Anyone think you're weird?

[StarHalo]

[TEEJ]

That is sweet!

[JohnnyBravo]

Yes they do. And I take it as a compliment!

[Riparious]

After picking up another headlamp, and doing a simple drop-in LED upgrade to her D-cell MagLight, my girlfriend said I was weird. "I'm weird? You should check out this thing called candlepower forum... "

At that point, I decided to join

[LightWalker]

I think people who don't carry a light are weird.

[shelm]

So I went to the internet and found lists of hobbies

So everyday I emailed him about 100 hobbies

Is there a poll or list of the top 100 most popular hobbies, and how does our hobby rank in it?
Ranking #99 maybe?

have a great weekend all

Sent from my iphone using Tapatalk

[TEEJ]

Is there a poll or list of the top 100 most popular hobbies, and how does our hobby rank in it?
Ranking #99 maybe?

have a great weekend all

Sent from my iphone using Tapatalk

Statistically, I would not be surprised to find we don't exist.

[shelm]

Statistically, I would not be surprised to find we don't exist.

my 4sevens retail packaging says "During this time, he discovered an online community of nearly 70,000 flashlight fanatics"

CandlePowerForums Statistics

Threads235,429Posts3,388,109Members138,359Active Members6,321 Welcome to our newest member, Neutron

Statistically, i would say that flashaholics are still a minority. 138359 members?? I know a board with "We have 2996900 registered users"

[ToyTank]

Active members 6321 somehow that makes me sad.

[pilote]

it is definitely not weird to edc a flashlight...but it is definitely weird to own 20+ and continually add to them...being obsessed with lumens, yes that is very weird.

[flashlight chronic]

Nobody has called me weird. Maybe it's because they know I own just as many knives as flashlights.

[T45]

A flashoholic is only weird until the lights go out.

+1!

[spc smith]

Let me explain a situation that defines an individual thats "wierd" and thinks outside of the box


A total of 299 personnel were told to sit down in a conference room, remain sitting there while the the room filled with fake smoke slowly, while one individual was not to know this and sit down with all that did. When all personnel had taken there seats, the room began to slowly fill with fake smoke as expected. That one person saw smoke, and began to look at the person to his right and to his left, and at the rest of the crowd... Because no one moved or stood up and left the room as the smoke started to fill, that one person that did not know stayed seated.... LIKE EVERYONE ELSE!

The moral of the story is... Us CPFer's think outside of the box, are different and wierd to the rest of the populace that remains without a light (preparedness, also train of thought) BUT.... when SHTF, we are the ones that the normal society will rely upon greatly. Youd think people would wise up, pull thier head out of thier own ***, and be prepared considering what natural disasters, many other events that weve experienced.

[attist178]

Seems like he turned out fine enough eh? A flashoholic is only weird until the lights go out.

Exactly.

[chmsam]

I don't get why people think that anyone who is not EXACTLY like them is weird.


I think we can all probably appreciate this quote a wise American from some years ago--

In a telegram to an "exclusive" county club that gave him a membership he said:

"PLEASE ACCEPT MY RESIGNATION. I DON'T WANT TO BELONG TO ANY CLUB THAT WILL ACCEPT PEOPLE LIKE ME AS A MEMBER". -- Groucho Marx


It's a good reminder. If we notice a "prejudice" against even our innocuous hobby, what's it like for people who are really discriminated against?

Forgive the soapbox but lately I see more ridicule and outright hatred in the news and in daily life (and any should be too much, right?).

[JNieporte]

You're weird Rasto. I like weird people. I'm sure some people think spending thousands of dollars on guns, lights, ammunition, knives, optics, demolitions, more 550 cord than the local military base, etc. makes me weird. Lots of weird things in life. In the end, it's your money. Buy what you want with it. Weirdo

[Canuke]

"Weird" and "normal" are relative terms.

I have never met a "normal" person. Every individuals are "weird" in their own ways.

This. A "perfectly normal person" would be really weird.

[nullmodem]

Actually, most people I know have some form of emergency kit on them most of the time: flash light, pocket knife, water. It only makes sense.

[shamanstar]

I figured I would make my first post here. Yea people think I'm weird, but I think the fact that I am prepared with a flashlight is one of the lowest reasons on the list
I always just think I'm super cool when I am able to whip out a flashlight or a knife at the appropriate time. It feels great to be prepared!

[LGT]

I'm not sure that I've been called weird. But I have been called a flashlight geek, nerd, guy, etc. Until their need for a light arises. I especially like when they need one during daylight to see into a dark space.

[haley1]

I think most people around me think I'm weird, I think I'm weird. I don't hear it as much now as I did 8 or 9 years ago when I first joined. My spouse and family have finally gotten used to the idea. They just now casually ask for my light when needed instead of searching throughout the house for the one they have, with battery's that are usually dead. I still get comments from people though when they find out how much I paid for certain items like the surefire's. My favorite comment I think is from my brother in law. We were out on a boat and someone from the bank shined a spot light at us. I pulled out my old 4 cell with an n62 and shined it back at them. I heard from the bank holy s... His comment was his spot light is brighter and cheaper, I replied. Put it in your pocket. He shut up. I just thought it was funny.

[LGT]

I think most people around me think I'm weird, I think I'm weird. I don't hear it as much now as I did 8 or 9 years ago when I first joined. My spouse and family have finally gotten used to the idea. They just now casually ask for my light when needed instead of searching throughout the house for the one they have, with battery's that are usually dead. I still get comments from people though when they find out how much I paid for certain items like the surefire's. My favorite comment I think is from my brother in law. We were out on a boat and someone from the bank shined a spot light at us. I pulled out my old 4 cell with an n62 and shined it back at them. I heard from the bank holy s... His comment was his spot light is brighter and cheaper, I replied. Put it in your pocket. He shut up. I just thought it was funny.

That is funny. Nothing better then when one of your lights just puts an average Joes' lights to shame. Even though that's not the reason we may buy them.

[PhotonWrangler]

We were out on a boat and someone from the bank shined a spot light at us. I pulled out my old 4 cell with an n62 and shined it back at them. I heard from the bank holy s... His comment was his spot light is brighter and cheaper, I replied. Put it in your pocket. He shut up. I just thought it was funny.

How funny! Flash a flashaholic and you will get schooled.

[901-Memphis]

Yes when the "what do you want for your birthday" question comes about and my answer was "Olight M20 R5" My wife thought i was weird. But the last time the power went out at work people were flocking to me as somehow my flashlight instantaneously found it way out and on like a ninja.

[spc smith]

I like how some people try to blend with the "normal" crowd. I grew up in life with an unknown disorder till now and after much research. Even docs couldn't pinpoint but misdiagnose. I'm at a point at my life where I'm not apart of anybody's trend, way of life and I repent not upon others friendships, clicks or social gathering. So to me, being comes naturally. That's why normal people can't figure out "wired" people.

[woody1]

Here in the UK, people call it a "torch" or "torches", when i correct them with its a "flashlight", they laugh and say again no its a "torch", so i just think that they are the weird people, haha.

[PhotonWrangler]

Here in the UK, people call it a "torch" or "torches", when i correct them with its a "flashlight", they laugh and say again no its a "torch", so i just think that they are the weird people, haha.

Really the term "flashlight" is a little strange in the modern sense. It was originally given that name because early battery technology was so poor that one couldn't afford to turn the light on for a moment at a time. Those days are long go... o wait, we have strobe modes now. Carry on...

[Gregozedobe]

How funny! Flash a flashaholic and you will get schooled.

I get slightly annoyed when I am camping somewhere and a car arrives at the campsite and dazzles everyone with Hi beam. Firstly I try the diplomatic approach (ostentatiously shielding my eyes from their headlights with my hand), but most don't take the hint, so I then give them a taste of their own medicine with a burst of concentated LED goodness from my Dereelight DBS Aspheric XR-E EZ900, unsurprisingly they usually dip to Lo beam pretty quickly.

[Danielight]

I bought my first LED flashlight (a 4Sevens Quark AA2) late in 2010, just because I wanted a better light than my Mag mini AAs. About a year later, I thought that an LED light might make a nice Christmas gift for my wife and daughter, so I got my wife a Quark Mini AA (for her purse) and a Jetbeam BA10 for my daughter (for her glove compartment). I also bought a Jetbeam BC10 for myself because I wanted to have a light that ran on cr123s. I ended up returning the BC10 because the clicky switch was flaky; had it replaced with a Quark MiniX123. I think that's what got me started on buying other lights. Since then, I have bought four other LED lights, each with different features. I can see me slowing down now, but I can see why people become "flashaholics" ... there's something about these flashlights that generates a kind of fascination with them.

Getting back to my wife and daughter, when I gave them their new LED lights for Christmas, they both kind of rolled their eyes as if to say, "You have developed a weird interest in flashlights." I told them to keep the lights in a handy place (purse or glove compartment), because they never knew when they might need them. You know the old saying: "Better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it." They can think of my interest as weird, but if there ever comes a time when they need a reliable, bright light, then I will be vindicated!

[RGB_LED]

Yes, I have a few friends who feel awkward when I, or someone else, brings up the subject. I usually keep it to myself these days but, even at work several of my colleagues know this but have appreciated it since they go camping and know the usefulness of lights, especially headlamps. And, during two incidents, one power-outage and the second, a burst steam pipe, I was the only person in the office who stuck around and guided frightened people down a stairwell with my light when the lights went out.

For two of my friends who work as an engineer and photographer in underground subway tunnels, they have fully appreciated my obsession when they brought a couple of my lights with them and it impressed the entire crew with how bright the lights were compared to the old, clunky lights that they normally use. I even gave them a couple of lights and they remind me, now and again, how useful they are. Even my sister and her husband have lights sitting on their dresser or on a table in their hallway.

Moral of the story, they may have thought that I was weird but they are beginning to understand that lights are really useful and not so weird after all.

...A flashoholic is only weird until the lights go out.

+2!

...Then they asked the same people what Paris Hilton's little dog was named. 95% of them KNEW the name of the stupid little dog ...........
These are the kind of zombies that think people who tote a flashlight around with them are weird.

That is one really sad commentary about people. Luckily, I don't feel weird for not knowing (and don't care to know) the name of her stupid, little dog!