How were your flashlight gifts received?

Well I bet we all get various face expressions when we gift a flashlight...

From the curious to the puzzled look, even to the disatisfaction extreme....

But just few hours ago i got a mosr rewarding gift receipt yet a bit dissapointting too...

I gifted my Uncle a stock Romisen RC-N3 today for his nameday (bigger than bithday here in Greece)..
He half-expected a flashlight but his first reaction was:
"Is that one of your own?" (meaning custom/assembled)

Now I have fallen short of my family expectations and I GOt to make up with a better one next time!

Mine have all been well recieved. I gave out three E01's at Christmas, and was asked to buy another for my Dad's neighbour. My son liked his, but he likes it even more since it came out the washing machine working.

A couple of friends came to visit the other week and I gave them DX fauxtons. They said I should have them printed with "I went to Doncaster and all I got was this crappy flashlight". They liked them really though.

Mine are always taken well, but I usually only give lights to people who express interest in mine.

My wife kinda rolls her eyes.

they like the lights I give em..
I know 2 people that are EDC'ing

Generally pretty well, but I'm careful to only give flashlights when they'll be appreciated.

Chrontius said:

Generally pretty well, but I'm careful to only give flashlights when they'll be appreciated.

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Ditto.

I gave a fauxton to a friend about 6 months ago. It was attached to his key chain when I saw him last week. He said that he liked the fauxton so much that he bought one for his wife.

I gave my brother an olive L0D Q4 (and a couple of AAA Duraloops) for Xmas, and he was pretty impressed at the time...but then a couple of weeks ago, the subject came up and he told me he doesn't know how he lived all those years without it! I was thrilled! He told me he carries it every day and usually has to charge the batteries every week...that means he uses two charged batteries a week! That's some fairly serious use in an L0D! I offered to order an L1D Q5 for him, if he wanted to upgrade, and he said, "Hell no! I don't want something that big in my pocket! This little baby is just right!"

I gave the same setup to my best friend, and he loves it, but has only switched out the batteries once since he got it...not much use really.

Gave the same thing to my girlfriend...she keeps it on her keychain and it still has the same charge on the first battery. She loves it, only because I gave it to her, but usually forgets she has it and just stumbles around in the dark.

Can't win 'em all, I guess. I was very pleased and surprised at my brother's response though! :twothumbs

Toohotruk said:

Gave the same thing to my girlfriend...she keeps it on her keychain and it still has the same charge on the first battery. She loves it, only because I gave it to her,

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same here. i think she prefers the tiffany's necklace though :/

Toohotruk said:

I gave my brother an olive L0D Q4 (and a couple of AAA Duraloops) for Xmas, and he was pretty impressed at the time...but then a couple of weeks ago, the subject came up and he told me he doesn't know how he lived all those years without it! I was thrilled! He told me he carries it every day and usually has to charge the batteries every week...that means he uses two charged batteries a week! That's some fairly serious use in an L0D! I offered to order an L1D Q5 for him, if he wanted to upgrade, and he said, "Hell no! I don't want something that big in my pocket! This little baby is just right!"

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This could almost be my post! I bought two olive L0D Q4's and gave one to my brother, kept the other one. When I talked about getting him something better he said it was perfect, and even though he doesn't use the blinking modes he likes that they're there if he ever wants them.

Finally last fall I showed him a D10 and L1D Q5 and he now carries the larger Fenix in his bag and the L0D on him at all times.

Gave L0D's to all my family too and my mom went home to a power outage the same day. Everyone in my family was extremely happy with theirs, as have most of my friends I've given them to. Oddly enough the couple of friends who were the least excited were the ones who chose a Rayovac over anything else I offered them.

kaichu dento said:

This could almost be my post! I bought two olive L0D Q4's and gave one to my brother, kept the other one. When I talked about getting him something better he said it was perfect, and even though he doesn't use the blinking modes he likes that they're there if he ever wants them.

Finally last fall I showed him a D10 and L1D Q5 and he now carries the larger Fenix in his bag and the L0D on him at all times.

Gave L0D's to all my family too and my mom went home to a power outage the same day. Everyone in my family was extremely happy with theirs, as have most of my friends I've given them to. Oddly enough the couple of friends who were the least excited were the ones who chose a Rayovac over anything else I offered them.

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Which ROV just out of curiousity? I love my company supplied 2AA Highbeam (Sportsman Extreme), VERY reliable and built like a tank, but I wouldn't choose it over a Fenix.

Toohotruk said:

Which ROV just out of curiousity? I love my company supplied 2AA Highbeam (Sportsman Extreme), VERY reliable and built like a tank, but I wouldn't choose it over a Fenix.

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Not sure other than they're identical with the sole exception of one being labeled as 1 watt, the other 3 watt. Nice smooth beams on them and they are twist to stay on with a momentary tailswitch.

I was overjoyed to give them to someone who liked them so much. I thought it was a good lesson in what I've always believed; one size doesn't fit all. ROV for some non-flashaholics, L0D's for the rest of 'em, and Fenix/Nitecore/Modamag/Surefire/Jetbeam/Arc for me!

A few years ago I gave out Dorcy AAA's. My wife kind of rolled her eyes, too. My uncle and mother-in-law liked theirs, and still use them. Wife's only comes out during power failures. When my old boss retired he got a brass Peak 5LED AA. It was almost a joke gift after all the grief he gave me about collecting flashlights, but I'll bet he's still using it.

Geoff

i got replies like,
"its just a flashlight:shakehead",
"thanks for the light, would come in handy in a blackout:twothumbs"

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was unable to convert them into new flashaholics, sorry to disappoint... :duck:

:nana:

kaichu dento said:

Not sure other than they're identical with the sole exception of one being labeled as 1 watt, the other 3 watt. Nice smooth beams on them and they are twist to stay on with a momentary tailswitch....

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Yep, mine's a 3 Watt. The tint isn't the greatest, but isn't too noticeable in practical use, and it burns through alkies pretty fast, but has pretty good runtime with Duraloops. And like I said before, tough as hell...haven't had a single problem, not one flicker, has never left me in the dark and that's with a LOT of use and abuse.

Gave one to that same brother and he has put it in his truck as a back-up since getting the L0D.

I've had very mixed responses. A few years ago I gave my best friend a Fenix L2D as he never seemed to have a flashlight, decent or otherwise, when needed. He already knew of my mania as I'd shown him my Gladius, though he thought I was insane to spend $360 on a torch. I chose the L2D as a good general purpose light that was controllable and used common batteries. He seemed enthusiastic at first, especially with the output, but as time went by I noticed he didn't seem to use it. Recently I noticed that he has finally started to carry a light around, if not in his coat pocket then certainly in his backpack. Thing is though, he ditched the L2D in favour of (drum roll), a stock AA incan MiniMag! When I asked him, as politely a I could 'Why the Mag?', he replied "It's silver."

I gave my Dad a P1DCE a couple of years ago for his birthday as an EDC light. I showed him what it could do and he agreed it was very bright and it would help him at night getting home. I even told him I'd supply all the CR123s he could ever need as I get them from work. Fast forward to the present day and the light is still in its box at the back of a drawer and he never has a light on him.

My Mum has a surplus MiniMag which I upgraded with a TLE5EX drop-in and she likes that. She keeps it as a bedside light and for around the house. I did the same thing for my nephew for his first ever school camp but he didn't seem all that impressed and I've never heard of him using it since. I've also given out a few E01s to various family members and as far as I know they've put them on their keychains (I made a big deal about how they are 'supposed' to go on keychains) but have never heard any stories about their use.

L2D to incan MM...that's almost like a kick in the teeth! :shakehead

It is a let down when nice lights are given away and never used. It's hard to understand to me, but then, I am a weirdo that spends a lot of time on websites about flashlights... :ironic:

Most of the lights I've given have become EDC's of people who never EDC'd before.

For a while I gave tradesmen those dollar lights. A year after giving my HVAC guy one, he came for the succeeding summer's maintenance -- dollar light on his keychain!

After my Mother-In-Law wore her Gerber infinity down to bare aluminum, I gifted her my used (but mechanically perfect) blue Muyshondt Ion. She loves it and uses it most every day. I know what you're thinking. But this old gal (mid 70's) is sweet as sugar and deserving of a light like that AND MORE.

W.

I do tend to give a lot of flashlights/torches to people I know, friends and family. Reaction is varied.

A couple of my friends now proudly carry Fenix L1D CE's on their bike helmets, one of them used to use a Fenix L1 I had given him, until he let an alkaline corrode in it!

When I left my company to go freelance I bought everyone in the company some 1AA 1 watt torches from ebay - that went down very well indeed, it was wierd to be blinded by so many torches all shining at me at one time!! ( 14 - small company ).

Just today I presented a brand new Mag 2D aspherical mod to my Brother in Law ( Blue ano, KD Q5 drop in and aspherical, SS 55mm bezel, 55mm rubber lens hood ), he was very happy and couldn't wait for dark to go out and frighten the foxes!!

I think most people like torches, but it is also true to say that most people I know do not understand the particular compassion I have for them. That's why I like to hang out here, amongst the saner and more intelligent and more beautiful. lovecpf

My friends are well aware of my flashlight fetish. So when I give one away they know its a big deal for me.

Last night my best friend threw a going away party for his eldest son. He is a marine on his way to Afganistan for his 1st tour of duty. I put together a KX1 single stage-E1e body-McClicky tailcap and a full 4 battery valet and gave it to him as a going away gift. His response was "Cool, a Surefire, I was going to buy one!" That made my day!

kelmo