I’ve been bitten by the bug almost five years ago. Started with cheap SK68 clones i found impressive at the time. Now, more then fifty lights later (i lost count), and after a couple impressive ones, i’m bored. It kind of happened suddenly. I didn’t managed to order a single light in 2018.
Last ones where the Emisar D4 (x2), the BLF Q8 (x3), Sofirn C8F, Astrolux MF-01 modded by Lexel and at last the BLF GT. The previous year came with the Convoy L6 (x2), Thorfire S70, DQG Tiny 26650 3th (x2), Astrolux S41 (x4)… I have several A6s… I’ve got a suitcase full of every battery format spares and half a dozen four bay chargers… A good dozen AA/14500. Another dozen AAA/10440. Plenty of 18650 and 26650 lights… Most i don’t really need except a few that became regular EDC. I’m bored right now. :person_facepalming:
I’m tempted by one of those 30k lumen lights but they are somehow out of my ‘hobby’ budget. I don’t usually spend more then $50 on a light. $100 being very unusual…
Happened to me several times, lost interest and then I clicked on BLF over a few weeks and got back into it. I think the main problem is that I don’t use flashlights every day, there just isn’t a huge need for light. I do have a few EDCs but I just carry them without using them.
Then I got into flashlight modding and that brought back my interest. When you have a lot more lumens the hobby gets very interesting again.
Maybe you could take a break, look into other hobbies or sports and then come back to flashlights?
edit:
One thing I have noticed with flashlights as a hobby and BLF is, that there is a huge amount of variety in lights, a flood of information and products and also lots of commercial action (here, via email, on websites, …) - we are constantly flooded with new products and that might over-saturate a few people as well.
Once you figure out what you like, get out and use them. Get them dirty, dinged dented, wet, and muddy. Kill some batteries while your’e at it. Push them to their limits and report back on what you’ve learned. For me the fun part of this hobby is getting out and field testing them… more so than collecting.
I came to the realization that I do not need hand held lighting as a backpacking, camper and scout coordinator. For me its all about headlamps where I’ve settled into the 1AA format a thrunite TH20, and a zebralight. Of course I carry a small 14500 EDC, but thats as far as the obsession goes. I have bigger brighter lights that stay home, the performance/need does not outweigh (literally) the added bulk and mass.
Car camping would be the exception, where I’m not trekking far in. Bigger 26650 lights get used, but as before they really aren’t needed.
I often have renewed interest in things I haven’t thought about in months or years that I used to be into. Haven’t lost interest in lights yet, but if I do I know it will come back, it won’t worry me.
yeah, i also often lost interest in flashlight
but it quickly returns when some crazy light come up, like BLF GT, or astrolux mf-01( 78$ and 12000 lumen is crazy)
im quite bored with 18650*1 tube light right now
I’m not bored, but more critical when choose flashlight to buy. Tint, it’s deviation, full regulation on highest mode are essential. It narrows lights to a few models only
Mike
^ pretty much same as Mike, lot more fussy these days than what i was 5yr ago. Not only has to be the right LED and colour temp, but also the UI , form factor and quality of…………all have to be right for me to take the plunge.
My interest has never wavered one bit, if anything its stronger than ever, luckily being very fussy saves me some money. Crazy lumens is all cool and fun, but these days tint, temp and beam quality surpass my want for output. To put another way, give me 200lm of 219b 4k over 1000lm of 6500k blue/white beam.
I still like a good bunch of lumens though………………….just the easy on the eye kind
FWIW…
You don’t have a dive / water submersible rated light. I’ve been using / abusing a thorfire D26 dive light this rain season camping… awesome 26650 hand held.
From a glance you don’t have a infinite variable / ramping UI… I don’t think.
Not everybody matures equally fast. Maybe you are in a mid-life crisis Or in a winter slump. I am way past the first. If you are in a winter slump I would like to say: join the club. My activities are like the temperature outside: zero.
Since paying for my GT early december I only have ordered a bag to put it in. And have charged my batteries. That’s all. I am thinking of getting rid of a few lights that I will not mod any further. I hardly use them and they are only using up space. And maybe than I feel the urge to dust off the old soldering iron and buy some items from Simon. To make a UV thrower by putting a 365nm led into a C8. With a black lens (filter).
I have 2 or 3 lights in rotation and won’t be changing them out til the end of their service. Armytec wizards. My fun lights are D4/Q8. Other than that, I’m burnt on lights at this point.
So I feel ya.
Same here. Gradually weeding the collection to lights I actually use. Don’t know how long I will have the GT, since it’s not very practical. More of an enthusiast toy. (but a fun one)
Not bored yet. BLF is a welcome addition to / distraction from life. Sometimes what happens on the forum is interesting for me and if it is not I tend to build or test stuff myself and post about it.
For me the modding part is the nicest part and the crazy fast developement of leds, flashlight hosts, drivers and other parts keeps it very attractive.
The only part that became more boring is that you can not impress people anymore with a bright flashlight. 5 years ago people were used to incans or 5mm through-hole leds and pulling out a 700 lumen flashlight with 100kcd throw left them utterly amazed, now everyone has such a crappy 1x18650 700 lumen zoomie (for which they payed too much) and you need 25000+ lumen to have them even raise their eyebrows.
Modding renewed my interest in flashlights in a huge way this year. I’d got to the point where I was reasonably happy with what I had, and was mostly ignoring a lot of lights I’d otherwise be interested in trying because of things like CW-only emitters. Now I look at a light and immediately start thinking about how I could crack it open and improve it. It’s especially satisfying disassembling and altering something that was definitely never meant to be disassembled, like Armyteks. The lights I typically carry now are not as bright, but the quality of light is dramatically better with all Nichia emitters I’ve been using.
I wish this would happen to me. Just picked up 2 mecarmy fm11. It’s so cute, and tiny. Much better tint and beam than my hl aaa. I bought a box of 12 here and 10 there and I haven’t parted with the ones I don’t want yet.
:person_facepalming:
