I've been dating since I was twelve, been into flashlights to some extent since I was fifteen. I remember stashing a stock Mini Mag in my little suit when I went to my first high school dance as a freshman, good times, and it was great to have when we snuck out to the parking lot through a storage room attached to the gym, it went that badly. They had a teacher playing DJ. Enough said.
The key to finding a mate while still enjoying flashlights, is to mix them in with other little gadgets. Have a pocketknife, a lighter, a fancy phone, things you enjoy that others may find interesting. Be a 'Gadget Guy', not a 'Flashlight guy'. Now, when it is time to mention lights if you do at all, keep it simple. Don't show off something with external regulators and tritium inserts all over it. Don't even try mentioning the technical aspects of the thing. Keep it simple. If you want to modify your EDC for dates or full time date-seeking, being able to conceal the light is absolutely necessary. Don't use a belt pouch. Keep it hidden in your pocket. Sometimes, lights can actually appeal to a girl in a curious or nostalgic manner. The first time my now live-in girlfriend saw one of my modified Mini Maglites, she went on about how her father has had a red one on his dashboard for twenty years, and that her grandfather purchased a then expensive and high-end full size Maglite shortly after coming over from Cuba, to this day the old guy can point to the shelf of his room and talk about the day he bought it. Maglites suck, in incan form at least, and the compnay has made some stupid moves. But it's familiar enough to not mark you off as a geek, it actually tends to give off a masculine, 'works with hands' appeal.
Hate Maglites? Get a Photon. Any kind. Any color beam, any color body. My girlfriend and all her female friends love those things to death. It's a nice gift if you really like the girl, and they're cheap enough at batteryjunction to give one to your entire harem. My girl just got herself a gemstone-blue Photon Freedom yesterday, and she wore it like jewelry on the necklace clip to work today. Women aren't a different species, or an inferior one. They just look deeper into some things, and not so deep in others. Men wear old jeans and drool over flashlights, women just like cars because they're easier than walking...and drool over shoes.
