What lights do you consider the most epic or influential on your hobby

[thermal guy]

Mine was a surefire E2E circa 2004. Still have it of course made changes to it over the years but it still get plenty of use.

 

[faco]

Maglight AAA & AA followed by the Arc AAA……….after that the sickness started

Many, many lights from the early days but the McGizmo lights are the ones that satisfy my needs these days, for me nothing compares. In saying that, plenty of quality lights available these days and that's good for all of us [emoji106]

 

[Pellidon]

The age of the poster will determine the contents of the list. I am an old fogie around here.
Maglight for the ruggedness and ability to repair them. This made them great mod fodder in the old days. I have one from 1985 or 1986 with the wide body for carbon D batteries that still works.
Arc AAA. We all had them back in the day. Still have my regular ones plus one with a Turquoise green/blue LED and one UV LED.
Surefire 6P and it's cousins. Form factor fits my hand well. Plus all the P60 drop in modules available for them.
Nuwaii Q3. Oldie. Not bright by today's standards but it was one of the first lights to tolerate the rechargeable Lithiums that were just coming out then.
Too many homebrew lights from the guys here to mention without forgetting a name or two.

 

[LeanBurn]

Mine started with the classic Maglite 2D. With the the advent of LED I was late to accept it as the blue nature of most LED lights was a real turn off.As more warm neutral and high CRI models became available I was more accepting whole heartedly.

 

[Celery]

1. When I was growing up, my dad had a MagCharger. He had mounted it to the frame of his bed, and I remember thinking it was badass to have a light/weapon at your bedside. Recently asked him about this light, and not only does he still have it but he also has 2 repair receipts from the late 1980's.

2. When I was a kid, a Camo AA Maglite. I had a couple of other Maglites, but the Camo AA was just so freakin cool.

3. When I was a teenager, the Photon Freedom. Especially the covert amber (literally it's 20 years later and I've got an amber HDS on order to scratch this very itch!!). I remember reading about the different colors and uses, and always really wanting a cyan one. I've still got my 20 year old Photon with the small on/off slider. It's white and unshrouded. My dad still has a blue, green, and THE covert amber from back then. He keeps the batteries fresh and they all still work.

4. When I was doing sheet metal work, the Surefire Maximus. Have put 1000's of hours into a couple Maxiumus. Absolutely love them. The Maximus is my most influential light. The 1-500lm dial is so useful in a shop setting. 1-100lm is enough when working up close with reflective surfaces, and 500 is more than enough when doing anything else. I don't do sheet metal work anymore, but I still use a Maximus almost daily.

5. When I was working on a ranch, the Fenix TK75, 2600lm model. Approaching 10 years with this light. Was used for bumps in the night when working alone for extended stints. Has had quite a bit of use "ceiling bouncing" in greenhouses, garages, etc. to allow hands free work. Also have had 2 "tactical" situations where this light has blinded and disoriented a potential perp. I've kept this light handy for most of the last 10 years, and now it resides on my nightstand, fulfilling the same duties that my dad's MagCharger did almost 35 years ago,

 

[340pd]

Anything Malkoff.

 

[greatscoot]

I always liked flashlights, Mag lights growing up, then I got my first 6P (Laser-Products) and I was blown away (60 eye searing lumens, which lasted about 20 minutes). After that it was the E1B and then my first HDS.

 

[akula88]

1. SF 09N - remembered how 'big and heavy and limited runtime it was that leads to -->

2. SF 6P - which apparently was still heavy to be EDC'd in my front pocket, which leads to -->

3. SF E2e/E1e

 

[fuyume]

Without questionthe Mini Mag AA, the first truly high quality mass market flashlight. Back in the 1980s, as a young stage technician starting my career, the Mini Mag was *de riguer*, in its customary nylon sheath on your belt right next to your lanyard-attached 8 in Crescent wrench and Stanley utility knife.

I think it's fair to say that Mag Instrument single-handedly created the modern flashlight market.

 

[ELZ]

I use an Elzetta with a rotary switch (non-latching momentary) and a Malkoff M61W drop-in. Although I own but don't use one, the Surefire 6P has probably had the most influence on my flashlighting.

 

[Tribull]

Malkoff changed it all for me.

 

[tech25]

For me it was the minimag AA. That was THE quality light that everyone had at the time. Went onto a 3D mag light and was impressed by the more "powerful" beam and greater runtime. Than I saw a friend with a Surefire 6C? and was blown away. I finally got a Surefire G2L when it first came out and stuck with that until I got a Malkoff drop in (M61L). An MD2 followed with a Malkoff mag light drop in and an M61N. At some point, I got a ZL H51fw headlamp.

My current carry lights tend to be simple UI like Malkoff or intuitive like Zebralights. I prefer neutral to warm tints.

My current carry is an HDS rotary NLT with a ZL H600fc in my bag.

 

[RamBull]

-Noctigon KR1vn with SBT90.2
-Zebralight H600Fc with XHP50.2 4000k
-Sofirn BLF LT1 version 2
-Acebeam X80GTvn with 18x XHP50.2 6500k
-Lumintop GT94vn with 4x SBT90.2

 

[ma tumba]

Aeon mk ii started it all

 

[sonofjesse]

Flashlights were always fun as a kid of course. But I remember them 20-40 lumen LED's when you thought wow these are amazing. ARC AAA was of course on everybody's key chain in them days.

Then in 2008 when the Fenix TK1 came out (still the build quality is amazing on that light)

Everyone was like WOW we have made it!!!

 

[fortfan]

The Eveready No. 108, initially known as the All American (in the US). I bought one after dropping a 2 D cell flashlight (which stopped working) at night in a near pitch black camping site. I don't have that one anymore, but have over-compensated recently, LOL!

 

[Sabrewulf]

Lights that can be comfortably carried in a pocket.

 

[LED1982]

Deft-X. That introduction to throw capability in a flashlight that size amazed me. Me becoming a nutcase with spending money on flashlights greatly increased with the Deft-X lol.

 

[gdwtvb]

Like many it was the mini maglight that I started out with, then I found this place I don't know how many years ago. Got an arc AAA, I still run into it occasionally and it still works, but it has been retired from keychain duty for years. Went in with Surefires and burned through cr123 batteries like crazy, as LED lights were nowhere close to my M2 in brighness. I eventually found that while it was fun to go light up the back forty, those lights weren't really useful to me on a daily basis.

I wasn't interested in chasing the ultimate in brightness, and found I was happy with longer runtimes of LED. I pretty much retired from the flashlight scene when I got a zebralight sc 52. It's gotta be about ten years old now. But it still does everything I need, and uses rechargeable eneloops.

I recently heard about LEP lights, and am back for a visit to learn a bit.

Grizz