Do you audit your Gear/flashlights/parts?

Off-topic Chatter
1

You can see the archived poll results on the Wayback Machine:

https://web.archive.org/web/20221220093741/https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/72748

2

Hey guys i am wondering what every one does with there light and parts?

I am missing LEDs and i can not find them at all.
XHP35
XPL-HI 16mm Noctigon
XPG2 16mm Noctigon

All bought from cutter. Now i will have to audit the ones from fasttech

I have like 8 drivers laying around some need to be fixed.

So usually i will just wing it but right now i am angry so i ran an audit lol.

I would rather know that i broke them and at least tried to use them then the Leds be missing.

3

“What’s it to you” seemed the least inaccurate. I’ve no idea what I have and though an audit would be a good idea I’d have to find it all to do one. :stuck_out_tongue: yolks on me really.

4

Some times i like put stuff in a safe place then my brain goes blank after storing them hahaha So many safe places to be had!

5

I spent a few weeks looking high and low for my Nichia-modded Manker U11, when it turns out my cat had knocked it off a table and into a box. I audited my other lights in the meantime, and it turns out I’ve collected a lot of them.

6

All my parts are in one place. Whatever is there I have, and whatever is not there I don’t have- my parts audit is done and it was so easy!

My lights are a different story though, so many and some what scattered about. I think I can find them all if I have to but I used up the time allotted for that doing my parts audit :stuck_out_tongue: So there! :wink:

Phil

7

This goes only for spare keys, credit-cards, membership-cards, passwords, and things like that. I keep those so well from being found by others that I generally can’t find them myself. Except for a few grab-a-light-and-off-we-go lights, they are all in one place. In my man-cave or in my car. And in a spreadsheet, because I do a lot of lego-ing and I like to remember “who’s your daddy”.

8

I have a Numbers spreadsheet which contains items bought, delivery/transit time/received (if >40 days it turns red so I can dispute it on PP), for which project the part is, location (box#) and how many I would need going forward.

makes my life a lot easier than looking/not knowing where stuff is. all these parts can be very confusing, had over 150 orders across 12+ shops in 90 days. the logistics of parts shopping/delivery/storage is a part-time job now. This is just for flashlights, then there is R/C, computers, electronics, ham radio, VoIP, my cars, etc… hobbies are fun but take so much time.

edit: the worst part is “numbers”, the Mac app. it is terrible compared to Excel.

9

Non-native English speaker here, so please bear with me.

By “audit”, what do you mean?

10

Count and mark down what lights you have and how many you have.

11

Do you have a template you would be willing to share? I use numbers as well but as you said it’s a pain!

12

Ah, I see. Appreciate the clarification.

I don’t because my collection is small (only three 1x18650, one 1xCR123, one 1xAAA and two 1xAA), but I’m tempted to start doing it with the li-ion batteries I got, for safety’s sake.

Which reminds me that I need a multimeter…

13

Yea you need a multimeter just to be on the safe side. Plus you can measure current with a multimeter. They had a group buy for a multimeter I think the code is still active. Check out freeme or m4d m4x deals pages.

14

I’ve bought parts when on sale and have a fair collection but have lost track of what they are and what they do lol

15

Seriously? I thought “to audit” stuff was to inspect its operating condition…

Cheap multimeters:

Cheers ^:)

16

I voted “wing it”.
Audit is usually something the IRS does.

I’m not sure I really want to know how much I have invested in this hobby.
People are already asking “how many flashlights do you really have anyway?”

:innocent:

17

Much appreciated! :laughing:

18

I wouldn’t call it an audit, but I list my lights in this thread:

Maybe we should have a section in our profiles where we can list our lights?

19

Mmmmm, I basically got a duffelbag with hosts taking up the bulk of its volume, then small boxes for LEDs, drivers, reflectors/pills, lenses (TIR, aspheric), drop-ins, and then soldering stuff, meter, clips, other needful things.

Those teeny plastic baggies you get at FT and the like are great for holding all of one particular type of driver, etc. So I buy 5 105Cs, each in its own baggie, and then put all 5 in 1 bag with a label as to what they are, and have 4 baggies left over for other goodies.

I try to only have “out” those lights I’m actively using, no more than 3-4 at a time unless I’m working on one. Ie, I don’t scatter a dozen lights throughout the house or anything. :smiley:

20

Ye that is my issue i scatter stuff. I work on things in two different area then may have to take parts to and from each area so its hard to know where every thing is.