Is there a Flashaholic's Anonymous group around here?

I don't know how you guys do it, but I know I have a problem. lovecpf Part of the problem is not making enough money, but the other problem is FLASHLIGHTS!!!


I need help!


Does it say anything that my post count is at about 150 in the marketplace and 12 on CPF proper???

Ar least you are not in denial! I will bet there are thousands of closet flash-a-holics in the world that suffer pain and depression cause they are afraid to "come out". Since joining CPF I have garnered many lights and continue to crave MORE! This phenomenon is not curable and it remains unknown where it will take us. I like to rationalize and justify my addiction by telling myself that aliens from space will come to Earth soon and when they do they will exterminate everyone who is not a flash-a-holic!

"One light at a time"

Well, if you REALLY wanna' be cured . . . .



Step # 1 is:


Stay off CandlePowerForums ! ! !






(quite drastic, eh ?)

_

I know!! I am new to this forum too and never though I could be this addicted to flashlights! I kinda always thought lasers and lights were cool but never thought I'd be coming on everyday to read about flashlights. Downfall is they can be VERY expensive . I already bought 3 flashlights this month (all costing $130-$350). Good luck with your journey of collecting new lights!

Several months ago I wasn't doing too badly - lot of time in the market place - than I saw a guy selling a light and it was resting on another one (mcgizmo "oil" mule) and I asked what that was - he directed me over to Custom B/S/T - that is a REALLY steep slope.

On the positive side it really balanced out my postings!

I also decided several months ago to get down to a "reasonable" number of lights (of course not including the lights in glove boxes, etc). I knew I had a problem when I was well over 20 lights that I "needed" and felt 30 was a reasonable number to get down to.

I think I'm down to ~20 now, but the quality is way up. None are "as received" from the original manufacturer, except for McGizmos, Muyshondt, MJP & folks like that...

lovecpf

There are worse things to need a support group for. Knives & Camera gear was my 2 preceding "hobbies".


My problem is accessorizing - every light needs a holster!! And the batteries!! I've got a review below on holsters from Hogo..... (since then I got him to make me a holster for 4 x cr123 or 2x18650 or 2 x 17670, or 2xcr123 & 1x17670)

nfetterly said:

There are worse things to need a support group for.
Knives & Camera gear was my 2 preceding "hobbies".

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Very true !


Canon "L" series camera lenses make flashlights look like a bargain !





I've often joked that the "L" stands for "Lifesavings".




_

Burgess said:

Canon "L" series camera lenses make flashlights look like a bargain !

Click to expand...

Nothing like that off-white color to remind you of a cree R2 WG.


oh no.. flashaholism has struck again!

Doing slight modifications to lights can sometimes make them seem like they are a new light, and can satiate your flashlighting needs. Buy a maglite, and just keep modding it!

nfetterly said:

Several months ago I wasn't doing too badly - lot of time in the market place - than I saw a guy selling a light and it was resting on another one (mcgizmo "oil" mule) and I asked what that was - he directed me over to Custom B/S/T - that is a REALLY steep slope.

On the positive side it really balanced out my postings!

I also decided several months ago to get down to a "reasonable" number of lights (of course not including the lights in glove boxes, etc). I knew I had a problem when I was well over 20 lights that I "needed" and felt 30 was a reasonable number to get down to.

I think I'm down to ~20 now, but the quality is way up. None are "as received" from the original manufacturer, except for McGizmos, Muyshondt, MJP & folks like that...

lovecpf

There are worse things to need a support group for. Knives & Camera gear was my 2 preceding "hobbies".


My problem is accessorizing - every light needs a holster!! And the batteries!! I've got a review below on holsters from Hogo..... (since then I got him to make me a holster for 4 x cr123 or 2x18650 or 2 x 17670, or 2xcr123 & 1x17670)

Click to expand...

can you recommend me to any good knives around? I've been searching for a nice knife to carry around for protection. I also am looking to collect them.

I'll admit I have a problem too. I went on a short buying spree ending with a Ti light. When I first found CPF and saw the crazy $$ of Ti lights I thought it was lunacy....until I bought one. Now I "understand" and there's no going back to a "regular" light. Lately I'm trying to stick to doing my own mods. In a way it takes longer to see your money go bye bye since you have to wait for parts. I'm getting married next year and thought about giving my groomsman modded C or D maglites but I think they'd think I totally lost it. :sick2:

Oh and how previous people have mentioned....dSLR's and quality lenses.....

It's a great time to be a flashoholic. I might even say that it was impossible to be a flashoholic in the old days. Maybe a social flasher or a weekend flasher, perhaps you'd join in if the other kids were doing it. But full-blown flashoholism needed technology, manufacturing, and this website to bring us to this level.
You never know who might be a flashoholic,.. your doctor, mechanic, librarian. You never know.
My brother lives in Georgia and we don't get to talk enough but I recently mentioned to him that I'm diggin the flashlight scene and he sends me a box with an SF Aviator, LED Lenser red, and a handful of other lights. These were lights that he has outgrown, OMG a full-blown flashoholic!! I'm thinking about riding down there for an intervention! He's a military man so no telling what he's carrying now.
So the original question was: Is there a Flashaholic's Anonymous group around here?
I can't answer that but I wouldn't mind a facebook group.


Edit: looks like there's a couple facebook groups! I'm in!

Maybe these 2 threads can make you feel better..... or worse.

How many lights do you own?

List your lights.

I think we are the sane ones. My light spending has declined... as my children increased. So mayble that's it. Just have lots of children and your light problem will go away... as all your money goes away with it.
My wife doesn't mind so much, but I now have 2, 4, and 9 year old flashaholics running around the house. I think my 9 year old is the only kid in his class EDCing a 120P that has been fully coated with GITD paint. Give my 2 year old a flashlight and you WILL NOT get it back. Wait til my 9 year old hits the forum. He'll be wanting a Polarian... I just need to push him more toward science, so he can make his own... then take care of dear ol' dad.:laughing:

I can STOP any time I want to...

junmae said:

can you recommend me to any good knives around? I've been searching for a nice knife to carry around for protection. I also am looking to collect them.

Click to expand...

I "started" off with Benchmades. They have several "classes" with Gold being way out there. Red & Black are the lower classes & I think Blue (below gold) was what I generally went with. I have kept to all folders.

Hard to miss with Benchmades - I particularly like the ones with the "Axis" lock - locks it in the open position & very easy to pull back.

Steel - S30V is top premium blade steel.

Chris Reeve makes very nice knives - Sebenza is a classic.

Benchmade made a copy of the sebenza and sold under by Bradley Cutlery (does not have benchmade name on it) as the Alias & Alias II (slightly smaller) - that is what I EDC.

All made in the USA.


So that's my personal take on knives - nothing real "tactical" for me. I highly recommend Bladeforums.com (http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/)- which is where I did most of my shopping on their "knife exchange". Similar to this website - just register & enjoy.

I knew I was not the only one around here with a problem. At least most of your guys can admit it as well.

I know I have a problem, but I guess I really don't want help that bad, unless it consists of upgrading some of the stuff I have with mods!

Thing is, I have a problem with knives as well!!!

I started doing custom knife scales recently and that is the perfect excuse to go out and buy about 20 knives in the last month. So I guess flashlights are not the only reason my bank account is depleted! :devil:


I have to agree, Benchmades are good knives. I have carried a BM CQC7 for years and years. I have semi-retired it now, but I have several others, like Grips, mini-grips, 710, 910, etc.

Spyderco also makes some good stuff. They can be a little ugly to some people, but their hole opening system is the easiest to learn to open one handed for the newbies, IMO. And a model like the Delica is a great size for almost anyone and legal most everywhere in the US.

And for the budget minded, I think Columbia River Knife and Tool makes some good stuff.

I just got a couple new Zero Tolerances (301, 350) and Emersons (CQC-8, Commander) and I am liking all of them, particularly the ZT301 (it is a tank!)

I got some funny looks at church a couple weeks ago, when I joined a pickup basketball game after services. I had to empty my pockets of my EDC stuff and it consisted of 3 knives and 2 lights ... that day I was carrying a 5.11 Karambit, Boker Karambit, and a Spyderco Military. Lights were a Nitecore Extreme and a Surefire L4 with TLS-2 head. Call me crazy, I am sure some people there thought I was, but that is ok.

when do we have regular meeting for flasholic anonymous ?

A regular meeting for flashaholic anonymous would either turn into "mine's brighter than yours", or "mine is smaller than yours", or a "swap meet". It would basically become a flashaholic support group. :shakehead

Going here to hold a Flashaholics Anonymous group is like having AA meetings in a bar or having a Weight Watchers meeting at a Carl's Jr. (the only restaurant that puts a sandwich in a burger, puts an entire breakfast in a burger, and sells Butterfinger flavored cheesecake).

I must say that this place just makes you flashaholism worse!lovecpf I use to have just 5 Surefire flashlights(2 for work,1 in each car and 1 in the toolbox) and then I started looking into getting an M6 since I always wanted one. Well after a Google search landed me here and I started reading and reading and seeing peoples collections, it turned into a full blown obsession and now I have 25 Surefire's. Now granted, I am not buying them at the rate I once was and there are only a few left that I want but now I am thinking of modding my 2 3D Maglites I have sitting at the house(oooooh the possibilities!!!!) So, I don't know exactly whether you would call this a FA group but I think everyone here would be considered a faciltator:devil: This place also allowed me to get into knife collecting by letting me know of other forums(Spyderco, BF and USN) which hasn't helped the bank account any! Take care and good luck at keeping under control!!