How do you explain this Hobby?

[Agent Orange Peel]

I was at the office one day and someone needed a light because they dropped something. He asked me for a flashlight, and I hand him mine.

Another co-worker was semi-shocked and asked, "Do you always carry a flashlight?"

I replied, "You know half of the day is night? So it's kind of important."

The whole office agreed with me after that statement. No one ever questioned the tools I carried after that.

 

[UFO]

What is YOUR flashlight hobby like?
How do you explain it?

Poppy, is this a question for me?

 

[nollij]

Fire was the most significant step in human civilization, perhaps even greater than splitting the atom. Fire gave man two things: heat and light. Humans are primarily visually-based creatures, and we need light for that.

Or, put another and more concrete/ modern way- from The 9/11 Commission's findings:

"Preparedness of Individual Civilians. One clear lesson of September 11 is that individual civilians need to take responsibility for maximizing the probability that they will survive, should disaster strike. Clearly, many building occupants in the World Trade Center did not take preparedness seriously. Individuals should know the exact location of every stairwell in their workplace. In addition, they should have access at all times to flashlights, which were deemed invaluable by some civilians who managed to evacuate the WTC on September 11."


Emphasis mine. This is one of 10 sections of analysis/ takeaways from the commission. Let that sink in, one of the biggest lessons we learned from 9/11 is that EVERYONE NEEDS ACCESS TO FLASHLIGHTS.

It wasn't until the Loma Prieta (spelling?) earthquake and then 9/11 that I started carrying EDC knives and lights. They can save your life and all I have to is reference those events and that usually shuts down the questions immediately. If someone is genuinely curious I'll dig deeper into it but that's usually enough. I feel naked without a light (or 5) and a knife. Maybe I should seek therapy 😂

 

[Poppy]

Poppy, is this a question for me?

Yes UFO, it is.

Maybe you just like playing with them, maybe you like to collect a bunch of the same but in different colors, or perhaps each has a specific task. So, how do you define what you do with lights as a hobby?

 

[WmArnold1]

As several others have said; led flashlights satisfy a real need that was difficult until a decade or so ago; and that's really cool until old-school cool becomes just old. My Wife makes fun of me for EDC'ing only a item or two less than Batman. But, if its not in my pocket; you can bet it's in my car

 

[pumps]

I'm a tool guy. Anyone who knows me knows that. I can fix most thing electrical of mechanical.I owned an appliance repair business for 30 years. Flashlights are a tool to accomplish a task. Even if the task is going out in the back yard at night to walk the dogs.I don't have just one screwdriver or wrench or multi-meter. I have different tool bags for my van, house, motorcycle barn. I've also been a firefighter for 31 years. I like to be prepared for havoc. It doesn't always occur when I'm on duty. I always have a swiss army knife too.I wouldn't feel it was necessary to explain.

 

[lunas]

Easiest thing to do is just tell them "you just have fun playing with flashlights". If you tell them you need 20 or 30 of them to maintain situational awareness they are going to ask if you missed your medication. Try explaining that one.

Hand them a light to see. They might have misunderstood flashlight for their misconception of what they think is a flashlight.

 

[UFO]

Yes UFO, it is.

Maybe you just like playing with them, maybe you like to collect a bunch of the same but in different colors, or perhaps each has a specific task. So, how do you define what you do with lights as a hobby?

Well, I'm one of those that prepares (within reason), for a break in the normal routine of life. Earthquakes, fires, power interruptions, and other natural (or un-natural) disasters occur from time to time, and it would behove me to be ready when that incident happens.

Lighting plays an intricate part of those preparations. Simply having the ability to see can calm a person in a bad situation. Flashlights are simply a spoke in the wheel of a well rounded set of gear that could, if used in the correct manner, bring me out of a bad situation faster than it was delivered to me.

So basically, you used reverse psychology to make me answer my own question. Well done.

 

[Poppy]

And I think that you gave an excellent answer

Along the same lines, I like to say "I am a boy scout! I like to be prepared."

 

[Lark Hunter]

As others have mentioned, I also tend to think of flashlights as a necessary tool, as I spend a lot of time working in the dark. And like other tools, it's easier to meet the needs of a specific task by having a variety of them, correctly suited for the job at hand.

You can also take a historical bent, and come up with some professions and places that battery powered lighting has been a requirement, and how those specific light sources have changed over the years. Some examples are: law enforcement, search and rescue, mining, firefighting, industrial operations... Those are things I can come up with quickly, and that usually do an adequate job of essplaining why someone would give a hoot about flashlights.

 

[Jim 1965]

I simply don't explain it. Today, a FiveMega Elephant II came in for me, finally, after a lot of waiting due to improper services of the Dutch post. That thing is huge in the 12X 18650 version, it's long, thick and has a very large head. "What are you going to use THAT for?!?!" my boss asked. So I told him, this will be my long-duration, bright "in the woods" light. Next time when I go camping, it will definitely be with me...View attachment 17183

Hi

I simply don't explain it. Today, a FiveMega Elephant II came in for me, finally, after a lot of waiting due to improper services of the Dutch post. That thing is huge in the 12X 18650 version, it's long, thick and has a very large head. "What are you going to use THAT for?!?!" my boss asked. So I told him, this will be my long-duration, bright "in the woods" light. Next time when I go camping, it will definitely be with me...View attachment 17183find out more. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Jim

Hi I have never heard of the Fivemega elephant 2.I have never heard of the brand or the light. Can you direct me to where I could find out more .Any help would be greatly appreciated. Jim

 

[UFO]

Hi

Hi I have never heard of the Fivemega elephant 2.I have never heard of the brand or the light. Can you direct me to where I could find out more .Any help would be greatly appreciated. Jim

I might be wrong but I think it's an actual member here that goes by that very name. I think he builds lights as well as modifications to existing brands.

 

[bykfixer]

FiveMega builds custom flashlights. The elephant is one of the many he has built over the years.

WTS: CPF's Custom & Modified Flashlights

www.candlepowerforums.com

 

[idleprocess]

Hi I have never heard of the Fivemega elephant 2.I have never heard of the brand or the light. Can you direct me to where I could find out more .

I might be wrong but I think it's an actual member here that goes by that very name. I think he builds lights as well as modifications to existing brands.

FiveMega builds custom flashlights. The elephant is one of the many he has built over the years.

Alternatively, fivemega on CPF.

 

[thermal guy]

I just tell people if you knew what I knew you'd be buying flashlights by the dozen. Then I just walk away. Always keep them guessing my friends 😁

 

[Lumen83]

Its hard to explain to people in the dark, but I try my best to shine a light on it for them.

 

[Unicorn]

I like lights. Depending on who it is, that's the answer I give them. Sometimes I'll talk about how I don't like stumbling around in the pitch black and want the best tool for the job. Different reasons work for different people. Those who work with tools, or instruments, or sporting gear who understand wanting the best tool for the job understand that a bit better. For some... "I like lights. At least I use them. How often do you wear those shoes you collect? No, you didn't buy them for investment, I know you bought them because they are cool to you. To each his own." Or whatever thing they are into.

 

[fuyume]

I'd probably have a harder time explaining why I have 20 different handbags when I mostly only use one. 😂

The real answer is that handbags for a woman are situational. Society demands different things of men and women, and one area that plays out is in clothing and accessories.

Fashion is a tool. Just like it takes more than one wrench to fix a car, it takes more than one handbag to cover even the most basic gamut of social situations.

Flashlights are no different, except that over the past 20-30 years, we've lived through an era in which LED technology and Li-ion battery technology has been advancing rapidly. I have 20 year old LED flashlights that are functionally obsolete, compared to current brightness and battery life state of the art, but still work like new.

Where performance (feature set, brightness, battery life, size, weight) are an issue, I will upgrade whenever I can, but what am I supposed to do with my old flashlights? Throw them out? No, of course not. Right now, I have at least seven flashlights in arms' reach, possibly others I forgot are there, everything from a SwissTech keychain LED that I hate because the switch spring is too stiff to an Eton crank weather radio flashlight to my new Fenix and the Inova it replaced and the Leatherman the Inova replaced, a Mini Mag-Lite, a Bushnell tactical light—and that's not even counting the two iPhones and iPad that are in arms' reach, all of which can be used as flashlights.

And there's my new Fenix headlamp across the room in my camping gear, along with a 20+ year old CMG Infinity Task Light that I use for really dim light at night to preserve night vision. And my other new Fenix on my bicycle downstairs. I think those are all the flashlights *in the house*, but they might not be. Theoretically, I think I still own a 2C Mag-Lite that I bought to maybe turn into a lightsaber prop.

But then, there's at least a button cell LED light in my truck, and another button cell LED light in my office desk across town.

The more I think about it, the more flashlights I remember I have. 😂

 

[search_and_rescue]

 

[Owen]

It's not something I've ever felt the need to explain, or that anyone usually cares enough to ask about.
My favorite query came well over a decade ago, from someone I handed a flashlight when they needed one.
They seemed surprised, and actually asked, "What do you need a flashlight for?"
"I don't, dumbass, you do."🙄