I decided to together a bug out bag with some emergency things along with a useful light and gears. I have a few lights; s2+ triple, s2+ SST40, surefire L1, Olight R50, a few foursevens, Tool AA and AAA, Sunmanway G20C. With many over 600-1000 linens, I decided to put my Quark w. 18650 body in the bug out bag. Don’t know why, I really like that old Quark.
Nowadays, so many brighter lights, do you still use your really old lights?
Yes, absolutely. Using my old lights lets me appreciate the new ones and features. Compared to ten years ago, a five year old flashlight is still relevant, good runtimes, decent UI, etc.
I have an Eagle Eye X6R X2R that is still one of my favorites, three modes, no blinky modes, built in USB charging, nice NW tint. No need to change anything on it to have a solid light!
Nowadays, it not having Moon mode, configurable strobe, and USB C charging with a ramping UI would mean it is not worth buying to many here, because our expectations have shifted on the hedonic treadmill. The reality, compared to 10-20 years ago the new lights are better, but still not the ages ahead of an incandescent 3 D cell maglite, that a 5-10 year old LED Light is. The jump from a maglite to a S2 was huge, modes, lithium rechargeable battery, small for more output, simply amazing. From the S2 to an Acebeam L17 is a jump, but not as much as the maglite to S2 was.
The reason the Sofirm C01 was so popular was because it is a solid little light for what it is. The new thread is all “how many modes will it have” (guilty) and other things like that, yet one of mine will never get used unless I am needing it in an emergency. Then I have those 7 lumen for as long as the battery has some juice in it, all the way to too-dim-to-use town. Thats a good light in my opinion, it works when needed.
Edit: Had my light model wrong. It was an X2R, not an X6R, which was also a good light, but I gave it away to someone else.
Dunno if it qualifies as “really old”, but I still use my ’502 with 1-mode 5000K XP-L drop-in.
Simple on/off, pretty decent beam, bright without becoming a curling-iron in 5min, really nice hand-feel.
And I’m using it with a rather ancient laptop-pull cell, too.
“Nowadays, so many brighter lights, do you still use your really old lights?”
yes.
“do you still use your really old lights?”
It depends on how you define “old”, but I’ll assume LED flashlights and the answer for me is yes.
A couple of my first flashlights were Sunwayman D40As (bought in 2014), one with a cool white XM-L2 LED and the other neutral white. A lot of lumens for AA flashlights and some good throw. I really liked the neutral white over the cool white - which was the rationale for my BLF name. They don’t get used as much as when I first got them, but they are still great flashlights and are safe for the family since they are AA flashlights.
I had a D40 NW before. Nice light. Hard to find the switch bottom tho. Don’t think the button lights up.
There is a red button LED that turns on when the voltage gets low. Else agreed, the switch is hard to find in the dark. And it cracks over time:
Me too! I still use it quite frequently. I purchased it three years ago specifically to build a dual-switch pocket thrower.
I piggybacked a Texas Avenger driver onto the stock switch/charging board. It’s running Andúril with dual-switch support enabled.
The forward-clicky tail switch acts only as power on/off, and the light has mode memory. That means I can use the tail switch for momentary at whatever brightness was previously used. I really like a thrower with momentary mode while hiking with a floody headlamp.
I like the Eagle Eyes X6R too but didn’t get one cause it’s hard to EDC.
Over 20 of my lights are from the 60`s and 70`s and I use them (in rotation) every night for reading, they`ve all been converted over to 18650 and 21700 protected cells (mainly because a lot of them take a No.8 battery that`s not made anymore), and most are still incan.
There`s just something about flashlights from your childhood that you don`t really get with new modern ones, though there are a few of todays lights that I`v really taken too as well.
I have never understood the “programmable UI” or the “moonlight mode” wants. The old stuff beats the new in many ways, not the least of which being step-downs, piss-poor ugly yellow de-domes, and a hundred other things.
I still have a Sunwayman D40A. I also don’t use it much these days, but once in a while I take it out & install fresh cells for a go. Still packs a good punch for this AA based flashlight. Having AA available is a good fall-back for emergencies. Size wise, I’m much more apt to go with my Sofirn SP33v3 throw for the same form factor. But if I didn’t have that, I’d be tempted to upgrade the emitter on the D40A.
FWIW, Sunwayman will provide replacement switch covers if you contact them. I did, a few years ago, and they sent me it free of charge.
Did you know the old Seeker has the largest beam distance of all family members? A really unique light. So, despite being quite old, it’s not obsolete. The wide spill and the spill/spot ratio is magic.
Never knew that.
Sure I use my old lights.
DIY Lambda pill minimag and Dexlight are still in use.
Anyone remember Lambda pill BTW?
Mike
I remember Dexlight.
Over 5 years ago I bought a grey Convoy S2. I kinda abuse that light as my moving donor light. I own a few C2+ lights and when I need a new part in a hurry, I first open up my old C2 to look for something I can Use. Afterwards I put new parts in the old C2. After 5+ years there is not a single original part left in her old (baked) body. Yet it is the first light I grab when I need one around the house.
The light in my BOB is another story. February 2012 I bought a D25C Ti and it went almost straight into my BOB. Once a year I polish it and check if everything works as it should. And it always passes its physical.
Wasn’t the Olight R50 notorious for having charging problems?
Mine charges.
The Pro LE shouldn’t be left on the charger all the time, so this was a serious killer literally, since it was designed for that purpose.
Yep. I occasionally still stop by theledguy/Sandwiche Shoppe every now and then for a bit of nostalgia.