Unpopular Flashlight Opinion Thread

Yep. It’s sort of like saying “I’m on a diet.” Uh, yeah, we’re all on a diet of one kind or another. What people fail to say is what they really mean, which is “I’m on a restricted diet.”

“Budget” in a title does imply a very controlled or reduced one. Generally, it’s better to say “low budget” if we’re talking about spending less. But of course, “LowBudgetLightForum” is a mouthful. :wink:

That’s a good point…

Living in a pretty far north I think has colored my idea of what “sunlight” would look like. We get maybe 4 months a year where the sun actually sits high in the sky, for most of fall and all of winter it can be 1pm and look like evening outside especially because of standard time (constant DST NEEDS to happen :weary: )

To me something like 4000-4500K looks a lot more like what I’m used to seeing as “daylight” for a lot of the year, and since its dark so often you come to see incandescent/warm lighting as natural too.

If it has ramping how can I know what my runtime will be ?

you'll get used to Convoys 3/5 driver that flashes on low mode.

Buy brand X "if your life depends on it " !!!

#1: More than 500 lumens on a flooder is unnecessary for practical purposes.

#2: Ramping UI is nothing but a novelty that quickly becomes a hassle in practical situations. Besides, as Boaz said, how will I know my runtimes?

#3: Li-ion cells smaller than 18650 aren’t worth bothering with nowadays with their laughable capacity.

#4: Holding a light underhanded doesn’t cut it, way too many shadows in the way.

#5: Mules without lenses seem very unreliable.

#6: I’m never buying an American-manufactured torch again.

#7: Copper/brass patina to me equals not taking good care of your stuff, like dull leather shoes.

#8: Non-homemade hosts that aren’t made of aluminium or stainless steel are a waste of money.

#9: The faster-tempo first batch Biscotti drivers are my favourite. Mode select on the “correct” ones is painfully slow.

#10: Convoy is every bit as solid as Surefire and better than Streamlight. Even without potting. If I had a rifle or shotgun, I’d stick a Convoy to it in a heatbeat.

#11: I much prefer a rosier or incandescent-warm emitter than a “like daylight” one. I’m not a big fan of sunlight anyway.

#12: Keychain lights work much better not attached to a keychain.

#13: A solid ring around the tailcap switch is better than the two divots.

#14: The Lumintop Tool AAA not tailstanding is perfectly fine.

#15: Belt holsters are more useful than pocket clips.

Get used to that firmware with the flash on low? Man, people have said some things in this thread, but that...

Mine also had an audible whine on low and medium modes. I didn't use it at all until I replaced the LED.

Nice collection of opinions Jack. :+1:

Why thank you! Had to dig a bit to get all of these :smiley:

Also taking this as my opportunity to bump this thread. It’s a fun one to read through. And to top it off…

#16: M@glite is hot garbage. I’ve had not-inconsequential problems with every single one I have wasted money on - the least of which is the 2AA Mini Mags denting the negative ends of my Eneloops.

strobe ready/rear mode switch type flashlight are supposedly a more practical design not just for practical tactical but EDC as well, proven by my buddies who carried Nitecores and Klarus’s, just bad switch design and pwm issues throw them off the appreciation list

Side switches are so easy to screw up. My nitecore EC23 is impossible to carry. And my D4 was until I read a suggestion to lock out the head instead of the tail, now I carry it a lot (that and putting Luxeon V instead of green Nichias).

It helped a lot that my better half bought me my zebralight, or I might not have given side switches another chance. It's one of my most frequent carries and it's never activated accidentally.

I find this bad habit with the attachable clips absolutely horrible, please again more flashlights with screwed on clip or a clip which sits under the tailcap.
And these two comments I absolutely agree with!
The flashlight industry is at least 15 years behind of modern user interface technologies.
Most owners of a “tactical” flashlight have never and will never be in a “tactical” situation :slight_smile:

Yep but I would eat fried grasshoppers to have an FW3A with the HDS EDC clicky firmware.

It failed as soon as it stopped looking remotely like it was supposed to and became just another clone of what already exists.

The claim stainless steel is too heavy annoys me.

The feel and look of my s41s just makes the weight worthwhile. Bring on more steel!

Progress is overrated.

A couple people here could probably make a flashable version of something similar if you ask really nicely, I know I’d be interested in it too.

Edit: Another submission to the thread… High CRI is almost meaningless below 4000K/if you want high CRI 5000K+ should be the target CCT. I haven’t seen a comparison that would dispute this yet at least.

Maybe it is for you, but not for me. Period, and no need to dispute.

Cheers ^:)

Textured reflectors are worth the efficiency loss and reduced throw in all cases except a dedicated thrower for the reduction in artifacts and overall smoother beam profile.

Ow wow, that was the topic which lead me to BLF 3 years ago!
I remember a topic which said exactly the same, don’t know anymore which topic is was

Yeah I’ve seen a couple tests posted and the throw loss was VERY minimal, like max 3-4% IIRC. Textured all the way.

I’ve had an OP reflector on my C8 since I got it, and the beam profile is excellent at any distance. Though I wish I knew what the M1’s beam on a smooth looks like.