Here at ZeroAir.org, 2019 has been great. I hope it has been for you as well! I’m going to take the opportunity to hi-light some of my most read posts this year, and some of my favorite gear!

2019

Most Read

The most read post on this blog for 2019 is the Lumintop FW3A review.

I went on to review a couple more from the FW series, including the FW1A, and the FW3C. These lights are all absolute winners for me, despite my FW3C still not working exactly right.

Second Most Read

Astrolux FT03 was a bit of a wildcard this year.

On some levels it was just another thrower. But the level of throw coupled with the emitter options and low cost made it a wildly popular light, and a very popular read on this site.

Third Most Read

Another surprise here – and Fenix should take note! – the Third most read item on zeroair.org is the Fenix PD36R review.

Fifth, a Fun Fund Friday Review

We have to go all the way down to fifth on the list to find a Fun Fund Friday as most read.

It was the Emisar D4S, a light I still have and enjoy for the amber secondaries, if not for the massive outputs it achieves.

That brings me to my favorite gear of the year.

My Top Personal Light of 2019

Without question, that is my very customized TorchLAB BOSS in aluminum, patina finish. I had it engraved by HandEngravingByJake from Etsy and I am still stricken with it.

The BOSS makes up the headlining image from this site, so it should come as no surprise that it’s a favorite. They all are:

The second and third most awesome acquisitions this year have been the most recent light by Hanko Machine Works, which hasn’t even made it into a photo shoot yet:

And the Lux-RC FL33.

This is a light that I put to the scan process (as you can see above). If you want to see the full (150mp appx) resolution, you may click here!

Favorite Review Item

This year I published around 180 reviews. My goal of Monday, Wednesday, and Friday flashlight reviews was mostly met. Tuesdays and Thursdays were generally for non-flashlight and flashlight related items. This is a schedule I’ll keep for 2020, likely – as lights and goods allow.

Of all the work I did this year, I’m happiest with the MechForce items. The MechTorch in particular. Not only did I review the titanium version as built by MechForce (which I still love by the way!), I also cataloged how to install a dragon driver in a copper MechForce host. This is a feat I hadn’t done before, and I’m happy to have been able to install it. I hope the post has been useful to aspiring modders of 2019!

Favorites of the Decade!

End of a decade!! My favorite two posts on this whole site have to be these two:

The TorchLAB BOSS review. As you can see above, I’m still in love with the BOSS lights. I’m not a collector [snicker] but I still “lack” zirconium and copper. There is just no other light that appeals to me in this way, despite whatever might be said about any aspect of it. It’s completely next level for me. (And I’ve had a bunch of the competitors, too.)

The How Do I… series Bench Power Supply build log. I am still absolutely pleased with that build and log of it. If I had a dollar for everyone who said they’d been inspired by that post and gone on to build theirs… Well I wouldn’t have any dollars, but there’s been a bunch of discussion about it!! From time to time I consider rebuilding it and doing it even better. But there are some great supplies out there, which do the same or better.

My favorite knife that I’ve used this decade is the Benchmade Aphid. That one’s rare enough that I don’t even have a photo of it. Second most used knife is this one by Spyderco:

That’s either a Manbug or Ladybug – I can never remember. Anyway it’s a small knife, and small knives are what I like!

And pens…. I’m particular about my pen, and made my own. It’s a Bic Clic Stic, but very customized. I add a magnet (insanely useful!), an 0.5 roller ball refill (requires tip mod!), and shorten the barrel.

It’s very much a candidate for the (as of now, brief) How Do I… series!

[SCAN] Series

Another thing that was huge for me in 2019 was the [SCAN] Series on reddit.com/r/gshock.

See the series here! This is something I’ve enjoyed doing, even though it’s not flashlight related…

2020

What’s in store for 2020?

I’m already working on reviews for 2020, and beginning to work with some new manufacturers.

Also I’ll be working with PhotonPhreaks, writing the news articles. My role there will be expanding, and I’ll be doing more writing, too.

I’d like to rigorously pursue Fun Fund Friday items, particularly of unusual and/or custom items. This gets costly of course, so any help you can offer is greatly appreciated! Help comes in the form of: just clicking links! Clicking referral links even if you don’t end up buying anything is useful for the stores and manufacturers. The traffic matters! If you’re feeling wild, shoot your favorite manufacturer an email and recommend that they send review items to me for review.

For 2020, I’m also likely to expand a giveaway idea I’ve been mulling. It’s probably going to look something like a giveaway per month. Not sure yet how it’ll work but could be based on comments on this site or reddit…. Participation matters. 🙂

My list of responsibilities has grown this year, but in 2020 I hope to keep the work here. I enjoy it, and I hope you do too!

What would you like to see here for 2020?

Let me know in the comments here!