Flashlights, and -related activities in Australia

Out of pure curiosity, how is the flashlight world/market doing in Australia? Being from South Africa myself, and knowing that conditions in Australia are vastly similar to "down under", why is it that one never really hears about camping, running, hiking, etc., activities in Australia wrt flashlights? Are they just keeping themselves to themselves, or what? Aussies, where are you? Can you guys answer or explain this? Australia being a wide open country like South Africa, one would think that flashlights/torches would be immensely popular down there. Do I have it wrong?

Similar to "down under?" Is that a term to refer to South Africa ( as it is how we refer to ourselves here in Aust.) or did I misread?

Anyway, there are certainly pockets of flashaholics here, but it seems to be a whole new level here on CPF, particularly in the US. We are an active country with a good tradition of camping and hiking, but we are a "torch" backwater. To make it worse, I am not aware of a single shop that I can buy a decent brand of light here in South Australia. The first time that I ever see a light is when it arrives. Everyone has a torch somewhere, but it's not a high priority for most. I'm the elephant man to most of my flashlight agnostic friends. [emoji6]

You ask important questions colight, those of us who live here need to post a few more pictures. It's coming into warmer weather so now is the time to get out there! [emoji3]

Thanks for your reply, SG Hall, and yes, I realize now that I did write it wrongly! Australia is known as "down under", not SA. I didn't read my post after writing it, or not properly anyway, so forgive me for that. Well yes, as you say - summer is approaching, so I hope to see more news about activity from there! I'm looking forward to it!

Well I reckon it is nowhere as active as the USA of course, but there are areas of interest such as bikes and endurance sports i.e. rogaining where local suppliers like Ayup and Spikelight have both an excellent product and a dedicated following.

As far as mainstream flashaholicism (if that's not an oxymoron) I don't think there is the required critical mass so it remains a niche interest. I invariably get the 'wow' factor when I drag out one of my torches but it doesn't seem to spark the interest to go out and explore the options for the viewer.

Lots of cyclists have bright lights but they (IMHO) have little regard for oncoming traffic (or cyclists for that matter) and probably have the cheap & cheerful 'cree 1000 lumen' bike light found on assorted Chinese sites, or tend to buy at their local bike shop.

Aussies can be pretty complacent, and I don't think there are sufficient people around for it to be reasonably commonplace to have the motivation to explore sites like this and commit to trying out what is regarded as an exotic product only found online. They will often prefer to go for more readily available (albeit probably inferior) products at a bricks and mortar store.

Having said that I have seen stores selling LED Lensers (of course) and there are a few selling Nitecore and similar, but they are few and far between.

I think though that there is an increasing interest in activities where decent lights are useful, and that the number of potential flashaholics will increase.

colight said:

Thanks for your reply, SG Hall, and yes, I realize now that I did write it wrongly! Australia is known as "down under", not SA. I didn't read my post after writing it, or not properly anyway, so forgive me for that. Well yes, as you say - summer is approaching, so I hope to see more news about activity from there! I'm looking forward to it!

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Hey Mate,

South Australia is a state in Australia. Yes, we are know as "the land down under" as the song suggests.

As SG Hall stated, yes, there's torch enthusiasts here in oz. We had a meet here Victoria(another state in Australia). Most torches that are available in the US are not readily available to us Aussies. Shipping cost are a deal breaker to us on a budget. I buy torches, but usually from a group buy. I don't think the masses really don't care about torches as much as people in CPF and are happy with their hardware store or local super market torches. Most people that see my bright torches think of them "as nice" but that's where the interest stops.

Thanks for your replies, guys. I was really curious as to why there doesn't seem to be as much enthusiasm in Australia as in the USA, for instance, bearing in mind as I said that it is such a big country where flashlights/torches can be extremely useful. I do understand what you're saying about costs, @bdogps, and just to clarify myself - it's been a while since I last talked with Aussie people, and I also forgot that you talk about Southern Australia as SA. I was actually referring to my home country South Africa, which is also shortened to SA. :twothumbs Maybe people down there just don't see the need for the high-powered lights available all over the world, or maybe there are not as many collectors there as in the rest of the world. Who knows? Maybe the market will also gradually expand there, as well as in South Africa.

colight said:

Thanks for your replies, guys. I was really curious as to why there doesn't seem to be as much enthusiasm in Australia as in the USA, for instance, bearing in mind as I said that it is such a big country where flashlights/torches can be extremely useful. I do understand what you're saying about costs, @bdogps, and just to clarify myself - it's been a while since I last talked with Aussie people, and I also forgot that you talk about Southern Australia as SA. I was actually referring to my home country South Africa, which is also shortened to SA. :twothumbs Maybe people down there just don't see the need for the high-powered lights available all over the world, or maybe there are not as many collectors there as in the rest of the world. Who knows? Maybe the market will also gradually expand there, as well as in South Africa.

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Hey Mate,

Keep in mind that the US has a population of 300 million plus people and have Canada, Central America, and south America as neighbors. So they have a huge market potential. The EU has a large population and many neighboring countries as well. We are an island and isolated. Only 23 million here in oz.

It's like SG Hall said - there's not much in the way of choice for flashaholics here in Oz. Bricks and mortar stores here will usually stock the really cheap no-name gear for the low end of the spectrum, basic battery branded lights for mid range, and Maglite and LED Lenser for the top of the range gear. LED Lenser is everywhere here. I can walk into a supermaket and find one of those booths that cut keys and fix shoes that will sell me a LED Lenser if I wanted one. I see a number of Police Officers here use these, they seem to like the flood to throw option they give.

Most of the people I talk to who are nerdy enough to like Flashlights, will often tend to buy the cheap ones you get online that quote the emitter model as their marketing point. When I bring one of my lights in to compare their 1000 lumen cree light to, the response of "Wow, that's bright" is usually followed by the question "How much did you pay for it?". If my answer is not something in the line of $20 or less then they will see their $10 light as being a huge success. People here are a bit frugal at times, and we like our bargains. As such, you won't see many of us on here discussing our latest acquisition from HDS Systems.

I think a lot of it also has to do with the population of Australia. There are about 24 million people here in OZ. That's about half the number of people in South Africa. Per capita, there are probably the same amount of flashaholics here as everywhere else, there are just going to be fewer of us

Guys, thanks very much for your answers. The situation is much clearer to me now. I am the proud owner of a few Fenix lights myself, and have sent a few to my relatives. I personally believe, as I think many others do, in quality above quantity, or in other words - you get what you pay for, no offense to anybody! I actually saw a banner not so long ago - origin unknown - that says: The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten, and I found that to be particularly true. Unfortunately we all care about our pockets also, I guess.

From a different perspective, i find it hard to believe, that there's maybe 40 or 50 enthusiasts in a country of 24 Million people. It is sad to think that a $20 'Cree' torch, is regarded as ' state of the art ', and that the Coast P17 from B------s hardware for $118.00, is just OTT as far as most people are concerned. People collect matchbooks, porcelain dolls, playing cards, old cars, fine china etc, WHATS WRONG WITH TORCHES??? At least they can be useful.

:candle:

I have the 6 AA version of the En-----er torch, that FPSRelic has shown, at the bottom of the first pic, in his post. And yes, its easy to see why the vast majority of the population seem to think that torches of this ilk, are state of the art. 900 Lumens and 250 Lumens ( with horrendous PWM ) and a blinky mode from its three unknown LED's. A tint that is neutral, bordering on the warm side, and an acceptable beam from its plastic TIR lens ( 2 clear 1 frosted ). All this in a body made from recycled soda cans ( complete with swarf left over from threading, now gone after a couple of passes with a thread file, and application of some silicone lube ), and what more could, or should, anyone want !!

Well I think everyone has covered this topic nicely. I'm an aussie in Canada for a couple of years and over here the selection on store shelves is better, but not anywhere near what any of us would like. I've bought a few high end lights since being here due to reduced shipping and shorter wait times (I'm impatient...).

The outdoor culture here in Canada is different to Australia where hunting is more or less taboo in many circles. Here, so many do it, or go camping for the entire summer as opposed to for a few days like in Australia. I'd say this is due to Canadians getting 3 months off consecutively whereas Aussies dont. I think people have demanded higher quality stuff that lasts weeks and weeks then fails in Canada where Aussies just don't need it to last that long. It's been a fun ride being here, very much looking forward to the next year.

I think here in Australia its good in some sense we have some awesome moders. Heaps of people that build from scratch. But you can not ust walk into a major store and buy a super high powered light. Bunnings now has a few and there are heaps of independent stores that sell good torches.

Ok, so if there were more shops selling good quality torches, or existing shops selling more torches, what would be the general consensus about buying higher quality lights? Would the above arguments still count for Australia, all these things considered? I know the percentage of people reading/covering this forum, is only a handful out of the few million inhabitants of Australia or South Africa, or any other country for that matter, so each of us can only speak for oneself, but what do you guys think? I personally think that even in South Africa where there are many hunters/campers/bikers/hikers, etc., there is huge room for expansion in this specific field. These same arguments are actually applicable to South Africa, of which I have knowledge, unlike Australia... Your ideas/input?

I think some would upgrade a bit. Those who camp or hike fairly often for sure if they haven't already. Casual families wouldn't, generally speaking. My friends family is going for a few nights next week and I know they won't have a Fenix, nitecore or jetbeam light on them. As another reply said, Aussies are frugal for the most part. I'm not sure big box stores would make money stocking those kinds of lights

colight said:

Ok, so if there were more shops selling good quality torches, or existing shops selling more torches, what would be the general consensus about buying higher quality lights? Would the above arguments still count for Australia, all these things considered? I know the percentage of people reading/covering this forum, is only a handful out of the few million inhabitants of Australia or South Africa, or any other country for that matter, so each of us can only speak for oneself, but what do you guys think? I personally think that even in South Africa where there are many hunters/campers/bikers/hikers, etc., there is huge room for expansion in this specific field. These same arguments are actually applicable to South Africa, of which I have knowledge, unlike Australia... Your ideas/input?

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I think that it would be the other way around. If there was the demand, there would be more shops selling high end torches.

The thing is, you don't really need a high quality torch to do the sorts of things most of us do. As flashaholics, we like to think that our lives will sometimes rely on these things, and that they need to be high quality, otherqise we light die. But consider the two torches at the top of this image:



These are Australian Army Issued flashlights. They use the same incandescent bulb as the 2AA Maglite shown below them, and as such their output is about the same. They have heads with plastic lens covers (Oh the SHAME!) with green cups on them, that can be pushed forward to turn the beam from white to green. You can see them a little bit better here (the two on the right):



I would consider the quality of these lights to be, if anything, poorer than that of the maglite sitting next to it, yet these were used by Australian troops in the field, in Iraq as late as 2005:

http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/REL34697.006
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/REL34508.005

You can buy those things from time to time on the bay of e for about $10AUD more or less.

The Torch on the end is a brand new aquisition of mine. It's an Energizer Vision HD 2AA Performance metal light I just picked up from Coles for $29AUD (I'm sure it could be had cheaper elsewhere). It's a triple unknown LED light that claims on the packet that it will output up to 300 lumens worth of "natural daylight like" light on high, with a high runtime of 4 hours. Although I doubt it's consistance of output with that runtime, I don't doubt its max output. Here it is compared to my 200 lumen HDS EDC Rotary on high. HDS on the left, Energizer on the right:



Now I can't vouch for it's reliability, it has a plastic lens (ZOMG plastic! Be careful with that! It could poke your EYE out man!) and it intermittently vibrates on low mode, but it does have a metal body, the output is up there, and it has a tint that most tint snobs would find pleasing. No it's not a Surefire, or Fenix, or Zebralight, or even LED Lenser when it comes to it's quality, but you can buy one of these in a Grocery Store, and with the change left over from the price of say, a Surefire E2L AA Outdoorsman, you could fund an entire weekend trip away.

If you're a professional door kicker or spelunker, these lights would not be suitable, but 99.999% of Australians aren't. For hiking, camping, fishing, and hunting, these lights could do the job, and as such, the need for high quality flashlights just isn't that high.

FPSRelic is quite right. For anyone interested, high quality lights can be had by mail order. There's even a few places in Australia that sell some of the better stuff via the 'net. It's just that most people baulk at paying that sort of money for a light, this includes soldiers and cops. Like cars and knives, you're not going to pay 10 times the price of a cheaper item if you feel it will get the job done, unless you're "into" that sort of thing. I'm starting to see a few more Fenix and Nitecore lights being carried, and there's always Lenser, but when I tell people how much I paid for an Elzetta they look at me like I shouldn't be outside on my own

Guys, thanks for these very enlightening (pun intended) and funny (@matt4350!! :lolsign opinions. I've got the general idea about what is happening inside of Aussieland wrt torches/flashlights or whatever they may be called down there, and that is that you are considered an "outsider" if you pay more than 10 bucks for a torch.