I’ve got plenty off the shelf models but these looked nice! Much less than the CPF Spy!
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I’ve considered edc flashlights, but I’ve already got a phone, keys, knife, yoyo, and amethyst crystal in my front pockets. Do you carry a flashlight everyday or just as the occasion demands? If everyday how often do you find yourself using it?
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I don’t edc one. I go for walks at night and carry one then but I can carry a coke can size light if I want which I wouldn’t edc for sure, but it’s fun to light up an entire area. 15,000 lumens or 11,000 if you want a nice 4000k tint and 95cri. You can get over 1000 lumens on a light the size of your thumb if you wanted edc. Most people’s biggest ‘why’ is their phone, until they use a good flashlight. 
Mine sit in the car and around the house. The BLF Q8 is an older light but a great all around sitting light imho. I had no power for a week after some bad storms and used them extensively then. The quad led and 18650 batteries meant it ran for days at lower levels which for it can light up an entire room.
If you like to tinker the e-switch lights are fun. I wanted to learn how to program the Attiny85 chip and load anduril on some e-switch lights I had. Many come with anduril now. It was fun. You can also do led swaps, custom buttom setups, etc.
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Wow! So much to know about “torches”…
PS. I just watched “Becoming Nobody” and thought about you!
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I carry this little guy around and it’s awesome. I have to replace the batteries every 4-6’ish months though which is kinda a pain.
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You carry it in the pocket or use the clip and let it dangle? How often do you find you use it? Is it brighter than your phone light?
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Carry it on my keychain and don’t honestly use it much come to think of it. Probably not much more useful then a phone light though it is more focused and easier to use. Takes up pretty much no space depending on how many other keychains you’re using.
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When I worked briefly at a casino I used the little thing a lot. It was super handy for shining behind machines.
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Same with me. I thought a well machined and high lumen light was the beginning and end. Then a couple years ago I read the term ‘tint snob’ around the net so I had to try a 95cri led that was mentioned, the SST20 4000k. I’m a tint snob turns out. 
A high CRI will render colors much better and you loose this sickly green tint to many of the higher lumen led’s. Funny thing is, you loose max lumens but go up in amp draw and heat usually to produce the high CRI.
Had not heard of ‘Becoming Nobody’! I will have to watch it!
CRI comparison:
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Yeah it can get very involved. Ideally you want to have even beam patterns and pleasing tint with no flicker. Power regulation is also important so the flashlight doesn’t waste battery power and can stay on longer. It’s hard to find something that ticks all of those boxes and if you do, it’s not uncommon to spend up in the $100 or $200 range. The guy making these lights seems to know what he’s doing. I like the LED emitter he’s using and it’s current regulated. The pistol grip is a bit odd but people on the flashlight forums seem to like it. They only have the AA version in stock now which is a bit big. I tend to like smaller lights. I’d be tempted to buy one if they had some other colors in stock.
You can get by with the light on your phone but that can use up your phone battery. It’s useful to carry one in your backpack, briefcase, or purse. You can get really powerful lights that are really small that you could pocket carry as well. At work the power goes out occasionally and having a nice flashlight handy has been useful. It’s good to keep one in your car too in case you need to change a flat tire at night or if there is some other emergency. I’ve used one a bunch of times just for taking walks at night. Admittedly $250 is a bit much if you aren’t interested in flashlights. Then again there are a bunch of people who wouldn’t think twice about dropping that much on a Draupnir.
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I’m an absolute tint snob. That has prevented me from buying a lot of flashlights and has saved me a lot of money. It’s not a bad thing at all.
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I thought them being machined by 1 person from the block was interesting and they look well done and properly driven/led choice. The form factor isn’t for me as I stick with rechargeable batteries for the extra power as AA or AAA, although those are still the most popular in the US I’ve read. Another full custom is the Ti Citadel which is a standard looking form but double the price.
Reylight makes some nice AA or AAA and out of copper or brass but those are heav-vy.
Emisar came out with a neat looking Ti anno on their D4V2 -
18650 battery size.
18350 battery tube size.
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I stick to my little Olight on my keychain but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t eyeballing something a little nicer.
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I try keeping a flashlight on me every day because I’m always looking in places I probably shouldn’t haha. The other day I tried using my phone light to peak inside my Macintosh Plus and it just didn’t agree with the angle. Popped out my Olight and bam! I could see how desperately I needed to clean it.
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I’ve got some Olights too. Solid lights. Loved my M2R for a nightstand light and the flush tail button. The tabbed tail button on some lights make me have to adjust before I can quickly thumb the button and turn it on, the M2R doesn’t do this.
The current ‘patriotic’ anno is loud but cute.
My wife’s Baton II mini has been purse bound for years and still going strong. For a tiny light, 500 lumen is nice.
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It’s always fun to have something a little loud. I’m wanting to get a new light myself. I sold my Baton and miss it. That 1000 turbo mode is no joke.
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Have you tried an anduril UI light? The candle mode is a neat and different way of lighting a room. Really does look like a flickering candle at the right setting. Mine seems to blow out the effect if turned up too brightly. Of course you can just light a candle lol.
Lightning mode is neat, but not something I use.
Building your own flashlight is a ton of fun. I have a few around, it’s super easy and fairly cheap to get into. A flashlight is basically just a power source, a build or LED, a driver and a tube to hold it all together. I’ve built a few just buying the parts and soldering or in some cases just screwing it together, but it’s a fun level of customization. There’s something very rewarding about buying a $12 2x18650 Small Sun body, a $5 driver and a $6 Cree LED, using acetone to peel the dome off the LED, then putting it all together to have a thrower that can outperform a $100 flashlight from Cabella’s.
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It is! So many variations to build so you can customize to your needs/wants. Plus getting to do a ‘boop’ on an led getting soldered to the board is funny! Get that wiggle wiggle wiggle.
https://www.mtnelectronics.com/ has several bare items to build from. I don’t really know other places but they’re service is good.
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I used to get stuff from FastTech. Problem is it comes direct from China, so it takes ages to arrive. Literally waited two months for a package once. But they’re cheap and pretty good quality.
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