So, what got you started?

[Hooked on Fenix]

What got me started was backpacking. Before l.e.d.s, I was stuck using a 2AA Minimag, a 4AA Coleman Florescent light, and a Princeton Tec 20. The Minimag was barely bright enough and bulbs burned out every 10 hours. The florescent wasn't waterproof and used a big glass bulb. The PT 20 was bright enough but had only 2 hour runtime and melted to my hand from using DEET bug repellent. In 2000, Photon flashlights came out at REI and I bought my first decent backpacking light. It wasn't good enough. I bought a CC Expedition and a CC Trek light. They were bright enough, but the contact points on the circuits wore out. I got a PT Matrix headlight for bike riding. L.e.d.s weren't nearly bright enough and I ended up using the halogen bulb. Got an Inova X5 and thought it was the brightest thing around. Then came the one and three watt luxeons. I was finally satisfied with output with a Gerber LX 3.0. Then the Magl.e.d.s came out at half the price and I bought a lot. I started looking to the internet flashlight reviews before buying to make sure I wasn't wasting money. I came across a site through Photonlight.com that mentioned a Fenix L1P light that survived falling hundreds of feet down an elevator shaft. Paypal was a no go for me so I waited until more websites started carrying Fenix lights before my first purchase. I got a P3D Q5 to start with after hunting down reviews at this website. As a backpacker, I feel that as l.e.d. technology improves, new l.e.d. flashlights get lighter and consume fewer batteries, while giving me brighter options in a smaller package. Decreasing weight, increasing safety, and reducing costs for backpacking and hiking are reasons why I've been hooked on l.e.d. lights.

 

[Blue72]

15 years ago me and my friends where camping and decided to take a "shortcut" to the cabin. We landed up off the trail and thick in the woods with very dim flashlights. The flashlight went out and we had no light, it took us over an hour to get out. My enthusiasm for flashlights all started from there! Believe it or not that was not the last time I was lost in the dark!

 

[Search]

Thread resurrection but I like it.

About two years ago I was staying at my now fiances house over night. We heard a bunch of noise in the back yard and I thought someone had gone into the shed because the door was open.

Well, all I had was a little .22 revolver and a Rayovac POS flashlight.

Long story short, I bought a G2 the next day. Traded it for a G3 that I kept and used until last December when my obsession really kicked off.

Now almost a year later I'm full blown screwed.

 

[John_Galt]

We used to live in a house in GA, that had a alot of woods, right behind it. And it was reasonably far from Atlanta, so it got pretty dark. Whenever my grandparents would visit, at night, we would usually all end up sitting on our back deck (which, because of the steep hill ut us at about bird-nest-to-eyeball view wit the trees), and my grandfather, being a tricky sort, would always slip away, into the woods, and start yelling "fee-fii-foe-fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman." Needless to say, it would scare me and my sister, and then the entire family would gather a motley assortment of Mini-M@gs, 3-5D M@gs, and "1,000,000" candlepower spot lights, and proceed to comb the woods.

Well, my favorite light was always this one car safety light my mom had. It was a big, heavy plastic thing, with three big circuit breaker style switches on the back, for a high beam, low beam(or both at the same time), and a bright red light on the back.

All I remember, is that it was huge, heavy, and seemed to have the perfect beam for the woods, with both filaments of the bulb on, it seemed to cast a huge flood, lighting up everything in 50', and the "high" beam lighting up things further away.

Eventually, my grandfather would reappear at the back of the group, and, none of us having seen the "Giant", we would all go back to the porch for dessert.