This reminds me of a bumper sticker about fishing and wives I saw in Alaska a long time ago but for our purposes I'll change the wording a bit.
My wife said that if I buy 1 more flashlight--she's going to leave me.
Gosh, I'm going to miss her!
LOL. F%&kin' flashlights, can't stop buying them. Arrrrr 
LOL :bigsmile: S)
Wife: Q: Why have you bought some many flashlights- you only have two hands?
Me: A: Then you only need one dress as you only have one body. hahahahahahahahahahaha... (I'm in the dog house now)
Sleeping on the sofa for a while?
Fortunately the assistant doesn't care as long as there's food in her bowl. But then she's permanently in the dog house but this is probably because she is a dog.
Tell my wife what I've bought lately?
Heh. Been there, done that. When I took Econ 101, they taught me to "start small, think big". That's BS. What you want to do is "start big, think big picture".
My wife doesn't understand why I, um, "need" a gazillion flashlights (she is starting to come around though - and you sort of get used to biting your lip because, clearly, cuteness trumps brightness... or something :D) but she knows that collecting flashlights is way cheaper than collecting guns or motorcycles, so flashlights it is. :)
I have a friend who collects vinyl and even if I hadn't spend so much time around engines, firearms and other fun things that will pretty much ruin your hearing, I wouldn't be able to fully appreciate a $3k phonograph record. I get that it has soul and it's analog, and all that. And I'm actually in the habit of investing in good audio equipment when I can afford it but I can't even pretend to be that much of an audiophile. I can tell the difference between a CD and vinyl on his setup (which is awesome) but I'm just not all that interested in achieving sonic perfection when mostly listen to music in the shower or in my car. :D
What I'm trying to say is, that I think it's all about perspective. This is our hobby. This is what we do. Other people have other hobbys and there's little point in trying to explain why we like the things we enjoy. A rose is a rose is a rose and a light is a light is a light, as far as most people are concerned. Sure, you can impress them with, well, pretty much any semi-decent light but as soon as they learn that it takes "special" batteries or that it costs more than a Hamilton, they'll probably lose interest. Just try to make sure you don't raid the kids' college fund and go out and buy $30k worth of flashlights (yeah, I'm slowly catching up on stuff ;)) and enjoy yourselves. :-)
True, true LOL :bigsmile:
The question isn't "How do you stop"...
The question is -- WHY?
+ a few billion. Most of my patients think I am madder than they are.
One of the consultant psychiatrists collects toy soldiers! Well, that is mad. :P
Like you say, it could be Japanese koi carp - or Israeli ones if you aren't a millionaire. A really good Japanese one can go for a couple of million.
Or it could be cameras. I used to work for a place (now defunct) that sold more Leicas than anywhere else in the UK. For their 65th/70th/75th anniversary (I can't now remember which, this was 30 years ago) they issued a bunch of gold plated ones. My boss bought several - at around $10,000 each.
And sold them for waaaay more than that.
The SLR variant was the Leica R3. Leitz (The company that made them) were owned by Wild - a Swiss company who made theodolites and were a NATO contractor. There are serious issues with being a NATO contractor - one of them is that you can only buy components from other NATO contractors (Think ISO 9000, years before ISO 9000). The appropriate NATO contractor for electronics was a company (Thankfully now defunct) called Ferranti. While the electronics were designed by Minolta in Japan (Who are not NATO contractors), they were built by Ferranti in Scotland. They were not very good - in fact they were @W$£^%$ junk. The Leica R3 cost 5x as much as the Minolta (something)700, but electronically the Minolta was roughly a million times better. Press a Leica R3 at a certain point on the base plate and it had to go back to the factory for a new set of electronics - this on a $2000 camera body. I did this more than once. The optics were incredible but the rest was a nightmare - and I hated their rep so made life hard for him.
The Leica R3 was a wonderful idea but a bit marred in the execution.
True story.
Anyway - the boss bought about a dozen of the gold-plated R3's for silly money - we got a really good deal on the price as we sold a lot of Leitz/Leica kit. Even if the R3 was a POS and gold plating it just made it a polished turd.
The gold-plated ones sold for around what I got paid in the average decade. They were not very good but were fantastically expensive and not very good. It would have been well worthwhile paying an engineering shop Swiss rates to make it take Leitz optics - you would still have been well ahead of the game. Till you saw the price list for Leica optics.
There is now one of the gold-plated Leica R3s left. And is advertised globally.
This guy (I couldn't pronounce his name in 1982 so have no chance of remembering it in 2011) flew to Edinburgh from Japan. First Class.
To take a look at this wonder camera.
Apparently, breaking the seal on the box would have halved its value. But he wanted to make sure there was actually a camera in the box. So he phoned the local hospital (Edinburgh Royal Infirmary) and arranged to have the box X-Rayed at a cost of around $400. So I went with him to ERI with the boxed camera where it was duly X-Rayed and the films given to him (This guaranteed that the electronics were now completely destroyed - the camera would no longer work). then we went back to the shop and the lunatic paid $17000 for it.
Tell that to anyone who thinks flashlight collecting is crazy.
While i probably own more lights than any six other people around here, there is not one of them that I haven't used. And there is not one of them that I'd be afraid to damage.
I can't understand the fringe collectors. Apart from anything else, I don't have that sort of money and would probably give it away if I did.
But the whisky I drink would be a whole lot nicer. Look up Port Ellen for the finest examples of the art. Unfortunately they demolished the distillery 30 years ago.
I dont want to stop forever- just a few weeks/months. Since starting this thread I've bought more lights/ batteries lol. Actually its been out of control since I joined BLF.(damn those reviews).
Example: I bought a quark xm-l yesterday after getting an email from 4- 7's. Then I had to buy batteries and I'm not even into lights that take cr123's. Then I saw DX (why I still buy from them I dont know) split my order and aren't sending my light. So I went to Kd and bought a xm-l light from them.( which I thought I had already ordered-maybe I did who knows) Day before I bought a light from Manafont.Also bought 12 eneloops and am trying to resist buying 12xx eneloops .Maybe I can deactiivate my paypal or something. I find lately that I buy everything on-line. I don't even go to shops anymore.
Is there an AA for flashaholics? I need therapy. I have to make sure I get home before my wife to check the mail. Even started getting packages sent to work. hahahaha
I spend much of my working week with addicts. Mostly alcohol, heroin and cocaine though diazepam (Valium) comes a close fourth. Chlordiazepoxide (Librium) comes a very distant fifth. All the rest (sex/gambling/porn/lights) comes way behind those 5.
Denial is the basis of the problem with all of them. And do you think I am any different? I stopped taking amphetamines, cannabis and opiates 35 years ago. Like I gave up on addictions - just don't ask about lights, caffeine or nicotine.
When I changed doctors last year they said they didn't want to continue prescribing the diazepam I'd been taking for the previous 7years. They offered to send me to the addiction program at the local hospital.
I've completely failed to be addicted to any of the apparently very addictive medication I've taken, but sugar on the other hand has an iron grip on me.
I eat very healthy, mostly vegitarian food...and then stuff my face with sweets, which rather ruins the previous good effort.
So now I don't sleep much and when I walk at night, I just happen to pass the 24hr petrol station that sells Fruit Pastels...bah!
Torches on the other hand, I can stop any time I like...hmm that reminds me, we really should try to convince the retailers to make your first one free :P
I gave my next door neighbor a pocket size light that came in a 3 pack from Costco. I'll try to post pictures tomorrow. Any way, he loves it. He walked over the over night with the flashlight and I took out a Stanley HID and started shining it on the trees in the woods. He came over today and told me he is now hooked on flashlights. He said he's going a sprinkler system repair job and buy one for himself. I told him "wait 'til you see the lights I have ordered" and his face lit up. Too funny. I turned my buddy into a flashoholic like myself. LOL
I spend much of my working week with addicts. Mostly alcohol, heroin and cocaine though diazepam (Valium) comes a close fourth. Chlordiazepoxide (Librium) comes a very distant fifth. All the rest (sex/gambling/porn/lights) comes way behind those 5.
Denial is the basis of the problem with all of them. And do you think I am any different? I stopped taking amphetamines, cannabis and opiates 35 years ago. Like I gave up on addictions - just don't ask about lights, caffeine or nicotine.
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Have had other vices in my youth. Some of which have been mentioned above (slow horses and fast women). Still have caffeine/ nicotine. Thanks Don. I will tell my wife its a healthy addiction.
Its been 12 hours since my last purchase....
In my case batteries (cells to be more accurate
) were the gateway addiction. I've allways been fascinated by batteries and never more so than when I became a Ham and started using them in my hand held radios. Then when I got into digital photography I wanted more batteries and better chargers so that I could get the most 'run time' from my flashguns.
It was while researching good AA chargers that I discovered that other big forum and now I find myself with a growing collection of lights ranging from hardware store cheapos to the brass and titanium lovelies that I've become so enamored of. Two more arrived today
, and I orded two more hosts from Solarforce-Sales just last night!
It has become less compulsive and is now more considered and deliberate, but I can easily identify with the OP. It is slowing, and I hope to slow it even further, to the point where I only get an occassional new one without giving one away as well. Here's hoping, anyway...
I smoke electric cigrettes most of the time. I still have three or four "real" cig a day though. I don't fell like my flashlight addiction is a major problem (denial?).
I also don't have a problem with the alcohol, only without.
+1.....I've been using e-cigs for about a year, and haven't had a 'normal' cigarette for ages. Compared to the cost of a cigarette addiction budget lights do not even rate. This place would be awash with some very expensive lights indeed if I spent on them like I used to with 'the dreaded weed'.
I never really liked much those e-cigs... I'm going to stop smoking soon probably. Did manage a 2 full year and a half of non smoking but eventually managed to piss in the wind direction again. :/
Alcohol? Yeah, rearely but yea... I did celebrate the new year with schweppes bitter lemon because me and wife were both half asleep and no1 did care to drink or even bother to open some sparkling wine... :P
I have a severe addiction to rubber like candys. The most known are perhaps from Haribo. The sour hard coated version is heavily preferred. I cannot resist those. It's been like a 25 years constant addiction (25 years ago i started recieveing pocket money and i spent much of it on those candys). It must have been 10 tons of those already... :/
I tried buying an expensive one to stop buying torches. Now I have many more expensive ones..... Well that worked well...
I also dont buy torches the day I find them (from shops). So far I spend on average at least a month thinking about a purchase before even coming close to buying one. Doesnt work because I end up buying torches on BST forums when good deals come up and the impulsive has to take over to secure a deal (such as second hand D10s for $40). The other problem is I wait soo long with stores that they actually go out of stock, and I end up buying them for more money from BST forums. (eg. Nitecore Defender Infinity Siver limited edition, $57 from HK with box, spare switches, polishing cloth, lanyard, orings... Out of stock, I ended up buying a second hand one torch only, no box and acc. for $55)
So whatever technique you use to try to stop spending, you will almost always end up finding a way around it, but you wont notice it till its too late because you feel protected by the concept of the original technique (such as not buying for a month, but end-up spending way more in the end).
The only way is to simply Not buy any torches. (mmm... might be able to pay other people enough to gift them for you )