my sister thinks i`m crazy.

my sister thinks i`m stupid buying loads of different flashlights from all round the world.

I told her that their were a lot of thing worse than buying flashlights.

she said i should take up a different hobbie, like stamp collecting.

I don`t know anybody that has the same interests as me in my area.

when i buy a new flashlight and am dying to show somebody, the first thing they ask is how much did it cost.

and think that i am stupid when i tell them.

none of the flashlights i have cost more that $60.

if i told them that i had spent $250-300, they would lock me away.

is this a problem you have, trying to justifie your purchases.

thank god for CPF and it`s fantastic members.

regards.

It's an age old problem - and I solve it by not talking about them to those who are not interested!

As long as it's your own money, you don't need to justify it to anybody.

Me.....I just wait till folks end up in a dark toilet with their pants down and no TP in the holder yelling for a light, then I help by pointing one underneath the door. Wisecracks and comments about price usually die down after such incidents.

When I do carry the lights (EDC), they are always hidden in pockets. Nobody realizes I have three lights on me while I walk around every day.....

Hey, it's your money, do what makes you happy. There are a lot of ways you could spend money that would make her unhappy...drugs come to mind.

From past experience, one way to get her to understand is give her a small, coin cell light that she will not have an excuse not to carry. Fauxton works. Then pray for a situation to arise that makes it clear WHY we carry these things. I gave mom a Pelican L1 a long time ago, when they first came out for her keychain. Used to give me grief about it until there was a power outage at work. She has a small office on the second floor deep inside a warehouse. Dark box inside a bigger dark box. And there were two small dogs that don't like the dark. The L1 saved the day. Needless to say, mom has been upgraded a number of times, and she is very happy.

Flashlights is probably one of the more affordable hobbies. Just ask you sister how much her Armani Jeans, or Balli Shoes or Gucci Handbag costs - or whatever she is collecting.

Other people collect cars or spend their money on alcohol or elsewhere.

Regarding telling people how much - what I do I tell them it costs a lot - however I then tell them that it is worth every dollar if you look at the technology you can find in these lights. That normally seperates the ones who want to know more and those who don't.... Get your sister a cute bright little light.... that might change her mind.

First rule of a CPF'er should be NEVER tell anyone what your flashlights cost. Tell them all about LED and HID and show them how we can turn night into day no matter where we are. But NEVER tell them how much it costs or they will lock us all away for sure!!!!

TinderBox (UK) said:

she said i should take up a different hobbie, like stamp collecting.
regards.

Click to expand...

Yeah, spending money on little colored pieces of paper - that makes much more sense.

No matter what your hobby is there will be those who scoff at it. Don't waste your time on trying to explain, just enjoy.

Well, there are some crazy folks at CPF which spends way to much money on flashlights, but I think you are very far from being one of them. But it is of course relative to how much you have to spend if it can be viewed as an unhealty addiction or not. Having lights for $250-$300 is not something that should shock anybody, that is what I had spent on lights before I got a special interest in them (i.e. many years before I found CPF).

I'm lucky enough to have friends that understand the value of good lights, and I have had to assemble some modded lights for them. These are mods that cost them $200 (i.e. what the parts and shipping cost me). These are folks that have no interest in lights, they just want to replace the big and dim Mag with a small light that kicks its but in every way, and they think the $200 is well spent.
As you see, you have no reason for feeling stupid or crazy.

Sigbjoern

I just tell the truth and really care less about what they think. I almost wear it as a badge of pride


Then again, I don't get crap for it. Although another CPF'er I work with use to get junk for it... not a lot but some. And mind you this was only over a AA mini mag... Yikes!

A stamp collection won't help during a blackout. It also won't help you to change a tire on a dark road. I could go on...

There is an old saying.

"For those who know, no explanation is needed. And for those whom do not, none is possible."

It used to be I'd try to discuss things with people that might not agree with my likes and dislikes. That way even if their opinion held true, they might have a more educated viewpoint.

Point and case was an old career I had. Most thought I was stupid or crazy and some thought less of me for my decision to pursue it. In time those same people would think I was cool for the same exact reasons I was looked at as crazy. But I never did it for them. I did it for me.

These days I am not too much concerned what other think. I simply do my best, and at the end of the day that is good enough for me.

My moral of the story is that as long as you r enjoy your Lights, and you can afford that, that is what matters most.

Hope that helps,
John

Sixpointone,

Well said...I like it..."For those who know, no explanation is needed. And for those whom do not, none is possible."

I'd bet that she couldn't care less about the lights or the money at all. She's found something that annoys you, so she'll keep at it. It's your money and it's not hurting her in the slightest for you to have extra lights, so ignore her.

Good luck. :buddies:

P.S. Don't loan her any lights when she needs them. Even if you were willing to forgive all the insults, she obviously won't respect the lights for the quality tools they are, and sure as hell won't replace one should she break it.

You could be collecting Ferraris!

A lot of my friends like to play with my lights, and just look at them. If they ask how much it is, depending on the person I will say a different thing, if it is a close friend I usually tell them how much it was, some are supportive, some aren't, if it isn't a really close friend I say something along the lines of "oh, a fair amount" or "enough" or "well its hard to find them" or "you cant get it locally". I love CPF, just I have spent a lot in a little over a month here.

Tell her you'd be stupid if you paid High Street prices for them instead of importing them from various parts of the world. I can think of a lot dumber things to do with 40 quid than to spend it on a torch. And given the number of Brits that are buying collectables on eBay and other auction sites, I don't think these little diversions are any different on your side of the pond than it is on ours. Sometimes I think the only difference is that we have text on Page 3 of our newspapers .

TinderBox (UK) said:

my sister thinks i`m stupid buying loads of different flashlights from all round the world.

Click to expand...

Sixpointone said:

There is an old saying.

"For those who know, no explanation is needed. And for those whom do not, none is possible."

Click to expand...

I love that quote....

Most people I know think I'm crazy... and some of them don't know about my flashlights. At least flashlights are tools and there are many uses for portable lighting.

Your not crazy if you USE your lights, now if there are 200 flashlights laying around your house I would look at you a bit weird. I have a total of around 15 lights for myself and the other three members of my family to use. If I upgrade, I'll give away one of the lights to someone who could use one. Once Peak starts shipping Pacifics with AA bodies, the Inova X5 will be given to a neighbor for power failures. I have given away modded lights, AAA lights and various flashlights over the years.

Now sitting around and posting to internet forums about flashlights... well, that is just crazy!

TinderBox (UK),

I would say that your sister is more than likely correct. But being your sister rather that your wife, for example, it is really none of her business anyway. So here you are, among friends, many of who are even more crazy than you.
We are not doing drugs, making internet dates with little kids and winding up on Dateline NBC, we try to avoid politics and a lot of that other really sick things that many other people do elsewhere.
So we basically just buy flashlights and shine them into our eyeballs to see which ones blind us the most and run the longest. Much better to be a little crazy than just downright sick.

yes, i agree with your sister to a small extent that buying flashlight is crazy!!!111oneoneone.

however, stamp collection will cost even more then flashlight i believe. some rare stamps may cost you 10 of ks or even 100ks if you want to get them. those so called "limited edition" stamps also can cost alot.

stamps also can't help during a blackout.

And it may, be treated like "just a piece of paper with ink on it" to other people unlike a light, which you can show them in the face why it cost that much!

just tell your sister that she should be glad you aren't into hi-fi systems!