Move to the San Francisco Bay Area… and yeah, you’ll have lots of low flying clouds that could be illuminated by a powerful thrower like a TN40S, if not a massive wall of white due to fog. 
No. LED’s do not degrade when not in use. And certainly metal should be fine as long as there aren’t any moisture sensitive parts, or inferior stainless steel that might rust. I’ve got flashlights with rubber switch boots that are from 2008 and they’re just as pliable and intact as when they were new.
Generally only electrolytic caps, as they can dry out over a decade or so.
Lights in general don’t (as in have no need to) use electrolytics.
I’d touch-up (clean and relube) O-rings, though, as they can age a bit.
I went out and got some 1½” x 1½” ziplocks for those small parts. Was the best for sorting those centering gaskets. And then the small screws for the clips, the re-flowed LEDs, and so many little ‘O’ rings.
But my storage box is getting overgrown – have to upgrade that also.
I've seen some old boxed lights that must have been in high humidity and/or heat where somehow the reflectors became tarnished badly. If a lens isn't crystal clear then it could be a film from moisture or perhaps outgassing from thermal paste, but that's easily cleaned up, whereas reflectors are probably junk if they're the vapor deposition type on the inside surface (those that use mirror paint on the outside, usually plastic, can be cleaned or rescued). Occasionally brand new fresh lights have these issues if they were assembled when it was particularly humid. While the emitters don't degrade, if that high humidity in storage permeated the light then it's possible the dome could have a little accumulated and while it should be just fine I'd run the light at a low setting for a bit, maybe with the head opened, before going full blast. If body threads were greased then you might need to clean that off and apply fresh. I've seen some side switch boots (the old cheapie tall hat types) crack from oxidation but those are easy to replace and the light functions just fine without them if need be...most of the usual silicone-esque tail switch boots seem to last forever. In the cheapest lights it wouldn't hurt to take a close look at solder points just in case they used a flux that could be slightly corrosive and didn't bother to clean it off.
I've seen your comments about this and wondered...seems like a really unfortunate hassle, and expensive when you can get them! Here's a link to your latest regulations from Dec. 2020. I think page 27 and some preceding pages spell out that they are apparently just being very strict about requirements that lithium cells/batteries/packs are installed in equipment rather than shipped loosely (along with a handful of other requirements limiting size/capacity/etc...very similar to what most countries do now). In the US we seem to have relaxed the requirements (in practice, not in regulatory words) compared to years ago, but most are shipped by ground rather than air, too, with the special labels designed to prevent accidental air flight or putting those packages on trips they shouldn't be on. That said, when I got my 26800 from Aloft Hobby in California, they arrived so quickly that I was amazed. They did not affix the lithium warning label on the box and it shipped Priority mail, which in that case meant an airplane for the first leg of the journey. That's a huge violation, not to mention potential safety risk. The second time I ordered from them, same thing. While it was nice to receive the batteries so fast, I hope it never causes an accident and they would be in deep doo-doo if something were to happen. As Jason said, it's most likely that Banggood is simply honoring the regulations of the carriers and/or governments, while other sellers are trying to dodge the laws so they can make a buck.
If you could get someone to "install" the cells in something worthy, like a flashlight or even a sturdy metal tube with insulators that prevent an electrical connection/short, then it sounds like you should be able to receive up to about a 5400mAh cell (up to four of them per parcel), if that satisfies the requirement for packaging/"installed" cells. Seems to work for most countries when they ship flashlights with included cells. Then again, you guys don't allow chewing gum anymore, either, so.....who knows. :)
https://www.singpost.com/dgguide
Not common, not normal. Blown fuse was the best indicator but it's not uncommon for there to be damage to circuits even when the fuse goes (especially true in the majority of cheap meters...so I hear). If you bought that new I would try to return or exchange it, even if it's past the return window, because it should never have been sent to you in that condition. If you're stuck with it, I'd probably just retire it and replace with a new undamaged meter, but if other functions are still working accurately then I suppose you could limit its use to only low-voltage applications like our flashlights and still be safe enough. For testing higher voltage or mains, even if you're not testing amps, I would no longer use this meter if it were me.
Just send Hank an email and he'll tell you what it did/will ship with, and if you're ordering a new light he may even be willing to flash something else if you prefer and it will work with the light. On the page for the KR4 (which I just received last week....wonderful light) he didn't specify anything other than linking to TK's repository. I was curious if it was plain vanilla Anduril or if it had been tweaked at all...replied to my email very quickly. He doesn't send any paper instructions or link to similar.
> Just send Hank an email and he’ll tell you what it did/will ship with,
I expect it ships with the d4v2 configuration from the Anduril source tree. But one thing for sure is that it didn’t ship with a future version that doesn’t exist right now. And the software keeps getting better, so it’s really good to be able to upgrade it as you go along. For that reason I definitely encourage getting the reflashing gizmo. It’s a great feature.
Thanks Correllux for your highly informative explanation. The Singpost regulations are especially useful to me.
One follow-up question: How do you all (air) travel with big flashlights, like a WT90, a Q8Pro or Convoy 7?
I assume you have to put them in check-in luggage. But what about battery cells? Leave them inside each big flashlight, but neutralize them with pieces of paper to disconnect them, the way sellers on Ali Express and Banggood normally do? Or worse, don’t bring big flashlights along when flying?
Just flew from California to DC with a Tool AA in my pocket and a 21700 in a locked out light in my carry on. No problems with TSA.
The flashlights are fine in checked baggage but typically most airlines require Li-ion batteries to be carried onto the plane whether they are loose or installed in a device. I’ve flown with a dozen Li-ion cells of various sizes in my carry-on luggage and never had an issue.
If you want to get really fancy, you can even get special fire-resistant bags intended for transporting Li-Po packs.
This might be a stupid question but is this the “ The There Are No Stupid Questions Thread”?
Couldn’t resist…
You're most welcome, TermsakC. I'm clueless on the air travel but you got good answers already. With as much as I've seen and heard over the last several years, if it were me I'd call ahead to the airline I was flying on and get their input before arrival. Better safe than sorry and sometimes airlines have slightly different rules than the general federal ones. Probably safest inside the flashlight body and insulating paper for one end is smart...then just put it where they allow or require I guess. In the backpacking/hiking world people had lots of problems and erratic results for simple items like collapsible hiking poles, tent stakes, small stove burners, etc. even though all of those were clearly discussed in the general rules.
No.
And it is also is not the "The There Are No Incorrect Answers Thread"
Haha
Did you have a good quality CDMA smart phone and have since sold it for a better phone? If you still have yours, it’s now too late. It seems that all major cellular carriers that supported CDMA (Verizon, Sprint(T-Mobile)) are no longer accepting CDMA activations AND they are phasing out CDMA support in 2022. T-Mobile in Jan, Verizon in Dec.That means… any CDMA phone will no longer be able to work with cellular networks. Smart phones at least can use WiFi. But older flip phones? Now JUNK. Useless… well, except for things like travel alarms! I have an old LG Lotus that was an amazing little QWERTY flip phone with dual LCD’s and dual speakers. Really nice sound for its size. Back when the only way to get sound files available for ringtones required the file to be sent via the cellular network, I had loaded quite a few good ones. I use that as a backup travel alarm and it’s terrific. Otherwise… now that thing won’t even be able to make Emergency Calls—no network visible at all.
edited for clarifications
I appreciate the heads up X, but could use more info please!
If this is true, I would have expected some type of notification from Verizon by now, if not months ago! How did you learn of this rather major development?
Is the phase-out period supposed to only begin this coming January, or be completed? If it's just the beginning, does your source provide a scheduled completion date?
Hopefully the rumor about the iPhone 13 having satellite capability is true. Maybe that’ll become cheaper than the regular carriers with Musk’s satellites or something.