Ever really justified your flashlight collection?

I keep having this idea that some day the power will go out in the whole neighborhood for a few days or even hours and I'll finally hear my wife, kids, friends and neighbors say "It's sure a good thing Brad has all those flashlights."

Every time I get a new light I always hear the same thing. "But you don't need another flashlight." To keep from hearing these dreaded words, now when I get a new light I just set it next to my others and no one can even tell the difference. I think everyone at my house is getting tired of my hobby.

The wife yelled at me this morning for messing up the counter with my battery charger. I had my Eneloops and other batteries all lined up to charge. She helpfully mixed all the charged and uncharged batteries together in a box for me and moved them. :green:

Has anyone here ever had an experience where they finally got some appreciation for having all those flashlights and batteries sitting around the house? Trapped in a cave or massive power failure or anything like that?

I'd love to hear about it.


Brad

The easiest way I can justify buying a new expensive light is by slowly acquiring three or four cheapies, and selling them right before the big purchase. "But honey, I just sold 4 lights to buy this one!" usually works.

As far as having used them in a practical manner, I'm a member of the local rescue squad - I need no excuse to have a good light or two on my person at all times. Besides, when the light bulb in the hallway goes out, my wife knows just where to grab a light to go use the bathroom - and that kinda keeps the peace, too.

I use my lights on my m16a4 clone. When people question the price of the light, I point out the proice of the ACOG, etc.

Good answer, powernoodle, and I logged in just to say that . BTW, where do you live where power outage lasts so long??

Chasing flashlight performance is a whole lot cheaper than chasing automotive or computer performance and rechargeable batteries are much less expensive than ammo. All in all it's not an expensive hobby. Sure, you could save money by not having a hobby at all but then what? Work, eat, sleep, die? Where's the fun in that? Otherwise I like flashlights because they're useful tools I use every day. They don't all do the same thing so it's reasonable to at least have a few for different specialized purposes.

...Has anyone here ever had an experience where they finally got some appreciation for having all those flashlights and batteries sitting around the house? Trapped in a cave or massive power failure or anything like that?...

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I use my lights every day (and night). Over the years they have saved my life at least once that I recall and countless times they have allowed me to be more comfortable in very serious situations. That is an understatement. One example would be Katrina. We were in an undamaged, unflooded house few feet above sea level on the high ground in New Orleans for both the storm and the entire six week power outage that followed in my neighborhood. Katrina, for us, was not life threatening but having some very specialized lights made the going much easier and safer in it's aftermath. I have many other personal examples from locales throughout the Third World -- I'm a high mileage unit.

Part of the deal is that I don't consider my lights a collection. Each has been selected with great care to fill at least one specific need. Why I have them never crosses my mind. They're tools. Would anyone ever go up to a plumber and ask him to justify his tool collection? I pretty much consider anyone who asks me personally why I have so many lights to be a clueless person who never uses any tools of any kind in the dark. I have some lights that are so specific for one odd purpose that is is impossible to even explain to many people what they are for and what they are capable of doing -- even to the initiated here at cpf. The bottom line is that I know what they are for and the understanding of others is not a requirement.

On the other hand, if I had more money I would have no trouble rationalizing their purchase because they are so beautiful -- like guns, or airplanes...or tools. Wait a sec, I think this is where I came in...

I can justify anything I purchase because I don't drink, gamble, go to strip clubs, .....hmmmm :thinking:.............oh crap I need a life........:laughing:

GreyShark said:

Chasing flashlight performance is a whole lot cheaper than chasing automotive or computer performance and rechargeable batteries are much less expensive than ammo. All in all it's not an expensive hobby. Sure, you could save money by not having a hobby at all but then what? Work, eat, sleep, die? Where's the fun in that? Otherwise I like flashlights because they're useful tools I use every day. They don't all do the same thing so it's reasonable to at least have a few for different specialized purposes.

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Well said. I agree with you entirely!:thumbsup:

Well, I try to explain that each light serves a particular purpose, and I don't have _that_ many. My wife gets a little annoyed with the quantity, but she seems to find it handy during power outages. It also helps that we have one for each room in the condo, so there's always one to hand.

It also helps that none are particularly expensive. If I can point to a $20 flashlight and then launch into a monologue about how great it is at jobs X and Y, that's fairly easy to justify. Harder to justify an $80 light, which is why I have only one of those (bedside light).

There is no way I can justify my collection given my day to day usage. I could get by with a minimag but why would I want to? No way I need a $200 light for what I do but that is not the point. I enjoy my hobby, I have fun and that is the most important thing.

I guess it depends on the size of the collection. Do you have 1 or 2 lights in each car? 1-2 in the tool box? One on the night stand, one or two in the top dresser drawer, two in the tool box, two in a kitchen drawer, etc etc.

For me, this has done several things:
1) My wife doesn't remember exactly how many I have or how redundant they might all seem. In other words, I don't have them stacked nicely from biggest to smallest on my dresser.
2) When she does remember that I have lights stashed, it's always when she needs one ... "Oh, there should be a light in the glove box you can use ..."
3) They all get used a lot more. Trunk lights in cars are terrible, and I use the car flashlights often when trying to find something that rolled around back there. Sure, the EDC light works for that, but that would reinforce the concept that you only need one.
4) It makes upgrading easier. I tell the wife, "I had a few older lights that I didn't use much, so I sold them and got this little one here that stands on it's tail and has a very low mode, to make night diaper changes easier." I might even go so far as to actually perform some of those nighttime changes to reinforce the usefulness of it, but only if I get really desperate

That all works for me, and honestly, isn't too far fetched. But, then again, I'm not one of the members here that has 4 M6's, two HIDs, 6 McGizmo's, and 47 other miscellaneous SFs. I have no idea how those guys do it!

I have never tried to justify my lights. I couldn't. My desire to have so many makes no sense and there is no practiacal reason for it. I just like them.

Sweet Lord no !

Then Id need to justify my knife collection etc ...

:thinking:

I do need a good flashlight for work but that's beside the point. I enjoy flashlights. The wife bought $240 worth of yarn today and that's ok, it's a special yarn, but the looks I get when I want a new light. If you can look really pitiful, I've found this goes a long way....

Don't really feel like I need much justification. It's just my fun little hobby, but it does make me feel good when real needs arise. Power outages happen rarely, but I'm ready to give my wife a light to read by or light up the room. Even better are those everyday little uses that only a handy light can solve, and I'll have one right there in my pocket.

Geoff

You cannot logically justify any collection, be it stamps, coins, guns, flashlights etc. I certainly cannot justify my collection of flashlights by thinking of a power outage. I already have a whole house back-up system. If the electric company's feed goes down, I still have lights, AC, regulated power for the computer and TV's etc. Backup power is sensible - $100 plus flashlights are not.

I still collect flashlights and coins and rare films because I enjoy them. I give a pass to golf and the unending needs for the newest clubs and the need to play the greatest courses. A hobby is just that - a hobby. If it starts to take food off the table or detract from your family's way of life, it is an addiction. Addictions need to be treated - hobbies need to be respected.

I am currently laying in bed... I have 21 lights within arms reach, and a few more in other places. My collection sits on a shelf in my bedroom and my wife sees it every day. She has her own go-to lights on her night stand. I love my wife... I don't think I could have found a better match!

I think I fall into the I don't break the bank and I don't drink and go to clubs category.

Plus, they all have their function. I have a few duplicates but no triplicates.

This is by far cheapest hobby of mine so far and has continued to keep me interested. Guns and ham radio are my others... they're not so cheap!

It is so NOT easy to justify having upwards of 36 flashlights,
NOT counting headlights, lanterns, spotlights, walking flashers,
etc... so why try?

But sometimes I think maybe I'm hoarding these things because
of an end-of-the-world premonition that I'm picking up on.

Then I have my morning coffee and feel a bit more sane.