I've had some good experiences with people noticing my lights. Once a year or so I show my lights to my brothers. My machinist brother gets fired up about em, but doesn't miss a chance to make fun of me about them. He goes camping once a year, so I have given him a fenix LD20 Q5 and recently an ITP EO3 upgraded edition - loves em. Shortly after I gave him the ITP, he called me asking where I got it because he uses it every day & the guys he works with wanted one...nice.
My oldest brother (aerospace engineer) is mildly interested because he & his two sons are in boy scouts, and go camping regularly. I got him a Fenix LD20 R4 last year becase he was still using the LED Lenser I'd given him several years earlier. He, his wife, & two sons all loved it & would fight over it. So, I got his two son's each a Fenix LD20 R5 last month. They were blown away by them, and one of em said, "I'm going to be the coolest kid in scouts with this thing." Love it. That brother makes fun of me a good bit when I start talking about lights, but I deserve it I guess.
My father-in-law was in town, and while I was at work he tried to fix our refridgerator in the garage. He called me & asked where's a flashlight, so I told him where my Olight M20 was. He called me back to ask me "where in the hell did I get that thing?!" He didn't seem interested in the type of batteries, but was very interested in how bright it was. I later got him a Quark AA2 tactical. He loves it, and has made a few comments about how great it is.
We are in a church group that meets at a friend's house. He lives in a great house in the woods with a lot of property, so I always bring a light or 2 or 3 or 4... Anyway, once I had a couple of quarks and a zebralight with me. He was so blown away when I pulled the first one out that it turned into a 2-3 hour conversation, and ended with me helping him buy a Quark AA and a couple of 14500 Li-ion batteries on-line. He & his sons now asks if I have any new lights, and if so he wants me to bring em.
In April our neighborhood (Little Rock Air Force Base) got hit by a tornado, and we lost power. We had friends over that night, and when the lights went out I pulled out several lights & passed them out. We turned a bleak night into a blast, and they were really "WOW'd" by my lights, especially the Quark 123x2 Turbo X and my EagleTac M3C4 XM-L. My friend & his wife fought over the Turbo X for the rest of the night.
Last week, however, I had a new friend, his wife, & kids over. I thought he would surely be interested because he is a Lieutenant Colonel (Pilot,) loves the outdoors, and is even an Eagle Scout. We had a fire out back after dinner, and when it got dark my daughter asked me for a light. I handed her my Quark Turbo X, and she took a look around with it. He saw it & didn't say anything. Later on the rest of the kids asked for some flashlights to play with, and I gave them a couple of quarks & fenix lights. He then asked to see my Turbo X, and mildly said, "that's pretty bright." We talked about lights for a minute or two, and he said, "you'd prolly like my light - I think it's a surefire." I asked what kind & he didn't know. Said it was a few years old, ran on a single battery, and was "pretty bright." The subject quickly changed as he seemed really uninterested. I didn't press the subject AT ALL because I've been there too many times before where guys look at you with a blank stare, or say "what do you need all those lights for" or "that thing is HOW MUCH" & on & on.
I have found that it's more fun to have them out (only when needed though,) and just not say anything about them. I wait & see if anyone seems interested. If they don't ask then no big deal. If they do ask then they get a glimpse into my excitement over lights & the outdoors. I have a great cover though because my wife, kids, & I go hiking & camping regularly, so we have a real "need" for them. Our friends are well aware of this because we invite other families to come along on our trips. Plus it's well known that I wake up before sun-up to go running, and use a couple of lights. Because we have a need for them the awkward flashlight conversations sometimes end up in discussions of camping, hiking, & running rather than my sickness with loving flashlights.
Other than these types of situations, I rarely if ever bring up the subject of lights. Most just don't understand & don't care to understand. I'm ok with that bc most folks have stuff I could care less about too.