What was your gateway flashlight?

[enki_ck]

There are quite a few flashoholics here, if we are willing to admit it or not. Who needs 10+ flashlights? But we love them so. Different beam colors, different beem profiles, floodies, throwies, AAAs, AAs, CR123s, and those running on batteries no one else in the world has ever seen before(see example below ).

But what was your gateway flashlight? What was the first flashlight that got you into carrying a flashlight on you daily, as part of your EDC?


For me it was a simple red Maglite Solitaire. I've had a few flashlights before it that i carried occasionally and many since, but this one holds a special part in my heart, my first real EDC flashlight. I carried it for years before I learned of the wonders of LED technology. I still carry it sometimes for old times sake, but it now has a LED module instead of the standard bulb.



(shown with a Led Lenser V16 penlight that runs on 2x BR435 batteries, never seen those before in anything[size=78%])[/size]

[nuphoria]

Bizarrely, mine was a red Maglite too! The AA version though, and I also threw a decent LED in it a few years ago

Before that, every light I had owned was a chunk of plastic with a pale incandescent bulb in it

Then I found better lights... bigger lights.... throwers... Ti...

[AimlessWanderer]

I started with a Fenix PD20. Very good light to start off with

[nuphoria]

I started with a Fenix PD20. Very good light to start off with

Yeah, that's rather fancy. I think that was the second "proper" light I bought after an L10. The difference in power entertained me for weeks!

[JAfromMn]

A 2aa mag light got me started but a 4sevens mini aa sealed the deal.

[Millhouse]

Surefire L4 that I got in 2004. Back in the day, 100 lumens was quite a sight.

[Schneider]

Fenix E01. I still have it.

[enki_ck]

YOu guys know pics are welcome too, right?

[Grant Lamontagne]

For me it was always Mag lights. For years nothing was as good as Mag.  Then I got a Gerber Infinity Ultra and I thought that was a great light- and I still do.

To this day I still prefer AA lights.

Def

Sent from my Motorola Atrix digital multitool.

[Dr Gonzo]

Mini Mag late 80's
Inova about 07
4Sevens about 09
NiteCore about 09
Maratac about 12
My 4Sevens MiNi 123 Ti is my favorite, the NiteCore is good also but the parasitic drain is a pain the Maratac is a lovely light

[tattoosteve99]

Actually mine was a Walmart special. A cheapo. It was a energizer, unknown name. It was bright, at the time to me, at 120 lumens. Now I carry a surefire e series with a custom (made by me) triple xpg-r5 that pumps out around 940 lumens . It's my pocket sunlight

[Gareth]

First light that became my working torch for years was a 2xAAA Mini-Maglite.  Still have it somewhere, though it does have a LED in it these days.

[Heinz Doofenshmirtz]

Back in the mid 80's I was in my 20's and I was mt. biking all over Marin County (birthplace of mt. biking).  That's where my EDC-gear/self-sufficiency experience started (many lessons learned, literally, the hard-way).

The torch I carried back then was the old classic 2xAA mini-mag.  Used them for many years until about 4 years ago I discovered high end LED torches with their outstanding outputs and features.  My very first one was a Fenix L1Tv2.  Since then, I've acquired probably a couple of dozen different torches in total, and still have about a dozen or so as my 'stable' of lights.

[sawman]

Years ago, mine was a red mag lite solitaire.  I went everywhere with that light and it served me well.  By the time I retired it, it did not have much of its red anodizing left...

[Styerman]

I go back to pre Maglight days , my first quality lights were a Safariland 2xC Kelite , and it's 3xD brother .

Chris

[enki_ck]

I go back to pre Maglight days , my first quality lights were a Safariland 2xC Kelite , and it's 3xD brother .

Chris

That sounds interesting, do you still have them? Any pics?

[Styerman]

I wish I still had them , all given to newbies , as I experimented with newer stuff , as it came out . Kel Lites were at least as well machined as Mags , and had a more subdued anno .

Chris

[N_N_R]

Fenix E01 here, too... It's currently on my keys.

But later I realized that I've been... mesmerized by flashlights as a kid, too.... just back then I was annoyed at the fact batteries died quckly, I didn't have money to buy new ones, I had to ... not use my flashlights so that I didn't waste the battery and the whole pleasure was basically killed...

[hiljentaa]

Another Fenix E01 guy, here.

I remember throwing it in my pocket before going camping with some friends. That was a VERY late night after getting some free beers from some people who invited us to their spot. We ended up walking back to our tents at around 3am through the woods, and that little E01 saved the night, for sure.

[firiki]

Black Solitaire here, some twenty years ago. Really loved the thing and carried it a lot though I did get me an AA Mag lite soon as I was disappointed by it's insatiable appetite for batteries and gave it away at a point. The AA is still around when I need it.