Not me. There is a reason things are termed “loaners”. LOL!
I have loaner lights, knives, bicycles even guns. I wouldn’t loan out my carbon fiber road bike to anyone even for a ride I was going on. It’s too expensive and if they mistreat it, the frame can be destroyed. One small crash or even just letting the bike fall over could put a hole or crack in the frame if it hit a sharp rock. It’s not something people who don’t have carbon bike know or worry about. An old steel or alloy bike can be dropped and might get dented but will still be safe to ride and not totaled.
Same goes for guns, I wouldn’t loan out my vintage minty S&W revolvers because I know people wouldn’t treat them with respect. They would flick the cylinder closed and spin it like in the movies. I once almost loaned a nice blued S&W to my brother but before he even got it out of my sight he put a large nick in the finish and I took it back. I handed it to him and he laid it down to put away and then tossed another gun right on top of it in the case! He put a nice chip in it that instantly dropped the value by 20% and ruined an otherwise pristine 60 year old gun. For 60 years people have taken care of it and not done stupid things like that and he messed it up in less than an hour.
Same with lights but I’m less worried about finish on them and more worried about LiOn cells and drivers/emitters getting damaged. I loan out AA/AAA lights unless they are in my line of sight. If someone can screw something up, they will find a way. I’m more concerned with them hurting themselves with the LiOn lights than with them getting damaged. Most of my lights are budget and none hold sentimental value like my guns, knives and bikes.
At some point I had to borrow a flashlight. And I know that I am very responsible when I have something that is not mine (And would pay if something is broken or missing).
I could loan a flashlight to somebody, but only those who really know what it is, how it works, what it costs, how to take care of it, etc… Then I guess they have to look a lot like a BLF member, that in the real world are few
Well, I don’t have any expensive lights, but that doesn’t mean that I cannot like them very much, right?
I would not loan a light that needs rechargeable lithium cells, and I would not loan my favorite lights.
Like my EDC L2m - I can’t give that to someone else. It may not as personal as loaning one of my tin whistles, but it’s quite close.
Some of my friends are a little ’ ham-fisted’ (what a strange phrase. I looked that up in a dictionary, is that one actually in use? ), so if they would break anything that looks expensive, I would have to hear about how sorry they are for ages. Who would want that?
Same goes for guns, I wouldn’t loan out my vintage minty S&W revolvers because I know people wouldn’t treat them with respect. They would flick the cylinder closed and spin it like in the movies. I once almost loaned a nice blued S&W to my brother but before he even got it out of my sight he put a large nick in the finish and I took it back. I handed it to him and he laid it down to put away and then tossed another gun right on top of it in the case! He put a nice chip in it that instantly dropped the value by 20% and ruined an otherwise pristine 60 year old gun. For 60 years people have taken care of it and not done stupid things like that and he messed it up in less than an hour.
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If you offered me that gun I would have been smart enough to say NO. I’m a bit ‘care free’ with my things so using people’s expensive bits is not something I do often unless I hand it back to the right away
I gave a really expensive light to one of the female deacons at our church to use for a project……when it was time to return it, her response was “I don’t know where it is, I must have laid it down somewhere”. On another occasion, I gave an Inova T3 (several years ago, cost: $70)) to the (female) security guard at our office building. Since it used CR123 batteries, I figured she would tell me when she needed batteries, as I told her to….so a few weeks later, I asked her if she needed batteries. “I threw it away when the batteries died; I thought it was disposable”. ??? So now, I only give lights, never loan them……and, with rare exceptions, I only give low-to-mid priced lights……
but I did give our youth pastor a Trustfire TR3-T6, several 18650s and a charger- he’s a budding flashaholic
I usually hand out stuff i won't care if they beat it up ..like a 20$ Xiaozhi or convoy S2...and only for the evening .
It's easy to hand people AA lights the hard part is knowing some percentage of my Duraloops will be thrown away ...that's the only reason I ever wished I had colorful eneloops
i realized this is the only time having crappy and primary batteries is useful, i would not loan eneloops to anyone who doesn’t already own nimh rechargeables and preferably not a charger (i don’t want them put in a dumb charger and heated to over 60ºC)
Good plan, i like
I’d like to understand why people have no respect for others property, it has happened to me enough times that i will not loan anything i care about or that can be damaged, it would be nice to have insight into why people ignore care instructions and treat the item like its invincible or not valuable or “drive it like they stole it”?
This is exactly the problem that concerns me the most in lending nice lights. Most people think of flashlights as cheapo throwaway items, and losing one is no different than losing $5-$10.
Bar I used to frequent, manager there asked me to borrow a flashlight so he could help another customer find a wallet. An hour later I asked if they found the wallet, manager says no. Asked for my light... "oh sorry guy must've walked out with it, I'll buy you a drink." Flashlight was a surefire 6p...
I gave my brother an EA4 as a present... was dog sitting over 4th of july. Saw the light... alkaline batteries in there...
Aside from the BIG lights, there is zero appreciation for the fact that flashlights can be sensitive equipment, and not cheap toys.
I don’t get that either. If I borrow something, I will give it back as soon as I can in the best condition I can.
Doesn’t matter to me if it’s something expensive or an 1€ pen.
Stuff sometimes breaks or gets lost, that just might happen even if you give your best to protect it. But if that happens I will replace the item without the need of the owner to ask me . . .
I do when we are with a larger group on a night cache or in a cave or in the woods grilling and chilling
even my beloved h600w to my girlfriend so she can take some nice pictures
but they have to give it back after the event and I will charge it afterwards
