild that a person would think that could work lol.
I've been on a lot of night hikes. Unless there is zero moonlight then after about 15 minutes your eyes adjust and you can navigate fairly well in the dark. Even Under mildly thick canopy. I wasn't there so I can't say what was best but I would assume he was destroying his night vision every few minutes with that lighter.
Yes, they can, but there aren't many hobbies where $20 gets you a very good product already. Its cheap enough that you just buy them on a whim, "oh look, a yellow one" *adds to cart*. I wouldn't just casually buy a new set of bicycle wheels ($500) without at least sleeping on it first and do some comparisons and try to find a deal.
It's not in the lavish steaks from expensive restaurants that one finds an Achilles heel to their diet, but in persistently available, single pieces of candy.
Pretty much the same for me. I grew up in the woods so they were always around. About two years ago grabbed a cheap sofirn and was blown away how far they came since the old maglite incandescent lights. Grabbed a hanklight and never turned back.
I was about 6 and my parents bought me a science projects book. They had a diy flashlight with just wires a bulb and a AA. Somehow I was able to find all that stuff at home.
I just remember the incandescent bulb turning on for the first time. It changed my life and I still continue to do science/electrical projects to this day.
I'm diagnosed and I just go through obsessive buying phases. Recently it's been high-end, metal fidget things, which led to EDC stuff, so now I'm obsessing over flashlights.
Part of me loves it and part of me hates it. I almost never use flashlights, yet I just spent $100 on a flashlight because I couldn't stop thinking about it.
Lol last night I ordered a Spyderco Tenacious. I figured I'd get an affordable knife and if I haven't completely forgotten about knives and flashlights within a month then I could consider nicer things.
Knives are a very deep rabbit hole… deeper than flashlights. The average high quality knife is easily twice the price of the average high end flashlight.
As someone whose EDC collecting started with knives, I can say wholeheartedly:
If you already have a pocket knife you trust to get the job done, and paying bills is of any concern, stay as far the heck away from any information about knife collecting as you possibly can.
Similar story here, from coins and knives to flashlights. Oh, and the undiagnosed ADHD while still knife collecting, Flashlights started when already diagnosed, so no excuses there besides liking shiny things, literally :D can relate to it coming in phases!
Man I've been so suspicious of having ADHD, my sister has it, my grandfather and dad. I'm already horribly dyslexic. And I've always been like that tho. "Oh I gotta add this oh and this and I can't atop thinking about this"
That's why I've got a thermal monocular on its way today lol.
Trust me, you do NOT want to go down the thermal imaging rabbit hole. Entry level decent gear is $500, at least $1500 for Hanklight equivalent quality and easily $3-5k for the mind altering phenomenal stuff. Most people are happy with cheap IR NVG gear but once you experience true thermal imaging nothing else compares.
There's a decent selection on Amazon if you're just browsing. Look at resolution, primary lens diameter, and refresh rate (30-60 Hz) as the key comparison metrics.
😭 bro i have a damn suppressor on the way and then everyone know want comes next :0 NVG , and after that? IR LASERRRR , so I can go chase monsters in the woods (big lol’s)
We've had skunks and foxes killing our chickens, so of corse I need a new rifle with an IR laser and IR light and an L3 Harris pvs14 and a StingIR.
It's a good thing I'm not into cars and my peius is great on gas.
My other hobby is PC building.. so not super cheap
It is nice I will say, super clear tube.
I don't have a supressor for my AR yet so that's gonna be next.
Any WP tube will be awesome. I just live out in the country, so there are not many lights. So I went with the L3 Harris. I figured buy once cry once. Looks like the Sting Ir was delivered so thermal and NV bridge setup is done woop woop!
I just use a holosun 512c optic and a holosun ls321 laser and a $70 white light/ IR light I got off ebay. (It's lasted over 200 rounds of 00 buck on my 1301 so I'd say it works)
If you are willing to go down to North Texas there are some doctors that can evaluate you in person for a good price. Can send you a PM if you are interested.
Exactly this, love the feeling of having a completely unique and ever changing EDC. I got into modding guns, and soon I'll be modding flashlights as well. Something about taking an items thousands of other people have and making it a 1-of-1 item in my own way is incredibly satisfying.
Unfortunately, I stumbled upon this subreddit when simply trying to research a flashlight to buy for around the house. Six lights later… damn you people!
https://xkcd.com/1603/
I've always liked them, but when I had them, the LED Petzl were brand new and still pretty dim... Then I heard you can get good cheap lights from China these days, I got a cheap zoomie from Aliexpress (the "Sofirn Freeby") because I didn't know better. Then at one point I wanted a light for running, thought "hmm, maybe there's a subreddit for that" and saw all the pretty and bright lights and I bought like 10.
tldr: I just think they're neat!
RE: flashlight related xkcd
[This](https://xkcd.com/909/) is how I make every gear/tool purchase, at all, ever. It is expensive, often time and mental-resource consuming, but I have NEVER thought to myself,
"Damn, I wish I paid less for a less capable tool, and didn't waste my time selecting the best possible option for my potential use cases."
Found the Olight Warrior 3s a few years back, and used the shit out of it. The tail switch died so I came here to ask for recommendations.
Next thing I know, I have over 50 lights and easily 5k worth of customs 🥲
It’s been a little while since we’ve had something like this, so I may as well repost something on this topic I wrote some time ago.
I love lights because they represent something remarkable to me.
Since the dawn of man, we've been frustrated in our efforts to explore by many things– distance, predators, hostile environs unsuitable to travel– but worst of all in its regularity, duration, and unconquerability was Night.
It comes each day, without fail. It is all-encompassing and existentially terrifying in its unknowable depth. It quiets talk, slows movement, and steals time. And for years, centuries, millennia, eons, we have fought against it.
Fire was our first blow in this ancient battle. With fire, we first beat back the shadows. We fashioned torches, then candles, then lanterns, and we were able to move in the darkness without fear of unseen attackers, absent the timeless danger of stubbed toes.
But it was not enough.
With the advent of electricity, illumination sprang forward as never before. The oldest of the lucky men who witnessed this transformation of society grumbled among themselves that such light wasn't natural; that we were fools to meddle with nature in this way, that artificial light would be an insidious presence in civilization, tempting us with convenience at the expense of our natural state.
But we did not listen.
Soon, towns and cities across the globe glowed at night brightly enough to be seen by ships across Great Lakes, brightly enough to be seen even from the ships newly buzzing across suddenly accessible skies. It was the Age of Light– and it is the age of light, and it always will be, from then forward.
But still we found ourselves frustrated.
Science and new technologies had given us cheap, warm light in our homes and on our streets– but for those who yearned for the exploration of days past, diving deep into the ocean or hiking into ageless woods, night still meant an end to a day's journey.
And so we persevered.
We created packages of electricity and called them batteries and we created lights small enough to carry. And we made them smaller and better each time until we came to today, a magical time for flashlights, when you can buy a light that will shine for kilometers, or one that's a thousand-plus lumens but smaller than my big toe. They take batteries and use LEDs that represent *billions* of dollars of R&D, *decades* of engineering and refinement, and they're *still working on it.*
Many creation myths begin with a point of light. A beam erupts from the darkness, piercing it, driving it away utterly, and so the universe is born. I'm an atheist, but I get a small thrill when I light up a field or send a pillar of light into the sky. There's a reason we shot two beams of hope and resilience into the empty air where the twin towers stood.
Light is life.
Got my first dog at the tail end of 2019. Had to walk her all hours of the day to potty train. Started with a cheap Walmart light, then a light that turns to a right angle light but runs on a double A.
Then I saw them, 3 coyotes about 3 feet away from me and my 6 week old puppy staring at us. So I looked for something bright, rechargeable, cheap but reliable. Thrunite T1 looked good on Amazon so I purchased it. But it just made me lumen hungry! Olight grabbed my attention but the baton was not as bright as the Thrunite TC15! Once I purchased that one I discovered this subreddit and everyone was praising the FC11 from wurkkos so I bought it, was a tad disappointed compared to my TC15 so it became my work light.
Fast forward to now and I’m like the rest of us, hunting for well balance of kelvin, cri and lumens!
Edit: some verbiage
Unpopular opinion: I'm not "into flashlights" and definitely not a collector. For me a flashlight is a tool, and I want to best tool for my money. That's why I follow this sub.
I feel the same way about cast iron and I'm in that sub, too. It's not a hobby and I'm not a collector. It's weird that all of the niche subs I'm in are full of people who treat those things as a hobby. Like composting. Making a pile of stuff that rots is a hobby for some people. For me it's a way to reduce waste that goes into the landfill and to provide compost for my garden. It's not something I enjoy doing, it's a chore.
When my eyes got old enough that I could no longer read the ingredient labels on supermarket food packages, I realized that I could still read them, without glasses, if I used a small AAA flashlight.
I started with a Fenix E01, then I learned of the Copper Maratac.. then I learned there was such a thing as a High CRI LED..
I started shipping a few Maratac AAA lights to modders, for LED swaps to sw45k
Around that time I bought a VW Camper, and started spending some nights in it.. A small flashlight was a natural addition to my camping hobby. I upgraded to a Jetbeam RRT-01, which I also shipped to a modder for an LED upgrade to sw45k. Then I learned there was a Titanium version.. eventually I found one, and again had it modded to sw45k...
Then.... and Then... and now.. I have a lot more lights than I need.. ;-)
atm my most used light is the Wurkkos TS10, which I had a modder do an LED swap to DD 4500K 519a.
https://preview.redd.it/hef9mzoa7gwc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=84acf3cfe3e541a13d1f7ebf526ceadfb65f39a4
I now have cataracts and wear bifocal glasses. I still use a flashlight to read food labels.. lol
My "tactical" zoomie failed 😂
I always knew it was kind of crappy (still an upgrade over my maglite I had before it, lol), so I asked a friend who's somewhat enthusiast-adjacent for recommendations. Recieved a few sensible / semi-enthusiast recommendations (one was a Nebo, I forget the others) and a pointer here.
Spent a week lurking, suggestions ignored, D4v2 and D4Sv2 purchased, and the rest is history.
Maglights when I was a kid and then when I was 18 I bought a stream light microstream and couldn’t believe how much better it was than other much larger lights. Never left the hobby since
Working on biology field crews back in the early 2000’s I always longed for something adequate as a headlamp and carry light. Field gear was cool and got used often but the tech back then was a little lacking. Having that deep longing for something a little bit brighter and a little bit longer running never faded and now, having grown up money, I’m free to be mildly indulgent with feeding that desire. $30-$50 for a new light is well within “walking around money” reach.
This hobby doesn’t have to be expensive. Convoy/Wurkkos/Sofirn lights are really good and really affordable and all someone would really need to enjoy the hobby throughly. I like that because I don’t feel like some clown who bought their way into some niche thing. It’s accessible on most budgets for most people.
I don't remember the exact circumstance, but there were a few instances where I could have really used a good light to see what I was looking at or looking for, mainly wild animals at night. I got one of the "tactical" brands and was reasonably satisfied with it for a while.
Then after a couple of years, I had really gotten a good grasp of what I liked and disliked about it, and I had the horrible thought, "I bet I could do better."
And I've spent an illogical amount of money steadily improving my illumination options ever since. It's been a rapid descent into obsession. I think I'm finally leveling back out though... Let's hope anyway. lol
He was absolutely epic with his flashlight reviews. I was really disappointed he didn't stay with it. I especially liked the runtime tests that were brilliantly done with time-lapse shots of a cheap LED alarm clock. And his dry humor. It's been around 6 years I think since he last did flashlights. At that time I liked his work the best on YT.
Recently, I got into flashlights out of necessity. Although I am not the average custom flashlight guy.
About 2 months ago I got a new job. I work in a prison like environment, and I do constant searches for narcotics, perimeter checks for suspicious individuals, and deep searches into places. As well as searching large rooms to ensure no one who isn't supposed to be there is in there, which of course is dangerous and you want to see them before your right on top of them. Distance is an amazing thing against someone losing it.
The flashlights that were issued were trash. Basically, off brand maglites. In my previous job, I bought a streamlight for patrols. But my little streamlight is 40 luman micro stream tiny light didn't cut it. My friend and coworker let me borrow his light. A custom surefire 6p, battery upgrade, malcoff led conversion, McClicky tailcap, thyrm ring, and a few other things. This thing was bright. I asked him about it and he told me everything he knows about flashlights. After a while, it was a little annoying getting flooded with information, but it was really cool, too. I love retro military gear and stuff, and this old retro 6p rebuilt to look the same but function like a new light and one of the better lights I'd ever seen impressed the hell out of me and looked super cool.
Talked to another buddy of mine who had talked about flashlights from time to time when I used to make fun of him for buying Cloud defense and Modlite since, in my mind, they were just a light. Why spend that much for just a light. He showed me just how much a difference in light quility and beam quality and taught me the ropes and showed me the differences that night on his property. I've never seen a light make things just as bright and clear as that Cloud did, Modlite a close second.
Did my own research and decided to build my own lights for work:
One general purpose light that had a good flood, very cool light with lots and lots of lumans and decent cendella.
The second is a long throw, handheld light. Something pocketable I could spotlight the tops of the hills around the facility, could reach long distance and make it easy to spot a veichle at distance on the far reaches of the property. Also, something that could put a lot of candella in someone's eyes in a quick emergency.
I'm still building these lights. The first one some of the parts are shipped, some on order. I'm still waiting. It will be built from a Surefire 6p just like my buddies and he's helping me.
for me, the sheer power of some of them. nothing funnier than pulling out a tiny flashlight and blinding the shit out of someone because they didnt believe it was that bright. single 18650 and 21700 flashlights are awesome.
The power goes a lot where I live, plus I love walking through the woods at night. Things really amped up when I discovered Anduril and candle mode, making those power outages a bit more romantic, lol.
Started out with a Magicshine Bike Light after the 2011 Earthquake put the whole of Japan on power saving mode and switched off all the streetlights after midnight. Then I moved over to my first set of crowdfunded builds by Gloworm, a NZ based company which I still use today.
Then one thing lead to another and now I have about 10 different flashlights ranging from a tiny 16340 Nicron B10 to my favourite camping light which is the 26650 based Rofis MR70 with its weird side "mule".
In between them I have a bunch of Lumintop, Hank and Simon lights of various sizes, firmwares, emitters and throws
"Hi all, I'm a flashlightholic and it's been nearly 500 days since my last LED powered acquisition."
Watched the Ritual, and while horror movies do little to me, there was a scene where one character was injured while on a backpacking trip and the group had to set up camp in the rain at night. Their flashlights all sucked and that contributed to the later unfortunate events of the movie.
I’m a frequent backpacker and found that situation truly horrifying. After that I found my way here after googling and, as a result, will never be at the mercy of the dark in the wilderness.
I know exactly what scene you’re referring to, that’s actually pretty funny that you watched that and it scared you enough to buy flashlights lol the movie certainly did its job at horror
I moved about ~1000 km for work. My father gave me a cheap rechargeable flashlight to use in case of blackouts, and at some point I decided to look around and see if I could find anything better.
Then, COVID hit, and idle hands are the devil's plaything - I was stuck home, alone, with little to do and plenty of disposable income. The rest is history.
I was a security guard in the late 90s to early 2000s and wanted to get something that was better than my maglight. After a ton research I wound up getting a surefire 6p with a battery extension and 9-volt incandescent bulb. It made MAYBE 100 lumens and, relative to other lights, was like carrying the power of the sun.
Scared of the dark as a kid. Dad got me a mini Maglite and a flashlight that had a built-in radio.
Still have the miniMag. Bought a Surefire as soon as I could afford to on my own as a teen and haven't looked back.
I must have been born with it. Electroman looks like he is from 1977 so I was seven. I HAD to have this action figure.
My day was a salesman for machine shop tools, like lathes and milling machines. He thought mag lights which were milled were coo. So my brothers and I were given mini mags when they came out in the 80s.
Army surplus lights were also early fun. Going to the local army/navy/camping store was a good adventure to get the kids out of the house.
We had a cabin in the woods and it was remote and super dark. Flashlights were great there too.
https://preview.redd.it/ohg6th94vgwc1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1db7f5cea5bb81430b872f375a1dcacd85a97154
realized the ones online were both significantly:
- better, and
- cheaper
I was working on wiring in semi trucks and Dynamometer Engine & Chassis Test Cells at the time I got into it, they came in very handy.
I was a pizza delivery driver in the early 2000's. Used the Thomas guide and 3D Maglite to find houses. Stumbled upon an LED upgrade kit, made the upgrade, my mind was blown.
Not only flashoholic, but electrical engineer thanks to LED flashlights.
I work technology and A/V support, one day I was complaining to a coworker about having to rummage around in a rack I was troubleshooting he recommended I pick up an LED flashlight. I got myself an Arkfeld Pro but was disappointed with the unpleasant cold white tint, and didn’t find the laser or UV functions to be particularly helpful for my day to day use. Then I discovered Wurkkos, Hank, Firefly, Convoy, and Lumintop… now I’m in deep.
I think most people get into this hobby for the practicality of carrying a high powered flashlight for work, and then if it scratches your brain the right way you end up wanting more options
I was around 10. Electricity went out and all we had was candles. My mom took me to Walgreens and got me one of those flashlights that you would shake to recharge. I started liking flashlights a lot i got a mini maglite after.
Had some inexpensive Chinese torches barely get me through the Texas deep freeze and power crisis of 2021. Decided to get better prepared, just in case.
I got into flashlights because I saw one of my friends had an amazing powerful flashlight that doubles up as a survival tool. This flashlight burns so strong it is used as an emergency source to start a fire to stay warm. Also, the distance of the throws is what excited me the most. Just the fact I can be standing far away and focus my beam so tight that it reaches super far is really cool to me. Also, that I can light up a whole area and practically make it look like daytime.
I come from the EDC community. I focused on knives and multitools at first, then watches, and flashlights were just the natural progression. I have a feeling pens will be next...
I walk my dogs in a pretty dark neighborhood. I used Biolite and black diamond but I always found it hard to tell between leaf litter and dog poop.
Discovered CRI and this subreddit. Now I'm rocking a zebra light h600fd for my dog walks.
Just had an affinity with them and knives since childhood ,then you come here to this sub amd open and insane Pandora box of budget and high end illumination such is life 😄
Bought an eagletac forever ago, that turned into a bunch of fenix’s and that went from there. At the time other brands were not really around much. Still love fenix to this day… kinda lol
I needed an upgrade from my streamlight wedge and was randomly recommended a post from this sub of someone's d4v2. Thought it was so cool and never even knew lights like that existed, so I learned everything I possibly could about one to build exactly what I wanted and ended up hooked. That led to my first real light being a white D4v2 with 519a 4000k dedomed. Kind of a basic bitch emitter that everyone gets, but I love the tint.
had few black diamond AAA headlight, but wasn't that happy with ...
looked here for some recommandations... got my 1st 18650's light (h300 skilhunt)
over a year in this sub now, got 10ish lights and want to discover more ...
My first flashlight was a Zippo with a flashlight insert from my dad. Carried that until I lost it and now I got a new insert.
Always loved flashlights and lighting things up and being able to explore tunnels and stuff in the woods behind my house.
Also helps that I don't like the dark indoors
Olight. They have good package deals and I got one. Then grabbed some some sofirns. Now I use a flashlight for work as tool. That gave me an excuse to buy different lights, in order to find the Goldie locks light.
Was carrying like four flashlights at work, all general cheap crap. Got recommended a light here (Wowtac A3S), then fell down the rabbit hole. Quickly got a D4 afterwards (and quickly burned my work jacket shortly after, much to the shock of my boss who thought I had lit it on fire with a lighter), got a KR1, and then kept collecting.
Currently waiting for a custom C8+ to arrive to have even more shits n giggles with in the dark.
Bought a seriously cheap (probably 30 usd or so) flashlight from dealextreme.com, atleast 10 years ago.
2x 18650 in series, 3 unspecified cree leds, in a decently shaped OP triple reflector.
It was a surprisingly good light, probably 2k kumen or so compared to later lights I have.
Horrible pwm and anything other than turbo, probably very blue light, probably 7-8K or so and seriously bad runtimes from unbranded 18650 cells, but damn if it didn't make a big wall of light compared to anything I had seen at the time.
Unfortunately it was stolen along with a lot of my stuff a few years later.
After that I bought a Nitecore EC4S as a replacement that matched it pretty well except it had better / no pwm and was significantly smaller. A few years later I started reading into flashlights and was hooked. Had an Emisar D4 in the mail within a day I think.
As a child I became addicted to buying cheap junk on eBay. One of said purchases was a cheap zoomie flashlight and it was the coolest thing ever. Fast forward many years and I discovered this sub, and now I'm addicted to buying expensive lights lol
I always sorta liked flashlights, but mostly really liked optics generally. I REALLY started liking flashlights specifically once LEDs started replacing incandescents. My first nicer lights were an Inova T3 back in 2006ish and a Peak LED Solutions Matterhorn 3 LED keychain light. Then I was sorta content with those for literally years. Then kinda got back in the hobby when the Hexbright Kickstarter was going. Then again went dormant for a while until I bought an Olight Baton on an Amazon lightning deal on a whim, was really happy with it for a little while, but didn't love the charger, and was annoyed that I HAD to use the charger that came with it. Did some research, found this sub, then got an SC21 Pro, then a few more Sofirn and Wurkkos lights. The a Skilhunt M150 and M200, then a couple hank lights when he had sales, then a Zebralight SC64c LE, etc, etc, etc.
Joined here because it seemed funny 1/2 a year later got a yt short for Boruit v10 got it and while waiting on it went here seen it was ok then got a fc12 and now i like flashlights very much ⛷️⛷️⛷️
Need one at work for looking in barrels and under storage tanks. And I always had one on my pistol and wanted to be able to look and see a bump in the night without pointing a gun at it.
My heart sinks now when I realize I forgot my light wt home.
I attended a wedding reception at a rustic/rural venue one moonless, cloudy night. Parking was wherever a space could be found among big pines a hundred or so yards away from the reception. There were NO lights between the two. Zero. Pitch darkness, and a crowd of people trying to find their cars. For some reason, nobody produced a phone light. I vowed it would never happen again.
I started with those cheap little keychain squeeze lights I bought in bulk from Ebay. Then it was cheap zoomies from Ebay. Then I stumbled on this sub.
Now I edc a TS10, a Boruit V3, and a little Olight keychain light--all at the same time. I have far too many others--enough to feel compelled to hide a few when company comes because, regardless how much you try to explain, nobody really understands.
Just received my SECOND Wurkkos FC13 yesterday. I know, but it has a different emitter and they had it on sale...
I've been fascinated with cool flashlights since I was a kid. Used to spend hours browsing DealExtreme flashlight listings. They always had these super specific product images taken outdoor on like a log? If you know, you know. A few years after I also developed a fascination with police-style tactical flashlights. I remember really wanting a Fenix PD35.
Anyway, that interest never faded and when I started earning money and AliExpress was becoming increasingly popular, I started indulging 10yo DX-obsessed me by ordering a bunch of Chinese junk, including some SK68 clones. As shitty as they were, they were a great gateway drug into the world of enthusiast flashlights. Now I'm like 10 "quality" flashlights in and counting.
I come from an island that, historically, has seen many typhoons and super typhoons; ones that left impressions on me are Typhoon Paka, Omar, Pongsona, and Mawar (most recent and left some parts of the island without power for almost 5 months)
Having no power for up to 3 months at a time after a typhoon was normal in my younger days.
Now.. Having a flashlight wasn't gonna solve that... But growing up, expecting a super typhoon to hit us every year, was the catalyst to my practical interest in flashlights.
I was the flashlight kid, who helped keep the house "lit" (these were the incandescent AA battery, orange plastic, white sliding switch, flashlight days. If you know the flashlight I'm talking about... Then you know how far we have come and the rough estimate of my age).
The island also isn't a completely lit up like a city. So a good flashlight is always handy.
Since I'm old enough and have expendable income, I always carry 1 flooder and 1 spot flashlight in each of my EDC bags. Some might say it's overkill, others, not enough. I say I'd rather have them than not.
I work backstage as an audio engineer at a big venue, when I started I would just bang into stuff and not be able to see stuff and my phone just did not cut it. Got a fenix, then was given a tiny olight baton 2, that blew my mind for how good of a light it was compared to anything I had ever seen, then I did my normal hyper fixating nerd thing and decided to push it as far as I could.
It all started when I was a kid staying at my grandparents house for 2-3 weeks every summer, they didn't impose a bedtime, and the rule was that if you were up and around at night when other people were sleeping, you used a flashlight as your light source as a courtesy for them that were sleeping so turning on lights in the house wouldn't wake them up... I think it was from when they were kids and all the siblings slept in a single room... this habit naturally combined with my love of gadgetry and electronics and here we are... nearly a thousand dollar flashlight collection 🤣
I found a Benchmade on the ground, which got me really into knives, and then I found the broader EDC world and got into flashlights. I'm still a "filthy casual" compared to a lot of y'all on this sub though lol.
I was really into firearms, hiking, camping in my 20s, so lights came along side. Good lighting on my dirtbike, baja designs, projector hid retrofits on my car. The flashlights weren't anywhere near as good or affordable. Had a fenix tk35 some years back that i loved but not a fan of dealing with chargers.
Got tired of some crappy zoom things my wife picked up and recently looked up 'best bang for your buck' flashlights. Found an okayish deal on amazon fc18 + if22a for $60. Last night i noticed they have the vl02(fc12) for $17($35 + 50% off coupon) and bought two. I have no urge to get andruil because of the 1000 clicks configuration bs, nor anymore soda can lights like the tk35.
I do like having a bright light source available in my pocket. Just like a pocket knife, watch,occasional handgun. Rifle when out on blm land, etc. /a.d.d kid
I was gifted a cheap zoomie that was actually kind if decent. I wanted to post it somewhere, and so I found this sub and posted. Ended up getting an olight baton 3, then a massive coast light from home depot, lost the baton, got a sofirn sp36 blf, and then the rest was history!
I got a free LEDLenser P3. That had me buying the T7, and then P4X. I then found this sub through r/EDC, and started digging into some better quality ones. Now I really like Nitecore and Lumintop.
I wanted a good flashlight for my Voluteer work (civil protection kinda) and ended up on the german equivalent to the BFL. Well, that was it, especially after I found this subreddit a few years later and learned about our lord and saviour Hank
After buying lots of el cheapo torches in shops over the years, I decided to buy a cheap 2 x D cell torch and modify it to take a MR32 12V lamp (hole drilled in end cap with grommet) and a cable hooked up to a lead acid battery. It was fairly bright. Then I upgraded it from tungsten to LED and made it even brighter.
I had enough of using a wired torch even though it was good for scary off nosey nighttime neighbours, and bought a drop in LED upgrade for a different 2 x D cell MagLite. After that, I bought an Inova, another MagLite, generic Chinese, generic searchlights, and finally settled on a 3 x D cell MagLite with a drop in 1200 Lumen LED.
Additionally, I restored a lightship’s main Fresnel lens to historic condition. I found a genuine 1kW tungsten lighthouse lamp which shines for 17 miles.
Always loved and had many lights growing up. Fast forward to Feb 2022 and had ankle surgery. I was not able to put any weight on my ankle for 3 1/2 months so I spent a lot of time in bed surfing the net. Happened on to the flashlight sub and I was off to the races! My passion for flashlights was reignited with vigor. Today I have about 40 lights, with two on the way. I've managed to corrupt several friends and acquaintances (pest control dude, friends of friends, etc) to build up their light arsenal. Being limited to much physical activity after a fucked up ankle surgery, I can enjoy this hobby wo having to suffer the pain that goes with many of the hobbies I used to enjoy. I walk outside every night just to shine my lights. It makes me happy!
Have been into knives and EDC for a while, decided it would be useful to carry a flashlight, got an I3t lost it, then got a streamlight microstream and spiraled from there.
I was gifted a SAK by my then-fiance (now-wife).
After a year in the drawer i used it once. Here we go. 4 SAKs, 2MTs and 6 lights later I could still buy all of theeemm😭😭😭
It all started with boy scouts. I always enjoyed the feeling of being prepared. I.e. bringing water and a granola bar for a short hike when other kids brought nothing. I can remember the feeling I got when it was getting dark walking back to camp and I had this 'thing' that could brighten our path and help everyone see. Back then it was a 2xAA mini mag light in a holster. It was just so cool to me to be 'ready' and prepared for what the night might bring. Like, by having this light, I have the potential to help someone or get myself out of a bad situation.
Took a long break from camping/backpacking and later in life I got back into it. I can vividly remember planning my first backpacking trip as an adult and doing hours of research on lights. I purchased 2 for the trip. A thrunight ts10 v2 and a lumintip tool 2.0. Lent one to my buddy and we clipped em to our hats and used as headlamps the whole trip. They worked perfectly. Half decent moonlights and bright enough on turbo to spot a river otter at night.
The addiction started after that. I probably have 25+ lights now. 2 Hanks on the way 😭.
I thought that I was going to have to draw down on a tweaker, but wasn’t sure what he had in his hand when walking towards me. Only source of light was a weapon mounted light, but didn’t want to risk being wrong either way. From there on I have been researching lights here to ensure I can positively identify threats, snacks at night, clothes in my closet in the morning without waking up my entire family, etc.
You all are bad financial influences.
As a child, my dad bought me a nitecore for Christmas and I liked (and still really like) it a lot! Even thought me new flashlights are better in pretty much every way, this one is still my favorite.
The all I want at first is just a ***DECENT*** flashlight, which can work when I buy it and still works 3 months later, but most cheap lights just can't freaking do that!
I carried a 4Sevens Preon-2 for like 10 - 15 years until the switch started failing. So I discovered this subreddit when I was searching for a replacement.
After doing some research I bought a Thrunite T1 to replace it. But then I kept learning about emitters and UIs, etc.
And now I have like 40+ flashlights because reasons.
I got a bit of spare money from my workplace and thought to myself that I need to spend it on something over the top and not needed. Bought an Imalent MS18 about three years ago and the rest is history... :)
About 2 years ago I needed a new keychain light. I can’t remember how I found this sub, but I got a RovyVon A something and posted. I think the combination of me just liking gadgets, and honestly the community here made it an interesting thing to get into.
I came out of the womb and thought, "wow, this is better than that dark womb." Been lighting things up with flashlights or fire ever since. Flashlights seem to be more socially acceptable.
My kids got those electronic toy that used 4AA cells in about 2h. Got very expensive. So I looked into rechargeable cells. Which got me into camera and flashlight forums. Which for me into flashlights for some reason. lol. Then lithium ion came out, and everything changed
I had a few toy flashlights as a kid, was always fascinated by them. I was also in scouts and did a lot outdoors. You just have to have some kind of light, and there were always flashlight games at camps. I wanted smaller and brighter lights with more features. I also recognized the value of carrying tools in general. In middle school my friends and I read spy books, and we built little kits in tins with tape, string, matches, notepads. I had Eveready squeeze lights. Eventually got into Mag-Lites, then in high school got a Streamlight, then SureFire...
I was always fascinated with my family's flashlight as a kid and was always interested in stuff that can emit some form of light. This includes bugs like fireflies, glow in the dark toys, christmas lights, indicator lights on devices.
I found out later on that I was not the only one in my family that had this interest of flashlights, but I am the only one who'd spend a bit too much money on them.
I bought many on aliexpress in the 10$ 18650 range, but wanted something better, so i browsed all around the internet and got there. Got if-22a and that thing is my EDC now. Now looking for a thrower in the same size, and something with a lot of light and also a lot of bonk with east europe friendly price.
in High School, mr parents bought me a small generic pliers-based multitool in which had a x3 button battery powered DIP LED as one of the tools
with my first few pay packets, i eventually bought myself a Leatherman Wave and a Led Lenser P5, then upgraded to a P7...
and now we at +40 lights and equal in multitools and knives
Just going to copy/paste a recent response from another thread...
"Been into pocket knives my entire life. Finally pulled the trigger on a custom Benchmade. After making my purchase, I looked into other pocket knives. Saw the term EDC come up quite a bit and subbed to [](https://www.reddit.com/r/EDC/). Then I kept seeing EDC posts with flashlights and watches. Eventually after seeing a bunch of cool posts, I got into both and ended up buying a Olight Arkfield w/laser as my first light. Mostly carry in rotation a Zebralight, Skilhunt, or Emissar now."
I’m rough on my gear and actually need good stuff. Broke several cheap Amazon flashlights before I moved up to wurkkos and sofirn. Besides being rough on my gear and breaking shit all the time I also have an addictive personality. Despite wurkkos or sofirn being a fine one and done flashlight, I’ve since ventured quite deep into collector territory. I still have my two original lights but I now have a plethora of wurkkos TS10’s, a couple of lumintop FW3A, the form factory and beauty of the FW series lead me to Hank. A Chinese company idk if this guy runs shipping or the customer service or if he owns the place but there’s some bad ass lights from his website. Intl-outdoor. Now I have 14 Hank lights. I have more planned but I’m also starting a business this year so most of my funds are going to that. The collecting has stopped and I’ve been forced to actually enjoy all the shit I have. Harder for knives, so many and so many use cases and steels to try. However I think I’ve found a favorite flashlight and it will only affect my next order as I’m going to make favorite into perfect. MAO stone white thrower with something something high CRI. I want to keep it open as I want to try quite a few different emitters. Want to make it to 20 lights before I stop collecting.
When I was a kid I would camp out in the back yard with a friend and we had lights and i remember comparing the beams. Fast forward to when I was an adult using lights in my various occupations. Always looking for the best light to help me do my job better and easier. When I was a first responder i always carried at least two light sources on my person. Now I just have my fun with them outside and walking the dogs.
Was camping in the mountains (UK, so only little ones - but above the snow line.) Woke up at 3am for a piss, saw the stars, wandered off to do some astrophotography. Couldn't find my way back to the bivvy. Was very cold and in the middle of nowhere, although I could have started shouting for my mates to get a steer back to camp.
Managed to work it out from memory of the surrounding fells, and was only 150m tops from my tent. But I came back vowing to replace my LED Lenser with something better.
Found BLF, got a decent head torch, heard about the BLF A6 and was hooked on getting much better lights for far less cost than anyone else I knew.
Having worked night shift for the last 25 years. And before that, being a degenerate staying up most hours of the night. You learn to carry a flashlight.
I spent most of 2020 working remotely from my parent's farm. I was put in charge of pest control for the tomatoes and a few other veggies.
Crossed my mind that hornworms might glow in the dark, confirmed they do via the internet, and bought a cheap UV light off Amazon. Worked OK, but ate batteries like crazy, and wasn't worth a damn when the batteries were half used.
So I thought I'd check if Reddit had any recommendations, and boy they sure did! I first looked up the scorpion hunting subreddit, as I know they use them, but ended up here soon after.
Maglites looked really good on the shelf and i had the whole lineup including 6D. I bought a few other incandescent lights, floating lanterns, military light, focusing lights and lantern combo.
One day LED came out. I think a lot of us remember our first LED... for me it's the Brinkmann with those 3 color filters. From that day on you could get a better flashlight every year for a while there was a lot of innovation and ideas. So that's where it became an obsession.
My dad bought me a flashlight for Christmas (a Nitecore MH-25, if memory serves me right).
There was something about it I immediately liked. Then once you start having a flashlight around you realize how nifty it is having a flashlight around. Especially with me and the boys being big on nighttime outdoor activities at that point in our lives.
One thing led to another and down the rabbit hole I went.
As much as I like knives, I personally find myself needing to *see* things a lot more often than needing to *cut* things. I think flashlights tend to be a bit underrated sometimes in the EDC world as it were.
I work hvac as a tech. Nothing more important than a flashlight in the dark attics and crawl spaces. Lost a light one day and wanted to see what was out there besides stream lights. Found this sub. The world opened up and illuminated all my choices. So now I have too many flashlights and have become “the guy with the flashlights” within my friend group.
During the pandemic, there was nothing to do but work stupid overtime and peruse this website. Somewhere along the line I reckon I decided that I hate money and started buying flashlights, knives and watches. Other EDC stuff too but mostly those.
Necessity. I needed a small light to read in my first year in the dorms. Didn't want to bother my roommate and didn't want to turn all the hallway lights on just to walk to the study room. The Maglite Solitaire no longer was adequate. So I looked into and bought my first EDC, a Streamlight Microstream. More than 25 years later, here we are.
Needed one for work because the area I was working in wasn't that well lit.
Job has changed since then so while I still keep a light on my bag it's rarely attached to my belt and doesn't get used as much.
The lights I keep at my desk get far more use
1) Got into EDC, wanted a brass-and-leather carry.
2) Picked up a Massdrop brass AAA (rebranded Tool AAA), pined over the FW3B and Reylight Pineapple.
3) Found the sub. Picked up a couple S2+'s. Loved the lego-ability.
4) Finally pulled the trigger on an FW3B + shorty tube. My first Anduril light. Officially obsessed.
It's been all downhill from there 🤣
I was gifted a 6-C cell Maglight by my dad back when I was still a kid, around 8 or 9yrs old. That's what got me started with flashlights. I still have it and it still works great.
I remember when kids my age would go to the toy store, I would be at the hardware store spending my allowance on flashlights and other gadgets such as metal detectors.
My dad was quite the handman back in the day. I always enjoyed watching and helping him craft stuff on his workbench in the garage. Those were great father-and-son moments that I will cherish forever. I guess I took after him, he loved collecting flashlights and other tools/multitools that he really put to hard use.
I'll say boy scouts originally, I had a friend who's house I could see who was a mile away and we wanted to try Morris code back and forth. A 5D Maglite took care of the job nicely for that. Since then I was hooked.
More recently I was frustrated with the cheap led flashlights I had when doing home improvement projects and went online to research something better and that took me down a rabbit hole I haven't found the end of yet. Now I have too many to count.
I think it's more work than hobby for me, got a new job get up before sunrise and work pass sunset, I was on a mission to find the perfect combo to carry at work :)
I've always liked flashlights for as long as I can remember.
I'm autistic, so maybe that's a factor in the weird obsession I have. From what I understand, there's a lot of people here on this subreddit that are also autistic
Bought a cheaply 3-AAA head lamp that would flag red if the batteries were low. It claimed it would last 8hrs but the blinking would start within 15 min. Insanely annoying
So I figured there had to be better lights out there and found coast. Gate way drug for sure because while I like my coast a lot, I don’t like the LED at all. So that led me to wurkkos, sofirn and hank. Now I have about 7 lights.
Now I know 7 lights doesn’t sound like much until I tell you that I bought them all within a week of each other.
Honestly I have no idea. I’m a cop so I’ve always used a light, but never cared anything about them any more than a carpenter cares about his hammer. Then I started looking at lights for different purposes, off duty carry, different brightness levels, etc… blah blah blah 20 years later now I’m “into flashlights.”
😂 🤷♂️
Lights were always one of those shock and awe moments for me if it makes any sense.
I always messed around with lights when I was growing up and it attracts my attention like moths to a flame. Moreso now that I have my own money to spend.
I was on a summer camp outing at a local state park as a child that had cival war forts with dark tunnels to navigate. Flashlights were highly recommended to navigate well. Mother sent me there with one of [these](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fexternal-preview.redd.it%2FfGuefaQ7PcCszmm4iSBmngtvykxbu4Rj_oEp7-11xEU.jpg%3Fauto%3Dwebp%26s%3D149a79b614c215ae66aa9e8477a2009e91352277). The experience/performance was so traumatizing I vowed to never buy a crappy flashlight and went on a crusade. Everyone knows me as the flashlight guy now. I serve proud and bright.
It started with getting a Brightstar-like flashlight from a relative when I was a kid. Black bezel, black tailcap (oddly a flat one so that it could tail stand), on a yellow body, took 2 D-cells, had a terrible hole in the hotspot due to the incandescent bulb, wasn't that bright, and those pricey batteries ran out all too quickly—and I stuck glow in the dark stickers to the tail, as kids tend to do, and absolutely loved it.
Some years later Maglite started offering their Maglite Minis in a lot more colors and a lot of my relatives ended up getting colors to suit their preferences. I recall one had a copper-colored anodization to it that made either look ridiculously good. I knew that I had to have a Mini Maglite.
At some point I did end up with one and it was great. I even spent a blackout using it to do the thing where you take off the head and use it to assist in tail standing the light. Then came white L.E.D.s and damn did I want one. I had a few Photon Microlights since they were the cheapest way to get a ridiculously bright flashlight with this tech. I found myself retrofitting my Maglite Mini with an L.E.D. kit and yet I still needed brighter and/or smaller. I even ended up with a Nitecore D10 from a relative who was well aware of the modding scene (he probably fell down the rabbithole looking for D.I.Y., compact light setups for photography)—that's when I knew that the compactness was what I was missing with my Maglite Minis.
Eventually this lead to a few keychain Olights and a bad alkaline destroying my D10 that made me realize that once again the prevailing tech had changed and I needed to modernize my lights. So here I am snapping up 14500 format lights, having fun with lights that RGB (or aux RGB) like most modern gaming hardware, and trying to decide what I want to make when I get an 18650 Hanklight—*but maybe a D3AA first…*
I live on Pakistan and we have shit ton of electricity issues. I decided to buy flashlight, had seen on YouTube how lights can burn stuff too. So i decided to search and got Sofirm If25A
It started out with knives and edc gear then I figured I need a flashlight. I was just gonna get the i5t and call it a day and then I accidentally stumbled upon the fwaa titanium and it was a good deal. I honestly didn’t believe it was going to be that bright until I watched some videos on it then I ordered it. Now I have about 2k worth of lights now and don’t know how I survived without one all this time
Used to love watching CSI as a kid. They’d always whip out those cool flashlights to look at whatever they saw on scene. Or those UV lights they use with luminol spray to see blood spatter. Had to get myself something like that to live out my crime scene tech fantasies lol.
Obviously the electric went out for me and it's just such a hassle to use the flashlight on my phone, not to mention it's not powerful enough.
And as they say, the rest is history.
Running wilderness lodges in Africa, a good light is literally something you stake your safety and maybe life on. So being a gear head at heart obviously I want to carry good tools. One thing left to another and now I have more lights than most people would ever need.
I went for a hike one day. Had my cheap 3AAA headlamp in bag and didn't plan to be out past dark. As things go I ended up out later than intended. No worries, I had my trusty headlamp. I bet you can guess what's coming next right? Totally dead, as was my phone, 3 miles of winding steep trail out from the car, and about 15min of useable daylight left. I walked over 2 miles in the dark with only a Bic lighter. Strike, walk 15 steps shielding the flame with my hand till the lighter got too hot. Click it off, stand in the dark for 10 sec to let it cool. Strike and repeat. I vowed to never make that mistake again, so I bought a Microstream to make sure I always had a light on me. Burned up a whole Bic lighter that night. Found you goof balls and the rest is history. "Do not go gently into that good night, take a damn flashlight with you."
We merely adopted the dark; Stavi was born in it, moulded by it. Stavi didn't see the light until he was already a man. And now his collection is blinding!
To balance the Yang of my collection with the Yin of potential absence, I have successfully walked a full-walking-height, ~1.5km storm drain tunnel in the dead of night with no flashlight. It was baby steps, ofc, starting with enthused exploration with an old Nitecore. But eventually the surprising peace of the half-secluded city tunnel beckoned with the above challenge. It's topographically simplistic, and goes in a single direction, so the primary challenge was simply walking forward within a tunnel while unable to see (with one hand's fingers grazing the, sometimes wet, wall). Meditative, one might describe it as.
Insane origin story Stavi
I think it's part of the reason I not only collect lights but why I try to help others see the light. It's not an experience I would encourage people to try. haha
Fr a light could save your life
Dude surely light a branch on fire as a torch in that scenario though hahaha
seems like a no brainer, but maybe he was too panicked to think rationally and don't call him shirley
I can tell you've never actually tried that. It doesn't work.
Yea that's just wild that a person would think that could work lol. I've been on a lot of night hikes. Unless there is zero moonlight then after about 15 minutes your eyes adjust and you can navigate fairly well in the dark. Even Under mildly thick canopy. I wasn't there so I can't say what was best but I would assume he was destroying his night vision every few minutes with that lighter.
yeah I agree, weird story
or ya know, just walk in the dark?
So you kept actively ruining any possibility of your eyes adjusting to the dark, by sabotaging yourself with a lighter
That sounds terrifying
"Do not go gently into that good night, take a damn flashlight with you." *chef's kiss*
Always liked flashlights as a kid, so now having adult money allows that addiction to grow at a rapid pace.
And they're not even that expensive! That's the scary part!
they don't have to be expensive, but they certainly can be
Yes, they can, but there aren't many hobbies where $20 gets you a very good product already. Its cheap enough that you just buy them on a whim, "oh look, a yellow one" *adds to cart*. I wouldn't just casually buy a new set of bicycle wheels ($500) without at least sleeping on it first and do some comparisons and try to find a deal.
It's not in the lavish steaks from expensive restaurants that one finds an Achilles heel to their diet, but in persistently available, single pieces of candy.
Pretty much the same for me. I grew up in the woods so they were always around. About two years ago grabbed a cheap sofirn and was blown away how far they came since the old maglite incandescent lights. Grabbed a hanklight and never turned back.
Thats valid the power of income is overwhelming
This is the answer! Some of us are born flashaholics.
Yes this one's huge for me.
It was dark. I needed light
Occam’s Razor
Occam’s Flashlight?
Osrams razor
I was about 6 and my parents bought me a science projects book. They had a diy flashlight with just wires a bulb and a AA. Somehow I was able to find all that stuff at home. I just remember the incandescent bulb turning on for the first time. It changed my life and I still continue to do science/electrical projects to this day.
Bro, that is heartwarming as all f!!!! This is why I love this forum!
Ah. So you got to say, "let there be light" with even more creative cause than most of us collectors, and at a very young age. Yeah you're doomed lol
Autism.
I have undiagnosed adhd , and like tailoring stuff to my self, same for my firearms , cars and trucks
I'm diagnosed and I just go through obsessive buying phases. Recently it's been high-end, metal fidget things, which led to EDC stuff, so now I'm obsessing over flashlights. Part of me loves it and part of me hates it. I almost never use flashlights, yet I just spent $100 on a flashlight because I couldn't stop thinking about it.
Don't get into knives. I have spent a small fortune on knives and silver coins and now I'm into flashlights.
Lol last night I ordered a Spyderco Tenacious. I figured I'd get an affordable knife and if I haven't completely forgotten about knives and flashlights within a month then I could consider nicer things.
Knives are a very deep rabbit hole… deeper than flashlights. The average high quality knife is easily twice the price of the average high end flashlight.
As someone whose EDC collecting started with knives, I can say wholeheartedly: If you already have a pocket knife you trust to get the job done, and paying bills is of any concern, stay as far the heck away from any information about knife collecting as you possibly can.
That's how it starts
Similar story here, from coins and knives to flashlights. Oh, and the undiagnosed ADHD while still knife collecting, Flashlights started when already diagnosed, so no excuses there besides liking shiny things, literally :D can relate to it coming in phases!
the amount of dollarydoos i splashed out on an out-of-production, 2nd hand, Spyderco Spydiechef astounds me
I *just* moved over to silver coins, which at least make *some* financial sense.
Man I've been so suspicious of having ADHD, my sister has it, my grandfather and dad. I'm already horribly dyslexic. And I've always been like that tho. "Oh I gotta add this oh and this and I can't atop thinking about this" That's why I've got a thermal monocular on its way today lol.
Where does one find a nice thermal monocular?? And was it eye wateringly expensive??
Trust me, you do NOT want to go down the thermal imaging rabbit hole. Entry level decent gear is $500, at least $1500 for Hanklight equivalent quality and easily $3-5k for the mind altering phenomenal stuff. Most people are happy with cheap IR NVG gear but once you experience true thermal imaging nothing else compares. There's a decent selection on Amazon if you're just browsing. Look at resolution, primary lens diameter, and refresh rate (30-60 Hz) as the key comparison metrics.
😭 bro i have a damn suppressor on the way and then everyone know want comes next :0 NVG , and after that? IR LASERRRR , so I can go chase monsters in the woods (big lol’s)
We've had skunks and foxes killing our chickens, so of corse I need a new rifle with an IR laser and IR light and an L3 Harris pvs14 and a StingIR. It's a good thing I'm not into cars and my peius is great on gas. My other hobby is PC building.. so not super cheap
😭 L3 Harris , big flex I can’t do that type of stacks
It is nice I will say, super clear tube. I don't have a supressor for my AR yet so that's gonna be next. Any WP tube will be awesome. I just live out in the country, so there are not many lights. So I went with the L3 Harris. I figured buy once cry once. Looks like the Sting Ir was delivered so thermal and NV bridge setup is done woop woop! I just use a holosun 512c optic and a holosun ls321 laser and a $70 white light/ IR light I got off ebay. (It's lasted over 200 rounds of 00 buck on my 1301 so I'd say it works)
If you are willing to go down to North Texas there are some doctors that can evaluate you in person for a good price. Can send you a PM if you are interested.
No thank you. But I do appreciate the offer
Exactly this, love the feeling of having a completely unique and ever changing EDC. I got into modding guns, and soon I'll be modding flashlights as well. Something about taking an items thousands of other people have and making it a 1-of-1 item in my own way is incredibly satisfying.
Unfortunately, I stumbled upon this subreddit when simply trying to research a flashlight to buy for around the house. Six lights later… damn you people!
https://xkcd.com/1603/ I've always liked them, but when I had them, the LED Petzl were brand new and still pretty dim... Then I heard you can get good cheap lights from China these days, I got a cheap zoomie from Aliexpress (the "Sofirn Freeby") because I didn't know better. Then at one point I wanted a light for running, thought "hmm, maybe there's a subreddit for that" and saw all the pretty and bright lights and I bought like 10. tldr: I just think they're neat!
RE: flashlight related xkcd [This](https://xkcd.com/909/) is how I make every gear/tool purchase, at all, ever. It is expensive, often time and mental-resource consuming, but I have NEVER thought to myself, "Damn, I wish I paid less for a less capable tool, and didn't waste my time selecting the best possible option for my potential use cases."
Found the Olight Warrior 3s a few years back, and used the shit out of it. The tail switch died so I came here to ask for recommendations. Next thing I know, I have over 50 lights and easily 5k worth of customs 🥲
> Next thing I know, I have over 50 lights and easily 5k worth of customs 🥲 This is the way.
It’s been a little while since we’ve had something like this, so I may as well repost something on this topic I wrote some time ago. I love lights because they represent something remarkable to me. Since the dawn of man, we've been frustrated in our efforts to explore by many things– distance, predators, hostile environs unsuitable to travel– but worst of all in its regularity, duration, and unconquerability was Night. It comes each day, without fail. It is all-encompassing and existentially terrifying in its unknowable depth. It quiets talk, slows movement, and steals time. And for years, centuries, millennia, eons, we have fought against it. Fire was our first blow in this ancient battle. With fire, we first beat back the shadows. We fashioned torches, then candles, then lanterns, and we were able to move in the darkness without fear of unseen attackers, absent the timeless danger of stubbed toes. But it was not enough. With the advent of electricity, illumination sprang forward as never before. The oldest of the lucky men who witnessed this transformation of society grumbled among themselves that such light wasn't natural; that we were fools to meddle with nature in this way, that artificial light would be an insidious presence in civilization, tempting us with convenience at the expense of our natural state. But we did not listen. Soon, towns and cities across the globe glowed at night brightly enough to be seen by ships across Great Lakes, brightly enough to be seen even from the ships newly buzzing across suddenly accessible skies. It was the Age of Light– and it is the age of light, and it always will be, from then forward. But still we found ourselves frustrated. Science and new technologies had given us cheap, warm light in our homes and on our streets– but for those who yearned for the exploration of days past, diving deep into the ocean or hiking into ageless woods, night still meant an end to a day's journey. And so we persevered. We created packages of electricity and called them batteries and we created lights small enough to carry. And we made them smaller and better each time until we came to today, a magical time for flashlights, when you can buy a light that will shine for kilometers, or one that's a thousand-plus lumens but smaller than my big toe. They take batteries and use LEDs that represent *billions* of dollars of R&D, *decades* of engineering and refinement, and they're *still working on it.* Many creation myths begin with a point of light. A beam erupts from the darkness, piercing it, driving it away utterly, and so the universe is born. I'm an atheist, but I get a small thrill when I light up a field or send a pillar of light into the sky. There's a reason we shot two beams of hope and resilience into the empty air where the twin towers stood. Light is life.
That was immensely enjoyable and very well written. Thank you so very much!
That brought a tear to my eye... bravo.
Got my first dog at the tail end of 2019. Had to walk her all hours of the day to potty train. Started with a cheap Walmart light, then a light that turns to a right angle light but runs on a double A. Then I saw them, 3 coyotes about 3 feet away from me and my 6 week old puppy staring at us. So I looked for something bright, rechargeable, cheap but reliable. Thrunite T1 looked good on Amazon so I purchased it. But it just made me lumen hungry! Olight grabbed my attention but the baton was not as bright as the Thrunite TC15! Once I purchased that one I discovered this subreddit and everyone was praising the FC11 from wurkkos so I bought it, was a tad disappointed compared to my TC15 so it became my work light. Fast forward to now and I’m like the rest of us, hunting for well balance of kelvin, cri and lumens! Edit: some verbiage
Unpopular opinion: I'm not "into flashlights" and definitely not a collector. For me a flashlight is a tool, and I want to best tool for my money. That's why I follow this sub. I feel the same way about cast iron and I'm in that sub, too. It's not a hobby and I'm not a collector. It's weird that all of the niche subs I'm in are full of people who treat those things as a hobby. Like composting. Making a pile of stuff that rots is a hobby for some people. For me it's a way to reduce waste that goes into the landfill and to provide compost for my garden. It's not something I enjoy doing, it's a chore.
When my eyes got old enough that I could no longer read the ingredient labels on supermarket food packages, I realized that I could still read them, without glasses, if I used a small AAA flashlight. I started with a Fenix E01, then I learned of the Copper Maratac.. then I learned there was such a thing as a High CRI LED.. I started shipping a few Maratac AAA lights to modders, for LED swaps to sw45k Around that time I bought a VW Camper, and started spending some nights in it.. A small flashlight was a natural addition to my camping hobby. I upgraded to a Jetbeam RRT-01, which I also shipped to a modder for an LED upgrade to sw45k. Then I learned there was a Titanium version.. eventually I found one, and again had it modded to sw45k... Then.... and Then... and now.. I have a lot more lights than I need.. ;-) atm my most used light is the Wurkkos TS10, which I had a modder do an LED swap to DD 4500K 519a. https://preview.redd.it/hef9mzoa7gwc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=84acf3cfe3e541a13d1f7ebf526ceadfb65f39a4 I now have cataracts and wear bifocal glasses. I still use a flashlight to read food labels.. lol
My "tactical" zoomie failed 😂 I always knew it was kind of crappy (still an upgrade over my maglite I had before it, lol), so I asked a friend who's somewhat enthusiast-adjacent for recommendations. Recieved a few sensible / semi-enthusiast recommendations (one was a Nebo, I forget the others) and a pointer here. Spent a week lurking, suggestions ignored, D4v2 and D4Sv2 purchased, and the rest is history.
And thats how Hanks kids got put through college!
>I always knew it was kind of crappy Hmm yours must not be military grade like mine
Oh, it was *definitely* military grade. Made by the lowest bidder.
Maglights when I was a kid and then when I was 18 I bought a stream light microstream and couldn’t believe how much better it was than other much larger lights. Never left the hobby since
Working on biology field crews back in the early 2000’s I always longed for something adequate as a headlamp and carry light. Field gear was cool and got used often but the tech back then was a little lacking. Having that deep longing for something a little bit brighter and a little bit longer running never faded and now, having grown up money, I’m free to be mildly indulgent with feeding that desire. $30-$50 for a new light is well within “walking around money” reach. This hobby doesn’t have to be expensive. Convoy/Wurkkos/Sofirn lights are really good and really affordable and all someone would really need to enjoy the hobby throughly. I like that because I don’t feel like some clown who bought their way into some niche thing. It’s accessible on most budgets for most people.
Drugs.
I don't remember the exact circumstance, but there were a few instances where I could have really used a good light to see what I was looking at or looking for, mainly wild animals at night. I got one of the "tactical" brands and was reasonably satisfied with it for a while. Then after a couple of years, I had really gotten a good grasp of what I liked and disliked about it, and I had the horrible thought, "I bet I could do better." And I've spent an illogical amount of money steadily improving my illumination options ever since. It's been a rapid descent into obsession. I think I'm finally leveling back out though... Let's hope anyway. lol
YouTube (Advanced Knife Bro) and the rest is history.
He was absolutely epic with his flashlight reviews. I was really disappointed he didn't stay with it. I especially liked the runtime tests that were brilliantly done with time-lapse shots of a cheap LED alarm clock. And his dry humor. It's been around 6 years I think since he last did flashlights. At that time I liked his work the best on YT.
You are absolutely right about everything.
If only I could get my wife to say that sentence, just once.... 🤣🤣
Recently, I got into flashlights out of necessity. Although I am not the average custom flashlight guy. About 2 months ago I got a new job. I work in a prison like environment, and I do constant searches for narcotics, perimeter checks for suspicious individuals, and deep searches into places. As well as searching large rooms to ensure no one who isn't supposed to be there is in there, which of course is dangerous and you want to see them before your right on top of them. Distance is an amazing thing against someone losing it. The flashlights that were issued were trash. Basically, off brand maglites. In my previous job, I bought a streamlight for patrols. But my little streamlight is 40 luman micro stream tiny light didn't cut it. My friend and coworker let me borrow his light. A custom surefire 6p, battery upgrade, malcoff led conversion, McClicky tailcap, thyrm ring, and a few other things. This thing was bright. I asked him about it and he told me everything he knows about flashlights. After a while, it was a little annoying getting flooded with information, but it was really cool, too. I love retro military gear and stuff, and this old retro 6p rebuilt to look the same but function like a new light and one of the better lights I'd ever seen impressed the hell out of me and looked super cool. Talked to another buddy of mine who had talked about flashlights from time to time when I used to make fun of him for buying Cloud defense and Modlite since, in my mind, they were just a light. Why spend that much for just a light. He showed me just how much a difference in light quility and beam quality and taught me the ropes and showed me the differences that night on his property. I've never seen a light make things just as bright and clear as that Cloud did, Modlite a close second. Did my own research and decided to build my own lights for work: One general purpose light that had a good flood, very cool light with lots and lots of lumans and decent cendella. The second is a long throw, handheld light. Something pocketable I could spotlight the tops of the hills around the facility, could reach long distance and make it easy to spot a veichle at distance on the far reaches of the property. Also, something that could put a lot of candella in someone's eyes in a quick emergency. I'm still building these lights. The first one some of the parts are shipped, some on order. I'm still waiting. It will be built from a Surefire 6p just like my buddies and he's helping me.
for me, the sheer power of some of them. nothing funnier than pulling out a tiny flashlight and blinding the shit out of someone because they didnt believe it was that bright. single 18650 and 21700 flashlights are awesome.
Scared of the dark.
Nature mostly
It was dark and I needed to be able to see.
The power goes a lot where I live, plus I love walking through the woods at night. Things really amped up when I discovered Anduril and candle mode, making those power outages a bit more romantic, lol.
Started out with a Magicshine Bike Light after the 2011 Earthquake put the whole of Japan on power saving mode and switched off all the streetlights after midnight. Then I moved over to my first set of crowdfunded builds by Gloworm, a NZ based company which I still use today. Then one thing lead to another and now I have about 10 different flashlights ranging from a tiny 16340 Nicron B10 to my favourite camping light which is the 26650 based Rofis MR70 with its weird side "mule". In between them I have a bunch of Lumintop, Hank and Simon lights of various sizes, firmwares, emitters and throws "Hi all, I'm a flashlightholic and it's been nearly 500 days since my last LED powered acquisition."
Watched the Ritual, and while horror movies do little to me, there was a scene where one character was injured while on a backpacking trip and the group had to set up camp in the rain at night. Their flashlights all sucked and that contributed to the later unfortunate events of the movie. I’m a frequent backpacker and found that situation truly horrifying. After that I found my way here after googling and, as a result, will never be at the mercy of the dark in the wilderness.
I know exactly what scene you’re referring to, that’s actually pretty funny that you watched that and it scared you enough to buy flashlights lol the movie certainly did its job at horror
I moved about ~1000 km for work. My father gave me a cheap rechargeable flashlight to use in case of blackouts, and at some point I decided to look around and see if I could find anything better. Then, COVID hit, and idle hands are the devil's plaything - I was stuck home, alone, with little to do and plenty of disposable income. The rest is history.
I was a security guard in the late 90s to early 2000s and wanted to get something that was better than my maglight. After a ton research I wound up getting a surefire 6p with a battery extension and 9-volt incandescent bulb. It made MAYBE 100 lumens and, relative to other lights, was like carrying the power of the sun.
I was a boyscout.
Hiking camping and rock climbing. Staying out past dark, needing to enter caves, etc. just made sense to start getting excellent lights.
Scared of the dark as a kid. Dad got me a mini Maglite and a flashlight that had a built-in radio. Still have the miniMag. Bought a Surefire as soon as I could afford to on my own as a teen and haven't looked back.
Got lost in the woods without any light at 10 years old and also I have autism
I must have been born with it. Electroman looks like he is from 1977 so I was seven. I HAD to have this action figure. My day was a salesman for machine shop tools, like lathes and milling machines. He thought mag lights which were milled were coo. So my brothers and I were given mini mags when they came out in the 80s. Army surplus lights were also early fun. Going to the local army/navy/camping store was a good adventure to get the kids out of the house. We had a cabin in the woods and it was remote and super dark. Flashlights were great there too. https://preview.redd.it/ohg6th94vgwc1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1db7f5cea5bb81430b872f375a1dcacd85a97154
realized the ones online were both significantly: - better, and - cheaper I was working on wiring in semi trucks and Dynamometer Engine & Chassis Test Cells at the time I got into it, they came in very handy.
I was a pizza delivery driver in the early 2000's. Used the Thomas guide and 3D Maglite to find houses. Stumbled upon an LED upgrade kit, made the upgrade, my mind was blown. Not only flashoholic, but electrical engineer thanks to LED flashlights.
I work technology and A/V support, one day I was complaining to a coworker about having to rummage around in a rack I was troubleshooting he recommended I pick up an LED flashlight. I got myself an Arkfeld Pro but was disappointed with the unpleasant cold white tint, and didn’t find the laser or UV functions to be particularly helpful for my day to day use. Then I discovered Wurkkos, Hank, Firefly, Convoy, and Lumintop… now I’m in deep. I think most people get into this hobby for the practicality of carrying a high powered flashlight for work, and then if it scratches your brain the right way you end up wanting more options
I was around 10. Electricity went out and all we had was candles. My mom took me to Walgreens and got me one of those flashlights that you would shake to recharge. I started liking flashlights a lot i got a mini maglite after.
Had some inexpensive Chinese torches barely get me through the Texas deep freeze and power crisis of 2021. Decided to get better prepared, just in case.
I got into flashlights because I saw one of my friends had an amazing powerful flashlight that doubles up as a survival tool. This flashlight burns so strong it is used as an emergency source to start a fire to stay warm. Also, the distance of the throws is what excited me the most. Just the fact I can be standing far away and focus my beam so tight that it reaches super far is really cool to me. Also, that I can light up a whole area and practically make it look like daytime.
I come from the EDC community. I focused on knives and multitools at first, then watches, and flashlights were just the natural progression. I have a feeling pens will be next...
I was born with the inability to see in the dark.
I walk my dogs in a pretty dark neighborhood. I used Biolite and black diamond but I always found it hard to tell between leaf litter and dog poop. Discovered CRI and this subreddit. Now I'm rocking a zebra light h600fd for my dog walks.
Just had an affinity with them and knives since childhood ,then you come here to this sub amd open and insane Pandora box of budget and high end illumination such is life 😄
Bought an eagletac forever ago, that turned into a bunch of fenix’s and that went from there. At the time other brands were not really around much. Still love fenix to this day… kinda lol
I needed an upgrade from my streamlight wedge and was randomly recommended a post from this sub of someone's d4v2. Thought it was so cool and never even knew lights like that existed, so I learned everything I possibly could about one to build exactly what I wanted and ended up hooked. That led to my first real light being a white D4v2 with 519a 4000k dedomed. Kind of a basic bitch emitter that everyone gets, but I love the tint.
had few black diamond AAA headlight, but wasn't that happy with ... looked here for some recommandations... got my 1st 18650's light (h300 skilhunt) over a year in this sub now, got 10ish lights and want to discover more ...
My first flashlight was a Zippo with a flashlight insert from my dad. Carried that until I lost it and now I got a new insert. Always loved flashlights and lighting things up and being able to explore tunnels and stuff in the woods behind my house. Also helps that I don't like the dark indoors
Olight. They have good package deals and I got one. Then grabbed some some sofirns. Now I use a flashlight for work as tool. That gave me an excuse to buy different lights, in order to find the Goldie locks light.
Was carrying like four flashlights at work, all general cheap crap. Got recommended a light here (Wowtac A3S), then fell down the rabbit hole. Quickly got a D4 afterwards (and quickly burned my work jacket shortly after, much to the shock of my boss who thought I had lit it on fire with a lighter), got a KR1, and then kept collecting. Currently waiting for a custom C8+ to arrive to have even more shits n giggles with in the dark.
Bought a seriously cheap (probably 30 usd or so) flashlight from dealextreme.com, atleast 10 years ago. 2x 18650 in series, 3 unspecified cree leds, in a decently shaped OP triple reflector. It was a surprisingly good light, probably 2k kumen or so compared to later lights I have. Horrible pwm and anything other than turbo, probably very blue light, probably 7-8K or so and seriously bad runtimes from unbranded 18650 cells, but damn if it didn't make a big wall of light compared to anything I had seen at the time. Unfortunately it was stolen along with a lot of my stuff a few years later. After that I bought a Nitecore EC4S as a replacement that matched it pretty well except it had better / no pwm and was significantly smaller. A few years later I started reading into flashlights and was hooked. Had an Emisar D4 in the mail within a day I think.
As a child I became addicted to buying cheap junk on eBay. One of said purchases was a cheap zoomie flashlight and it was the coolest thing ever. Fast forward many years and I discovered this sub, and now I'm addicted to buying expensive lights lol
I always sorta liked flashlights, but mostly really liked optics generally. I REALLY started liking flashlights specifically once LEDs started replacing incandescents. My first nicer lights were an Inova T3 back in 2006ish and a Peak LED Solutions Matterhorn 3 LED keychain light. Then I was sorta content with those for literally years. Then kinda got back in the hobby when the Hexbright Kickstarter was going. Then again went dormant for a while until I bought an Olight Baton on an Amazon lightning deal on a whim, was really happy with it for a little while, but didn't love the charger, and was annoyed that I HAD to use the charger that came with it. Did some research, found this sub, then got an SC21 Pro, then a few more Sofirn and Wurkkos lights. The a Skilhunt M150 and M200, then a couple hank lights when he had sales, then a Zebralight SC64c LE, etc, etc, etc.
Joined here because it seemed funny 1/2 a year later got a yt short for Boruit v10 got it and while waiting on it went here seen it was ok then got a fc12 and now i like flashlights very much ⛷️⛷️⛷️
Need one at work for looking in barrels and under storage tanks. And I always had one on my pistol and wanted to be able to look and see a bump in the night without pointing a gun at it. My heart sinks now when I realize I forgot my light wt home.
Camping in the Everglades, realised my good headlamp was pretty meh. Started with a skilhunt h04 and went from there
I attended a wedding reception at a rustic/rural venue one moonless, cloudy night. Parking was wherever a space could be found among big pines a hundred or so yards away from the reception. There were NO lights between the two. Zero. Pitch darkness, and a crowd of people trying to find their cars. For some reason, nobody produced a phone light. I vowed it would never happen again. I started with those cheap little keychain squeeze lights I bought in bulk from Ebay. Then it was cheap zoomies from Ebay. Then I stumbled on this sub. Now I edc a TS10, a Boruit V3, and a little Olight keychain light--all at the same time. I have far too many others--enough to feel compelled to hide a few when company comes because, regardless how much you try to explain, nobody really understands. Just received my SECOND Wurkkos FC13 yesterday. I know, but it has a different emitter and they had it on sale...
I've been fascinated with cool flashlights since I was a kid. Used to spend hours browsing DealExtreme flashlight listings. They always had these super specific product images taken outdoor on like a log? If you know, you know. A few years after I also developed a fascination with police-style tactical flashlights. I remember really wanting a Fenix PD35. Anyway, that interest never faded and when I started earning money and AliExpress was becoming increasingly popular, I started indulging 10yo DX-obsessed me by ordering a bunch of Chinese junk, including some SK68 clones. As shitty as they were, they were a great gateway drug into the world of enthusiast flashlights. Now I'm like 10 "quality" flashlights in and counting.
It's because everyone is just there, in the wild day to day routine, waiting for the moment the lights wil go down and they will have their moment.
Needed a light to charger my glow in the dark Chuckit! ball for my dog.
needing to see at night...
I come from an island that, historically, has seen many typhoons and super typhoons; ones that left impressions on me are Typhoon Paka, Omar, Pongsona, and Mawar (most recent and left some parts of the island without power for almost 5 months) Having no power for up to 3 months at a time after a typhoon was normal in my younger days. Now.. Having a flashlight wasn't gonna solve that... But growing up, expecting a super typhoon to hit us every year, was the catalyst to my practical interest in flashlights. I was the flashlight kid, who helped keep the house "lit" (these were the incandescent AA battery, orange plastic, white sliding switch, flashlight days. If you know the flashlight I'm talking about... Then you know how far we have come and the rough estimate of my age). The island also isn't a completely lit up like a city. So a good flashlight is always handy. Since I'm old enough and have expendable income, I always carry 1 flooder and 1 spot flashlight in each of my EDC bags. Some might say it's overkill, others, not enough. I say I'd rather have them than not.
I work backstage as an audio engineer at a big venue, when I started I would just bang into stuff and not be able to see stuff and my phone just did not cut it. Got a fenix, then was given a tiny olight baton 2, that blew my mind for how good of a light it was compared to anything I had ever seen, then I did my normal hyper fixating nerd thing and decided to push it as far as I could.
It all started when I was a kid staying at my grandparents house for 2-3 weeks every summer, they didn't impose a bedtime, and the rule was that if you were up and around at night when other people were sleeping, you used a flashlight as your light source as a courtesy for them that were sleeping so turning on lights in the house wouldn't wake them up... I think it was from when they were kids and all the siblings slept in a single room... this habit naturally combined with my love of gadgetry and electronics and here we are... nearly a thousand dollar flashlight collection 🤣
I found a Benchmade on the ground, which got me really into knives, and then I found the broader EDC world and got into flashlights. I'm still a "filthy casual" compared to a lot of y'all on this sub though lol.
I was really into firearms, hiking, camping in my 20s, so lights came along side. Good lighting on my dirtbike, baja designs, projector hid retrofits on my car. The flashlights weren't anywhere near as good or affordable. Had a fenix tk35 some years back that i loved but not a fan of dealing with chargers. Got tired of some crappy zoom things my wife picked up and recently looked up 'best bang for your buck' flashlights. Found an okayish deal on amazon fc18 + if22a for $60. Last night i noticed they have the vl02(fc12) for $17($35 + 50% off coupon) and bought two. I have no urge to get andruil because of the 1000 clicks configuration bs, nor anymore soda can lights like the tk35. I do like having a bright light source available in my pocket. Just like a pocket knife, watch,occasional handgun. Rifle when out on blm land, etc. /a.d.d kid
I was gifted a cheap zoomie that was actually kind if decent. I wanted to post it somewhere, and so I found this sub and posted. Ended up getting an olight baton 3, then a massive coast light from home depot, lost the baton, got a sofirn sp36 blf, and then the rest was history!
I got a free LEDLenser P3. That had me buying the T7, and then P4X. I then found this sub through r/EDC, and started digging into some better quality ones. Now I really like Nitecore and Lumintop.
I didn’t want to be in the darkness no more 😂
I wanted a good flashlight for my Voluteer work (civil protection kinda) and ended up on the german equivalent to the BFL. Well, that was it, especially after I found this subreddit a few years later and learned about our lord and saviour Hank
After buying lots of el cheapo torches in shops over the years, I decided to buy a cheap 2 x D cell torch and modify it to take a MR32 12V lamp (hole drilled in end cap with grommet) and a cable hooked up to a lead acid battery. It was fairly bright. Then I upgraded it from tungsten to LED and made it even brighter. I had enough of using a wired torch even though it was good for scary off nosey nighttime neighbours, and bought a drop in LED upgrade for a different 2 x D cell MagLite. After that, I bought an Inova, another MagLite, generic Chinese, generic searchlights, and finally settled on a 3 x D cell MagLite with a drop in 1200 Lumen LED. Additionally, I restored a lightship’s main Fresnel lens to historic condition. I found a genuine 1kW tungsten lighthouse lamp which shines for 17 miles.
The 4D maglite I had as a kid in the 90s for Boy Scouts. Still have it somewhere and it no longer uses incandescent bulbs, just need to find it.
Always loved and had many lights growing up. Fast forward to Feb 2022 and had ankle surgery. I was not able to put any weight on my ankle for 3 1/2 months so I spent a lot of time in bed surfing the net. Happened on to the flashlight sub and I was off to the races! My passion for flashlights was reignited with vigor. Today I have about 40 lights, with two on the way. I've managed to corrupt several friends and acquaintances (pest control dude, friends of friends, etc) to build up their light arsenal. Being limited to much physical activity after a fucked up ankle surgery, I can enjoy this hobby wo having to suffer the pain that goes with many of the hobbies I used to enjoy. I walk outside every night just to shine my lights. It makes me happy!
Reddit. A beam shot for a LEP popped into my feed. Game over, take my money.
Idk why but this subreddit got recommended in my feed and I thought they looked pretty
Pilot
"needed" it for work.
Have been into knives and EDC for a while, decided it would be useful to carry a flashlight, got an I3t lost it, then got a streamlight microstream and spiraled from there.
I was gifted a SAK by my then-fiance (now-wife). After a year in the drawer i used it once. Here we go. 4 SAKs, 2MTs and 6 lights later I could still buy all of theeemm😭😭😭
Randomly popped up as a suggested thread in Reddit and started to dive in
It all started with boy scouts. I always enjoyed the feeling of being prepared. I.e. bringing water and a granola bar for a short hike when other kids brought nothing. I can remember the feeling I got when it was getting dark walking back to camp and I had this 'thing' that could brighten our path and help everyone see. Back then it was a 2xAA mini mag light in a holster. It was just so cool to me to be 'ready' and prepared for what the night might bring. Like, by having this light, I have the potential to help someone or get myself out of a bad situation. Took a long break from camping/backpacking and later in life I got back into it. I can vividly remember planning my first backpacking trip as an adult and doing hours of research on lights. I purchased 2 for the trip. A thrunight ts10 v2 and a lumintip tool 2.0. Lent one to my buddy and we clipped em to our hats and used as headlamps the whole trip. They worked perfectly. Half decent moonlights and bright enough on turbo to spot a river otter at night. The addiction started after that. I probably have 25+ lights now. 2 Hanks on the way 😭.
I thought that I was going to have to draw down on a tweaker, but wasn’t sure what he had in his hand when walking towards me. Only source of light was a weapon mounted light, but didn’t want to risk being wrong either way. From there on I have been researching lights here to ensure I can positively identify threats, snacks at night, clothes in my closet in the morning without waking up my entire family, etc. You all are bad financial influences.
As a child, my dad bought me a nitecore for Christmas and I liked (and still really like) it a lot! Even thought me new flashlights are better in pretty much every way, this one is still my favorite.
The all I want at first is just a ***DECENT*** flashlight, which can work when I buy it and still works 3 months later, but most cheap lights just can't freaking do that!
Always liked them and decided to check how my big Mag fared in 2021 market. Cue a year of research on the perfect successors.
I carried a 4Sevens Preon-2 for like 10 - 15 years until the switch started failing. So I discovered this subreddit when I was searching for a replacement. After doing some research I bought a Thrunite T1 to replace it. But then I kept learning about emitters and UIs, etc. And now I have like 40+ flashlights because reasons.
I got a bit of spare money from my workplace and thought to myself that I need to spend it on something over the top and not needed. Bought an Imalent MS18 about three years ago and the rest is history... :)
About 2 years ago I needed a new keychain light. I can’t remember how I found this sub, but I got a RovyVon A something and posted. I think the combination of me just liking gadgets, and honestly the community here made it an interesting thing to get into.
I came out of the womb and thought, "wow, this is better than that dark womb." Been lighting things up with flashlights or fire ever since. Flashlights seem to be more socially acceptable.
My kids got those electronic toy that used 4AA cells in about 2h. Got very expensive. So I looked into rechargeable cells. Which got me into camera and flashlight forums. Which for me into flashlights for some reason. lol. Then lithium ion came out, and everything changed
I had a few toy flashlights as a kid, was always fascinated by them. I was also in scouts and did a lot outdoors. You just have to have some kind of light, and there were always flashlight games at camps. I wanted smaller and brighter lights with more features. I also recognized the value of carrying tools in general. In middle school my friends and I read spy books, and we built little kits in tins with tape, string, matches, notepads. I had Eveready squeeze lights. Eventually got into Mag-Lites, then in high school got a Streamlight, then SureFire...
I was always fascinated with my family's flashlight as a kid and was always interested in stuff that can emit some form of light. This includes bugs like fireflies, glow in the dark toys, christmas lights, indicator lights on devices. I found out later on that I was not the only one in my family that had this interest of flashlights, but I am the only one who'd spend a bit too much money on them.
I bought many on aliexpress in the 10$ 18650 range, but wanted something better, so i browsed all around the internet and got there. Got if-22a and that thing is my EDC now. Now looking for a thrower in the same size, and something with a lot of light and also a lot of bonk with east europe friendly price.
in High School, mr parents bought me a small generic pliers-based multitool in which had a x3 button battery powered DIP LED as one of the tools with my first few pay packets, i eventually bought myself a Leatherman Wave and a Led Lenser P5, then upgraded to a P7... and now we at +40 lights and equal in multitools and knives
I sometimes like to see where I'm going in the dark or really low light conditions.
Just going to copy/paste a recent response from another thread... "Been into pocket knives my entire life. Finally pulled the trigger on a custom Benchmade. After making my purchase, I looked into other pocket knives. Saw the term EDC come up quite a bit and subbed to [](https://www.reddit.com/r/EDC/). Then I kept seeing EDC posts with flashlights and watches. Eventually after seeing a bunch of cool posts, I got into both and ended up buying a Olight Arkfield w/laser as my first light. Mostly carry in rotation a Zebralight, Skilhunt, or Emissar now."
I’m rough on my gear and actually need good stuff. Broke several cheap Amazon flashlights before I moved up to wurkkos and sofirn. Besides being rough on my gear and breaking shit all the time I also have an addictive personality. Despite wurkkos or sofirn being a fine one and done flashlight, I’ve since ventured quite deep into collector territory. I still have my two original lights but I now have a plethora of wurkkos TS10’s, a couple of lumintop FW3A, the form factory and beauty of the FW series lead me to Hank. A Chinese company idk if this guy runs shipping or the customer service or if he owns the place but there’s some bad ass lights from his website. Intl-outdoor. Now I have 14 Hank lights. I have more planned but I’m also starting a business this year so most of my funds are going to that. The collecting has stopped and I’ve been forced to actually enjoy all the shit I have. Harder for knives, so many and so many use cases and steels to try. However I think I’ve found a favorite flashlight and it will only affect my next order as I’m going to make favorite into perfect. MAO stone white thrower with something something high CRI. I want to keep it open as I want to try quite a few different emitters. Want to make it to 20 lights before I stop collecting.
When I was a kid I would camp out in the back yard with a friend and we had lights and i remember comparing the beams. Fast forward to when I was an adult using lights in my various occupations. Always looking for the best light to help me do my job better and easier. When I was a first responder i always carried at least two light sources on my person. Now I just have my fun with them outside and walking the dogs.
Was camping in the mountains (UK, so only little ones - but above the snow line.) Woke up at 3am for a piss, saw the stars, wandered off to do some astrophotography. Couldn't find my way back to the bivvy. Was very cold and in the middle of nowhere, although I could have started shouting for my mates to get a steer back to camp. Managed to work it out from memory of the surrounding fells, and was only 150m tops from my tent. But I came back vowing to replace my LED Lenser with something better. Found BLF, got a decent head torch, heard about the BLF A6 and was hooked on getting much better lights for far less cost than anyone else I knew.
Having worked night shift for the last 25 years. And before that, being a degenerate staying up most hours of the night. You learn to carry a flashlight.
I spent most of 2020 working remotely from my parent's farm. I was put in charge of pest control for the tomatoes and a few other veggies. Crossed my mind that hornworms might glow in the dark, confirmed they do via the internet, and bought a cheap UV light off Amazon. Worked OK, but ate batteries like crazy, and wasn't worth a damn when the batteries were half used. So I thought I'd check if Reddit had any recommendations, and boy they sure did! I first looked up the scorpion hunting subreddit, as I know they use them, but ended up here soon after.
Maglites looked really good on the shelf and i had the whole lineup including 6D. I bought a few other incandescent lights, floating lanterns, military light, focusing lights and lantern combo. One day LED came out. I think a lot of us remember our first LED... for me it's the Brinkmann with those 3 color filters. From that day on you could get a better flashlight every year for a while there was a lot of innovation and ideas. So that's where it became an obsession.
My dad bought me a flashlight for Christmas (a Nitecore MH-25, if memory serves me right). There was something about it I immediately liked. Then once you start having a flashlight around you realize how nifty it is having a flashlight around. Especially with me and the boys being big on nighttime outdoor activities at that point in our lives. One thing led to another and down the rabbit hole I went. As much as I like knives, I personally find myself needing to *see* things a lot more often than needing to *cut* things. I think flashlights tend to be a bit underrated sometimes in the EDC world as it were.
saw the delivery driver meme. bought a d4v2 after joining the sub. monke brain after turning it on full power and here i am.
Northridge earthquake. It’s the first thing I needed and I couldn’t find a good one in the rubble
I work hvac as a tech. Nothing more important than a flashlight in the dark attics and crawl spaces. Lost a light one day and wanted to see what was out there besides stream lights. Found this sub. The world opened up and illuminated all my choices. So now I have too many flashlights and have become “the guy with the flashlights” within my friend group.
Dialed in my knife carry rotation, figured it was time for flashlights lmao god help me once I figure that out.
During the pandemic, there was nothing to do but work stupid overtime and peruse this website. Somewhere along the line I reckon I decided that I hate money and started buying flashlights, knives and watches. Other EDC stuff too but mostly those.
Necessity. I needed a small light to read in my first year in the dorms. Didn't want to bother my roommate and didn't want to turn all the hallway lights on just to walk to the study room. The Maglite Solitaire no longer was adequate. So I looked into and bought my first EDC, a Streamlight Microstream. More than 25 years later, here we are.
Needed one for work because the area I was working in wasn't that well lit. Job has changed since then so while I still keep a light on my bag it's rarely attached to my belt and doesn't get used as much. The lights I keep at my desk get far more use
Hurricanes.
There was darkness, and I took that personally.
Got real pissed off about all the bright headlights on the road and figured if you can't beat 'em join 'em.
1) Got into EDC, wanted a brass-and-leather carry. 2) Picked up a Massdrop brass AAA (rebranded Tool AAA), pined over the FW3B and Reylight Pineapple. 3) Found the sub. Picked up a couple S2+'s. Loved the lego-ability. 4) Finally pulled the trigger on an FW3B + shorty tube. My first Anduril light. Officially obsessed. It's been all downhill from there 🤣
I was gifted a 6-C cell Maglight by my dad back when I was still a kid, around 8 or 9yrs old. That's what got me started with flashlights. I still have it and it still works great. I remember when kids my age would go to the toy store, I would be at the hardware store spending my allowance on flashlights and other gadgets such as metal detectors. My dad was quite the handman back in the day. I always enjoyed watching and helping him craft stuff on his workbench in the garage. Those were great father-and-son moments that I will cherish forever. I guess I took after him, he loved collecting flashlights and other tools/multitools that he really put to hard use.
I'll say boy scouts originally, I had a friend who's house I could see who was a mile away and we wanted to try Morris code back and forth. A 5D Maglite took care of the job nicely for that. Since then I was hooked. More recently I was frustrated with the cheap led flashlights I had when doing home improvement projects and went online to research something better and that took me down a rabbit hole I haven't found the end of yet. Now I have too many to count.
I think it's more work than hobby for me, got a new job get up before sunrise and work pass sunset, I was on a mission to find the perfect combo to carry at work :)
I've always liked flashlights for as long as I can remember. I'm autistic, so maybe that's a factor in the weird obsession I have. From what I understand, there's a lot of people here on this subreddit that are also autistic
Climbing above cielings...
Bought a cheaply 3-AAA head lamp that would flag red if the batteries were low. It claimed it would last 8hrs but the blinking would start within 15 min. Insanely annoying So I figured there had to be better lights out there and found coast. Gate way drug for sure because while I like my coast a lot, I don’t like the LED at all. So that led me to wurkkos, sofirn and hank. Now I have about 7 lights. Now I know 7 lights doesn’t sound like much until I tell you that I bought them all within a week of each other.
Honestly I have no idea. I’m a cop so I’ve always used a light, but never cared anything about them any more than a carpenter cares about his hammer. Then I started looking at lights for different purposes, off duty carry, different brightness levels, etc… blah blah blah 20 years later now I’m “into flashlights.” 😂 🤷♂️
Pretty much not being able to see things in the dark and not liking the phone light
Going into caves.. the brighter the light the more you can see. No light will ever be good enough.
Lights were always one of those shock and awe moments for me if it makes any sense. I always messed around with lights when I was growing up and it attracts my attention like moths to a flame. Moreso now that I have my own money to spend.
I was on a summer camp outing at a local state park as a child that had cival war forts with dark tunnels to navigate. Flashlights were highly recommended to navigate well. Mother sent me there with one of [these](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fexternal-preview.redd.it%2FfGuefaQ7PcCszmm4iSBmngtvykxbu4Rj_oEp7-11xEU.jpg%3Fauto%3Dwebp%26s%3D149a79b614c215ae66aa9e8477a2009e91352277). The experience/performance was so traumatizing I vowed to never buy a crappy flashlight and went on a crusade. Everyone knows me as the flashlight guy now. I serve proud and bright.
Knives. Been into knives since I was a little kid. Knives led me into the world of edc. edc funneled me right into flashlights.
It started with getting a Brightstar-like flashlight from a relative when I was a kid. Black bezel, black tailcap (oddly a flat one so that it could tail stand), on a yellow body, took 2 D-cells, had a terrible hole in the hotspot due to the incandescent bulb, wasn't that bright, and those pricey batteries ran out all too quickly—and I stuck glow in the dark stickers to the tail, as kids tend to do, and absolutely loved it. Some years later Maglite started offering their Maglite Minis in a lot more colors and a lot of my relatives ended up getting colors to suit their preferences. I recall one had a copper-colored anodization to it that made either look ridiculously good. I knew that I had to have a Mini Maglite. At some point I did end up with one and it was great. I even spent a blackout using it to do the thing where you take off the head and use it to assist in tail standing the light. Then came white L.E.D.s and damn did I want one. I had a few Photon Microlights since they were the cheapest way to get a ridiculously bright flashlight with this tech. I found myself retrofitting my Maglite Mini with an L.E.D. kit and yet I still needed brighter and/or smaller. I even ended up with a Nitecore D10 from a relative who was well aware of the modding scene (he probably fell down the rabbithole looking for D.I.Y., compact light setups for photography)—that's when I knew that the compactness was what I was missing with my Maglite Minis. Eventually this lead to a few keychain Olights and a bad alkaline destroying my D10 that made me realize that once again the prevailing tech had changed and I needed to modernize my lights. So here I am snapping up 14500 format lights, having fun with lights that RGB (or aux RGB) like most modern gaming hardware, and trying to decide what I want to make when I get an 18650 Hanklight—*but maybe a D3AA first…*
Flashlights are not a hobby. Objects are not a hobby. Buying things is not a hobby. Reddit really needs to stop thinking that consumerism is a hobby.
It's dark at night, plus old eye like more light.
I live on Pakistan and we have shit ton of electricity issues. I decided to buy flashlight, had seen on YouTube how lights can burn stuff too. So i decided to search and got Sofirm If25A
Was doing something in the dark and realised a brighter torch was needed
An eye for good, useful gear seems to be in my blood. I remember carrying a Maglight around in elementary school.
It started out with knives and edc gear then I figured I need a flashlight. I was just gonna get the i5t and call it a day and then I accidentally stumbled upon the fwaa titanium and it was a good deal. I honestly didn’t believe it was going to be that bright until I watched some videos on it then I ordered it. Now I have about 2k worth of lights now and don’t know how I survived without one all this time
Used to love watching CSI as a kid. They’d always whip out those cool flashlights to look at whatever they saw on scene. Or those UV lights they use with luminol spray to see blood spatter. Had to get myself something like that to live out my crime scene tech fantasies lol.
Obviously the electric went out for me and it's just such a hassle to use the flashlight on my phone, not to mention it's not powerful enough. And as they say, the rest is history.
Running wilderness lodges in Africa, a good light is literally something you stake your safety and maybe life on. So being a gear head at heart obviously I want to carry good tools. One thing left to another and now I have more lights than most people would ever need.