I rarely crawl below tables anymore. When light is needed and I don’t have my full toolkit, it;s usually an Olight on the keychain.
When going out to branch offices where I carry a backpack and have to look into false ceilings, there’s always the Convoy S2+ with LH351D. Includes a C8+ in case a long distance walk is required.
There was another post about fancy stuff being lost. That’s why anything more expensive than a Convoy S2+ is not my EDC.
Actually the blower was free. I got it from the AC guys like 40 years ago. They have lots of takeaway parts they remove from old systems. Think mine was from a small gas powered heating system.
The trick is to find a small blower. Ones from like 3 ton units are way too powerful.
Sometimes you can find a squirrel cage from some other app.
A busted blow up yard thingy from someones Halloween setup might source a good blower.
Another source (in dry climates) is an old swamp cooler blower. One of the window or small sized roof units is just perfect for this.
Haunt some garage sales to see what you can find.
The $60 is for a sheet of plywood, 2x 4” thick MERV 14 (12?) main filters and 2x 1” thick MERV 5 (8?) pre-filters, some casters to roll it around on, and a switch and cord for power (from the junk pile).
Cleaning the pre-filters every day yielded about 1/2-3/4 cup of drywall dust. The pre-filters really helps keeping the main filters from getting clogged quickly.
The design is just a box with open sides to fit the filters on opposite sides. Then the blower mounted so it can suck air through the filters. It normally sits so the air exits the top. So the clean air goes up to the ceiling and the “dirty air” can flow down the walls and across the floor to the filter inputs.
I also put some plastic feet on one side so the blower can point horizontally and blow clean air into an enclosed area - like a small room or closet if someone was working in there. Wired up a two speed switch.
The thing is really quiet. That’s the trick into getting people to use it. If it’s howling away, they can’t hear the job-site radios, which is (as far as I can tell) an OSHA requirement.
Good luck in your hunt,
All the Best,
Jeff
I find most of the ‘professional’ work comes from selling the jobs, blowing smoke up peoples asses and collecting the money.
When it comes to doing the job its get it dun and get the fuck out and hopefully no one talks to you or sees what you did.
Yes indeed in many cases.
I have watched Dell subs doing onsite repairs. I’ve seen one palm some leftover screws after “finishing” a laptop repair. He sure didn’t like me saying “You going to open it up and do it right, or am I calling my clients corporate sales rep?”
I’ve gotten Compaq desktops in with the Torx screws having cross slots crudely cut into them or mangled on the sides from vice grips.
How the heck did this happen? Says I.
The last repair guy said all Compaq’s have special screws that no one has tools for and he cut these in the heads to open it.
Or the cable installer saying I’ll put the outdoor junction box here. Where is was easiest for him to install. I told him No - you are going to put it where code requires it. If you like we can call a city inspector to sign off on your install…
Finding someone who takes pride in their work is really hard these days. Particularly in locals with boom and bust economies. During boom times anyone with a pulse gets hired. During bust times the shops with good workers have a hard time keepimg them on.
All the Best,
Jeff
Wow. Even the crappy employer I had that did HP warranty work, at least bothered to buy screwdrivers. They might’ve been the cheapest torx drivers I ever held, but they fit the screw heads (for a while anyway)
For the same reason people don’t service their own car for the mere cost of parts, clean their EGR out, or build their own high end PC…
Most humans outside the enthusiast world do not know enough about stuff, or that the really good stuff even exists unless they’ve already seen it. A cheap AAA Led Lenser or a Maglite is about the best they’re aware of.
A long long time ago I worked for a small camera retail chain. We had professional photographers and amateurs as customers. A few of the pros used Nikons or Hasselblads but many used lesser brands, cheaper cameras. We sold more Nikon’s and Hasselblads to amateur enthusiasts.
I think a lot of people are missing OP’s whole point - its isn’t that these professionals are using old or fairly crap flashlights, it’s that they’re have their cell phone as the only portable light source for jobs that basically require one.
Must have never heard “The Five Ps” before.
Wellp, one aspect of that would be the Swiss Army Knife principle. Just because it has scissors, or a screwdriver, or pliers, doesn’t mean they’re at all usable except for emergencies where it’s the only thing you got and it’s marginally better’n not having anything at all.
But these dumbos need one for the job and insist on using the SAK equivalent of a flashlight.
They were pretty good ’til they got a new drummer.
Interesting that the poster above seems to think that Nikon and Hasselblad are the best brands for a professional photog.
I would expect to see pros using Nikon, Canon, Fuji, Sony or Panasonic. All 5 brands have aspects to them that make them excellent choices for various types of work.
I’m sure there will be a few nuts using Hasselblad or Leica but their cameras/lenses seem much more specialized and some are just ludicrously expensive and surprisingly mediocre.
I think the point MtnDon is making is that novices buy big because they don’t know better, whereas professionals buy exactly what they need and they know enough to see through the marketing nonsense.
Me, I absolutely love Nikon glass, and like being able to use an old lens from the ’60s or ’70s in my D7000 (like my F/1.2 50mm primary).
The cheep come-with 18-55mm lens is phenomenal, and the 55-200mm featherweight plastic body lens is even better. I snapped a pic of a blue heron framed on the other side of a pond by a ‘V’-trunked tree on an “island” in the middle of the pond. Not only could I see the heron’s eye in the shot (at 100% crop), but I could clearly see his pupil as well.
And that was when I only had a D3000 and the cheapie 55-200mm lens!
That said, I get probably 95% of my shots with my 28-300mm zoomie, and failing that, with my 70-200mm f/2.8 when I need speed, or the aforementioned 18-55mm when I want wider landscapes or macros. Aside from maybe carrying the 18-55 separately, it’s just my camera with the 28-300 in a bag.
And I’m talking about crystal-clear shots of bugs in flight where you can count their nose-hairs.
Funny thing is, on one site where I posted a pic of a dragonfly in flight, some a-hole was “calling me out” for faking the pic, yelling “It’s photoshopped!”, etc.
Ummm, when odos are in-flight, their tuck in their legs like helicopter skids, which is exactly what the pic showed. And just for spite, I posted like 8 more in a series of pix of the little beastie.
So, yeah, for me, I looooove Nikon glass, and the compatibility with even ancient lenses.
And I agree with Ken Rockwell that cameras start to suffer “digital rot” right from when they come off the assembly line, but lenses last forever (except for maintenance once every decade or whatnot). Cameras will get bigger faster sensors, bigger faster processors, etc., that start going antiquated from day 1. But lenses are forever.
2 of my 3 coworkers dont use their cell phone anymore - got one of them a EC03 xhp50 and the other an EC01 sst40. The third’s birthday is fast approaching, she will get an EC01 as well. The wife has a Wuben C5 (great little light) for her car and a Nitecore TINI 380 lumen for her keys.
I CANNOT stand seeing people using their damn cell phone for a flashlight. Everyone i have gifted a flashlight to, has gotten it because i saw them using the phone at one point.
The guy that came to do my house inspection 1.5 years ago showed me up with my olight i3t eos at the time, my first “real” light. I was embarrassed. mostly because the switch malfunctioned when we went into the crawl space and it would stay on. I bought the thrunite tc15 and fw3a a week later. I don’t know what he had, probably a Coast or something. but it was OK. I still use the i3t eos, but now with a 10440 
as Lightbringer says: “Me, I absolutely love Nikon glass…”
i do, too. too bad they quit making rifle scopes.
Most people and tradesmen have no clue what has happened in the flashlight industry in the last 5 to 10 years. Handing those guys going to the attic a C8G isn’t going to help. Can they buy that at a local store? Can they easily carry that on their person? Can they easily recharge it? In the vehicle? If they don’t have a clue what they’re doing, can they navigate the flashlights on Amazon? If we want to help people then we can’t show them something bigger and more powerful than they really need. A home inspector might be able to utilize a c8 for daytime use but it’s probably a little more than those guys needed. Recommending stuff like the wurkkos fc11 is a good start.
I’ve use Nikon since 1968. Started with an F1, then the F3HP, D200, and now a D7200. I like that I can use all my old glass.
That being said, in DX format the 40mm macro is simply a stunning lens for well, anything that needs a 40mm lens.
A while ago I got a deal on a Canon body with a 50mm lens.
A f/1.0, 50mm lens. Depth of field is like err nothing at closer distances.
But then again, nothing beats sensor size…
When Kodak was king…
All the Best,
Jeff
And with one sweep of the hand, the industry made everything obsolete with mirrorless. IMHO, this was a disguised effort to sell more lenses as it is my understanding the old lenses are not necessary compatible.
Next time you see someone doing that, punch him. Just punch him. Hard. Right in the stomach…
That’ll learn him.
Few years ago when I was looking, I showed up mine, and the realtor. Had my MH20 and Cometa. Crawlspace, attic, backyard (at night), the MH20 had reach, and the Cometa had that nice even blanket of light.
Forgot which light the inspector had, probably a Home Despot special. Angry Blue, ringy beam, fairly bright (vs 2AA minimags), but still…
If anyone has an investment in conventional DSLRs and lenses, I doubt they’d throw out all of that and “convert” to mirrorless. I know I won’t, probably ever.
I’m not that familiar with Canon, but I think they kinda learned their lesson with the “split” between… was it EOS and Rebel? Eh, whatever. Lotta pist-off Canon folx…
As long as I got a camera-body that has screw-drive, I can still use those ancient Nikon lenses, even without all the fancy automatic stuff. And with newer lenses, I can use all those nifty features like onboard focus motors and such. And even with camera-bodies without screw-drive or anything else, those ancient lenses will still work perfectly well, albeit manual control only.
Even Nikon could only push their fanbase so far…
I can walk into a pharmacy, grocery store, hardware store, etc. right now and buy a light that will do a far better job than the one in my cell phone and not even have to spend much to do it.