I wonder how often that happens… start out with cheap lights, try something nicer, and then the cheap ones never get used again.
That’s pretty much how my story went, at least.
DQG 18650 II
My worst buy and i don’t want to remember it |(
i hate dqg tiny 18650 twisty version. waste of money.
My Defiant Super Thrower. I got so frustrated trying to properly focus the LED when I first started modding, that I set it aside and haven’t touched it in months.
I take the stuff i don't use and don't like and stick it in a "sell it box " and you'd be surprised how much people like lights you hate ..
I tried to sell a friend a decent light and he fell in love with a X2000 clone we all got for like 3$ from T-mart . i have some pretty nice name brand lights that are either duplicates or lights i'm just not that fond of ..like fenix ,solarforce ,xeno and sunwayman. people just like cheap junk ..who knew :P
Solarforce ..I almost never use
Olight I-6. rarely use ,bad tint ,lame UI.no low.
c-8's .. design is horribly stupid and ugly as hell..hate 'em
502b I never liked them ...
X-2000 clone with the odd emitter (slightly neutralish) was my first led light as well..
Still have it... it's for sale
Strange that one light has so created so many flashaholics
I’ve always been meaning to get a Xeno light (the E03, specifically). What do you not like about their stuff?
Ultrafire F13
http://www.gearbest.com/led-flashlights/pp_5499.html
I kind of don’t like it, never took it out, it’s big and bulky and edgy in the pocket
I like the TrustFire Z8 (fifth from right) because it is unusual and has square (trapezoidal) threads in stainless steel that feel smooth. My main complaint is that it takes a lot of lapping to get the zoom as smooth as the tail cap. It’s not one of those that I use most, but it has a cell in it. Heat transfer is hindered by the stainless but helped by the twist zoom. The heat only has to go through the thickness of the stainless (and the usual gap) to reach the bezel.
The one to its left looks like a Z2, the angle head has its uses.
The Z8 is by far the worst budget light I’ve ever bought
Once I had a 4Sevens 123mini Ti Satin with S3 emitter. Cost me a small fortune.
The perfect EDC light in every aspect… until you fire it up. Really awful green colour.
I kept it in a drawer for years, from time to time checking if it really was so awful.
At the end I swapped it against a fully legal retail version of Windows7 on CD.
That I use every day. And it does not feel like I have waisted my money.
For me, as a general rule, I’ve found that the size of a light is inversely proportional to how much I’ll actually use it. Lights are much like cameras in this respect. I’d love a high-quality digital SLR and a set of lenses, but I wouldn’t be able to take it with me everywhere so it wouldn’t get used much. Instead, I keep a small ELPH 110 HS in a zippered case in my purse. The images from it aren’t as nice as a “real” camera, but it’s always there when I need it.
For lights, 1xAA seems about ideal. Maybe 16340 or 18350 or AAA. Anything bigger than 1x18650 is almost guaranteed to sit unused at home.
Of course, there’s such a thing as too small. Many 10180 lights aren’t long enough to twist one-handed, and the runtime is terrible. They can still be nice as jewelry or on a keychain though.
My wife solved that problem years ago. She got a pack mule has me to schlepp her case/lenses/tripod around on vacation
I wonder if I could get her to carry some of my larger lights…
LOL 
I don’t use any 18650 lights. I use AA and AAA lights for all my needs. The 18650 lights are too large.
Jerry
The Fenix E01
I won this light and it has spent years on my keychain. It only puts out about 10 lumens. I’ve not had occasion to use it about 10 times. It’s better that I just use a bigger light and actually be able to see something in anything other than pitch black darkness.
Sunwayman M40C
I bought this one when it was first introduced. Don’t get me wrong, this is one well built light that still pumps out the lumens but I just never could reconcile the magnetic output control with the reverse tail switch. I could swap the switch for a forward clicky easily but I never did get around to it.
BTU ShockerVN - bought it, opened it, put batteries in it, turned it on, turned it off, took batteries out, tried my protected cells, didn’t fit, put everything back in box, there it sits, lol
I guess it is still a “cool to have” light, but pretty useless sitting in the box! :bigsmile:
I have a few lights I never really use, in all honesty I mainly carry AAA lights, (or my Sirius triple (CR123)).
I do take a few 18650 lights when I go camping (SRK, C8 this year).
I always thought it would be fun to mod a BTU Shocker for maximum output and have “the shocker” logo engraved onto it. But I have no practical use for it so it’d only be good as a display piece or conversation starter.
Other lights I don’t use include the 1928 solid copper RAY-O-VAC zoomy and the old incandescents I used to use, even those converted to LED and the Tekna Monolith. I would use the Tekna if I had an LED conversion for it.
I have so many that most of the others wouldn’t get used if I didn’t occasionally switch them around.
I have used the C8, but only in comparative beam shots.