The hunt never stops. Perfecting my gear is part of a larger goal of self improvement—perfecting myself. I won’t ever be perfect and neither will my gear, but that won’t stop me from trying. Besides, I’m too critical of my gear to ever think I found the holy grail. The I3S sure isn’t it for me. I live in a cold weather climate and mine sticks on medium and won’t change modes when it’s cold. Either way, there’s always room for improvement. A new emitter will come out, or a more efficient driver, or a better user interface—something will improve.
I hope my search is never over. This is such a fun hobby that I would hate it if I got bored. For now it’s all about modding. Taking a light apart and putting it back together better than new. I sell a few here and there to finance my hobby but for the most part it doesn’t make up for the loss in deceased drivers and emitters and the occasional dud. I have more flashlights than a person can possibly need but that isn’t what it’s about for me. It’s that rush of walking outside with a new light and taking it for a walk to see what it can do.
I have a few larger lights to mod when the parts come in and after than I’m going to be modding up a bunch of smaller lights. I have about 25 lights on the way right now. Mostly Crelant’s.
If you view this hobby as a pleasant thing to spend time on, there’s not really any need to “stop the hunt”. The hunt is the main point. But it may evolve over time.
I think I started off with the simple joy of “wow, this thing is bright!” and “how can a $5 light beat the pants off everything in local stores?” (SK-68). From there, I expanded into “wow, this thing is small!” (i3) and “wow, this light is useful and versatile!” (H51w). Then I got into photon grenades (SRK) and throwers for a bit. They weren’t very practical for me though, so then I started trying to find practical items to fill actual needs — keychain light, general-purpose EDC, hands-free light, biking, photography, UV light, and occasionally seeing far away. Life was good.
Then I discovered tint.
Or, rather, good tints, like the Nichia 219. I was suddenly a lot less happy with the items I already had. After a while though, I’ve found that tint is often not as important as I thought. It’s nice, but not always necessary. And wide-spectrum looks better to me than high-CRI, but almost nothing is available in wide-spectrum so I’m kind of stalled there.
I’ve also found, over time, that anodized aluminum just isn’t as satisfying as it used to be. Bare-metal lights are pretty, and they take a lot more abuse before the scars start becoming noticeable.
And I also discovered the joy of diffusers and truly floody beams. At least that’s a cheap discovery though, since one roll of DC-Fix should last me for life, and it converts even the most craptastic beam pattern into a work of art.
Now I’m mostly interested in modding. I covered all my practical needs long ago, but I still enjoy the hobby. The next obvious step is to start tinkering…
As far as practical needs go though, I could consider myself “done” with just these items:
- General-purpose EDC: L3 L10-219 (or, soon, D25A Ti 219)
- Key chain: DQG Tiny AAA IV
- Hands-free use: ZL H52Fw
- Biking: Convoy S series w/ DC-Fix and a ~200lm mode.
… and some more special-purpose items that I don’t really need (even though they’re fun).
The Zebralight H52 and Jetbeam RRT01 nearly stopped the hunt. Since then I've only added RMM's triple XP-G2 S3. I might have him build me a high CRI version. There aren't many other lights I'm considering. I was thinking about buying a big thrower (Supbeam X60) and a big flooder (Trustfire TR-S700), but I'm coming to realize that I rarely use my large lights, so I'm not that excited about throwing a few hundreds dollars at them.
My need for lights just ended with a Zebralight H51fw headlamp from BIG-P. Plenty of other lights scattered around the house to meet my needs.
The only "need" to fill then is just for sheer output, and once I get my BTU Shocker done I will hopefully be done for a long while (other than building lights for friends). And then a new LED will be released and that pattern will start over.
The Hunt is still on for a multiple led or MT-G2 flashlight, for a thrower the search has ended with the modified TN-31 until something brighter comes along, still looking for a better pocket 18650 small thrower, something like the Eagletac TX25C2 form factor but not having to screw in or out the bezel to access some of the modes.
Still looking for a nice headlamp…
Someone asked me how I justify having so many flashlights, pocket knives and watches. Easy. I’m a collector. Collectors collect things 
I’m glad I’m not into watches, and only slightly interested in knives. I got both of those covered quickly and easily. For watches, I’ve only got a single item:
It’s not exactly high-quality, but it’s definitely pretty, and minimally functional. And that’s all I really wanted.
For knives, this cheap little one pretty much scratches my itch (so to speak). It lives on my key chain:
I got into flashlights for essentially pragmatic reasons, but partly because i saw a sc600 mk1 a few years ago and it really impressed me.
in the last 6 months I have bought a Olight S10, Zebralight SC600 mk2 l2, Convoy C8, Convoy M1 and Olight A3T.
I think once I decide on an AA light I will be done. They all have a purpose, the only real indulgence is the C8, but at $20 I think I will allow it.
I do seem to be slowing down, but Nitecore multi emitter type lights are intriguing. If they come out with one that has an XM-L2/XP-G2 and IR and UV, then I doubt I'll be able to resist, especially if it has a green or red emitter too. I'm not counting lights bought to mod...
Sweet looking pocket watch, thanks for the linkage. I added it to my shopping cart. I was just telling the missus the other day that if I ever had a dress code again and had to wear a suit every day, I would probably go old school and carry a pocket watch.
I haven’t ordered a new light in quite a while now, I think when I realized I had at least a couple lights in every room of the house, I quit ordering so many. I won’t say I’m done, but it’ll take just the right light to get me to push the button.
Even when I haven’t acquired any new ones recently, I rotate my pocket knife and less frequently my kitchen knives. I expect to continue to do the same with flashlights.
Slowed down a lot lately, but still hunting…
S: DQG Tiny AAA (Ti) or Tank009 e09
M: Convoy M1 (stock) or Ultrafire UF-2100 (E1320 mod)
L: SupFire M6 (stock) or Smallsun T-08 (emitter mod only)
I guess I have to find a headlamp next. Or something. It’s getting hard to justify purchases to myself, let alone my wife…
The ones that seem as good as I will get for their roles:
Black Cat AAA, Sipik SK73, Raysoon 398 SK98 clone with x 8 driver, Maratac copper CR123, Sipik SK58 clone three mode XR-E, Inova 2 x 2016 red button light.
Tank007 E09, L-10 xpg2 [with all it’s quirks], L2’s,WF-501A, C8, SupFireM6 & SmallSun T08 …
IMR batteries in a variety of sizes feed stable of lights.
I’m also waiting for the next gen. of emitters.
Last December I got a Jetbeam triple and Quantum D2 and now have most of my bases covered.
Both these lights plus switching from CR123 to IMR16340s for my keychain edc have kept me satisfied to not really want anything else… for the moment.
I was really tempted by a Quantum D2, but went with a DQG Tiny AAA IV instead. I thought maybe the D2 would be too small to operate easily, I didn’t want to be changing batteries all the time, the cost is a bit high, and I’ve heard the QTC material can wear out.
So, I got a AAA-based light instead (the second-smallest one commercially available, I think), and have been pretty happy with it. I don’t think I’ve actually had to change the battery since I got it 3-4 months ago, even though I use it almost every time I go out. The stainless steel body holds up nicely to abuse, and it’s otherwise a very nice upgrade from the iTP A3 EOS I was carrying before.
I couldn’t edc the D2 for it’s short runtime and limited brightness.
But it’s a great ‘around the house’ light at night with its variable output and light weight.
The QTC is actually pretty good with this light as the threads are very fine and adjusting to the right output it relatively easy.
Also really love the dark color and overall style!
Pretty good answer .....
Some of us have more need for lights than others . I need a certain number of lights and I need to actually try a light before I know whether I actually like it . I understand the point you're making and would say that the convoy "S" tube lights with a myriad of tints and drivers has been one of the biggest game changers ..that and hi cri.
there is no one light that ends any hunt .... it would always take about 40.
and
What would any flashaholic worth his salt do when faced with endless piles of 2$ flashlights at home depot except buy them all ?