HOW MANY FLASHLIGHTS DO YOU NEED?

[gkbain]

I have been asked "HOW MANY FLASHLIGHTS DO YOU NEED?" more than once, but never gave it much thought. My wife, neighbors, children, and grandchildren have all asked that question. After thinking about it for some time I came up with the answer of 5. Need and want are two different things. I have about 15 in my small collections but could live with only 5. Here is my reasoning: 1 for each car (we have 2) that uses lithium batteries, not lithium-ion, that would have many years of shelf life and be ready when you needed it and not requiring charging or care on a regular basis. 1 small light for edc and night stand duty. The type of battery used would be a personal preference. 1 mid-sized light that uses a P60 drop-in and lithium-ion or regular lithium battery. This would be the one you grabbed when looking for something under the sofa or walking the dog. It is also one that would satisfy the flashaholic since you could change the drop-in and the type of batteries used easily. 1 large light either flood or throw or combination. This would be the one that was used to light up the great outdoors or for emergencies. Back to the original question HOW MANY FLASHLIGHTS DO YOU NEED? If for some reason I had to, I could get by with only 1. It could not satisfy all the above cases but it would work. What do you think?

 

[ven]

I guess i would need 1 each for the motors,a couple for the caravan(back up),couple of edc lights,3 or 4 should do work,couple in the house,maybe 3 or 4.So maybe 10-15 i would say is normal,i am not normal

I use AAA/AA/D/18650 protected and unprotected Li ion,IMR 26650,10500,16340,18350 and soon 10180 of top of my head,some single,some multi cell but no more than 4 cell lights at present.
Not counted lights but i guess at least 5 x the amount i say is normal..........
Uses from camping(outdoors),work,fun and just wanting.

I like variety,like my small lights like i do large,so lumens dont sell me the light unless i want a specific light for a WOW factor or need/want a large area light up.I tend to buy lights more now with tints in mind,also like de-dome options too thanks to vinh. So i used to be a "just cool white" but now although i like my cool white,i like my warmer tints too.So an excuse for more lights

I am not a brand fanboy when it comes to cells(or lights),although nimh i prefer eneloop,regarding 18650 just best value branded for me,from nitecore at 1st(expensive tbh and better value out there but you have to start somewhere before better educated)/KeepPower/Xtar/Pany/Sanyo/MNKE/Kinoko/Samsung and some fire cells with the fire on side which have been fine.....

I find flooders or lights with usable flood more for my general over all use..

Also liking my ti lights,admittedly limited right now to d25cvn ti and d25a ti but would like a gizmo at some point.

So i would say about 15 is the magic number.

After that if you have 30 or 100 its too many imho so may as well get 100 :laughing:

 

[Phaserburn]

How many do I need? All of mine. And maybe a few of yours.

 

[ven]

How many do I need? All of mine. And maybe a few of yours.

:laughing:

 

[mcnair55]

In truth one.

 

[Eric242]

What´s left to say after Phaserburns reply

If I really had to narrow it down to what I need I´d had a small EDC light (1x123), a pure flood light, a thrower and a light which cranks out a hell of a lot lumens. So 4 lights.

If I had to part with all except one, it would a either a Surefire E1E with Tanas tripLED mod or the McGizmo AquaRam.

Eric

 

[kj2]

I've quite a collection and it's still growing but what I need; 2* EDC (CR123 and AA), 3 tactical/personal defense lights ( 2 main and 1 back-up), 1 walking/hiking light (AA), 2 big lights (1* thrower, 1* with a wider range), 2* headlamp (AA and CR123/18650)
And as the saying goes; one is none, two is one, three is key

 

[PCC]

Cyclists have a saying when asked how many bicycles they need: n+1 where n is the number of bikes owned at the moment.

 

[ven]

"how many allen keys do you need?" i was asked today by the apprentice :laughing: my reply was 7 sets,then showed him that i had less flashlights at only 5 in tool box :laughing: then i got why do you need that many..........because i do,should not have asked as he then got a 5 minute presentation on different lights/uses............might treat him to a tk75vn or tk61vn for a display

So yes he thinks i have a problem,i did ask "how many pairs of shoes do you have?" he replied 2,my reply was well you need more then! :laughing:

Quite a few peeps in work think i have a strange flashlight obsession............how strange

 

[sabasarge]

Hmmm....seems akin to "How many guns do you need?", and sounds just like my wife.
Of course she might also be talking about watches, boots, Japanese saws, packs, and oh yeah....flashlights.

 

[RetroTechie]

In truth one.

0: Especially modern life is very much possible without using any flashlight whatsoever.

1: But a light comes in handy often. So a light that always works, has a nice tint and all the lumens you need but many modes, weighs 'nothing', and ever-lasting battery.

2+: Since that perfect light doesn't exist. So we use different lights for different purposes.

3-10: Lights can double for different roles. With fewer lights and more roles, you just need to move them around more often.
10+: Beyond "all roles filled", having more is just collecting, without much practical use if any. :duck: But fun!

Imho a more interesting question is "how many batteries do you need?". Flashlights only require (a little) of your attention when used, but you can have countless ones sitting around without much problems.

Batteries otoh require care from time to time, even if not used. So more batteries = more work in maintaining those. To most people, a pair, a handful or a few dozen will be more useful than just one. But where do the usefulness-gains end? :thinking: Beyond how many batteries becomes having more a burden, rather than useful? How to determine what # is optimal, on that useful <-> maintenance scale?

Remember even with and endless pile of lights to choose from, you'll still only be able to check out a limited # of those at any one time. Hence (for example) no point in having batteries in all lights you own.

 

[TMedina]

Depending on how we define "need" - probably just one. And truth be told, a cheap but reliable light like the Rayovac Indestructible would do the trick. One of the older Maglite 3AAs, if I wanted to be fancy. For all of that, I could just slap a LED upgrade bulb in my Fulton Angle head flashlight and call it good.

Bright, reliable, relatively long-lasting. That would live in the house with two packs of batteries. That one light would be the work light, the emergency light, and so on.

But that's a very strict, and narrow-minded interpretation of "need" - if we go further, I could say I need five or six different lights, each tasked with a purpose, plus backup.

 

[CrazySanMan]

I seem to have a lot of "needs" for lights that each require a different type of light.

I 'need' a headlamp for backpacking trips and a small handheld backup, preferably with a strobe or SOS for emergencies.

I 'need' a light in each car, preferably with at least a low-high mode.

I 'need' a small keychain light that I wear on a neck lanyard for use at work.

I 'need' a small red light for use during night photography and astronomy.

I 'need' a brighter red or green light for hunting season.

I 'need' a light for general use around the house.

I 'need' a bright long throw light for when the kids or dog disappear in the night when camping.

All in all, I could probably get by with a headlamp with multiple modes and a different colored LED or filter, a keychain light, an EDC 2AA light, and a big bad thrower.

 

[Charles L.]

One. But it isn't about need.

 

[RIX TUX]

one more than everyone else........

but at the bare minimum: 1 thrower .....1 edc.......1 tactical type.....1 18650 light.......1 headlight.......1 floody, long runtime, camping type (for power outages).........beater lights to loan out (don't give them the good stuff)

this may change depending on financial factors

 

[N_N_R]

Honestly? None

Really, I work at home and I work in the evening, so when it's dark, I'm home. I do all my other duties during the day. At home we have electricity... hehe.

But it's always convenient to have a light next to you when you wake up at night.... so... if I try really hard to need a flashlight, maybe one. lol.

 

[Glofindel]

On day to day basis? I think I would need 2. Small flashlight on keychain and probably 3 modes AAA flashlight.
However there are so many nice flashlights out there so I can't have only 2.

 

[smokinbasser]

This is similar to how many bottles of booze does one want? The more the merrier. I have a dozen flashlights in sight as I sit here at my puter. Plus 3 on my walker, two in my levis!!

 

[ven]

two in my levis!!

I hope they are not fenix tk61 lightsoo: certainly get some comments :laughing:

 

[sabasarge]

........two in my levis!!

And here I thought you were just glad to see me! :naughty: