3 cardboard boxes. One holds extra batteries, both charged and discharged. One for old hot wire lights. And one for the current crop of LEDs, excluding the 8 or so that are scattered about the house.
Been thinking about something better, but can’t decide what that might be…
All the Best,
Jeff
Lights are tools. They are meant to be used. I have several wrenches I have heated and bent or twisted because they do a specific task more easily that way. Socket extensions that have been cut and welded together with a pipe extension. All sorts of customized or bastardized depending on ones outlook. The list includes a small light I filed a groove into to make finding the side switch in the dark easier, as well as an S2 with a magnet epoxied to the end.
I have to disagree. Lights are tools but what kind of tool is the Acebeam X50 or any light that has off the chart specs? Most of the lights on the market are really nothing more than novelty lights to wow your friends. We basically are attracted to the high horsepower and low price and we buy them under the guise of needing them. Nobody needs an X50, or an MF04S, or any a light that can throw a mile (or two.)
In your tool box you have a ratchet, a set of wrenches and a vice grip. You don’t have an air powered jack hammer with compressor to match?
30 years ago we got by just fine with a 2D Eveready flashlight, now we “need’ an Acebeam X50. We ”need’ 10,000 lumens and 1,000,000 candela. People walk their dog with a 20,000 lumen light when a S2+ would work just fine.
Need and Want are two separate things not to be confused with each other.
Having said that, its noon in NY now and I really want a burger from Shake Shack.
I keep all mine pristine… unless/until it ends up with a ding, and then it becomes a “beater”. I still don’t abuse it, but I don’t cry myself to sleep if it falls again and gets another ding.
If I were a mechanic or plumber or whatever, and had a work light, it’d be a different story. It’d be functional, and I wouldn’t get a special color, certainly not Ti or Cu or brass or anything. And it’d probably be a throwaway light in case it ever went kaboom after a fall. And past a certain point, I wouldn’t care if it got greasy, or scraped, or dented, etc.
But you can keep an EDC pristine if it’s always in a pocket, or holstered, and you don’t go using it as the puck when playing street-hockey. But then again, that wouldn’t be a work light.
Think of watches. You can have your old beater that takes a licking and keeps on ticking, even if you’re banging it on pipes and on the ground, etc., but that ain’t the same watch you take when going out to a nice place to eat.
Absolutely! Been my mantra for decades, though I may have sretched a want into the need column once or twice.
But I have a 120VAC 15 amp Bosch Brute Breaker Hammer in the barn. Does that count? 
My most powerful light is a Q8 with bypassed springs. First run edition. It has a mark from sometime that I don’t recall. My EDC is an FW3A showing anodization wear from being carried everywhere in a pocket. My other frequently used light is a Wuben TO50R that also has a few slight abrasions from being used outdoors. Not a big deal to me. Oh, my LT1, another first edition still looks pretty good after being used a number of times. But to me those are all tools, not growth investments. Okay, I do have a few duplicated lights in OEM boxes. And a few others in a cabinet and those I keep clean and pretty; copper and S/S X6 is very pretty. I don’t have a lot like that though. Occasionally I use one for a gift. It is nice to have a new one in a box for that.
I have one watch that leaves my wrist when I shower. It is water resistant to a certain number of feet, so I don’t know why I remove it then. ??? Habit I guess. It’s a 10 year old Timex. Silver with a white face; dial lights up when stem is pressed so I can see it in the dark or want to impress little kids. Cost $28 back then. If my wearing it everywhere annoyed somebody that is their problem. Certainly does not faze me.
Still happy with this cabinet from Amazon;
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008UQKOQQ?psc=1&redirect=true&ref\_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00
Currently holding 81 Flashlights of various sizes.
Here is my thread from back then with some other options mentioned by members;
Later,
Keith
Now we’re talking! I actually meant the thread (older?) with cigar boxes and thought i’d linked it.
This is much nicer than what I posted, I’m definitely putting a price watch on that. Thanks!
edit, the spinny thing for the small ones is a great idea too
edit 2, ordered, good price, not too fancy and not too cheap looking
Mine are on a couple shelves of what’s supposed to be a bookshelf. That spice box/shelf thing the OP pictured looked neat until I noticed it said it was rated for 10 lbs. No way that’ll work. I really outta take a pic or two…
I built this cabinet to showcase my BLF GT when the very first batch was released.
The box joint style construction is my friend’s design using his CNC machine. I made the stickers on a color printer and the decals on a vinyl cutter.
I wanted it to look like a one-off purpose built cabinet that had been mounted in a busy factory for several years, so I beat it up and weathered it.
I built a more traditional style cabinet for some of the small and medium-sized lights in my collection.
Click the photos to embiggen.
1 Thank
Wow, you really love that light don’t you :cowboy_hat_face:
What are you using to light up the inside and how did you weather it and get those faded decals?
If I laid my whole collection on a table, I’m pretty sure the GT is the first flashlight anyone would notice. I figured it deserved a showcase. 
The cabinet was painted with yellow and black enamel spray paint, then tossed around and hit with a variety of objects. I weathered it with a few different colors of very dilute acrylic paint to highlight the defects.
The decals are printed on self-adhesive paper using a color laser printer. I weathered them with coffee and abrasion.
For these photos, I turned the GT on a low mode and hid a small AAA light behind the handle. I want to add some lighting but haven’t yet decided how.
I got a lot of inspiration for weathering from Adam Savage and the storage case he made for his microscope:
Wow, that is very impressive and i admire your dedication to this project! 
Goshdogit, that’s outstanding work!
Coloring reminds me of the band corrosion of conformity.
Thorough!
Mostly I store flashlights where I might need them: one or two beside each entry door to my place, a couple on the nightstand, one near the bathroom (in case power fails at a critical time!), and a few (including headlamp) in the car. I also keep one EDC in my pocket and another in my daypack. Besides that, I have a few shelf queens, batteries, and so on stored in dedicated kitchen cabinet. I am not really a collector. I own fewer than twenty lights in all, so I wouldn't get much use out of a display cabinet.
So, I think we are in the same boat. Many flashlights, and the need to display them. Throwing them in a box is ok, but you want to be able to see them. So how do you store 100, 200, 300 flashlights? This is the main question.
Digital picture frame? 
Thanks for the kind words, guys! Adam has lots of great builds and I have learned lots of cool tips just from watching him work.
I built the cabinet out of scrap and things I had lying around. I am certainly fortunate to have a friend with a big CNC machine, and he just happened to be experimenting with some joinery techniques by cutting into the face of the material. This one resembles a box joint, but leaves some voids where the fingers meet.
I think it looks cool, and it even allows for ventilation.
I agree, I like them on display. I have a few ideas:
How about the IKEA BILLY bookcase with the optional glass doors? They’re only particleboard though. You might find one cheap on craigslist.
IKEA has several other ‘display cabinet’ options.
A sturdier, classier option is a ‘barrister bookcase.’ They’re still made, but the good ones are antiques. Most of them have doors that lift and slide on top of the shelf. Some have dual sliding doors that pass each other, like closet doors. Most of them are very easy to move because they’re made of independent units simply stacked together. Check craigslist or antique stores and malls.
Another idea is a vintage ‘curio cabinet’ or ‘China hutch.’ Older ones are plentiful since folks don’t show off their knick-knacks and dishes that way anymore. I find most of them a bit gaudy, but I’ve seen some simple ones too. Check craigslist and thrift stores.
Upper kitchen cabinets with glass doors might be a good option. You could hang them on the wall or even stack a couple and make a base for them.
Goshdogit, I like your IKEA book cabinet idea for storing/showing your (selected!) collection of flashlights. Do install some lights for illumination, so that friends and visitors can admire them if and when they visit in the evening.
This is my plan, too. But I don’t have that many interesting flashlights to show just yet.
The IKEA is nice. Capacity vs price seems to scale well vs the wall unit I ordered. If I had enough to fill it that would have been better.