Buying upgrade/mod parts that are so cool even though not having a host/light to put the part in.
Happens all the time. I have to go find the cheat sheet or a review to figure it out again.
The zebra light is the hardest for me to remember but I only have one.
All I know is I hit the button and its pretty bright. Hold the button from off and its moonlight. 
Yeah, I sold my ZL because of that, however, looking back, after having all these “only” 3 or 4 mode lights, the ZL’s almost countless modes was a wonder and very useful feature…that’s why I really like the magnetic rotary mode control of the Acebeam and Niwalker.
I, at times, cannot find, no matter how I try, certain modes (electronics lockout mostly) on some lights. And I also can’t remember how to program a lot of my programmable lights …. 8 fast clicks, or is it 14 clicks. Thankfully those cheat sheets are available. How many times was I going to type it out and put it with the light in case of something happening.
I have a bit over 100 lights after 7 years of addiction. Most expensive was only $150. Total spent less than $2500. Fairly level-headed I thought.
I think the addiction is gone thankfully….as I passed on that nice little HaikElite EC26 for $31 and also passed on the ROT66, both of which I would certainly have jumped on in my early mad days.
I have the same problem. The Sofirn C8F and C8A I am always forgetting how to change the programming. I end up pushing the button like a 10 year old on a Xbox before I get to where I need to be. Finally after months I have the A6 memorized. I still can’t get to the batt check and beacon modes on about 10 other lights. I have a folder on my PC drive with all the cheat cheats but I am not always at the house. I was going to put them on my phone but my eyes have gone to hell and I can’t read the darn things.
I am only about 70 lights or so in on this since Feb. I am getting pickier about lights now and don’t just order them because they are a good deal. I am also learning to thin the herd a bit to get lights that better suit the purpose I need them for. Speaking of which, if you are in the market for a D4 I think I am going to unload 3 of them real soon. LOL Yeah, 3, like I ever really needed 3 of them.
I really wanted that ROT66 but I haven’t the slightest idea what I would do with it. It would most likely sit on the shelf until someone came over that I could show it off to.
It’s a great addiction to have. As long as the bills are all paid and the wife is happy I figure it’s not too big of an issue. Of course just this evening I had to order a few LT Worms for the kids backpacks before school starts. Already gave the other 4 away. 
Hope school lets them carry them in their bag these days.
appreciate your post Todd……
Haha me too.
That made me laugh aloud!
I have to say, reading this thread makes me feel better. I have more lights than I need, I know. Including lanterns, head torches and normal flashlights, I think 17.
I dislike not using things though, so even though a bunch live in car, backpacks etc. As backups, almost all of them get used. the exceptions are the BLF Q8, Emisar D1 and a convoy C8. Q8 is just too damn big, D1 and C8 are outclassed but I like the build quality. I feel especially bad about the Q8 because that has 4 cells set aside for it…
That’s my incentive to stick with the exercise program: so I can carry the box in completely innocuous fashion without betraying any effort.
See, flashlights are good for you.
Phlogiston, that’s some pretty convoluted logic! 
Hear ya though, surely I do…
I think I have some 300+ Li-ion cells, as I keep all 200+ flashlights ready to go at all times. And as far as bits and pieces go, I bought all of Old Lumens modding kit for $500 to add to my own already extensive bunch of stuff. I have flashlight kit running out my ears in other words.
Wait til you have to buy bar stock in various sizes, aluminum brass and copper. :person_facepalming: (of course you must have some Delrin, Teflon, maybe some polycarbonate…)
Waiting on some Ledil optics to get here from Arrow, I thought I was doing good getting 5 Cree COB CXA1512’s in 93 CRI for only $44, then I had to pay another $51 for optics to go on em… one thing after another and on and on…… and the precious sets of Arctic Alumina Thermal Adhesive I just procured are disappearing rapidly on this build, UGH!
That would be true in a perfect world ..but the truth is you need 4 of your best cells in the light and 4 more high discharge cells so you can just swap out cells instead of waiting for batteries to charge.
And then you need another 4 to run a couple other single 18650 lights that run better off high discharge cells.
And then there's High capacity cells ...gotta have some of those for lights you want higher run time ...Hmm 8 at least .
Ok now we need everyday normal cells .Not the greatest in the world but not junk either like some normal 2800Mah samsungs or some 2900Mah or 3100 panasonics ..new but cheaper cells ..about 20 of those .
Then we need cells we don't care much about ..cells from laptop pulls or old drill packs ...very handy when you need to "give " a cell away with a light someone buys from you ...but refuses to pay for a battery .
Oh wait I have this lovely sanyo 1800mah cell made in the 1940's for you ...Enjoy !
Next week we'll talk about AA nimh's 14500's 16340's 18500's 18350's,16650's and cr123's
life was simpler when i didn't know what these numbers meant
HA! - You have been looking in my file cabinet drawers (YES PLURAL) :person_facepalming:
EDIT - What no 26650’s?
multiple 10400’s to 32650’s and everything in between. 
“Home DIY Supplies.”
I have bar stock of aluminium and Delrin, plate in aluminium and copper, copper foil and various types of sheet rubber.
I actually did make a pipe seal for the toilet cistern once, by cutting it from silicone rubber sheet. Some muppet installed a blanking piece in an unused pipe entry and left the rubber seal out. The plumber’s putty they used kept it sealed for a while, then started leaking. Of course, the seal was a custom size, not available at the DIY shop :person_facepalming:
Mind you, my bar stock supplier is quite happy to deliver to a local shop that has a pickup service at no extra charge. I’ve done that a few times. Make sure to bring it home when no-one else is in the house and that’s job done. “No, I’ve had that stack of plastic bars for a while now”
Ohhhhh, clever! Claim it’s old inventory as though anyone but you is REALLY paying attention! lol
I am growing a Habanero plant in our bedroom, the light for it I made myself from bits I had around, including a Cree COB in the 5000K 90 CRI variant… an CXA1512F (18V) My wife has been ok with it as she likes the peppers as much as I do, but I’m upping my ante on the light, hopeful of actually getting a nice crop. What’s another $100 worth of supplies, right? So far she’s ok with it as the ideology is sound, but if blooms keep falling off then it’s going to be tough accounting for the extra expense, not to mention the five-fold brighter light on Saturday mornings when she ordinarily likes sleeping in… 
(We’re having an record breaking summer, temps are just way to hot to grow anything outside, we’re under water restrictions even, hence, growing it indoors.)
I’ve been researching horticulture lighting, seems the red light spectrum is good for flowering and fruit production, so I’m going to use one CXA1512 in 2700K at 93 CRI minimum for the red light content, 2 at 3500K also 93 CRI for more red light but also some blue for growth, and 2 more 5000K at 90 CRI for growth. Total lumens is going up from around 1200-1500 on the single COB to in excess of 6400 with 5 of them at 600mA each (approx output according the sheets) I hope it works!
Might have been cheaper buying the Chinese made horticultural lights in the end but they use those little 5mm leds and the expensive lights use Cree XM-L and/or XP-E emitters, so why not just leapfrog the whole little LED thing with COB’s?
Knocking on wood my power supply holds out! (bought primarily just for this growing experiment when I started trying to grow a Carolina Reaper, so the supply has already been running daily for a year!)
Both of these posts are so true! The UI’s on earlier lights were so complex, you had to have cheat sheets to remember or even figure them out! Sometimes, you still do but I’m glad those days of severly complicated UI’s are somewhat over.
Even the latest lights UI’s are much better but they’re still a hassle. Ramping is nice and I like it but all the double, triple, quadruple or 8 clicks to it lock out and then not to mention hidden modes, drives me crazy!
What’s wrong with a simple one click for moon, low, medium and high and a double click for turbo? Then another double click to lock it out. Then the last mode you were on comes on when you turn the light back on. Hell, I have a a ancient Tank 007 E09 that does that!
LED’s have come so far, why aren’t simple UI’s the same?
I used the A6 firmware from TK a LOT, because it’s simple and it reverses. You can set 4 or 7 levels at will, and the Strobe and batt check are in a hidden group only accessed by reversing from moon. So it doesn’t get in the way. I’ve gotten so used to the reversing feature to save the small cells in a little hot rod light that now it’s pretty much a must have, gotta reverse or I lose that driver really quick!
This is painfully accurate