Why do people collect flashlights?

And THAT’s what you call a collectors item hey.

Although I could do a lot more with “”potentially” $40mill.
Than a little red rust bucket.

Brightest I have is 10,000 lumens. That’s already stupid bright. I can’t imagine what those 100,000 lumen lights look like, but I bet they’re fun.

1000 lumens, 3600 lumens, 12000 lumens, 100,000 lumens. 1000 for the carry with me bag, 3600 to look for monsters with my 2 year old, 12000 because I wanted a light sabre and 100,000 because I wanted my own death star type weapon and because I could. Fun? Well, possibly. However, 100,000 is so bright a) I can only use it at that setting for 60 seconds - about as long as the death star could maintain its primary weapon for before it too melted/ran out of power, etc. 60 seonds is way too short a time to be able to use 100,000 setting. I'd want a minimum of 3 hours at that setting, however, I suspect such a torch capable of 100,000 lumens for at least 3 hours is very unlikely to be hand holdable. I'm certain it would have to be vechicle mounted because of it's size/weight. b) There are very few places I could actually switch it to that high a setting. Let's face it, switching on a 100,000 lumen light at waist level pointing down the high street is likely to cause a few road traffic accidents and blind anybody unlucky enough to be facing the torch. In time, some idiot is going to do just that! Which may result in the introduction of legislation limiting outputs and where and when you can use them, etc. However, I do have a reserve near me where you could use it that high for a very short time, before the neighbours will come out of their houses wielding large implements and yelling vociferously, streaming oaths and expletives in my general direction.

Which particular parts made you laugh and which parts resonated with you in the truth department?

I honestly don’t know why any civilian would have use for a hand-held light pumping out more than 3,000 lumens. I guess you could have a night film crew setting up hand-held flashlights on tripods strategically placed on the ground, if LED spotlights are too expensive for the budget.

I have to wonder if enough lines will eventually be crossed with massive output LED flashlights that state or federal legislation may be enacted to curb their use. This has happened with high powered lasers, where idiots & mischievous degenerates have pointed them at flying aircraft near airports.

I hope that the crack-down on lasers being pointed at aircraft is a huge over-reaction to to the actual threat. If pointing a hand-laser at an aircraft can bring it down, terrorism just became real easy. Similar to the restrictions about turning on electronics during take-off. Really? I hope the airplane designers test for that kind of stuff.

But, yeah, there’s nothing that government doesn’t like to regulate. So, I can see them banning high-output flashlights. They recently banned drones where I live, at least for all practical use. You also have to register them with the government to be put into a database. Apparently, the $30 toy drones are more dangerous than guns.

Lasers can blind people including pilots, so even though it may be unlikely, it's a real concern.

It wouldn't be a very effective method of terrorism, but it is dangerous.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lasers_and_aviation_safety

By the way, I wouldn't mind if California banned all lasers for civilians.

Lasers aren’t a grave threat to aircraft, but they are a safety concern. A high powered laser can cause eye damage to a pilot and possibly cause an accident due to the distraction happening at an inopportune moment (critical phase of flight path). Because most of it is an annoyance to air traffic and odds of taking down an aircraft is so slim, no terrorist would waste time with such nonsense.

Government regulation is necessary. If we don’t have it, we end up with a banana republic. Nobody in a first world nation wants that. But obviously, we need it balanced. Drone regulation is a whole other topic. It hasn’t been done quite right yet. Partly because the technology keeps changing. Drones from 3 years ago pale in comparison to the ones out today. It’s happening so fast. People are able to rig weapons to these things now. Civilian drones. They can drop incendiary devices. It’s… a tinder box.

Far easier and more accurate to lob a molotov cocktail where you want it.

They’re requiring people to register their $30 Costco toy drones. They need ID tags, names and addresses, etc. It’s ridiculous.

I wouldn’t want to be a bird, nowadays. Only a matter of time before they have to register themselves to the authorities.

I keep a light in the car capable of at least 5,000 lumens in the car which I use regularly for work and have used lights with three times the output when needed. I doubt that I am completely unique in this.

Wellp, people looooooove “regulation” ’til it’s their own ox getting gored.

I can just imagine… a waiting-period to get a Q8, in addition to the 3mos it takes to get one from overseas.

And “regulation” is often done as a knee-jerk (emphasis on “jerk”) reaction to something that hits the headlines and gets all blown out of proportion by The Media™ in order to lure readers/watchers. That’s why blurbs like, “10 things in your kitchen right now that can kill you!!” are such successful clickbait. (Yep, that kitchen sink! Fill it with water and stick your head in there… and you’ll die!)

Bah.

Can’t resist… When flashlights are outlawed, only outlaws will have flashlights.

But at least now you know about a cheaper shipping option! Perhaps the few minutes of hassle will be worth it in the long run.

Most advanced/developed nations have regulations/laws regarding publicly available lasers, etc. However, do you realise how difficult it is to point a moving hand held laser on the ground and actually manage to swipe it across a pilot's eyes? Sure, a multitude of variables apply, distance from, height, cockpit position, seat position in cockpit, the weather, the initial elevation of the laser itself, etc, the list is very long. I'll posit that it is virtually impossible to manage to accurately target a pilot's eyes. Indeed, in many circumstances, the case could be made that a really powerful flashlight could be much more of a danger.

Now, here's an interesting thing. Proposition: What does this say about a nation's psyche/state of mind? Small/smallish handheld lasers have a potential to cause death or injury that is so improbable as to be virtually non existant, which results in a raft of legislation outlawing certain types and heavily regulating the remainder. Number of deaths due to lasers? Don't know but suspect really, really low, like perhaps zero. Now juxtapose that with that same nation's stance/laws/regulations on firearms. The amount of laws and regulation regarding firearms seems to be proportionately less. The numbers of illegall firearm related deaths........don't know but a relatively high number. It seems that the law makers of that country have outlawed/over regulated the wrong items. This is just a casual observation - I'm not making an argument or creating a political stance.

[quote=Lightbringer]
Wellp, people looooooove “regulation” ’til it’s their own ox getting gored.

It’s a double edged sword sometimes. People can hate regulation until “not in my backyard” syndrome kicks in .

I remember something my 5th grade teacher told us: As a rule, mans a fool. When it’s hot, he wants it cool. When it’s cool, he wants it hot. Always wants it what it’s not.- Benjamin Disrarli

How often do you make use of turbo (5,000 lumens) mode? And in the application, whatever it is, wouldn’t 3,000 lumens still do the job?

You’re joking, right? A hand thrown object has far less range than a drone that can go several football fields away from the controller. A drone with camera sight… is far more accurate too. But let’s drop this now, given where things seem to be going.

I don’t intentionally “collect” lights. I got into flashlights back in 2016 when I was caught out in the dark on a trail in the middle of nowhere with my dog and had to use my crappy phone flash to get back to the car. I ended up with an EDC light, throwier EDC light, headlamp, and dedicated thrower. If I was smart I would have stopped there, but I eventually discovered high CRI LEDs and got interested in modding, and I now have dozens and dozens of lights. I have a bad habit of buying up several of the same light just so I can try different LEDs and other mods, especially if they’re reasonably inexpensive (e.g. I have about 8 FW3As). I also go through a lot of lights with my modding work, so I sometimes find myself ordering a dozen of the same one at a time. I keep meaning to pare things down a little, but never seem to get around to it.

Me, I was always interested in lights, like if anyone remembers Rat Shack coupons for free flashlights (just keep buying the batteries, haha), and got my first MiniMag waaaaay back when.

The turning point to go all hardcore was reading about those people in the WTC who had to go down alllll those stairs in total darkness, except those who used their phones’ displays for minimal light.

Nuh-uh, not for me. Got and started collecting better and more useful lights after that.

Those River-Rock (Target house-brand) lights kicked some serious arse back then, too.

Haha! Oh no. Nevermind that a lesser amount could probably still do the job just as well, that doesn't figure at all in people's thinking. Oh no, more, more and yet more. Bigger is better therefore more must be best! Whatever you have to offer, I want/need more regardless of the task it may be required for! It's all to do with marketing. If the job can be done at 3000 lumens, 5000 lumens will do it better. A 10K lumen output would do it even better still, and so on.

"....so I sometimes find myself ordering a dozen of the same one at a time." Young man, go seek professional help.