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There was a bit of a debate about flashlights on Facebook and I mentioned that I was still rocking an MX991/U.
Even more remarkable is that I've had this flashlight since I stole legitimately acquired it from the Army. I cannot remember if this is one that I was issued or one I bought from Clothing Sales.
But it's been in my possession since 1988 at the latest.
How's your Wunderlicht doing on durability? I'll bet you have about 33 years to wait before you can compare. The only thing I've ever replaced is the bulb, and I've had an LED conversion in it for the past 15 years.
Like my Victorinox Swiss Champion, it's traveled the world and never failed.
Actually, it failed yesterday.
I don't keep batteries in it. I keep batteries NEAR it. That way when they leak, they don't take out the flashlight.
The years of being basically unused in the garage had allowed some corrosion to form in the switch and it took several minutes of obsessively working the slider to get it to work again.
But it DID start working again.
I cannot say that of the dead switches on a couple of Surefires. Those had to go back to the company and be warrantied.
It's not the brightest light ever made, but I never had trouble seeing in the dark with it over the past 34 years.
There's an obsession with increasing the lumens that has led to lights that are unnecessarily bright.
This thing with a red lens, if your eyes are adjusted to the dark, is plenty bright enough to read by. I've done it.
The dimmer light is also a boon if you need to get back into the dark quickly after using it.
It also doesn't broadcast were you are so much as a newer one.
I have a pocket-sized Mag-Lite that I keep right by where I sit at my computer. It is always there, and at times when the power goes off, I know exactly where it is. It's very reliable, and since I don't use it much, the batteries it came with are still good after many years. I love that little light.
ReplyDeleteIn my collection, the oldest ones I have that still work are a couple of MagLites(a '94 MiniMag & 2 D-cell combo set).
ReplyDeleteOf my Wunderlichts, my expensive high powered LED light (probably around 35-50lm) from '03 still works but it's been retired for a long time.
But some of my more recent high power LED EDC lights (1400+lm) from '16 are still working just fine.
The main problem with most "Wunderlichts" is that they don't have really have useful low modes.
And unless you are a flashlight nerd/light snob, you don't know that good, inexpensive, lights actually exist.
My ' 16-'20 EDC light (BLF A6) has 7 easily accessible modes that start with a 0.5lm moonlight and top out at a Turbo of 1400+lm. With a hidden "tactical" strobe along with a more useful battery check and bike strobe.
My current EDC (Sofirn SC31 Pro) is slightly smaller and somewhat brighter. It's an e-switch vs the mechanical of the A6, it allows it to have an almost infinite ramping adjustment between the 0.5lm moonlight and 2000lm max. And it has a lot of extra features that are accessible but hidden in the UI.
Oh and both of them use standard rechargeable 18650 batteries, the new one even has built in Type-C charging.
Yep, I haven't seen it / them (two units, one black, the other green) around lately, but I have the same flashlight that I used mostly to travel between the truck and the day's deer stand, it clipped in my left hand M65 jacket pocket. Red lens of course. The spare bulb in base came in handy exactly twice, one burned out, the other when I dropped the unit and broke the bulb filament.
ReplyDeleteI tip I read (I think) in one of Ranger Rick Tscherne Ranger booklets. Drill a small hole on edge of lens so a tiny pin point of white light is available when you have the unit on.
jrg
does 80 yr old luftwaffe white/red/blue/green qualify? I’ve had it 30 years and had to convert it to use AA batteries looking at LED conversion best flash light I’ve ever used (got it for stargazing, red/blue for reading starcharts) kept it for camping with Scouts good solid thing will look for link.
ReplyDeleteMy Dad used a similar one with a pile of the right batteries in Vietnam as changing colors was quicker.
some times called east German railroad flashlight Dad got his from a Luftwaffe pilot.
ReplyDeletehttps://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=AwrEtNgn3U5iK_sa_siInIlQ;_ylu=c2VjA3NyBHNsawNpbWcEb2lkAzk5MGYxMGMzZDAzNDM4YmQxYzgwODU1Nzg4MmY1NmUwBGdwb3MDMQRpdANiaW5n?back=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3Deast%2Bgerman%2Brailroad%2Bflashlight%26fr%3Dyfp-hrmob%26fr2%3Dpiv-web%26tab%3Dorganic%26ri%3D1&w=900&h=796&imgurl=i.ebayimg.com%2Fimages%2Fi%2F271959365759-0-1%2Fs-l1000.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fitm%2FVINTAGE-GERMAN-BLACK-ARTAS-DDR-EAST-GERMANY-FLASHLIGHT-TORCH-SIGNAL-3-COLORS-%2F271959365759&size=173.8KB&p=east+german+railroad+flashlight&oid=990f10c3d03438bd1c808557882f56e0&fr2=piv-web&fr=yfp-hrmob&tt=VINTAGE+GERMAN+BLACK+ARTAS+DDR&b=0&ni=21&no=1&ts=&tab=organic&sigr=zYebuOAC9mMz&sigb=uRpas.DeHjt8&sigi=CPNfbTTUm9gB&sigt=VumsomuzMfcR&.crumb=3NsWcFG9BIm&fr=yfp-hrmob&fr2=piv-web
Try Corrosion X on the switch contacts as a preventative, it worked well on tools at the humid and salty Oregon Coast. As for old lights, sadly my LED converted Mini-Maglite succumbed to a battery leak after 15 years of service. My everyday units are $10 Coast G19 minis with lithium batteries.
ReplyDeleteMy dad has a couple of Eveready Brand flashlights that I know are at least 50+ years old because they were far from new when I was a little kid... They don't make stuff like that anymore.
ReplyDelete