My 17 year old daughter has asked to use my EDC flashlights numerous times over the past several years. I’m reluctant since I’m worried about them being dropped. They’re all flashlights I’ve spent lots of time modifying, so I’m very (perhaps overly) protective of them. And I don’t believe I’m being too paranoid since she literally drops her iPhone several times a day.
I’ve suggested she use the family flashlights, but she says they are either too big (4 AA) or too weak (1 AA).
So I figured it was time for her to have her own flashlight. A flashlight that I don’t have to worry about getting dropped, dinged, scratched, etc. But nonetheless, a good flashlight since after all she’s the daughter of a BLF member.
She was actually exited to build a flashlight together. She picked out a purple S2+ host and liked how the 4000K Nichia 219C looked in one of my flashlights. So I took the LED out to make a triple 219B for myself. A win, win! I also got her a Samsung INR18650-35E 3500mAh protected battery and an XTAR ANT MC1 Plus charger.
For whatever reason, it took several months for us to finally get together to work on the flashlight. I took everything apart ahead of time. First she assembled the tail and then we worked on the head. I soldered one side of the MCPCB and she did the other. Mine took 15 seconds, hers took 15 minutes. Can you guess which side she did?
She learned about pills, reflector spacers, retainer rings, MCPCB, thermal compound, and then I started to see some yawning. So while I was finishing things up, she got the charger out and started charging the battery.
By the time the battery was full, it was dark and we tested it out. She loves it!