Oldest LED lights you own

[gdwtvb]

Good afternoon, while cleaning my study, I ran into these two golden oldies:

Both AAA lights; a CMG and a very well used ARC aaa. I carried and used the ARC on a keychain for untold years. The CMG was little more than a glorified extra aaa battery holder I carried in my pack. I remember when the CMG was introduced it got compared to a male dog's organ, but I bought one anyways. I always imagined I'd use it to look for stuff in my pack but can't remember ever doing that. (The threads on the CMG are very sloppy and loose and I am sure it would have been lost if used on a keychain) I insereted batteries and what do you know, they both still work. The beams aren't anything special with the purple tints, but they are about 20 years old or so.

Ok now it's your turn, what's the oldest still working led light you own?

Pictures appreciated!

Grizz

 

[Hooked on Fenix]

L.R.I. Photon II White l.e.d. first generation
Brinkmann 2AA Long Life l.e.d. light (2001)

 

[SCEMan]

From about 2005 I think...

 

[bykfixer]

My first LED flashlight was this led lenser "tri-max" 3x N cell light. I do not remember where I bought it or when but think it was between 2003 and 2005 and perhaps from Home Depot.

How about that tri-max beam?

 

[troutpool]

My oldest is an Arc AAA. The packaging is stamped "Checked Sep 17 2004".

 

[3_gun]

First LED was also my first Surefire, a L2 with a low serial number. Work light. Still looks & works great. A true "trust with my life" light but it has company now. Hardest/longest used is a Fenix LD10r5 which rode on/in my belt/pocket EVERYDAY for more than a decade. Looks like hell was a va kay spot but works great still

 

[ABTOMAT]

I don't have it any more, but I used to have a Tekna Night Eye. That may have been the first commercial LED light period. Early '90s maybe?

Presently I have an original SF U2 and a brass Peak AAA.

 

[jimmy1970]

Arc AAA. Dimmest light in the collection.🙂

 

[jz6342]

I've got an old Coast "tactical" light kicking around somewhere. At the time I bought it (mid-late 2000s) it was bright and had the momentary tail switch I was looking for. It ran on 3 AAAs if I recall correctly.

 

[Chicken Drumstick]

Think my first LED torch was around 2001-2003. Can't quite recall. I might have bought it while working at Jessops the camera shop.

It was a Premier Light PL-B with a compass in the end and an electronic side switch. Has High and SOS modes using 3xAAA.

Still working, came with a holster too.

A year or so later I got the silver True utility light. The Premier Light is actually quite well built, although the electronic side switch means it'll drain any batteries left in it.

The True feels cheaper construction and is still 3xAAA. But I recall it being quite blindingly bright when I got it. It'll run on an 18500, but not as bright as 3 good 1.5v AAA's.

 

[wjv]

 

[DaveTheDude]

I bought my first two lights simultaneously, directly from Fenix in 2005: a T1, and an E01. I sold the T1 to a collector in 2012, but the E01 is still plugging away, undimmed by the passage of time. I've grown fond of it's bluish tint, it reminds me of how far the state of the art has come. I also still have the original wood box the E01 came in back then. I'm confident that one day in the far future two fanatical collectors will start a bidding war over it. 😜

 

[Poppy]

Brinkman 2D 3 watt LED review

I bought this light at Target on clearance for about $10.00 so I guess it was around 2009.

It is a 2D model that I modded to run on an 18650. The mod was simply inserting a 1.5 ohm 5 watt resistor in line, and using a spacer to adapt the battery. Here we are 12-13 years later and it still performs flawlessly. It has been gently abused, like tossed under the car to the other side, and it has certainly been dropped a number of times. The rubber head, and the fact that overall, it is pretty light in weight, must have helped its durability.

The head and the tail cap is what holds it together, and I used clear packing tape to reattach the plastic control cover that has the printing on it, describing what the buttons are.

 

[luxlunatic]

My 2 oldest are a ARC AAA with a Cyan led and the other was made by Tec-light from the early 1990's. It sported a fat, 10mm red led with a titanium case and a very "ringy" beam! At the time it was the bomb!! I went through a few of them and I am surprised to still have this one and it still works!

 

[aginthelaw]

when I dig them out I'll get you pictures but I have a ra twisty, an arc aaa and a peak, all pre-2005 I think

 

[sgt253]

I have a Malkoff mag drop in from 2007 in a 2D Maglite. Works every time the switch is pressed. I will never get rid of that light. Hopefully my grandkids can use it and talk about their Flashaholic grandfather. I just found an Inova X5 2xCR123 (green). Forgot I still had this. Received it in 2005.

 

[alpg88]

THe oldest one that i still have, as in stock unmodified light, is solarforce l900, well over 10 years old, but still a great performer, even thou has only 1 mode, and old school P7, its big reflector makes the best of it. It still kicks a$$.

 

[kaichu dento]

My oldest is an Arc AAA. The packaging is stamped "Checked Sep 17 2004".
View attachment 34743

Always nice to see these old Arc AAA lights and I've still got two of them, one of which is the rare old CPF labeled version. I've also still got another really rare one in the Arc AA.

Then there's my old bronze Aeon, McGizmo Lunasol 20, Surefire E1e and a couple of Modamag Draco models.

 

[ledbetter]

Arc-p, muyshondt mako, and Surefire 9p running 2 aa's with a nailbender/customlite low voltage xpg 5k drop in. All used and carried a lot.

 

[RWT1405]

View attachment 34739
My first LED flashlight was this led lenser "tri-max" 3x N cell light. I do not remember where I bought it or when but think it was between 2003 and 2005 and perhaps from Home Depot.

View attachment 34740
How about that tri-max beam?

I think I got a couple of those from my local Radio Shack, back in the very early 2000's, if I remember correctly.