What age when you became a flashoholic

Hi all,just wondered when you discovered(or in my case realized) you were a flashoholic.

I remember camping beginning at age 7, and always wanting to have the brightest flashlight. Did my first mod at age 10 by adding a second flashlight bulb on the side of the reflector for a "wide beam".

When I was 10, I remember getting a free radioshack 5 cell flashlight (Big gray one) by using a coupon in the sales flyer. I got everyone's flyer in the neighborhood and cut out the coupon. I hit every RS in the area and got about 8 lights. Family said I was nuts then......Now they really think I'm nuts

ZMZ67 said:

Hi all,just wondered when you discovered(or in my case realized) you were a flashoholic.

Click to expand...

At age four or five I was given a shiny, chrome-plated, red-plastic-headed 1AA flashlight. Ray-o-Vac or Eveready, not sure which brand. Had a tiny slide switch just behind the head. Output was probably 5 lumens on a fresh cell, then rapidly declining. Enough to navigate inside a dark house or to read under the bedcovers.

I loved that little light and managed to keep it for several years before losing it on a camping trip. It was the first flashlight that was all mine and the first flashlight that I truly loved.

Penlights were my next fascination after I lost my little 1AA light. I built up quite a collection of 2AA and 2AAA penlights and was always on the lookout for new models. I managed to glom onto many corporate promotional plastic penlights from various sources.

The ones I favored for EDC were slender plastic 2AAA models where the pocket clip was also the switch. Throughout Jr. and Sr. High there was almost always a penlight in my shirt pocket.

My favorite penlights for real world use were 2AA Ray-O-Vac and Eveready chrome-plated models with twisty collar switches. Penlights with clicky switches didn't seem to be as reliable, no matter the manufacturer.

At about age 14 I got involved in caving and was immediately hooked on modding lights to improve output and runtime.


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Back in the stone age when I was a boy scout. We played a game
called spotlight where you and your friends are in a pitch dark room
When you thought you knew where someone was hiding you yelled spotlight an shined your light on them.
Been hooked every sense

I would have to say for me it was around the age of ten or thereabouts.It seems like I was always buying another light for one reason or another even though at the time I wasn't collecting anything.Discovered CPF a little over a year ago and realized I was a flashoholic.I've been lurking ever since and I finally got around to signing up.This place is just killing my wallet!

probably when i was 8 yr old, i got a minimaglite and carried it everywhere.
then i got a 6d maglite, took my weeks allowance to feed the thing. then i got a petzl micro. now i EDC a PD slate and 27lt, the budget went up but still love the old lights.

I from age 6 I had a 3D maglite sitting next to my bed, this increased to 4 mags all coming camping etc with me! However its in the last year where I've really turned into a flashaholic.... I started buying cheap led lights and liking them, then well this year happened and all the lights in my sig line appeared!!!! My poor credit card!

Guess I've always been one, but didn't realize there were others out there like me until about six months before my join date here at CPF. Upon finding The LED Museum site I knew I was afflicted.

Geoff

Ummm... just about when I joined up here a couple months ago. Since then I revived an old 3D that had a battery corrode in it, it sits by my bed. I also revived an old minimag that had a broken switch (somehow...) Also upgraded my nice minimag to TLE-5EX when it came out. I'm now looking to get a malkoff led for my 2D mag, making a mcclicky-based tailcap switch for minimag, and wanting new lights....

Well, I realized I was a flashaholic only a little over a year ago, but one of my fondest flashlight memories is also my earliest. I was about 7 or 8, and one dark foggy night me and my sister were out with our dad's yellow plastic 3D flashlight. We didn't really do anything but shine it around in the fog, but boy that was fun!

OMG!! I remember this promo!! My Grandfather and I also collected all we could find and did the same thing!!!


WOW!! What a memory I would have forgotten!!!

fieldops said:

When I was 10, I remember getting a free radioshack 5 cell flashlight (Big gray one) by using a coupon in the sales flyer. I got everyone's flyer in the neighborhood and cut out the coupon. I hit every RS in the area and got about 8 lights. Family said I was nuts then......Now they really think I'm nuts

Click to expand...

I suppose it was about 3 years ago when I needed a good torch for adjusting the satellite dish and LNB at night (I'm a free to air sat TV hobbyist). Everything I had was pathetic. My 6 sub C incan torch while bright had shadows and holes all through the beam. Plus it blew bulbs at the most inconvenient time. My big bright Chinese spotlight didn't burn long enough going flat too quickly. In blackouts the only thing the torch was good for was finding the candles and matches.

I began maintaining and upgrading the torches I already had, fitting them all with Krypton bulbs and rechargable batteries. Bought a couple of dim LED torches. Ebay was a boost and bought a few bright multi LED 3AAA lights. Luxeon, L1 after that and now 2 Cree Fenix lights.

I must say the last 2 multimode crees (P2D/P3D) have pretty much made everything else obsolete, except for the big 3D powered LEDs for their high output and burn time.

About 3 years ago when I was eleven a helper at camp had a some type of surefire. Surefire led me to flashlight reviews, flashlight reviews led me here now I just keep going downhill.:shakehead


Leathermanwave

I was in Advanced Individual Training at Ft. Meade in Maryland, just after Basic Combat Training in summer of '05. While I was there, I picked up a Nite Ize, Mini-Maglite (2xAA) conversion kit at a hunting store like Cabella's, and from there I was hooked. I haven't bought an incandescent yet - and probably won't - because LEDs are in my opinion the way to go. With the newest Cree 7090 XR-E out now, there isn't a reason for me to get a non-LED torch now.

I ordered the P3D CE and P2D CE one night on impulse. Then two days later a L1D CE body, along with a L0D CE and now I'm hooked. But, these lights will be all I need... Surefires are too expensive for my lighting needs

At age 12? when my mom decided to buy me a torch. I picked up one of those plastic keychain lantern shaped Coleman light and when i was at the counter to pay for it, the staff there recommended me the miniMag 1 AAA. Bought it instantly. Been looking for lots of lots of light since then. just that i dont have the $$ to spend... only manage to buy cheap Made in China incandecent & LED lights..... all happily 6 feet under... and 14 yrs later (NOW!) i discovered CPF..... then should i say im a serious flashoholic at age 26??

I've loved flashlights since I was a kid but I discovered CPF in Feb 2006.

When I was young (about 10) my mom would buy me those flashlight multipacks and I would take the heads off to connect them to those huge 6V batteries. I made some pretty bright creations out of multiple heads installed in plywood. When I discovered Surefire flashlights I went off the deep end, and it continues to this day. I always tell my wife that crack would probably be cheaper but less satisfying.

My story (with photos) is here, in post # 86


https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/150257

i believe my addiction started when i was around 3 or 4... got one of those fisher price flashlights that was white, green, or red.... from there my dad modified my power wheels jeep with a set of i want to say 100 watt spot lights onto the front of it with a orange flashing beacon on the roll bar and a car battery in the back to power it all... and it's just been down hill from there... i actually just ordered a lod ce for my mom since her key chain light died... so i'm tryin to spred the knowledge of light around