Why do most people believe they do not need a flashlight?

I try to remember… before i get into this flashlight madness personal interest thing… i wasn’t worried at all about having a flashlight. And when i look around, most people don’t care much - and actually wonder why i buy so many, and probably what’s wrong with me. Lol! :laughing:

Why don’t they understand?

Even when i gift lights, they have a quick look, say waow-thanks and then forget about it. Or don’t have it handy if ever they need it… Or they don’t realize they could have used a light… What’s wrong with them?… or with me? :person_facepalming:

Most people do not experience situations where a flashlight is needed so its an afterthought. With phones offering flashlight apps that covers the majority of people needs. Most people are not interested in what others do unless its a common theme like sports,basic light topics. Anything that deviates out of those norms and people would think you are odd.

Best to keep these hobbies close to your vest and just work your day and enjoy your time off. :slight_smile:

Most people are so way too preoccupied with less important things, such as cars, food, people, home improvement, etc., to realize that they are lacking this all-important facet of their total being. Without it, they have no well-being. They are empty shells, frequently seen shuffling about, babbling shallowly about less important aspects of their sad, tragically flashlight-less lives.

’Cause they’re stoopit, that’s why.

Nah, kidding, seems like they just don’t miss what they don’t have. Chances are they were never in a blackout, or never needed a light desperately enough, or just got a “flashlight app” on their phones and figured they had it covered, etc.

I gave my gf a light, she dropped something in the car and started looking for it, I just said “flashlight”, then ding!, the light went on. I don’t just give someone a light but stress, “you gotta use it!”. Ie, people who never carried a light would just take their new shiny light and stick it in a drawer and forget about it.

Once they get used to carrying it and using it, it eventually becomes second nature.

Then they come here and spend all their pin money on lights…

Like my Squirrel Army…

And they smell funny, too.

Like your squirrel army.

I don’t think it’s true that most people don’t believe they need one. However most people in modern countries, especially big cities, don’t usually have an urgent need for them since they are rarely in a situation when they absolutely have to have one. I’ve traveled to a couple of 3rd world countries (Uganda and Peru) and remote US locations like Alaska and most people there definitely believe in the need for flashlights. For example we were in the Amazon and at 4pm in the jungle it was pitch black due to the trees. Without a flashlight or lantern it would be impossible to move even a few yards.

All you need is a small club and a burlap sack, and you can get started!

I’ve never been able to get my cat interested in flashlights,
but he is crazy about lasers.

I showed him my best lights and he started stretching and yawning.

He seems to be able to see in the dark unassisted
so maybe that’s why he doesn’t care much about the torches.

Ask (nicely) someone at random to pop his trunk and let you have a look. Maybe you’ll find a doughnut spare that’s still got air in it. How many have flares, water, spare fluids (oil, coolant, washer fluid, steering/brake/tranny fluid, etc.), jumper cables, anything else? Let alone spare fuses, bulbs. etc.

I think we can separate the answer in two points:

1. People are way too accommodated in their comfortable illusion that the grid will always be up and running. Hence why brown/blackouts catch them with their pants down and they flock in panic to the nearest hypermarket or hardware store.
2. They severely, and I mean severely, underestimate the potential of a real torch. After all, when the depiction of an item they so rarely use comes from Hollywood, where the light is either dim or unreliable because of Rule Of Drama, it’s easy to undervalue it.

Constantly lamenting their bruised shins.

I’m a new convert :smiley:

Before this, it never occurs to me on how useful a flashlight would be. Worst comes to worst, my mobile phone flash can double up as a low powered lights if needed.

When I get to know more bout flashlights, it occurs to me of it’s importance more and more.

So I started the buying spree.

Then comes the wife’s intervention. “Why you buy so many flashlights?!”. I kept quiet until one fine night with power failure. I literally lit up half of the house, or at least where light is needed.

The tide has changed, and me and the lights lived happily ever after… To a certain extent. Woman… LOL

1) because they simply don’t need it. There are developed countries with uninterrupted power grids, no natural disasters, no emergency situations. The worst that can happen to most people is breaking down while driving at night - today you can just hit the service button at your rear mirror and someone else will take care of it. Or there is an app for it. And most modern cars are fairly reliable, so I am not sure how often this would even happen.

If you don’t have a dog to walk at night and don’t go for a run in the middle of darkness - not sure if there is a need for a flashlight.

2) I didn’t have any flashlights until recently - my eyes were good enough to see even in very dark environments. With aging eyes I needed more and more light in random situations and that’s when I bought a sipik on ebay. Then I found BLF.

Some people carry a gun/knife around and think the same about people who don’t.

Some people carry a pack of cigarettes and think the same about people who don’t.

Some people carry a phone around and think the same about people who don’t.

Is this starting to make sense?

Like my keychain EDC, people’s phone lights will handle most of the short-term light needs and those have become pretty good too. But the truth is that most people are too shallow-minded to understand how valuable and necessary some of the simple things in life can be. They know all about the latest facebook trend and what some actress said, never realizing that in months or maybe minutes that will be forgotten and meaningless, and that there’s no value in it regardless. They don’t think bad things can happen because they rarely do. They are Darwin’s fodder and if they don’t learn when their time comes round, then leave them to Darwin because that’s where they belong.

If you need to be told that half your lifetime will be spent without daylight then you won’t have a flashlight. That says a lot more about people than you think :frowning:

Phil

It’s my observation that most homes do have a flashlight, but unless there’s a regular need, which there’s usually not, it won’t be a very good one. It could be years old and run an incandescent bulb off two D cells and I still see those on sale in the pound stores. They are used to find the candles in a power cut or look under the furniture for something dropped.

Mobile phones are good enough for that sort of use and they are always ready.

Spending £10 or $10 on a flashlight is an awful lot for most people.

I notice little plastic LED/3AAA torches in the local shop for £1. They’re supposed to put out 80 lumens. That’s a price and performance that suits most and they sell a lot of them.

Because its not on their mind or radar. before i got into lights i never did. Was their something wrong with me? nope. I think it is totally normal. shouldn’t expect otherwise. i personally don’t think it is normal to spend an average 2hrs a day thinking about getting more lights when i already have enough but i’m ok with that.

The reason they don’t carry flashlights is actually for us.
When light is needed and we provide the unexpected awesomeness and their expression changes to pure amazement, ours changes to a smile and we feel content that we have succeded in one of our purposes in life, at last all that money, effort and time spent has come to fruition :laughing:

Why am I believed I need more flashlight?