I would wait, read more, and try not to jump on “deals” which often don’t turn out quite like expected back when it all started… a few (or was it six!) months ago.
Batteries are one of the big unknowns and after getting a good charger/tester I started returning them to eBay and buying them from better sources. Also knowing WHAT battery a light needs (no a Q30 isn’t the ONLY battery to covet) helps as low drain batteries work GREAT in a lot of lights (and the latest LT1 lantern)… and they CAN be way cheaper by the dozen if you wait and watch for the deals KNOWING what you want BEFORE jumping on a deal.
So more advice is get good “stuff”, but give yourself TIME for a deal to happen. Again, BLF rocks for spotting deals too.
I guess I’m lucky I got into this habit just a few years ago, I read about some older members who have a lot of lights that WERE da’ not too long ago. With that said, it’s taken me just over two years to accumulate a few dozen lights, and a good surplus of “parts” for mods.
Several in this post also mention selling unused lights off and I can see that being a smart thing to consider about now. But not wanting to be a local reseller and shipping is stupid expensive lately for we small operators. So maybe I’ll donate them to local concerns like I did my city manager for reading water meters. Thing is, you don’t know you need a higher power light until you GET one.
But over-all I have zero regrets for any light I’ve bought BECAUSE I did check it all out here on BLF before buying. I travel and hunt/fish a lot and have many hunting friends and hosts in several states that I spend time around the fire with. I have gifted many lights to a larger group of hunters and land owners in the several states I hunt in. They make a REALLY thoughtful gift and are a natural fit for where we are at any given moment… the middle of nowhere!
Final thought though… I have spent about 40 hours or so on modding lights (and I’ve had a tech bench since I got my first HealthKit in the 70s). I enjoy modding, although there were some hard lessons when I got started (on the old C8F 18650 hosts which were a challenge that cost me a few drivers, and about 5 tail springs… actually my cat ate one of those driver’s ICs). Anyway, I am observing new lights coming out this year and seeing that for the price, it’s getting to NOT be worth my time modding most lights coming out lately. The latest C8G from Sofirn HAS all the features I USED to have to “build” into a host that cost twice as much when done with a custom driver, sliced domes, tail bypasses, and TIME.
LONG AND SHORT… better lights from a few manufacturers (listening to BLF) are cheaper than they have ever been for the features they have today. And tomorrow… who knows? So that is my excuse to stay topped off with lights anyway