Hi there! My name is Chef—yes, that’s actually my real name. Don’t bother asking about my last name because you wouldn’t believe it if I told you.
Anyway, I’m a flashlight enthusiast and have been collecting them for about 20 years now. My journey started with the good old Maglite. I held onto it for sentimental reasons, but honestly, it’s pretty bad by today’s standards. After that, I picked up a few small lights from various brands, but none of them were particularly noteworthy.
The first decent flashlight I ever owned was a Coleman I bought at Walmart around 2008. It was impressively bright for its time. Then I got myself a Nitecore, but unfortunately, it was stolen.
I took a break from flashlights until I bought an airgun that came with a mounted Olight. The Olight was broken, so I decided to look for a dealer and, as luck would have it, there was one in the next town over. I walked in and walked out with an Olight SR90—now that flashlight was, and still is, amazing. It’s my all-time favorite light.
Since then, I’ve added the SR91, SR92, SR93, SR95, and the Olight Marauder X9R to my collection. They’re all solid, but I have to admit, I’m a bit disappointed with the X9R. Don’t get me wrong—it’s incredibly bright, but I just don’t enjoy using it for neighborhood watch or search purposes. The throw on it doesn’t compare to the SR90. The only light I prefer over the SR90 is my SR95, but that’s mainly because it’s lighter.
Speaking of my SR95, I picked it up for just $35, even though it had a dead battery, driver, and charging system. I managed to source the parts online and got it up and running.
Lately, I’ve been on the hunt for another flashlight, but I’m not entirely sure what to go for. I’m drawn to larger flashlights with good throw and flood capabilities like the SR90. From what I’ve seen, the Lumintop BLF series seems like it could be a good fit, but I could use some advice.
