Have any of you noticed that after owning a bunch of lights for awhile, the cream seems to come to the top and most of the other lights hardly ever get used? I have lights that were my favorites but after time, the newness wears off a little and I seldom pick them us anymore. On the other hand, I have a few that I always seem to grab and it's almost always the same ones. I could probably put all of them in a drawer with the exception of about 4 and I would really not notice any difference. The ones I find myself using almost always are these.
UltraFire T-50. Believe it or not, I probably grab this light more than any of my other lights. I love this light.
ITP A3-E0S. This is the one light that is always with me so it gets used the most. Doesn't do anything extremely well but it's so light and easy to carry, I always know I have light for the small jobs.
Fenix TK41. Don't use it as much because it's larger and doesn't carry as well, but when I go out and need a light that will do everything, it's the one I grab.
Zebralight H51. This is my first choice when I need a headlamp. Does about anything I ask of it.
There you have it. I love my other lights but I'm just finding that I seldom if ever use them. If there was one other that I do use time to time, it's my Olight M3X if I really need more throw than the TK41 has but I really don't get much of a throw advantage with the Olight over the TK41.
Definitely. Bigger, brighter, higher lux is not always better... there are ALWAYS trade-offs. Usually for me its the size+weight penalty that always comes with bigger+brighter+farther reaching.
UltraFire UF-T50, my #1 grab. I like the BC-40 and the JM07 Pro but the UF-T50 just gets it done and does it well, fits in my hand nice and I like having a side switch.
i am a big fan of my x-thrower for any sort of night hikes or camping, it's a little big for pocket size, but the holster is quite nice.
But for my EDC, the light i use constantly? It's my Olight i1. It's as tiny as can be and has a great low and a high that still makes non flashaholics say wow!
Really though, the high on this out performs most average lights and it's only marginally larger than a AA making it easy to find pocket space for it.
Interestingly enough the light I use the most is my Solarforce L2M with my neutral white E1320 XM-L T6 P60 drop-in (best drop-in EVER). It has moonlight,low,med,high, turbo with an 18350 battery. I use it the most, not because it's the brightest, but because it has moonlight mode. How sick is that?
Out of all the lights in my collection, it has the largest range of settings but the moonlight mode is best for checking on the kids while they are sleeping. If I need to see something in the yard, the turbo mode is more than adequate.
Who woulda thought the L2M with moonlight would be my most used light of all...
My EDC for the last 15 months is a Moddoolar Pocket (3 mode - 1000lm, 300lm, 30lm) with a NW triple XPG head and a TL50 tube with the ZeroRes Shorty conversion (twisty with an extra 15mm of space so I can use an AW18650 3100mha battery or 2 18350's). It's almost 1/2 inch shorter than a Surefire 6P. I have LOTS of other lights but this is the one I have with me all the time. Clips into my back pocket next to my wallet.
Seems that my high CRI lights are getting the most use; SP-6 Seraph w/ HCRI Q5, L2T w/ HCRI Q2 mule, and waiting for Nichia 219s for new drop-ins. I still use my NW XMLs [MF 5K 3 mode and M@G mod] but the "cool" lights are seeing less action.
I swap around my lights all the time! That said, I really have steered away from overly specialized lights. The first “real” light I bought was my Fenix Tk-10 and I still use it a lot. I actually had to replace the switch because it wore out! I have a bunch of Solarfore l2 bodies with different drop-ins and switches and any of them are good for whatever. If I need a task light and don’t feel going to get a multi-mode I’ll just wall-bounce a higher lumen light. The lights that do not see a lot of use for me are fenix eo1 which is pretty much a dedicated reading light and my UV showerhead mag light that I bought for scorpion hunting and quickly determined that scorpions are scarce as hell around my house. I have three headlamps and each has its purpose, one lightweight and small, one that is larger but has a high, low, green and red emitter and a diffuser, and one that is a zoomie 18650. My least-used light is my ultrafire c-3 just because I have a nitecore ex10 that was gifted to me and it pretty much eats the c3 for lunch.
I don’t really worry about tint even though I can see how the warmer lights make things look nicer, I guess I just see flashlights as tools kinda and since they are primarily used for short time periods, the cool white light doesn’t bother me like it would in home lighting. Still, variety is the spice of life and I know I’ll end up with a bunch of warmer tints down the road, no need to rush.
Now if customs would just send me my damn dedicated thrower……. lol.
McGizmo Mule Nichia 119 with 2xAA McClicky pack. This is my around the home and alley gem, love it.
The XENO E03 with the diffuser wand and AA is so awesome value that I actually use it as nightlights (weaning them off) for the kids. Also used strategically during the night stage in my basement dNano RC track.
In the front pocket a Preon 1 Ti warm calls it home. Goes everywhere. Youngest son likes to put it in his mouth and his cheeks light up. Pretty neat to watch.
L0D CE is in the backpack/bag but rarely gets used.
Fenix E15 with LiFePO4 on keyring.
XTAR S1 when I want to show what 2000+ lumens means.
Now I’m looking forward to the Skyray King neutral and TrustFire J18 on the way from CNQ just to see what it’s all about. All SS and Ti light sit in a nice display case. Others are in a bin that I really should liquidate…