Flashlight memories

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This is truly a great thread.

My fondest memory is seeing the leap of LED over incandescent. This was like going from the horse to the internal combustion engine.

Huge leap in technology.

Great thread.

This was many years ago…20+. I had a black 2aa mini-mag back in high school, I’m pretty sure I was the only kid who carried a flashlight in school.

My buddy and I were out cruising one evening in late December here in Wisconsin. We came upon a minivan that had very recently found it’s way into a shallow roadside ditch. It is snowing to beat the band, and we pull over and make sure everyone is okay. In my haste to leave the vehicle I forgot my mini-mag was in my lap, it fell out onto the shoulder of the road. Everyone was fine, tow truck was on the way, dude had simply ran out of talent and ended up stuck in the ditch. My buddy and I got back in the car adrenaline still flowing and took off, leaving the forgotten mini-mag behind.

Overnight the snow gave way to an ice storm. It wasn’t until my pal dropped me off and left that I realized the mag was gone. I searched the car during lunch hour the next day…no joy. When we left school that day we went cruising again. Finally it dawned on me the mag must’ve fallen out of the car the night before when we stopped for the ditch-parade. Upon returning to the scene we once again got out this time looking for the light. The good news…we found it, laying right where it fell out of my lap, about 8 inches from the roadway. The bad news…the damn thing was now locked in place under about a half inch of ice. I decided then and there that if “Mag-Lites are so tough” to see how this one fared in the predicament it found itself in.

Over the next few months as winter progressed, we would stop by from time to time to check on the status of the mag. Finally, sometime about March the following year the ice had melted enough to uncover almost half the light. I decided the “involuntary torture experiment” as we had come to know it by, was over. With a flathead screw driver I chipped around it and recovered my beloved mini-mag. Warmed that bugger up with my hands gave it a twist and…let there be light! Sonovabitch lit right up. It really wasn’t any worse for wear, I used it for several more years until I lost it once while moving. Since then though I have always had at least one mini-mag hanging around somewhere.

I may love how things have advanced over time, and I own a few modern torches, but I will always have a spot for an old incandescent Mag-Lite to hang around. Damn thing turned out to be as tough as they say.

ok.
a long one.
here goes…

keychain flashlight hero.

story:
at my church, i usher during our early service.
usually, during the proceedings, i stand in the back
to greet the late-comers and handle minor adjustments
to the HVAC system, overhead lights, and whatever else.
so…
the 8AM service is popular with families with infants.
they are up by 6AM, anyway, so might as well “do church” early.
this baby was not “having it”. mama tried (old country song),
and daddy did, too, but the baby was crying louder and louder.
the baby was facing backwards on the mother’s shoulder.
in other words, towards me. Fenix E01 to the rescue.
took it off my keychain and twisted.
Let There Be Light (Genesis 1:3).
full stop.
no noise.
baby’s eyes got wide and she smiled.
the Preacher (also facing me) did, too.
then the Choir. congregation had no clue.
as long as the Fenix was on and pointed
at her, the baby girl was happy. i turned it off
(only once) and she caterwauled (that is a real word).
for the entire service, Fenix kept her quiet and after everything
was over, i gave the family my Fenix and told them the reason.
i got a handshake, hug, and a kiss.
so worth it.

I’ve an early memory of making a sofa fort at my grandparents’, hiding inside and reading books by some incan energizer light.

Getting my first 6p, then getting my first Malkoff drop-in.
My Q8 had me laughing hysterically when I first turned it on. As did my first Hanklight.

I still can not forget how my hid spotlight that i just build fell overboard while fishing, it was still on for about a minute while sinking to the ocean floor, and it was about 10-12 years ago. it was a converted navy battle lantern. I still remember the joke my friend made, "Well it is a navy lantern, so it is now at home where it belongs, at sea" lol.

I was doing some work for a friend of ours. Their home had an alarm system, and usually I have no issues with it. One day I unlocked and entered through the front door. Went to the alarm box (you have 60 seconds to enter the disarm code before it goes nuts and alerts the police). Lights were off and it’s dark inside. I put in the code and it didn’t work. Couldn’t see the buttons very good and time.was ticking. I flipped open the tiny flashlight on the $5 keychain multi tool I had so I could see the buttons and put the right code in with seconds to spare. I have probably 60 flashlights and none of them have saved me like that!

Shining my flashlights and lasers off the top of a 40 floor building on the ocean was one of the coolest experiences of my life

i guess having one ALL THE TIME surprises some people

about once a month for 7 years now :slight_smile:

wle

i also agree with the LEAP from incandescent to LED

about i would say 2011
i got my first CR123A light
which i still have
and it still works

$11 or so from fasttech or lightinthebox, one of those early chinese import sites

wle

Agree. Significantly more light, less power usage, longer run time, and smaller form factor. Great times for a flashaholic.

I wonder what the next big evolutionary step will be in flashlights? This perhaps?

My nephew was needing a light to go use the outhouse so I gave him my light. returning he tells us about the spider that was about to attack him until he killed it ...ha !!! victory over the insect kingdom ...man vs. bug .

Later I noticed my light was flickering so I changed batteries ..... then realized he'd used the light to overcome the beast .Later regaling us with tales about how he'd bashed it repeatedly

Checking out my NovaTac 120P for the first time and reading over the programmable UI manual. Then testing out various menu options. I was so blown away. This was such a huge leap forward from simple flashlights (low, med, high, strobe, moonlight, and that’s it). And this HDS/NovaTac programmable UI was like the king for the longest time. Then came LiteFlux, which had their own version, with some similarities. Playing with the options on the NovaTac 120P was so very memorable.

Probably my next big moment was Anduril and the FW3A. Sure, there are so many flashlights with this UI now. The FW3A looks like old-school (and its sometimes pesky battery tube flakiness). But I have to say, I still love my FW3A flashlights (one running 18650 and another with 18500 now, previously 18350).

About incan to LED… I agree it was an amazing step forward, but more so on efficiency versus output. The first LEDs were weak and bluish white for what seemed like an eternity. Then the yellow/green fried eggs… ugh.

Well, it must have been sometime in 2012(?), when i already had a few LED-flashlights. I had a Balder BD-1, which i was very fond of, but i disliked the tint/beam/color of the LED. So i sent it to Fritz15 (his username in German TLF) to swap the CREE XP-G for the - at that time absolutely new - Nichia 219A. When it came back to me and i fired it up, it was like the sun is rising. Super color rendition, lovely tint and nearly as bright as the XP-G. For me that was a moment in (flashlight-)time! :wink:

[edit] I still have that light and still love it. The only downside is visible PWM in lower modes.

Did you describe that here before as testing your light?

Uh I don’t remember if I did but I did take some beam shot videos. I’ll have to figure out how to upload them