Not all budget lights are worth fooling with, and some expensive lights are well worth the price.

The cyan Emisar D4 is one of the best looking lights I’ve ever seen, and I love the “chalky” texture.

Iffn the wall ain’t white, your light ain’t neutral.

Advocating for smaller batteries on 1 cell throwers with a big head, why would you want a 1×14500 thrower with a huge head, the loss in size is so small it has virtually no bearing on carryability but you loose so much energy compared to a 18650 or 26650.

more than 15 seconds on turbo without exploding.

Wow, so many “camps” involved in flashlights The superior battery camp, the superior color temp. camp, the superior manufacturer camp, just to name a few. But without differences and conflicting ideologies we would all suffer from boredom. I love the different views and differences in opinions. I also like being humbled, temporarily uncomfortable and proved wrong, it makes you grow like little else will.
My unpopular experience is this, HDS is the light that gets you home. Mine did not. My rotary failed twice. Once, falling a half meter to concrete and yet again being submerged in shallow and near frozen water for a hour or so.

• Best user interface is forward + momentary clicky back switch + magnetic ring for ramping.

• Some kind of standarization needs to be created so “pills” (driver + led) can be changed as easily as changing batteries. E.g. buy a BLF GT and a GT70 pill and you have both. Added bonus if the pills can be used in different flashlights (just like P60 dropins)

• Flashlights should be programmed easily via some kind of connection, preferably wired (e.g. USB, a custom connection type e.t.c.). Not only for flashing but also to change the parameters – without touching the code – via a user interface on a computer or mobile phone.

• Touch screens… Even B/W ones… Why are they so rarely used? We have ecigs with color touch screens for a while and with flashlights we need to click 5 times, wait, click and hold, click 3 more times etc just to make an adjustment. And that is the best case scenario, when we use state of the art software (NarsilM, Anduril) which, of course, aren’t responsible for the complexity.

3000 lumen to 300 in 30 seconds on a 18350, what’s the point again?
Premature Ejactulalumen it should be called maybe.

Maybe there is such a thing as “having too many flashlights”…

When you look at it, realistically.
The average person. 2 x torches. 1 x Small and 1 x mid range.
98.5% of them would never have a use for more nor any with multiple settings.

The AVERAGE torch freak (I class myself so). Using budget mainly torches.

1 x Astrolux AO1/ Jetbeam Jet 1 MK, or similar.
Convoy S2. C8/+ or similar.
Imalent DN35. or D4. Or similar.
Convoy L2/L6 or similar.
with maybe a coke Can torch for decent spread.
With up to another 50 or more getting to that point.

Beyond that The rest are just plain hopeless Torch freaks.
Your a lost cause.
But it’s great fun as long as missus don’t find your monthly card bill hey.
Mine did last month.. Whoops. Dead meat.

ALEISTER…..
There what’s called P60 pills. a one piece unit. insertable into head of certain body’s.
Theey complete with lED Driver. Ready to go.
They pretty powerful nowadays. My highest are XML Hi2 and Latest an XPL .
I believe there are some triple’s/quads on market too??.
I’ve swapped a coupla early Cree Q8 P60’s up to the XPL’s. NIICE.
Ask around.

All Led lights are bright these days, find a tint you like .

Bigger isn't always better … especially when you start in moon mode.

I'm always turning lights down anyway .

I don't notice PWM so no one should complain about PWM.  

Everyone wants strobe feature!!!

CRI is nowhere near as important as CCT, and as a corollary to this, Red is not the most important colour!

If white doesn’t look white and green doesn’t look natural, the light is not good for either indoor OR outdoor, so what are you going to point it at to appreciate the high CRI with yellow/blue CCT and green/rosy tint, a rainbow coloured unicorn?

Magnets aren’t that useful and attract grit. They should at least be removable.

Macka17 wrote:

ALEISTER…..
There what’s called P60 pills. a one piece unit. insertable into head of certain body’s.
Theey complete with lED Driver. Ready to go.
They pretty powerful nowadays. My highest are XML Hi2 and Latest an XPL .
I believe there are some triple’s/quads on market too??.
I’ve swapped a coupla early Cree Q8 P60’s up to the XPL’s. NIICE.
Ask around.

Lightbringer wrote:

Maybe there is such a thing as “having too many flashlights”…

flashlights with build in charging.

polarweis wrote:

flashlights with build in charging.

+1 I will never buy a flashlight with integrated charging, I don’t care how otherwise perfect it is.

Unpopular opinion 1:
I love flashlights with inbuild charging .

Unpopular opinion 2:
Copper in a flashlight is heavy and should be kept to minimum, I’d rather loose the weight and get rid of extra copper than gain the extra 2% output. Aluminium rules!
(ok, admitted, I rather like SS bezels)

Unpopular opinion 3:
I do not see the niche for the FT03, both battery choice and looks are a step back from the FT02

Unpopular opinion 4:
Around 3500K I really like some of the yellow tints way above the BBL, the pink 4000K 70CRI stock led of the Convoy T2 I find rather ugly.

Unpopular opinion 5:
I’m excited that the FW3A will come in smooth finish dark grey instead of the intended clear raw machined look.

Maybe more to come

(fun thread, mr. needle )

Unpopular opinion #1 – I like cool white LED’s at around 6000k-6500k
Unpopular opinion #2 – I only like tailswitch lights, no side switch lights

219b 9080 sw45 is a fine emitter, but highly overrated.

HDS lights are to big for EDC and ridiculous compared to their 16340 capacity.

offline wrote:

Unpopular opinion #2 – I only like tailswitch lights, no side switch lights

I can relate to that one.

I keep my flashlight in my pocket most of the time, and side switch lights accidentally turn on.

Tailswitch lights don't.

• Lights should not be shorter than 6 inches. 8 inches would be ideal. That way, I won’t drop the light if it slides through my fingers a bit while I’m wearing gloves.

• I want a Convoy S2+ in stainless steel.

• I want a 3×AA battery tube for my S2+ in nose-to-tail configuration. Oh, look, it’s 8 inches long – perfect!

Good thread, by the way

Lightbringer wrote:

Maybe there *is* such a thing as "having too many flashlights"...

Lightbringer, this is a thread for unpopular opinions, not for forcing people to confront their problems! 

“USB-C connectors are the wave of the future.

Quoting from tidbits.com:”:https://tidbits.com/2019/01/11/usb-group-moves-to-validate-usb-c-devices...

Quote:

GLENN FLEISHMAN 11 January 2019
USB Group Moves to Validate USB-C Devices for Safety and Security
The industry group that manages USB 3.0 has launched an authentication program for USB-C in an effort to block inadequate cables and malicious devices from connecting to computers and mobile devices that support the compact, reversible connector. This group’s leadership includes Apple, Intel, and Microsoft, making it likely the standard will receive wide adoption.

Some inexpensive cables that don’t meet the USB-C spec for carrying high-wattage power have started fires ….

…
The maker of one USB-C 100 watt/5 amp cable (which can pass enough power to fry any device if something goes wrong) answered a question about certification with this response:

Quote:

Dear customer, we only do USB-IF certification on some of the cables, not all, but all with the same quality, please rest assured to purchase. Thanks!

Half of that product’s reviews are 1 to 3 stars, and the 3-star reviews aren’t very positive. The company can assert its quality, and certification doesn’t mean products are perfect, but it shows the gap.

It’s this mess that the USB-IF’s authentication program tries to address….

More: http://www.eweek.com/security/usb-type-c-to-become-more-secure-with-auth...

CRI is overrated. Especially when your behemoth of a light puts out as many lumens as my Emisar D4

BLFers are actually in control of GBs…or were many moons ago.

Battery fitment tolerances are not rocket science for anybody.

Demanding that said tolerances are published/adhered to or alternate fitment methods provided/dreamed up here is ‘ok’.

There is a significant market for 21700 protected cell lights.

1. I don’t like throwers or flooders – I prefer the in-between – like the TIR in the Olight S1A.
2. I don’t really need a flashlight. Most of the time, I could get by using just the “flash” light on my phone for getting around in the dark.
3. If I had to choose between my flashlight hobby and my hot sauce(s), I’d get rid of all my flashlights today and never buy another!
4. CRI is NOT worth paying extra for!

i like cool white – hate too-yellow

i like side switches

i don’t like TBTC carry lights (too big to carry)

i don;t need the light to be a [bad] charger

i don’t like magnets

i don;t like[need] “throwers” and usually don;t like ‘floodies’ – like it in between or with a hot spot and lots of spill

ramping seems like a good idea but it;s too much trouble usually