# How did you get started?



## k1rod (Feb 26, 2007)

For me it happened like this. About 30 years ago I was a kid walking through the woods behind my parents house. I was skinning a stick with my pocketknife and I dropped the pocketknife. The knife fell through the leaves and branches of a small ground level bush. I bent down and pushed the branches of the bush to one side and there, next to my knife, mostly buried in the dirt was some black rubber thing. I dug it out and it was a rubber flashlight. It looked like it might have been there for 25 years. I don't remember the exact name on it but it was some corny thing like MI-T-LITE. (Looked like it was made sometime around 1950). I thought that there was no way this thing was going to work. I peeled back the lip of the rubber case around the lens (that was the way you extracted the guts) and surprisingly there was very little rust inside. After I cleaned it up and put 2 new D Cell into it, It worked! That was the first seeds. Between then and now, I built up a collection of Maglites. (because like most people, I thought Mags were the best you could buy.) Then about a month ago, I found this forum. It was then that things suddenly got real ugly. I suddenly found myself spending my bill money on flashlights. My first purchase was an M6-CB. My second was a Kroma Milspec. Then I had to have a CREE! I'm jonesing waiting for McGizmo to build another run of lights. Packages are coming to the door and I'm hiding them from my wife. I'ts terrible I tell ya. I don't know where it will end.


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## PhotonWrangler (Feb 26, 2007)

I always thought that there was something special about being able to produce light whenever and wherever you needed it. I had a few flashlights as a child but the one that sticks out in my mind was a little plastic four color flashlight. It was a toy, something with a little rotating filter wheel that allowed you to choose the color you wanted. I remember thinking "Wow, a _four-color_ flashlight. It doesn't get any better than this!" 

BTW that little toy flashlight has recently reappeared in some stores locally. Must be a baby boomer thing, y'know?


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## parnass (Feb 26, 2007)

When I was a boy my grandfather presented me with a red and silver, metal 2AA Eveready penlight for my birthday. I think it employed a #222 bulb and had a metal pushbutton tail switch. That was back in the late 1950s or early 1960s.

My grandfather had a few flashlights that he repaired and modified so I may have inherited his appreciation of flashlights and tinkering. He passed away in 1964.

Later, I enjoyed using 2C and 2D Eveready lights in summer camp, though I suppose that's common. What is uncommon is that I still enjoy using lights many years later.


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## AtomSphere (Feb 26, 2007)

I always had a fasination with flashlights. I don't know the exact reason. 

When I was young (think 7 years old or maybe younger). I always liked to play with it imagining it as spaceships and the light coming out from the back is the proportion system. :laughing: 
Then I kept pursuading my mum to buy those energiser combo of batteries and lights and I kept quite a few lights. (maybe around 10 near my table lamp all incand). Then I remembered getting my first waterproof light which I never had before. I remembered having a hard time pursuading my mum in australia to purchase that one for me because I already had quite a few flashlights in my collection and that flashlight (a 2 D cell incand) was a bit more pricy. When i got that piece, I kept playing with it in the pool, on the beach and it always fasinates me how it is still able to operate underwater. And through all the harsh enviorment, it is squeeky clean inside...
After that, I didn't purchase anymore light for many years (around 5 nightmare years which is hell compared to current flashaholic standards) and all my other lights (except that 2D water resistant light) collected a hell load of dust. Then, when I was in the military (compulsary for singaporeans), I can't remember the exact reasons, I just got a StreamLight JR Luxeon from a CPF member called "flashlight" and I liked it (not love). I liked the idea that it can put out a good amount of light on Ni-MH Constantly for around 3-4 hours straight.
Then comes the stylish, branded, high quality, fierce lookin, E2D. I love this puppy as it still has that X-factor appearance that my eyes loves.

after that, SF C3 --> MXDL 3watt --> a cheap multi-LED light --> Convert my C3 to M4 Variant --> Q3 --> L2T --> and the soon to come L2D CREEEEEEeeeeeeee


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## ABTOMAT (Feb 26, 2007)

I was bitten by a radioactive lightning bug.


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## LEDependent (Feb 26, 2007)

My roommate in college. He had this stash, ya know? He called 'em "lux'ins". Once I tried them, I was hooked. I had to get more, so I found a dealer. Wayne J. His street name was crazy - "Elektrolumens". Everything after that was just a blur. A very bright blur.


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## ACMarina (Feb 28, 2007)

Happened with my first DHS callout - I didn't know what I was getting into but I was promised long, dark nights and I figured I should get the best light I could. I looked around and found this BrightGuy store, and I ordered an A2 Aviator with a case of batteries. Haven't looked back since


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## Hallis (Mar 2, 2007)

A friend of mine that i worked with had a SL Scorpion. I'd seen it but didn't think too much about it. One day he linked me Ginseng's Aroura thread and I was blown away. I didnt become a CPF member for about another year but once i did i started looking at flashlights a whole new way. I didnt even know Luxeon LED's existed. I had thought that the Mags and those 1-3mcp spotlights were the climax of handheld lighting. Now, to use a bad pun, I have seen the light. 

Shane


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## cutlerylover (Mar 2, 2007)

I am a knifenut and over the years from talking to people on the knifeforums and hearing about flashlights I thought why would anyone collect flashlights? exactly 1 hour from the time I had that thought I 1st checked out CPF, and in about 2 hours I was hooked, lol, I went out and got my 1st flashlight, a brinkmann maxfire LX, and the disease spread from there, lol...


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## Spydie (Mar 2, 2007)

When I was 5 we were in the midst of moving across the country, and my dad asked me if I wanted to take either his old radio, or plastic ever-ready (sp?) torch. I chose the torch and here I am today.

Throughout my youth I EDC'd a mini-mag and had a solitaire on my key chain. At around 20, I worked a part-time job as night security at a building in a questionable part of town and had a maglite 4c with me always. The job basically involved keeping the junkies, dealers, and working girls out of the building, which they were pretty skilled at getting into. I didn't know much about lights at that time but felt that it combined with my CQC-7 and ASP would keep my butt alive.

The flashlight craze though really crescendoed for me two summers ago when I bought my Surefire E2D. That light has seen lots of usage, and I've yet to replace the bulb. Aside from a few battle scars (not literally) it looks and works just like the day I bought it. Being a knifeknut myself, I didn't blink at paying over $100 for a light because generally (not always) good kit does cost a little more. 

My only wish is that Surefire would once and for all head the requests of its loyal consumer base and put out an LED E2D. I even remember seeing the work of some poor flashaholics on here who out of desperation of an LED E2D were able to jimmy a crenalated bezel ring onto what I believe was a black KL4 head and voila! I wish I could track the pics down as it was some decent work.


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## depusm12 (Mar 3, 2007)

My real interest in flashlights began when I was in the Navy on board the ship. We had to have either a red or blue lens on our flashlights that were used above decks after sunset so as not to show any white light above deck, plus the red is easier on the eyes. I went through several Pelicans an Mini M*G lights before I bought my first SF with a red lens used that thing constantly. It went downhill from there.:lolsign:


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## bobbyt (Mar 3, 2007)

I was in search of a powerful & economical small flashlight after losing my mag. Found this forum and $55 later I have Fenix L2D CE on the way. 

... and so it begins.

I can't wait until next week


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## search_and_rescue (Mar 3, 2007)

My beloved housecat went missing one night six years ago. He is not an outdoors person. My wife shook me awake at 2AM. We went frantically searching everywhere. We were desperate!!!

She drove around in the car. I went around the neighborhood with my flashlight.

Who and how did we find him? I did, using my $25 2-D Cell Maglite that I had purchased from Sportmart several months earlier. The light got dim over the course of the one-hour search, but it did its job. Thanks to MAGLITE, our son was found.







I was hooked on flashlights after that, and there has been no turning back.


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## Hallis (Mar 3, 2007)

search_and_rescue said:


> My beloved housecat went missing one night six years ago. He is not an outdoors person. My wife shook me awake at 2AM. We went frantically searching everywhere. We were desperate!!!
> 
> She drove around in the car. I went around the neighborhood with my flashlight.
> 
> ...



Wow i'll bet he didnt get to far. he's HUGE. I'll bet he's awesome.


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## search_and_rescue (Mar 3, 2007)

Thank you for that nice compliment. We are very proud of him! :lolsign:


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## Raptor# (Mar 4, 2007)

Hmmm. Very good question.  


I think i was something arround 12. From arround 10 on, i had always carry'd a small knife - mostly a small sak, later a small lockback folder, and a few years later the bigger version of the very same folder. So arround 12... the thought hit me: I got a knife on me every day - i need a flashlight too!
And then i got a Solitaire. My first flashlight, my first EDC-light. 


But then the dark times came... someday... my solitaire leaked. Oh damned alkaline battery! I thought about getting the thing outta there, but had absolutely zero success. And i didn't wanted to buy a new one, cause i still thought im going to get the battery out. And someday i put it.. errm, somewhere. No idea. And it stayed there for about 10 years.
Hell, i didn't even carry a knife for some time.  I know, shame over me.
Arround 1 1/2 years ago, i've been shopping at a online-knifesshop... and i just happend to click on theyr flashlights. And then i saw a Photon Freedom. Thought thats nice, but before i drop that much money for a flashlight (hey! you can stop laughing now  ), i want to have some info on it. Found flashlightreviews. Here are the thoughts that i had in this moment: "WOOOOW!!! HOLY SH*T!". So many flashlights... and then it hit me like a thunderbolt of raw enlightment: I'm gonna need more than a coincell flashlight! I bought the Photon Freedom... very well knowing that over time, this will become my backup and i'm going to get a bigger light as a main EDC.

Just for Nostalgia's sake, heres a pic of my old Solitaire (with the battery still stuck... grrrr).





I consider it used, not abused. 


@search_and_rescue: Good story!  I already thought why you have this nick... i bought my WF-500 for a similar purpose - we got a old cat, and well, even thought hes more of an outdoors person, he's getting old and we'd rather keep him in at night - sleeping instead of keeping other cats off his patch, but sometimes he just won't return and then we'll have to go looking for him... and the more light we've got for this, the easier it is.


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## search_and_rescue (Mar 4, 2007)

Thank you Raptor#, cats are the best. I had forgotten about that incident until this thread showed up, and it jogged my memory of that "search and rescue" night. Boy were we desperate, and boy did that Maglite come in handy. Your own cat is very lucky to have such a concerned guardian/owner/father such as yourself.


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## k1rod (Mar 12, 2007)

search_and_rescue said:


> Thanks to MAGLITE, our son was found.
> 
> I was hooked on flashlights after that, and there has been no turning back.


 
That would explain the M6-CB in your sig. That would be a great light for tracking down your cat at night. Then you could use the crenelated bezel on the dome of the Rottweiler that had your cat treed. :laughing:


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## tomcat017 (Mar 12, 2007)

Fun thread :laughing: . My dad was an engineer on the RR, and I used to go to work with him quite a bit. Among his required equipment every day was a flashlight (he carried a black AA minimag). Of course, I wanted to be just like him, so we went out to the store and got me a AA minimag. Used that flashlight at work with him, and all over the place (I still do). I liked lights, lasers (got a few of those when I was younger as well), and lighting in general since I was young. Used to play around with different colored light bulbs, and now I light the piano every year around Christmas.

Anyway, I started looking at high-power flashlights in fall of '06, but was reluctant to buy any becasue of the relatively high price (compared to a maglight, which I though was about as good as they get). Then in January of '07, I found out that a friend of mine was a flashaholic (his wife mentioned it:laughing: ), and that sort of pushed me over the edge. I bought the light that I was looking at (the WE 6M), and my friend told me about this site. It's been downhill (for my wallet, anyway) since then  .


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## skalomax (Mar 12, 2007)

I always had a thing about flashlights.

What sparked a blaze was a Inova X0 that I bought at Fry's


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## Illum (Mar 12, 2007)

skalomax said:


> I always had a thing about flashlights.
> 
> What sparked a blaze was a Inova X0 that I bought at Fry's



funny....I started after being blinded by the old XO at a science store...bought one when it first came out [$80]


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## skalomax (Mar 12, 2007)

$80? WOW

I bought mine for 34.99

Its a good light.


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## molite (Mar 12, 2007)

I always kept what I thought was a good flashlight around.
Then a hurricane, with 4 weeks of no power and thats when I went over the deep end.
A year later and lots of money wasted on "brick and morter" lights I found CPF.
If there was a generator forum like CPF I would really be broke.


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## kashmir (Mar 15, 2007)

Always thought a maglight was *the* flashlight to own. From that I went to a magcharger.Then I ran across the Surefire website some time ago. My first true flashlight was a Surefire C3. It's been fun(and expensive!) since. Amazing how many people can't understand spending what we spend on high end lights. :wave:


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## Gunner12 (Mar 15, 2007)

Double Post


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## Gunner12 (Mar 15, 2007)

They don't understand....... Until the lights go out at an unconditional time, Or their batteries die on them during a night-time hike, then they all want one. I always knew about Surefires (yay for PopSci) But didn't know about this site until half a year ago, when the Cree craze was about to start. I always wanted a Surefire, just don't have the money, even now.



kashmir said:


> Amazing how many people can't understand spending what we spend on high end lights. :wave:


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## ddaadd (Mar 15, 2007)

Googled "red laser pointer" a few years back...........

Landed here, hmmm, ?green laser pointers?.............:naughty:

Hmmm, look at them cool flashlights!.......................

Oh look! They sell some here!................................

How did they know I like to tinker with things?..........:rock:

I would come home from work and the children would
announce if I had a single, a double, or a triple, depending
on how many packages arrived that day........

I have previously been diagnosed with UPS withdrawl......

I say to the wife, "but honey look at this" and her eyes roll back.......


And my latest "double" hehehe ............................


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## CLHC (Mar 16, 2007)

For me I'll have to go back more than 30 years ago. My uncle had a bunch of flashlights that were chrome and then the crook-necked ones. So these got me going on that flashlight quest. Also, I remember those little lights they would pass out whenever the Icecapades came into town. Now those really caught my fancy since it was small enough from us little fellas waaay back then.


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## cldcc (Mar 23, 2007)

My store begun : It was about 16 years ago when I was with my mother living in the countryside.She bought me a 1AA light looked like a gun .Then I am intrested in LIGHTs.But for a long time ,I cannot aford lights since a was a student .Now I am a employed man ,so I am crazy about it.And there also a group of amatures DIYing with me.


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## 021411 (Mar 23, 2007)

I started about 9 years ago when I did alot of night time fishing. My friend who was a police officer always brought out his SL-20X. I was wow'ed by the brightness and it put my Maglight to shame. His schedule became busy and I no longer had access to a premium light. What did I do? I scraped together my cash and purchased one. Buying a $100+ flashlight back then was unheard especially for a broke student. I had to have it. It progressed from there. I saw lights come and go over the years. The SL-20X stayed true.


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## jimjones3630 (Mar 23, 2007)

Some time in the 80's bought my first SF P9 and was amazed how much light it put out for it's size. Over the years picked up other SF's as bargins presented.

Few months ago I stumbled upon this forum reading about a mod a member of this forum had posted on another board and was amazed how hotwired lights where built. Electornics with craftmanship, doing something not everyone can do.

It's really about the trial and error of experimentation, reading the research previously published, learning something new is so stimulating. It's a rush. I take my modest attempts and show them off like a kid in school during show and tell.

Over the years I have become absored/obcessed, with different interests like photography, history, geology, chemistry, target shooting, world religions, and now flashlights. But I'm not a master of anything knowing something of many interests. 

Jim


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## Flying Turtle (Mar 24, 2007)

I think it began when I was maybe six or seven years old. Had a little 1AA light that I would use under the sheets at night to read or later listen to my prized AM transistor radio. Jump ahead almost 50 years and I'm still a kid playing with my lights. Still love the little radios, too.

Geoff


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## perado (Mar 24, 2007)

*I've always had some sort of light with me. When I drove taxicabs and trucks at night, a better one was imperative. I went through the free ones from Radio Shack, the dry cell lanterns, etc. until I found Pelican Mitey-Lites. Then, their Super Mitey-lite. And a few Mags. Then, at a gunshow, I ran into Jim Schecter. Over $400 for a Scorpion, several Photons, a Surefire, and an HDS Basic 42...I've picked up a Basic 60, a P1D CE, a couple of different LED conversions for my Mags, and I'm getting antsy waiting for that new HDS/NovaTac 120. *


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## frogs3 (Mar 25, 2007)

Forgive me Father for I have sinned...

Sorry, that's the answer to another similar question when my wife wanders into this room.

As a kid, about 50+ years ago, I enjoyed lighting my bedroom at night when I didn't want to go to sleep, while listening to those long-distance radio stations on my 7 transistor radio (sound familiar Flying Turtle?). Well, I still have that radio which works perfectly (Zenith, 4 AA cells), and nearly all of the lights. Mostly C and D cell models, one left over from WWII that my Father brought back. Then, for my birthday gift at about 8, I got an Eveready Big Jim 5 D cell light which I still have in impeccable shape. It was pretty potent for those days.


Now I have added some Inova's and HID's for outdoor walking, hiking, etc. Still use the 2 D cell Eveready from about 28 years ago next to the bed.

-HAK


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## Nyctophiliac (Apr 21, 2007)

All little boys are into gadgets, yes? I was no different. I coveted my Big Brother's keyring torch for years as the ultimate gadget of choice, going through a few cheap and nasty (but much loved) 1AA plastic 'toy' lights. 

Then when I was nine or ten, a friend at school had the most perfect EDC I could ever imagine. Not just a torch, but a technology so advanced it could only have come through time from the future!!!And it looked way cool, matt black and serious looking, not brightly coloured and intended for a child (I so wanted to grow up, God help me!). With so many uses. Torch,knife,screwdriver,magnifier,tape measure,callipers and magnets embedded on it's surface.

I had to have one at any price ( I think it was 25p - which was a fair few choccie bars back then in the early '70s).

This torch was much used, but always cherished, and lasted years and years and in fact, I still have it.

Voila!!!





Cool, huh? Here's the light.





And here's the tools, which slide right in to the body on the RHS.



Minor beam shot for you!!

A quick look at the bulb- just wires glass and held in with wax!!!





And on the other half, the tape measure and magnet housing.





The momentary switch (top left in last pic) also served as a retractor for the tape.

Well, there ya go, fondly remembered childhood adventures with this gizmo to be sure. Not the brightest in my collection but still working after thirty years+.

Not bad for 25p!!!



Be lucky...


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## agangofatoms (Apr 22, 2007)

My mother laughed hard for several minutes when I told her that I had become a flashlight enthusiast. She would have laughed for fifteen minutes if I had confessed to her that I was actually a flashaholic. (I kept her laughing by joking about my enthusiasm) ...Yeah she laughed, and I laughed. The term 'flashlight enthusiast' sounds funny the first time you use it. But we all know what the term means: one who is enthusiastic about flashlights. A flashlight is a great tool, especially a high-powered LED flashlight like the new Fenix L2D-CE. A flashlight gives the one who wields it in the dark a sense of power. He with this instrument looks forward to night, because he can become as it were a sun, a star, an illuminator of matter. He is the god of light when it is dark. 

As I mention in my profile, I became a flashaholic during the power outage that paralyzed the Northeast a few years ago. When it occurred, I had to walk out of a mall down a few very long corridors which were pitch-black. I happened to have a small LED keychain flashlight on me, and using it made finding my way out of the mall a snap. That day I became intrigued by LEDs. That day I did not realize that the light in my pocket, the LED that I had used to find my way, could last a lifetime. But days later I learned more about LEDs, and I became super-impressed with their reliability. And when the power came back on, and once stores were back in business, I started my collection of LED flashlights and headlamps. My most recent purchase was of the Fenix L2D-CE. I'm so happy with it, I can't stop creeing.

EDIT: The only good incandescent that I have is the Princeton Tec Surge.


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## chiphead (Apr 22, 2007)

I'd been using Maglites for some time, but it wasn't until I took a trip to a gun show that my eyes (no pun) were opened. It was then I realized how much the technology had changed.

chiphead

p.s
My first new tech light was a Gen-1 Inova X5.


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## Nyctophiliac (May 8, 2007)

Not my first love but an early useful light that stayed into adulthood.






This was a going home present at a party I was invited to when I was nine or ten? I already liked torches and this 2D was a real monster to my childish eyes.









It's a good thrower, plastic reflector, lens and body. Good positive clicking switch and easy battery replacement. Surely fuel for a future flashaholic.






Long live old torches!!! And the young at heart who use them to enrich their dreams and fantasies.



Be lucky...


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## Talas (May 11, 2007)

I grew up in Guam where it was normal to have half a dozen or so typhoons per year, as well as the occasional super-typhoon, which will have winds above 150mph with gusts above 200mph. Whenever one of the stronger storms hit, it would knock down power poles and electricity could be out anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. I remember a steel Ray-O-Vac 2D was standard in most homes at the time (1970's), along with lanterns that screwed onto a six volt battery (anyone remember those?). After I got my first maglite I started looking forward to the next storm since I was now well-equipped to battle the darkness (it wasn't looked upon favorably to waste batteries when power was available). My favorite lights as a young adult were a 2AA Maglite, Pelican MityLite, and a Solitaire... which I EDC'd regularly. My "bright" lights were a King Pelican 8D and a Underwater Kinetics 6C dive light. Soon after I discovered Surefire and became the owner of a 6P. My first LED light was from Peter Gransee and I was one of the first to pick up his ARC AAA, followed by his first luxeon offering with multiple battery tubes for 1 or 2 AAs or CR123. It's only gotten worse since and I couldn't honestly say how many flashlights I own... I have most of Surefire's models, Streamlight, Gladius, Peak, HDS, Huntlight, Innova, Fenix, etc. My wife has been pretty supportive, even during some months when the mailman brings two to three packages a week to satisfy the craving. I really miss the big typhoons and the long power outages that result... what I wouldn't give to be able to time-travel back to those days and take a few of my lights back with me to play with!


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## swxb12 (May 11, 2007)

In the 80s my father got my sister and me each a Playskool light during the holidays. They were powered by two C or D cells. A turn of the knob on the side would slide a green or red clear plastic piece over the front of the bulb to change the output color. We had a lot of fun just playing light tag on our ceiling at bedtime.

Looks like the design hasn't really changed over the years either: http://www.amazon.com/Color-Glow-Flashlight/dp/B00000IW2Y
Someone should mod this bad boy into a powerful spotlight, haha.

I probably still have the original Playskool in the garage. Bet it still works too. Body was a solid yellow, on/off slider and rotating knob on side were solid red, and the head was blue instead of black.

Oh, and the long button under the handle is an easy-squeeze on/off function. Let go of it, and the light will slowly dim itself off for the next few seconds. Very neat. I wonder if the current version still does this.


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## frank777 (May 16, 2007)

I was exploring alone in a cave in Northern California, and in midstep between rocks, my Maglite went out. I had to shout and wait to be rescued. Luckily, it was a fairly well traversed cave, and someone came along in 15 minutes. Since that day about 20 years ago, I have NEVER been without a flashlight in my pocket and several at my disposal either in my car or my house. If I go exploring at night, I usually have at least two or three flashlights. Several times, I have been the one fortunate enough to rescue others when their lights failed.


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## smokinbasser (May 16, 2007)

I was apparently a flashaholic as a toddler in the 40s. My parents told me several times about how if I got my hands on a flashlight it got stripped to all it's individual parts. I could take them apart faster than my dad could put them back together. I can't recall a time in my life when I didn't have at least one flashlight on hand. They are almost part of the uniform of a scout be it cub, boy or explorer, at least for this guy it was. As a mechanic in several disciplines flashlights were a required tool. After becoming disabled I found candlepower forums and was in a downward spiral from that point on.


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## The_LED_Museum (May 16, 2007)

One of the first real flashlights I remember having was an Eveready 2xAAA penlight with a #222 prefocused incandescent light bub in it. This was sometime in the mid- to late-1960s.
On Christmas morning 1975 or 1976, Santa Clause gave me an Eveready Big Beam lantern, with large sealed beam main lamp and flashing red tail lamp. I think that light was the one that really started me on the road to flashaholicism; I figured out how to make it function from a Polapulse battery from a used package of Polaroid instant film; the battery was designed to output 6 volts and supply a significant amount of current - 26 amps if I remember correctly.

My flashaholicism sort of waned through most of the 1980s, but I did pick up a 6xD cell Mag with Magnum Star bulb in 1987, and I thought it was the brightest thing available.

Through most of the 1990s, I purchased a number of different flashlights, ranging in quality from downright crappy to mediocre at best.

In summer 1999, I saw a blue-green Photon II in an electronics catalogue and subsequently purchased it; that was my first real exposure to LEDs used in lighting products.

October 18, 1999 marks the turning point of my flashaholicism from curiousity to full-blown obsession - that was the date my website went online.
And things have just been getting brighter & brighter since then.


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## hord (Jul 12, 2007)

I think I have always been a closet flashaholic... as I have always had a torch of some description since I was a kid. I think being a cub & scout and going on lots of camps helped spur it along as there was always an ongoing 'mines brighter' type competition. I remember being awestruck at a friends Petzl 'zoom' head torch and especially at the price ($85+ at the time)... 

But my early torch 'domination' came about with my Dad bringing back a maglight 4D from one of his business trips (at my request). You couldn't buy them in Tasmania at the time (about 13 years ago now) and they were hugely expensive to buy in Australia -> hence the request from an international trip.

Now this thing was the 'argument settler' of the scout world... with most of the torch body stuffed up your sleave no-one could guess as to the potential hiding just a switch away... It didn't get beaten in my reign of terror!! I still have the torch and have left it unmodified as a reminder as to how progress moves on... nearly everyone of my AA single cells are brighter than that monster, though it does outreach most of them.

Upon reaching CPF accidentally whilst searching for info on the 'Golsten' I had just bought, I realised that I was doomed! You can see my early fate HERE - and that was ten months ago!! The list of corruption has grown to considerably since then... including a pre-order for a Gatlight V3!

In my time at CPF I have also corrupted at least 15 extra people... and they continue to corrupt others... Soon we will rule the world!!

The really strange thing is you see all these documentaries on how Meth & other Drugs take over your life and how you CAN kick the Habit with ongoing support... where as CPF is our Support and its like throwing petrol on a fire to a flashaholic!!!

Cheers Harvey


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## evanlocc (Jul 12, 2007)

It was all google fault!





Just a careless search years back and end up here!


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## boosterboy (Jul 13, 2007)

my stupid AR lead me to my surefire addiction.

now my paychecks magically disappear


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