For me that’s easy: I’m afraid of the dark.
(Although something a grown man isn’t supposed to admit…)
I grew up with a love/hate relationship with flashlights. The idea was cool, but I hated buying batteries, cleaning up leaked batteries, cheap switches, and dim, fragile incan bulbs.
In about 1992, I bought a couple of nice D-cell dive lights, and loved them for diving, but they were EXPENSIVE, and way too huge to use for anything else.
Some time between 10 and 15 years ago, the wife and I flew to GA to get some antique furniture from grandma’s house after she passed. Somewhere in Tennessee, we figured out the rental truck for the return trip had a busted dome light. I bought a 5mm 3xAAA plastic rayovac at a Wal-Mart, and it blew me away.
I started getting broken MagLites at garage sales and putting NiteIze LEDs in them. All 4 of my kids have a converted 3D in their bedroom. Soon, I discovered rechargeable lithiums on Amazon. I still have some *Fire 50x P60s, a few Romisens, and a ShiningBeam.
Along came this place, and my Convoy collection keeps growing. Plus I’m rotating out my old UltraFire cells for LG, Thorfire, and Samsung protected cells.
The worst thing is, since I live in Utah, standard shipping from mtnelectronics.com is 1 or 2 days for me. I need to add a part-time job just to feed my addiction.
But, as somebody’s signature line says (on another forum): I don’t have hobbies. I’m building a robust post-apocalyptic skill set.
10+ acres and wondering what the hell the dog keeps barking at……across the pond.
Maybe not that specific model, but something like it.
Small bulb (PR-whatever, 1.something volts), 2V (1-cell) Pb-acid gel-cell about the size of a flattened Yodel, charged through a single diode and capacitor, straight from 120V mains!
The battery never lasted long. Not sure if it would get chronically overcharged or drained. Either way, lifespan was only in months, not years.
power outtage in our neighborhood for 48 hrs, had to use candles for 2 nights. So I looked
into flashlights and lanterns. That’s how I found blf. Then the need for lights for mountain biking at night,
that’s how I found DBCustom. 
Like all kids I loved flashlights, and like all kids I got chewed out for running the batteries down in Dad’s lights playing with them 
Military brats like me know what “off limits” means and that was applied to Dad’s flashlights. But I did get an allowance, and with a few cents more it would buy a cheap single AA toy flashlight at the convenience store. Of course it was dead within an hour but it was a real flashlight and exciting! And like all kids things got lost or forgotten- especially dead flashlights. As I grew older the cheap 2D flashlights were the ones to get, but they were big and didn’t last long either both in terms of runtime and durability. The free RS 5D lights were awesome if you could feed them which I couldn’t, and they too weren’t long-lived. I grew tired of the ‘big’ lights but penlights didn’t quite cut it. I finally discovered a sleek 2 AA light made by BMG, and when the cells were fresh it was as bright and powerful as a 2D light :) Those went out of production and it was back to the 2D lights, but better ones. Then as a young adult I became enchanted with the 6V flashlights; lots of light and they lasted. But I still yearned for a small powerful flashlight. A friend’s Mini-Mag led me to their Solitaire at the time the brightest small light made. I lost more of them than I can count but always got another one. They were just so handy 
For years it was a Solitaire EDC and 6V lights; the bigger Maglights just cost too much for me. That stayed he same for most of my years, but the yearning ofr a small powerful light never faded. Then I happened across CPF and discovered smal powerful lights existed, but they said they only ones worth having were more than I wanted to spend. Someone mentioned BLF (you could do that back then) and here I came 
A 1*AAA Fenix soon found it’s way to me but I only had akli’s for it. My sister wanted it and TBH by then I’d discovered that the Tank 007 E09 looked more like what I wanted and is it became mine the Fenix went to my sister. As soon as money permitted LiIon’s were added to the mix and WOW! My dreams had come true :sunglasses: A small powerful light like I’d always wanted. Of course that blossomed into 18650 lights and I’ve never looked back. I still have an incan Solitaire and power it up now and then for memories sake. Puny. Even the 6V lights are puny now. Now I have bunches of lights and little money.
It’s BLF’s fault, and you all have my eternal gratitude for helping my dreams come true!
Phil
(Dunno where the strike-through cam from- ignore it please)
For me it was the Streamlight Stinger rechargeable. Incredibly bright 90 lumens! I was so proud of that light showing it off to all my friends. I had two of them, one mounted on the wall in the kitchen, the other mounted on the dash of the truck.
Knives have always been a thing for me. I decided to start carrying a knife EDC again so I started researching to find the “best one” for me. I started seeing all kinds of comments on an EDC light as well… started me thinking “hey, that’s not a bad idea either” and it spiraled from there, lol.
Yeah I totally remember these, dust buster is pretty much a spot-on analogy. My parents had a couple of them, late 80s early 90s IIRC.
My dad gave me one similar to this back in the early to mid 1960’s. It’s where it all started with me.
What got me started is needed a light for something can’t remember now and ordered a sk68 clone. I was so impressed I ordered like 4 more then started looking around at other aa/AAA lights with or without holders then eventually ordered two 18650 lights the nitenumen and handaccu from amazon arrived same day and it was on after that. Didn’t even have w charger at that point. Both lights came with batteries and USB rechargable. Grab a couple other lights and used the other lights to charge the batteries. Then got a liito li 100 and then a vc2 and so on and forth from there more lights and chargers. Then once I sent my first modded light I was hooked on modded lights. On a few lights are still stock.
Edit my first high powered light was the ea41 and then had to have the tn4a. Then tn4a hi. Then I figured if everyone on these different forums has lithium batteries I can use them as well with some common sense. And got the two lights above and was on from there
I started with the free, with coupon, Radio Shack 6 D cell flashlight. It was bright, but darn, 6 batteries? So it got used very little, but a nice novelty.
Then I used a 3 D Rayovac flashlight. It was pretty durable, but always seemed to have a electrical contact issue that affected its brightness.
Then for the longest time I used a 2 AA Maglite I “borrowed” from my dad. I liked the small size and its zoomability.
Next was a 2 AA LED bike light. Then a lithium ion bike light, with a specified 150 lumens. I felt a little guilty, at the time, when approaching other bikers since it seemed so bright. My 2 AA bike light then became my EDC.
It all changed for me when I got a Nitecore EA4. I was looking at LED flashlights at a hardware store and found their best for around $50. Then I looked online and found BLF. There I read reviews about the EA4 and purchased it. I was amazed by the amount of light it produced and its impeccable craftsmanship.
I got the flashlight fever and started learning, thanks to BLF, more about lumens (including the moonlight mode) and tints and shortly afterwards purchased a neutral white Sunwayman D40A. Then started with 18650 flashlights including Supfire, Zebralight, and Noctigon.
Boy, flashlights have come a long way and no longer free with coupon!
Edited to show the picture.
started with a wolfeyes rattle snake 3 x18650 with a lumens factory 700 lumen dropin
then came a w/e sniper with a led and it continued on from there
I’ve had this German WW2 flashlight…thumb gets a workout,since childhood.
I had one of those, got it as kid in the early 60:s.
Reliable, but it’s hard on the thumb.
These are not my pictures._
My grandpa gave me one of these. I still have it.
And some of these. This collection has grown some.
8steve88 did it.
It was his fault.
Got friendly with him over knives on BritishBlades.
Popped to see him a couple of times.
He talked about torches - said that I’d get bitten by the bug. I laughed and said “nah”.
How wrong I was.
As a kid I had 3D MagLite, which was about the best one could get from local shops.
For a long time, I did not use any lights.
Then, I got as a christmas gift a LedLenser P5 or something like that. It was quite impressive but very expensive and switch broke down pretty fast.
One of my friends had bought some sort of China light + batts for fraction of the LL´s price and it beat it in output.
So I got interested.
Bought first I think a Black Cat HM-01 AAA with Osram LED.
Thats my best guess looking back at DX order list.
Worked well so I bought rechargeable AAA batteries.
Didn´t work anymore… Got myself a Tank 2 x AAA light which was impressive but again, not working well on AAA rechargeables.
They appeared with further investigation to be Dead out of the box.
My first “proper” LED light was Romisen RC-C6.
That one made the difference to be a bit more interested on the subject.