ALL hobbies sound stupid to those with no interest in them.
For example, stamp collecting...really, stamps that you can't mail stuff with...in a book? Try to get ALL of them? Why?
If it doesn't appeal to you, its going to just seem a waste of time. On the other hand, its a little popular, in that people at least have HEARD of stamp collecting, and, if they hear YOU collect them, they at least think, well, I guess he like stamps.
Coins are slightly different, in that they at least have nominal value...so people can rationalize that you could at least take a rare quarter and put it into the gumball machine and get a gumball, etc.
For both examples, most people also know that BECAUSE people collect stamps or coins, etc...that THAT makes them have additional value (To OTHER collectors), so a collection having monetary value is the part that they can make a mental connection with.
If your hobby is collecting something they never heard of....and therefore have no knowledge of similar collector value factors, etc...it then swings back to interest....as in "WHY?"
A LOT of people collected baseball cards for example, and, they know SOME cards become very valuable (To other collectors), and that one day, they may be able to sell some rare signed rookie card for a hall of famer, etc, and retire. Most cards end up in a shoe box somewhere, and the collectors never sell them, as they last looked in the box when they were ~ 12 years old, etc....but when you say you collect baseball cards, it can strike a warm fuzzy feeling.
Flashlights on the other hand don't tick any of these boxes. Therefore, nothing you say will convince anyone one of anything other than your eccentricity.
I personally do not "Collect" flashlights, and, its not a "hobby".
I use them for aspects of work, etc, and I look at them more the way a mechanic looks at his tools.
IE: If a mechanic says he has a lot of tools, and is referring to the tools in his tool box that he uses as part of his job...no one thinks, "wow, a guy who collects tools".
They can understand that a mechanic uses tools, so, he has them.
I know SOME of us here DO collect lights, and DON'T use them regularly...and refer to the ones that are too purdy to use as "Shelve Queens" etc. THAT'S different, and, you should just accept that you ARE eccentric. (If we were all the same, life would be boring...so eccentricity is not a bad thing per se, unless you want to be one of the "cool kids", etc...)
As some here have also mentioned, it IS DARK sometimes, and, a flashlight can cure that. If someone who notices you have a flashlight in your pocket when the power went out at work, their stuff rolled under the car at the mall parking lot, etc....and wonders "WTF would he have a flashlight in his POCKET?!?!?!", its easier to explain that you find them handy for things like this....and to NOT mention you could have pulled 4 others out if need be, or, that you have a lighted case of additional ones on display at home, and so forth.
I DON'T have a display case, etc...but, I DO tend to have multiple lights with me because I DO use them for work, and I work 7 days/week 24 hr/day (Or at least am on call, etc...). IF someone ASKS about a light "Its really bright/OMG/HF!", etc...I might venture a limited amount of info to ping them. If they seem interested, sure, the flood gates open and its off to the races. If they exclaim some initial amazement at the light, and say ask where I got it/how much...I might just answer that, and see where it goes...typically along the lines of "$25, for a FLASHLIGHT?!?!?!? That's INSANE!!!!! I can buy a flashlight with batteries at Walmart for $3!!!!!!" etc....the ping says they are probably not interested.
Occasionally, either instead, or afterwards...they think about the difference in LIGHT from a $3 special vs the insane $25 keychain light..and ask another question...and the ping says to add incremental info as requested.
This has lead to coworkers, clients, random people I run across, transitioning from the world of the $3 special to the world of real lights...or lasers, etc, depending on the context.
Last night, I sold an old car to one of my kid's friends for ~ $350 (It was an 18 year old Subaru) and while he was checking it out, I was playing with a laser. After he bought the car, he fell in love with the laser....and now wants me to have Tmack make HIM one too. 5 minutes of 3 watt 445 nm beauty changed his world view...and he now sees the laser which costs ~ as much as the car he just bought, as worth just as much, etc.
:devil:
