For the sake of gatekeeping the interest/hobby of flashlights versus that of consumerism, upon philosophy and analysis

It can become obsessive at times, but for me, I have sold off much of my collection and am now down to just few lights that I really like. It was fun while it lasted but I really don't like hoarding things and we like to keep our house simple and tidy

Oh, I will be the first to admit I'm the ultimate material guy. I have the makings of a very fine hoarder in me. If I buy one, another always follows. Pretty bad actually. I did and do love to mod but now excellent production lights outstrip anything I could mod. Plus I've been away and... ahem... am "modernizing the fleet." Yup, I'm an addictive personality all right! Doesn't *make* it right.

I finally did find out after a lifetime I have high functioning autism. (Asperger's) We are known for this kind of thing, weird hobbies, hyperfocusing on one thing and not to mention really shitty to nonexistent social skills.

Comments on this? Maybe we've all got it!

lightbringer, are you saying out of the 6 you mentioned, none of the other ones can be used in the place of another? What specific purposes do you have for each?

anon, collecting depends on the means. If you collect bugs its different from collecting funkopops from the store. One you have to do, the other anyone can do. You bring in factor such as CRI and flood and UI, but realistically, why would you want something with a bad CRI or a bad UI? The function of it, like a thrower vs a flooder is different, but how many lights do you need that are that different from the purpose that having another one is indispensable? This is hypothetical there is no right and wrong answer. How many of them can be used in the place of another?

I only asked myself after losing my prized 18350 219b with custom lens and flashed firmware. I was waiting for the FW3A but it never came. In the meantime I used what I had, and found that a AAA can be a very good replacement for the uses I had for it. I have a thrower as well but I don't use it very often and probably don't need it, will probably give it to one of my friends. The AAA cannot be used in its stead, but I do not need to use it anyway. I used a AAA with l,m,h and it did not throw very far, but it clipped on my hat, had a good CRI and color, I carried extra batteries for when it died, and I replaced it with an AA that had pretty much the same function except it was whiter. I have 18650s that are rarely used (got them for free from reviews) and sadly I lost a few of my treasured lights but I did not replace them because I did not need them although I would love another 18650 headlamp or other kind, I don't think I will buy one for a while until I really think mine are insufficient (since I lost the AA light, maybe I will get tired enough of swapping batteries soon).

klrman, have you heard of marie kondo? She was the one that initially inspired me to rethink my purchasing.
dorpmuller, I don't think that modding is the same as simply buying, because you are active in doing something that is harder than pressing buy. If you modify them its different because you are actively engaging in something that others don't do. I also have autism so its easy for me to go into extremes. But at one point when you are messing with your lights, will you think that the material goods don't really make you happy? If they do, continue and be happy. I lost my favorite light and changed because I realized I did not need it. It is nice to have but it becomes a burden at one time. I bought lights such as the UV nichia and even put in the black glass to it, but I gave it away to a friend that works on cars, and some of my 18650s I gave away because they didn't even have one while I had many, and having more than one flashlight is like having more than one cell phone to me. I use one to play music, one to read on and one as my phone, But if I had to only have my regular phone, I would lose out on some benefits but mostly it would be intact, I would still be able to use it to read and listen to music, just not as much as I liked on the other ones.

I think more pass-arounds would cut back on a lot of buying.

One thing I see connecting flashlights and audio is the difficulty of trying at home. So many lights look great on paper… and that’s not getting into the crappy lights with falsely advertised specs.

I think a lot of EDC stuff is hobbyism too. Some other flashlight stuff is technical & toys (like mega throwers).

As a definition, a hobby is an activity or interest pursued for pleasure or relaxation and not as a main occupation.

Now unless the activity or interest pursued is naturally available or free for the taking, I reckon some kind of money is going to change hands. I also imagine that collecting, regardless of what it is, is a hobby as well. Again, money will probably change hands unless your hobby is being a thief. But maybe thievery would be a main occupation which would take it out of the hobby category. I don’t know, never tried it.

A hobby doesn’t have to be something we do as a means to an end. It’s just something someone enjoys doing. Obsessively collecting lights, in my opinion, is just a step taken along the way. I was guilty of it. Buying every light I could. Don’t have many of them left but, it was fun trying out all the different features of decent lights. Maybe I have gotten picky. Now I buy lights that I know I don’t have to do any work on. I have modded many lights to my liking. I don’t go out and buy the latest and greatest unless it’s already how I like it. Needless to say I don’t buy many lights anymore, focusing on using the ones I already have. I think I have bought maybe 4 or 5 lights in the last 3 or 4 months.

I guess I have a choice of buying lights or making my own lights. Making my own would require expensive equipment and a steep learning curve to master. As it is now, each time everyone of us buys a light we keep the circle of money moving. From the company hosting the sellers to web site, to the seller him or herself, electricity, transportation, delivery, etc……all making money and thriving off of someone, somewhere, buying something. If everyone could make everything they ever needed there would be no need for anyone.

Buying things keeps billions employed. Taking care of their families and trying to live a good life. Just think of all the different people that are employed and provide a service so we can all post our opinions on BLF. Look at ham radio. A hobby that keeps entire companies thriving and employing many.

I assume the world of capitalism would continue without people spending money on hobbies. How much fun would that be? Only buying necessities. We only have so long on this planet. We take life as it’s given to us and hopefully leave it a better place. I stick to the little things and let those smarter than me figure out the rest. Still, I will be dead before them or I ever figure it out.

No new flashlights in the pipeline, but many projects to modify them, which is not much different, considering I’ve bought or ordered quite some stuff like LEDs, solder and thermal paste, tools etc. Next step would be driver modification; already programmed AVRs, build constant current circuits etc. :weary:

I guess quitting this hobby means leaving BLF and TLF, as both platforms give too much momentum towards collecting. But then I’m really an addict. It was pocket calculators before. Highly interesting stuff, but it all takes too much time and makes no sense really.

When I’m depressed, I buy something online so that, in a few days, I’ll be happy again.




Not really. But it sure does seem to be how a lot of people behave, across all sorts of different hobbies. It’s kind of a defining trait of capitalist consumerism.

I think it is usually about rewarding yourself with little reasonable priced things, and that involves several things - also it’s safe to say in any sort of ‘excessive’ hobby (that’s most of us on here) there’s a high chance we all have autism or some very mild disorder, to some degree or another (it can literally be barely noticeable in regular life or the polar opposite, in fact we are all autistic, it’s just ‘how’ autistic on a scale you are).
Browsing / buying / researching - we enjoy it usually, this can take a good deal of time…… :person_facepalming:
Waiting for it to drop through the letterbox - we both love it and hate it :smiling_imp: :smiley:
Getting it ‘in hand’ - short-lived joy, maybe a a day, maybe a week - rarely longer (FW3a is an exception) :person_with_crown:
Back to the first step. :cry:

Also it is a fact that poorer people replace the things wealthy take for granted like several holidays a year, new cars,expensive watches, expensive toys - with little things, like flashlights etc on a budget they can afford.
We all reward ourselves, it’s just relative to income.

I don’t think flashlight enthusiasts would purposely want low CRI but sometimes people prefer better tint, more lumens, or they want a thrower which are typically not high CRI. Also UIs can be different without being bad. I love Andruil and wish every flashlight had it but there are still many lights with spaced modes and decent UIs that I would not mind using. Also there flashlights that use magnetic rings/rotaries.

If I stopped buying lights after having one sufficient one then I would have stopped after my first one. And actually I did. I only got into flashlights once I decided to buy a second. I don’t have a large collection of flashlights by any means but it is definitely more than I need. If I were to only buy the bare minimum then I might as well quit this hobby. I got into flashlights because I find them interesting and they have a practical purposes. I do try to be intentional about the lights that I purchase but I’m also not trying to avoid consumerism at all costs either.

+1

Most of my collection has been bought since a car accident 6 years ago, which left me in chronic pain. So I’ve been depressed a lot. Many get used walking dogs and feeding the horses at night. Only my Astrolux MF04 hasn’t been out of the house yet.

I also like tinkering with things and flashlights are relatively simple, bulb, battery and switch. So swapping drivers, LEDs, reflectors or lenses are easy and gives me something to do. It can help take my mind off the pain.

I’d never buy anything because it’s the latest and greatest thing, hence the MF04 and not a GT :wink:

So happy to see you post this thread and open up the discussion, especially on BUDGET light forum.

We are destroying our planet, and mass consumerism, industrialization, fast fashion and mass consumption is a huge part of that equation that leads to horrible diets, malnutrition, deforestation, pollution, and global warming.

My general issue with material goods in the present time is that quality is decreased in order to make a product cheaper and more affordable. This means that low quality products that will simply not last as long and fail, are being sold in much higher quantities. A 15$ shirt from H&M will look like crap after a few washes, meanwhile a $70 Lululemon shirt is perceived as expensive and even overpriced, but outlasts and feels like new after every wash, ultimately reducing the environmental footprint and long term cost of the item.

Personally, I follow 2 rules to help reduce my environmental impact and still feed my material desires.

  1. I avoid buying cheap products where planned obsolescence or lack of quality will put the product into the landfill.
  2. I try to keep the number of lights I own down to a minimum, and to justify a new purchase, I sell a light that I seldom use.

I’d rather own 1 good $100 light, instead of 5 cheap $20 lights.
The ongoing challenge that we see with flashlights, computers, cell phones and tech in general, is that technology is always advancing, so we have this constant need to upgrade our existing material goods to the newer and better product. I try get around this by modifying my flashlights instead of upgrading. Or holding onto my cell phone for atleast 4-5 years before upgrading.

The last point I want to address is the lumen war. Lights are getting brighter and brighter, but these super high turbo’s are not sustainable, and the technology being used in 1000 Lumen lights from 2 years ago is almost identical to those being used in the same 4000 Lumen pocket rockets today. I try not to fall into this marketing push for lumens because I know that a compact EDC light can’t sustain much more than 500 constant lumens anyways. So if the “Turbo” is 1000 lumens, or 9000 Lumens, yeah, its cool for 30 seconds, but doesn’t really add much value if the light overheats almost instantly.

A candle can be used in place of a flooder if you’re desperate enough. And you can dig a ditch with a soup ladle if so pressed, too. Doesn’t mean they’re the best tools for the job, though.

I already mentioned what I generally use them for, and it’s nice being able to have that selection right there vs vainly trying to use a flooder to light up something fairly far away, etc. Going down the basement for something, I could use my ’micro instead of my E03 with diffusion-film, but it’d be nigh useless for lighting up the entire area in front of me unless I cranked it up and used ceiling-bounce instead.

Hmm. Not sure I got an actual question out of that. Maybe just taking a general consensus of how we reflect on our own potentially expensive and time consuming hobbies while taking into account how consumer culture can fan the flame.

I collected comics and cards as a kid, then nothing for many years, and now have modest piles of camping equipment/survival knives/flashlights etc.

Most of these things make me happy. I like to use the stuff, talk to friends about it, and be able to lend or give people good quality stuff.

However, I recognize I would probably be happier and wealthier if I just stopped. Not because the items are too expensive, but my time and space in my apartment is to expensive. Less clutter, more time concentrating on work and relationships. Not that those things are going poorly, but I could do better, and still keep a couple nice items.

So far I just haven’t done it and it’s become a form of procrastination. Maybe will revisit this topic later.

Good luck,

Same here.

Back in the day, lights generally sucked. Unavoidable blinkies in the main cycle, hateful Angry Blue™ emitters, you name it. You’d buy a complete ’501 or ’502 only for use as a host, not as a complete light, because the innards sucked so bad, but everything else was pretty decent (body, pill, reflector, switch).

(But even then, whole lights started getting crappier and crappier, so that no longer applied anymore.)

Now? You got some kick-ass lights right off the rack, with good UIs, good emitters, and so on, and can pick’n’choose what you want. No doubt BLF was a big push in that direction, as well as mfrs like Sofirn and Convoy who listened and raised the bar.

While I know I still can mod a light, it’s quite nice and refreshing to not have to.

I can’t and won’t waste my time on picking up a garbage light to try to “fix it up”.

aka “Retail Therapy”.

Now you got it!! I love Anduril BTW... best thing that ever happened to lights.

Quote snip: "...Some people simply buy lights, but obsessively so. It is a materialism problem, ..."

I like to collect lights. They are not free, so I have to buy them So, I simply buy lights.So, people who like to collect lights, but have to buy them, have a materialism problem?

What if people collect lights, but have to buy them, and it is not a "materialism problem"?

Please see: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/59761/159

As far as hobbies go, flashlights are usually somewhat low on the scale for overall expense and impact. They’re typically pretty small, not expensive (unless you get into custom premiums), and last a long time. It still ties into the problem of consumerism and waste, but many other hobbies are a lot worse.

Of course, some are also a lot better… lower cost per hour and less effect on the planet. Knitting, for example. Or reading. Gardening. Writing.

So there are definitely some points to be made about the larger problems involved, but this particular hobby doesn’t really stand out in the big picture.

For the sake of gatekeeping the interest/hobby of flashlights versus that of consumerism, upon philosophy and analysis…

My you have a purty mouth. I wish I could put my brain in gear like that again. This has got to be one of the most intelligent, intellectual topics to ever surface here. The respondents are all of equal intelligence, and BRAVERY, stating their difficulties and overcoming them. I don’t believe them for one second that they suffer from their stated , for a lack of a better word, handicaps. The respondents are eloquent and thoughtful. After working in an environment of challenged people for over 30 years, I can’t see why those people couldn’t overcome the same way those of you have. Maybe the key is flashlights.

I’ve been a little ocd/adhd since getting shot in the head. I had different collections since the injury but it seems I would phase one out to make room for the next. I’d keep the collection in one spot to avoid losing pieces. And the house is fairly empty so there’s no hoarding component. I’m probably a little maniacally depressed since I love the reward of getting that package in the mail then I sink into a funk when I realize I didn’t pay the bills first. Then I buy something to make me happy again, and the cycle starts again.

Thanks to everyone here. It helped understanding what’s going on in my head