Just trying to find an age appropriate hobby that doesn't involve treating my beat up old body like an amusement park ride anymore.
To me, flashlights were what they were when I was a kid.. these big, fat things that ate batteries and spat out an ugly, dim light. I could never afford the batteries for them, so that was that. They were a tool I couldn't afford, and I wasn't really saddened by the loss.
Then a couple years ago I was in HK visiting my girlfriend and happened across the ultrafire flashlight stall (I actually have some more recent pictures of it posted here). I didn't know a cree from a birthday candle, but I bought a great little light using some unheard-of battery and started carrying it everywhere.
It's amazing how much use you get out of a flashlight when you have one on you, isn't it?
Eventually my little twisty light needed a replacement and I kinda.. went overboard. I met this group of pirates, villains and ne'er-do-wells while trying to learn more about QTC pills, and went over-overboard. Now I've got 7 good lights (1x 16340, 2 x 18650, 4 x AA / 14500) that cover me from 'don't bump your toe in the dark' to 'I'm lost on the north shore mountains' with only a couple redundancies.
Lights are a guy thing .. right up there with sharp pointy stuff or thing that go bang or fast scary stuff .it's inbred ,it's in the genes .. look at foy he's only 3 years old and has all those lights ..It starts with wanting to read comics under the covers and then having your boy scout flashlight ,to looking under the 300$ peice of junk car to try to fix it .to spotting the elusive horned owl ,and then to finding your keys .
The fact that led technology has increased drasticly in the last 5 to 10 years means that all those little boys who pick up a light now all say the same thing ...WOW !!!
The fact that they start at 10$ and max out at about 100$ looks very interesting to guys who remember spending over 1000$ on a set of wheels and tires .
Whether it's turning on a light bulb or lighting up a flashlight it doesn't make that much difference we all do it 1000 times a day .how many times have you used your phone as a flashlight ? 250 lumens focused just works a whole lot better .
BUAH HA HA HA HA HA HA HAAAAAA
My step-daughter rolls her eyes an says in a sarcastic voice, "the power of light in your hand".
But hey, it's true. With a good flashlight in my hand I wield the power of light over darkness. It's man's most primal fear conquered. With one of my custom lights in my hand I am a god! Muah hah hah hah!!!
And Johnny said, "let there be light", and there was light. And Johnny saw the light and that it was good, and Johnny divided the light from the darkness.
;)
...and then Johnny switched back to medium to avoid burning his hands and killing his runtime... :P
I can quote scripture too, you know!
I am finding out that there is a right tool for the job and that finding it is part of the fun. I am still looking for the right flashlight for great runtimes and low output, but I have threads on that. :)
Just throwin this out there , but my runtime king is a AA Minimag with the 3 led low output dropin . Blue beam , but on alkies it'll run for days ...
I have a 2AA 3LED Mag in the car for a light when needed. Good ole' Mag's, they may not be the brightest things around but they are good lights. That light is too large for my pocket, that is why I am thinking single AA. :)
I got into flashlights because I'm into camping, survival and tools for Every Day Carry (EDC). Similar to packing water, a multi tool, or a first aid kit, a source of light is an essential survival tool.
I didn't set out to 'collect flashlights'. But I've started to accumulate a few different flashlights because of buying various lights trying to find the right one that fits my needs. I give away the ones I don't use, to family and friends.
I was given a LED light 10 years ago as a gift. It was pretty nice. Years later I read about how much they've improved. LED emitters are so much brighter and more energy efficient now. So I bought a couple lights on DX that were well reviewed.
From there I've started looking at other lighting gear for camping. Like LED lanterns, head lamps, angle head lights, and glow tubes.
My main challenge is finding lights with the longest run time, low power mode, and most efficient use of power. All this of course at a budget price point.
I use my lights for my outdoor adventures like Hiking, climbing and camping.
As a kid, only have a plastic flashlight given to me by an uncle as I could not affor expensive ones. A maglite has been my dream light as my older brother describe to me the power of a Mini mag AA after camping in boyscout.
Flashlights has its usage so collecting them was already justified for me.
First off they are great tools to have and it always nice to be the “hero” when it is dark. Secondly BLF shows you an inexpensive alternative to high dollar lights. I have had to put additional firearms and photoequpiment on hold due to finical strain. I still need something to do and I like good flashlight so here I am.
I love that this forum shows you how to get a quality light for little money and also this can be a budget hobby if you keep it within reason. :)
Everything I have gets used on a regular basis or it's sold or given away. Knives, tools, MTs, lights. Keeps the collection from getting... unwieldy.
... Never would have seen them being linked hobbies, but I too am into both. Just a couple of old Gillette adjustable DE for now (a like new example of the one on the bottom right in jacktheclipper's pic above) but a nice Merkur is definitely a future purchase for me.
Got into flashlights ages ago as a kid, saved my allowance and bought a 5D grey plastic incan from radio shack. Discovered maglites, went from mini's to D's. Drooled over cop friends streamlights and surefires but never had the cash. A friend told me about DX and surfing through that site discovered that LED flashlights were more than just pathetic little 5mm diodes. My paypal was put to work and I was hooked. Lurking here and at CPF I kept reading and learning and started a little bit of modding (swapping in an R2 into a 3xaaa with a 3 mode driver) and then moving onto an SST90 on a copper heatsink in a 4D mag driven at 10amps.
Trying to decide what to do next, maybe 3xXML in another Mag or maybe an HID or ??? Either way it is great fun to turn night into day and surprise the hell out of people not used to high power lights when you click it on.
my obsession enjoyment of flashlights is ingrained in my youth..I still remember grabbing that crappy 2 D cell plastic thing that my parents called a flashlight and going into the bush exploring..these days I still find great satisfaction in lighting up the dark..greatest thing ever as far as i'm concerned..
When my father asked me, "Why do you collect lights?", my answer was, "Why not?"
It's not as if my entire expenditure on lights/batteries/chargers/holsters/accessories/light meters/other stuff I can't remember just now would cost as much as he spends on changing his car every couple of years. Me I hate travel, but enjoy arriving enough to put up with it most of the time - I drove less than 6000km last year. And flew less than 2000km. And walked farther than I flew.
One definition of a nerd/geek is someone who spent more on his computer than his car. I own at least 3 computers that cost more than my car. And my light (and accessories) collection cost a lot more than my car. In fact probably cost more than my last 3 cars combined. And all the motorcycles i have ever bought.
But this time of year we don't get much darkness. Sunrise today was around 4am and sunset will be around ten minutes from now. It will not actually get as dark as it was around noon (When it rained - again!) till around midnight. It will be light enough to get around easily at about 3am.
That said, yesterday I had 4 XM-L lights at full output lit in my already brightly lit office. Not because I wanted or needed the extra illumination, but because I wanted to run a bunch of cells down so I could test my new charger.
With each new purchase, Theres the excitement of receiving it, but then another one has features that look useful, and then the mass research begins again! in an effort to justify the next one.. Putting the appreciation of the engineering and some functionality aside, It must be said that there's also some fun in the chase.
I was thinking of this as a new thread, but did a search and found the question had already been asked, so here it is resurrected.
I like a lot of the answers above. The primordial fear of the dark, the power of light, things we had as kids and try to fill a perceived lack from then.
Something more though. they are really cool tech now. Not just plain simple battery tubes with a bulb and switch anymore. That design filled a basic need, but today’s lights are far beyond what most people require or can really use.
To me, they are useful, look cool, feel good to use, and work on mysterious electronic principles to coax amazing amounts of light out of small cells and tiny diodes in ways that not many years ago I could not have imagined possible outside of science fiction movies. How can I not love that? I admit it, I’m a tech junkie. Lights just happen to be cool and very useful items too.
Now, when is the new TrustFire Phaser due out? No that it matters, I’m sure it would be banned in Australia anyway 