So it was just my friend, his young adult daughter and I. We walked through the woods for about an hour and a half. We saw a group of deer and a few cats. No bears. It was pretty cold, but not as cold as I thought it would be. And it was really, really dark out there. There are paths through the woods, and we stuck to them, came out on the other side where he has a field, walked the perimeter, then hugged the woods, and hung out in a spot he calls Amen Hen which looks over his few acre pond. Can see his house from there at about 500 yards, and his daughter was amazed the Greenbean lit up the whole house from that far. This was on the 1909, which actually impressed me, too, for how floody and still reaching.
The Greenbean seems like it was the all around favorite, very bright and floody on 1909 and throwy on WA1185. The smaller LeeF w/ 1794 is also very floody, then threw a tight narrow beam with A7212. Beam profiles are so different between 1909 & WA1185 and 1794 & A7212, it's to believe they're the same heads.
My friend discovered he really liked the Zebralight SC5w Mk II that I gave him for his 50th a couple years ago. It's mostly been sitting in the console of his car, but he mentioned a few times how much he liked the brightness and flood, and that he couldn't believe how bright it was. He was genuinely surprised. I've been telling him.
The Seraph SP-9, extender, D36 head and SR-9L was passed around and used quite a lot. The cells are still half full. It's an impressive set up, throws light for the several hundred yards of pond that was as far as we could throw there. I hadn't used this lamp and cells before tonight, and I really like it. 350Lm isn't all that bright, especially compared to the 1794, 1909 & WA1185, but it's bright enough I had to tell my friend to stop pointing it at the ground right in front of us but instead far ahead because he kept blinding us all with it. The ground was grass and dirt, or leaf litter, not exactly reflective, and yet it was still blinding.
The Spark UBH was used a lot, too, and the Malkoff Elite. The Makoff Elite, the ZL SC5w, and the small LeeF were the only lights that needed cells swapped. The E2e's were tried out, but I think with so many Elite heads, not much difference was noticed between the 80, 140 and 200 lumen set ups. Now I think I need to get a few IMR-E2 from Mark for next time. I think there's a new moon in May on a Friday.
Earlier, before we left for dinner and returned for the walk, I had him show me his Maglites. He has a red 2D, and black 3D, two 4D and a 5D, and they're all vintage. I explained to him what he had, and that if he didn't want them, he should sell them so others can hotwire them.
I told him about my recent Mag plans, and that I was looking for a 2D, and how hard it is to tell from auctions because a lot of sellers don't know what they have, or their descriptions are not explicit, and he made me take the 2D. I offered to pay for it, but he insisted I take it. He said it was that or the dump. I told him not to even joke about that, that he might be throwing away $400 or more. I hope he paid attention, but I gratefully accepted the red 2D. I already have an Al reflector for it and potted WA1185. All I need now is a glass lens, a 5mm spring, 26500 cells and a sleeve, but I'll probably change the spring in the switch, too. After I put it together and play with it, I'm going to return it. Maybe he'll appreciate it a little more when it's 1200Lm.
