Are other hobbies frivilous?

Saaby

Flashaholic
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Jun 17, 2002
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**EDIT**
Summary: Flashlight collecting is a great hobby, but I thing having a mid or high end flashlight is something everyone could benefit from. Are there any other hobbies/products where everyone could benefit from spending a little more? Does everyone need a $2000 watch or just the enthusiasts?

Ok, back to the original message--a lot of blubbering around...

A comment elsewhere about a $600 watch being tagged as "inferior" got me thinking...

Flashlights are definatly not a frivilous hobby. At the risk of sounding like a certain other member, my Arc AAA will beat the pants off a cheapo $1 Eveready light any day. Nice flashlights are definatly better than cheap ones, and something you will use.

Not that I have a problem with anyone collecting them, not that I think they're dumb, but:

It seems silly to buy a $1500 watch when my $20 Casio is accurate to about 5 seconds every year.

It seems silly to buy a $150,000 car when a $20,000 used Saab works just great.

Why buy a $500 pen (I'm sure they exist) when my $0.5 Bic wrights fine?

I know the answer to all of these: of course a $500 pen is going to write smoother than a Bic etc.

I guess what I am really asking is this:
Everyone should have a better flashlight than a $2 or $3 Eveready. But does everyone need a $300 toaster (I'm sure there are people who collect toasters
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) it seems, to me, this is what makes flashlight loving a practical hobby, and other hobbies more frivilous...but then again I'm biased.

Disclaimer: I have absolutly no issues with the hobbies mentioned above, they just seem to be in a different category than flashlights...

PS--Spell Check isn't working so...
 

webley445

Flashlight Enthusiast
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A hobby never seems frivolous to those who partake. but I agree, part of the reason i like flashlight(S)/collecting is the lower price tag as compared to other interests I've had.
 

The_LED_Museum

*Retired*
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I collect antique glass insulators and vintage ghettoblasters. Both hobbies can be started on a shoestring, and both hobbies have completely unobtainable objects. On the lower end, you can go garage saling or junking and pick up a nice insulator for $5 and a good early 80s boombox for $10. On the opposite end of the spectrum, you can spend $35,000.00 for an insulator (FOR A 1LB PIECE OF GLASS!!) and some older boomboxes have been known to sell for a couple of grand.

For the average collector with at least some pocket depth, you can obtain a lot of colorful glass and some of the best jam boxes ever made. Only a relatively few of each are so rare they would start approaching or exceeding several hundred dollars.

As for things like pens, whatever I find in the wastepaperbasket or in the gutter is fine with me.
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rlhess

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Aurora, Ontario, Canada
I've always had a hobby of audio--not the totally high-end audiophile stuff--but good, solid professional equipment.

I am now turning this into a service restoring tapes for people. http://www.richardhess.com/tape/ and while it is still a side business and likely to remain so for a long time, it is paying its own way (!) and it might grow into a nice retirement business.

People are REAL happy when they get to hear their departed grandparents or something like that on tapes they have no idea how to play.

Cheers,

Richard
 

Badbeams3

Flashlight Enthusiast
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No! Saaby...I recommend collecting owl cookie jars. Their a hoot! And lucky for you my wife has already done all the homework! Further, I`m willing to trade you all her fantastic jars for a song! E-mail me right away for more info...right away!

You Lucky dog!

Ken
 

Spork

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USA
Originally posted by Saaby:
At the risk of sounding like a certain other member, my Arc AAA will beat the pants off a cheapo $1 Eveready light any day.
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">I hope I don't sound like that. the arc aaa is one of my favorite lights.
 

Albany Tom

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Albany, NY
I think part of what I like about hobbies is that they *are* a little frivilous. Why not? I enjoy playing with the blinking stuff.

I turned my computer hobby into a career, and while I love it, it's somehow just not as fun any more. It's work. That's fine, but it's nice to have some things to do that are mostly just for fun.

As far as practical goes: About half of the time it's dark. Lights let you see in the dark, rather than bump into things all the time. Collecting lights seems pretty damn practical to me...
 

Roy

Farewell our Curmudgeon Administrator
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Hobbies and collecting aren't always the same thing. My friends thought I was getting strange when I started buying flashlights that were in the $40+ range but thought nothing of my collecting AA maglights (curently have 11 and a half minimags each a different color).

I had to point out that I could buy a LOT of lights for what they spent on golf. Another friend thought nothing about replacing the $800 RC airplane he turned into thoothpicks!

My other hobby is HAM radio...talk about money! Now, some do think I'm crazy when I go out and chase storms, but that's what I got into HAM radio for! When I'm out looking at storms, there is probably close to $2000 in mobile radios, hand held radios, GPS receivers and computers in the car! All in the name of fun and public service (we report storm data to the NWS).

When the lights fail, kids get lost, or the SO needs help at night, guess who they call now?
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Hobbies and collecting are fun ways to keep busy and if they turn out to be usefull and helpful to your friends and neabours....GREAT!
 

BuddTX

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When you pay 2000 for a watch, or 500 for a pen etc, you are buying the artistry and craftsmanship and rare materials used. Yes a Casio watch is as accurate, maybe even more so than a Rolex, But look at the craftmanship of the Rolex, compared to the Casio, and there is where the difference is.

I was ready to spend about 200-300 on a watch, and I decided on a Bulova watch, and before purchasing it, I was in Wal-mart, and was looking at the watches, and found an Elgin for 48 bucks, and it had a 90 day return policy, and bought it, and just LOVE it! It gains 5 seconds a month! And it is well built too, and a nice SS band, and looks very nice. That's all I want. When I am a CEO of some company, I will probably have to buy a classier watch, but I am happy for now. Some watches, like Lumenox for example, are expensive for their increased functionality, not for the jewerly aspect.

Go look at pocket knives, another hobby very close to flashlights, to see people paying a lot of money for something that they probably will never take out of the case.

It does seem interesting, however, that most flashlights will be used, even the high end ones (OK, maybe the BRASS ARC AAA is an exception).

Nobody here is buying any 24K gold, diamond incrusted, platinum inlaid flashlights for 3000 bucks. (And I don't think that most people here would want one.)

Part of this hobby is to have lights that are functional.

It blows me away to know people that spend hundreds, if not thousands of dollars for these beautiful knives, that will never leave their cases. Not all high end knives are like that, of course, there are some pocket knives that are just incredible, and firemen and paramedics etc carry them.

I don't understand why people buy these "ART KNIVES". They are just incredible to look at, the craftmanship is incredible, the attention to detail is just amazing, but people will never put these pocketknives in their pocket! As a work or art and a work of master craftmanship, they are just perfect, but then never get used!

A "CORE" part of this flashlight hobby is that the light has to be functional. Smaller, brighter, longer running, better beam, running costs of batteries vs rechargables, "whiter white light color", beam throw, and how to turn it on and off are just about all we are looking for.

OK, I was going to post this else where, but my new Inova (the one with the tailcap), is without a doubt, the coolest LOOKING flashlight I own (I have yet to buy a SureFire, but I did just order a P61 HOLA for my Brinkmann to do a mod on!!)

And I do wish that Peter would offer a brushed and or polished Stainless Steel "CPF" version of his ARC AAA.
 

jtivat

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If you where A Navy Seal or a LEO and needed to rely on a watch for timing of a critical operation that could take your life, would you rely on your Casio? Take into account the watch could go through a lot of abuse before getting there so keeping time is not it's only mission. I am in the process of buying all of my dive gear right now and I could buy a good regulator for around $400 or a really good one for $800. Now take in consideration that I dive in Michigan lakes, that a good regulator has a chance of freezing up at 100' would you buy the better one?
 

Saaby

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More clarification is in order I guess...

What I am asking is this...everyone, hobbist or not, could benefit from a nicer flashlight. Does everyone need a nicer watch though? No...what does everyone need a "nicer" of thogh? What am I using every day that I should upgrade to improve my quality of life?
 
D

**DONOTDELETE**

Guest
the world, and I, need a good home coffee bean roaster. the three models presently available all have flaws. one doesn't hold many beans, and the roast chamber can come unglued..another has a nice rotating steel drum roasting chamber, but you can't see the beans while they're roasting, and the holes in the drum are slightly too large for some small beans and they get stuck ..a third roaster gets too hot to handle comfortably and dumps chaff as you dump the roasted beans out... anyone who invents the perfect home roaster will get rich I tell you..!
(...maybe this belongs in "cawfee tawk" at darksbane --
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)
 

webley445

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St. Pete, Fl.
Upgrade quality of life? Well thats kinda subjective. it's up to the individual to make that decision if they want to upgrade or not. You gotta remember that sometimes people are comfy and happy with what they have. And though I really hate to say it, there are alot of people out there who couldn't possibly see the need or could come close to getting the use out of a light like you or I would.
 
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