Do you give away flashlights? How often, how many? Price range?

[more_vampires]

Hi everyone!

As the title says, talking about giving away lights. So you carry a boatload of lights (like I do,) do you carry a light (or more) for the express purpose of charity?

What brands? What price range? How often does this come up for you?

Stories welcome.

Suggested format:
1. How often? Varies wildly for me. A big trigger is a power outage lasting more than a day.
2. What Brands? Sipik 68 is my #1 giveaway light.
3. What price range? $3-$25, unless it is a light that I hate and want to get rid of.
4. What situations?

So there was a power outage and some people were out in front of my house saying they needed D batteries. Why? For incans. Hmm.

*Click* *Click* Two lit Sipik 68, one for each of you. "But we don't have AA batteries, either." Here you go, 2 alkies for each of you.

 

[markr6]

I gave my dad a Fenix E11 for christmas a few years ago. I think he lost it before even taking it out of the package. I won't be gifting "nice" flashlight anymore. At the same time, I don't hate anyone enough to give them a $2.99 9-LED light.

 

[more_vampires]

Lol, yeah those throwback 5mm showerheads are pretty lousy.

I upgraded some family members from those to the Black and Decker AAx4 led spotlight, $20. IMHO, one of the best bang for buck throwers out there geared towards Joe Alky Sixpack. Compact, sorta pocketable, very usable. Hard to lose. Excellent gift light. Also of flashaholic note, they're pretty darn easy to take down.

 

[LedTed]

Speaking of giving away flashlights, on a related tangent, flashlights with plenty of batteries make good donation items to …
churches, emergency assistant programs, half-way homes, and shelters of all kinds.

 

[Monocrom]

Mostly I give away lights during the yearly CPF Christmas Giveaway.

Used to do it a few times a year with folks I met in the real world. Stopped doing that because none of them ever appreciated it. The last time was the worst. Gave away a first generation 2AA LED Mini-Mag to a co-worker at the last client's site. We got along well, worked together every night, and he needed a good light. Plus, he even said he needed one, and asked me to recommend him one. So I gave him the Mini-Mag. I regretted it a few weeks later when he lost it in a really stupid way. (I mean a really stupid one.) Got a very good light for free. Didn't appreciate it. He wasn't the only one. But he was the worst out of all of them. Now I only give away to other flashaholics who'll appreciate the gift.

Brand doesn't matter. Price range is often above $50-$125.

Situations.... once again, only to fellow flashaholics from now on. If a co-worker wants to be stupid and not carry their own light, or carry a cheap piece of junk that'll barely light up a closet.... Well, that's on them. I'm not helping them. The current job-site has one cheap yellow inca. plastic light that doesn't light up. And, one floating lantern that burns about as bright as a paper-match.

 

[Search]

If something occurs where this area is out of power for some extended time and those that I care about actually need one, I'm seriously going to regret only buying expensive lights.

The cheapest I have is a 6PL. Sadly my family already knows I have a large collection so I couldn't even try to be rude lol

 

[GearHunter]

After getting my first HDS and realizing I would probably not buy any other brand/type again, I gave away.....

fenix pd35-2013 edition
fenix pd35-2014 edition
fenix pd30x2( I guess I gave one of these to a coworker before)
thrunite t10s
eagletac d25a
some little piece o crap cr123 olight or such

since replacing both my wife and daughters lights with HDS 140n's Ive given away....
fenix pd32x2

some of the folks actually started EDCing those and a couple have since moved up to the HDS

my wife and daughter are now wanting HDS 200lm hicri's and will probably find them under the Christmas tree but rest assured I'll not be giving away the 140n's

 

[WalkIntoTheLight]

Gave away a first generation 2AA LED Mini-Mag to a co-worker at the last client's site. We got along well, worked together every night, and he needed a good light. Plus, he even said he needed one, and asked me to recommend him one. So I gave him the Mini-Mag.

I thought you said he needed a good light?

 

[skyfire]

i used to gift lights in the $50-60 range, but i always feel it goes unappreciated. so i dont gift lights that cost more than $15 these days.
i always try and keep the gifted lights very simple, like a fenix E01.

i do still give close family members more expensive lights, but those lights stay in the same home, so its not a big deal.

 

[dim]

Today, I bought 5 Inova XPs, 2 Inova XSs, 2 Panasonic NiMH chargers/w 4xAA Eneloops, 2 8xAAA Eneloops, 36xAA Alkalines, a L3 Illumination L11C earlier this week, and an Olight ST25 Baton earlier this month....

All of which will be given as gifts except for 1 XP, 1 XS and 1 8xAAA Eneloops.

Through the years, even with my modest flashaholic purchases and collection, I've spent about the same or more for others than for myself....With the generous flashaholics on CPF, I'd not be surprised if this was more the rule than the exception.

73
dim

 

[Vortus]

Stocking stuffer AA lights. Sub $20's. Gerber Infinty and Recon, Sipiks, things along those lines. Have given nicer lights to family and a few friends that appreciate them. Coin lights to the ones that don't.

 

[FRITZHID]

I buy the 3pk lenser lights from Sam's as tosser lights so those are the ones I give away now and then. And sometimes I get some freebe lights now and then but they are of no use to me so, to the lightless they go.

 

[Monocrom]

I thought you said he needed a good light?

LOL

Well, the first LED Mini-Mags were good at a claimed 40 lumens. For a non-flashaholic, that's like 440 lumens. Before he lost it, he claimed it was super bright.

 

[reppans]

I always keep an inventory of gift lights, mostly in the $60-80 retail range, but on average purchased at half price, and in bulk, during the good holiday and clearance sales. Think I've given out a couple dozen as Birthday/XMas/Graduation gifts so far, and some of my older used lights, free to nieces and nephews that have a need (eg, outdoor enthusiasts). An obsolete light from a flashaholic is still years ahead of anything a non-flashaholic has ever seen .

FourSevens lights (Quarks, Penlights, and Minis) see the lion's share of my gift lights - I like their lights and they have a rare combination of reasonable pricing (esp @ half ), common battery support, and backed by an excellent US-based warranty and CS. I ask my local giftees to return failed lights to me and I'll have them repaired, but nothing has come back. The D25A Ti, and current clearance sale pricing, is building a small inventory too.

 

[Tac Gunner]

I've started giving my dad a good light each Christmas and he appreciates, uses, and takes care of them. I'm considering giving each of my 9 fellow classmates a thrunite ti2 as they are cheap lights with good output, neutral white and use a battery type commonly found. My goal is to get them to understand why they should carry a light and chose neutral tints over cool tints. We are aviation maintenance students and it's important to have a quality light handy and one that has good color rendering. Anybody have any experience with th Ti2 single mode 80 lumen version?

 

[NoNotAgain]

I gifted a few Olight M2X-UT lights for Christmas, a Nitecore TM26 to my best friend, and a couple of Olight M3 lights as well as the Nitecore Tubes. Every family member got a Tube for a jacket pull as well as a wind up micro usb cable.
All are still working. One nephew that received the M3 now wants me to supply him with either CR123 batteries or a couple of 18650's and charger. Told him to save up his lawn cutting money and I'd order him some.

 

[john-paul]

I have given away many Surefire G2's,6P's, G3's, 9P's, and a few other Surefires (they are priced out of the gift game now). 4-7s Quarks back when they were available. I gave an Olight box set a few years back that had 3 lights in it as a wedding present. The wife was a little WTH? Dude loved it, still uses them all the time. Most people now just think I'm a weirdo for liking or caring about their flashlights.

 

[broadgage]

I do not routinely give away flashlights, but I have given away a fair few during bad power outages.

I NEVER throw away a serviceable flashlight or lantern. Any light that I no longer want or use is thoroughly checked for serviceability, cleaned and stored. These are the give aways for emergencies.
I have about 100 flashlights and perhaps a dozen lanterns stored. I do not normally purchase lights specifically to give away but I did buy a load of very cheap rubber 2D incandescent flashlights, these are of surprisingly good quality considering the low price paid.
For non flashaholics I consider that run time is more important than output in most cases, therefore I have fitted 0.3A bulbs in the 2D lights instead of the supplied 0.7A bulbs.
Other giveaway stock consists of battered but functional incandescent minimags, and various lanterns.

I keep large stocks of batteries, at least 100 D cells, 200 AA, and a few dozen each of C and AAA. Also a half dozen AD28 and a few lantern batteries.

 

[novice]

I wish that the "good deals" area was still active, as it covered more ground than the "Dealer's corner".

I have given some Surefires to family members. I gave a Fenix L2D (my EDC) to an ex-partner, and she later gifted it to a family member in Brazil who was admiring it, which made it a disposable light at that point, since CR123a cells are almost completely unavailable in Brazil, and would be unaffordable if you could find them. I then gave her a nice 1xAA (common battery type in Brazil, of course) light to swap with him the next time she went there, but the swap never happened. Sigh. I tried.

There have been some great deals in the past on discontinued Icon lights, and I bought several of those, and have given them to family members and co-workers.

I like giving Fenix E01 lights to lightless folks, since they are small enough that there is a good chance that the recipients will put them on their keychains and actually have them if they need them, other than the alternative scenario.

I tend not to give expensive lights away, since it has been my experience that people don't truly appreciate them, and I'm not talking about not receiving enough thanks.

 

[Amelia]

I give away a lot of outdoors equipment, as I find things that work better for me. Lights, knives, clothing, etc.
The problem is that most of the idiots I give this stuff to don't appreciate it... and often don't carry or use it... or worse. I have a friend who I camp with sometimes and she always asks to borrow a flashlight when we're out, even though I've given her 3 that I can remember!
I have a guy climber friend who was really admiring one of my knives, a little 4" outdoor/paring knife like a Mora but about 10x as expensive... I had a different knife I like a lot more so I gave the one he liked to him. 2 weeks later I asked him how he liked his new knife, he told me he left it on the tailgate of his truck and drove away - losing it! I was furious... $160 knife and he got about a day of use out of it.
Sometimes I wonder if my friends deserve as good as me...