I’ve not been around here long, but all this talk of torches got me thinking about when I was a boy and enjoying outdoors.
In the back of my cupboard I had this:
It’s a Gelert torch and it was the first torch that I spent my own money on. I was getting ready for my first camp with the boy scouts and went to the local outdoor/ army surplus shop. I picked out this and a small lock knife, then had to run home and get my mother to write a note giving permission for me to have the knife.
From then on it came on every camp. I was so proud of it’s lantern mode - none of the other boys had that. So we would use my torch after hours, hung from the middle of the tent whilst we ate sweets, told ghost stories and swapped football stickers for our albums. Great times.
Anyway, I wondered if anyone could tell me anything about it?
A quick google says the Gelert brand still exists, though it was bought up by Sports Direct. They used to produce all sorts of camping gear, so I doubt they were the manufacturers - I wonder who was?
As you can see it still works though, it’s about 17 years old and as you can imagine, it took some serious abuse. It is of course very dim by today’s standards, but nice to have none the less. The knife is long lost.
Does anyone else still have their boyhood flashlights?
I still have this old Everedy lantern, from 1980-something. It has a fluorescent tube, spot, & SOS beacon selectable via the slider switch, & has a carrying/hanging strap. It takes 6*D cells.
I remember using it as a kid, during power outages & camping. :)
WOW!!! That pic brought back some memories… This was so my dad’s light back in the day. It was our definite go to light in power outages and storms. Always kept by his bedside just in case.
Now I’ll have to wait till morning to call him and ask if he just maybe still has that light tucked away some where…
I’ve had this one for maybe 40 years. One of my early mods was to convert it from 2xaa to 3xaaa nimh with an xre. I still have it and it still works though I might switch it to 2p14500. The solitaire was an early experiment in DIY fins. Drill press lathe of course.
The only light of a brand worthy of mention that I had when young was the Duracell Durabeam. That boxy black-and-brown 2xAA one.
Here’s the disassembled look:
Lugged this around in my school backpack back when I was 10 or so. Used it so much that the latches to the side ended up too bent to hold the black shell around the main part, and the edges of the battery holder were white from material fatigue.
Even with all that plus a cracked reflector, it made for nice lighting (well, nice for back in the day) until the switch plate rusted beyond salvation, and that was the final nail in its coffin.
Wish we could have a revival of this model, only in LED with a textured reflector, and the assembly done in, if not aluminum, at least high-quality polymer.
I had one like this
It was lost in the yard, spent the winter buried in snow, and still working when found. Surprisingly the batteries didn’t leak and still had power. Long gone but not forgotten. I used it quite often catching nightcrawlers.
I remember very well my first camping lamp; I still have it.It used in 1980 to go from Rome to Paris, on a motorcycle, with my girlfriend.Still it works with 4xD cells.
The flashlight of my youth! For the time, and for the money, a great buy. If we wanted more throw, we would buy those disposable square angle head lights. The whole light and battery were disposable, I think Garrity was the brand, firefighters had them on their helmets…
Those 2aa Duracell lights were the mainstay of many a nights lighting needs way back in the 80’s…
A remake would be cool, but in warm white, like an incandescent bulb…
I’ve had this one for maybe 40 years. One of my early mods was to convert it from 2xaa to 3xaaa nimh with an xre. I still have it and it still works though I might switch it to 2p14500. The solitaire was an early experiment in DIY fins. Drill press lathe of course. 
