I Rountinely get The Stink - eye. While at work clients tend to “Glare” at me. When eating my lunch people just “Sneer”. Other times, for no reason at all, I get “dirty looks”. Just the other day while shopping I was getting heavy “Crusties” from the produce guy. This is really starting to make me uncomfortable.
All the time!
Not just for my interest in flashlights, but also for razors, computer gadgets, car parts, knives, guns, (…) - I guess unless you are a hobbyist with the available time and money people won’t understand your passion.
It is not necessarily that family members and friends don’t like technology (they all have smartphones, tablets and stuff) but they won’t understand the amount of time, nerves, and money we go through to be on top of a hobby. Also, many of us have additional fields of interest (just look at the amazing knife thread on here) and we generally spend more time on innovative products.
Sometimes others in our circle just don’t have the time, interest, or money to “get it”…
I didn’t get a lot of stink eyes, because I didn’t let a lot of people know about my “fetishism”.
Only my family members, my girlfriend and some of my closest friends who wouldn’t judge me know about this hobby of mine, and I really don’t feel comfortable letting too many people know about it. I just don’t preach or educate people on something which they will never appreciate. 
Well, thanks to this great BLF community and some flashaholic groups in facebook, I can still live in this flashaholic world happily with all you weirdo! 
Unlike so many “hobbies” and past times, mine have something to show for them after the money is spent. Can’t say that about booze, going to sporting events, and so on. Hence, a little laughter, maybe, but no scorn.