Ridiculed By Non-Flashlight Lovers

Bmccue1964

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Dec 31, 2001
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Does anyone get ridiculed by their spouse because of their flashlight collecting "habits"? My wife teases me to no end about my flashlight collections. She just doesn't seem to understand the practical side of this. I could be collecting sports items or beer bottles instead. At least my light collection could be put to good use during a power failure. She also has a problem with me being excited about major storms so that I can use my collection of lights.
 

GJW

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Jan 25, 2002
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Bay Area, CA
Originally posted by bmccue1964:
My wife teases me to no end about my flashlight collections.
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Count your blessings.
She could be screaming at you.
smile.gif
 

WaltH

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Amen brother. Gotta love those electrical storms...and I live in the lightning capital of the US!
 

Viper

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Some people just don't get it.

I showed my co-workers a standard SF6P, and they wonder why ANYONE would spend that much money on a "flash light". Most claim their "3-D maglites" are plenty.

I wonder what they would say about the cost of an M6, if I had one.
 

webley445

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Patience my son, temperance.
Soon one day an incident shall ocurr wherein your mighty torch shall save the day. Till then just smile,smile,smile.
 

Lux Luthor

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Get a divorce. Or better yet, take out a life insurance policy, and then hire a guy named Guido to do the job. Wait about 6 months. Then collect on it, and use the money to get that M6 you've wanted.
 

BuddTX

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Explain to her that it is a safe, fun, relatively INEXPENSIVE hobby, compared to cameras, guns, cars, bar hopping, model train building, pc gaming or X-box gaming, wine collecting, etc., and it gives you pleasure, and it has a very serious practicle side to it.

Also explain to her, that, while it makes perfect sense to you, you do not expect others to understand it. Now, WITHOUT mentioning her specifically, compare it to women who purchase shoes and never seem to have enough. Guys, as a group don't understand why women never have enough shoes. We have a black and maybe brown dress shoes, a pair of casual shoes, a pair of "dress" running/tennis shoes and a pair of "dirty" shoes. Any other shoes we own are task specific, and used ONLY for that task, because they are physically unique for that task, and any other shoe will not be functional. Jogging, exercise walking, hiking, bowling, golfing, baseball, basketball, any other sport etc. Women, AS A GROUP, never seem to have enough shoes.

Now, not EVERY woman has this shoe "hobby", just like every guy is not a "flashoholic". I have shown off 50-100$ lights to guys, and get this "you gotta be f--kin' crazy!" stare from other people. One guy laughed, and said, "I've never paid more than three dollars for a flashlight ever in my life!"

Now, when you purchase flashlights, just like anything that gets purchased only for you or only for your wife, does it come out of your "own" budget, or does it come out of "your combined" budget? If lights come out of your budget or shoes come out of her budget, hey, that's what you want to spend you money on, go ahead! BUT, if you are dipping into savings, running up the Credit Card (as long as it is not "just yours" credit card"), taking money out of bill paying or savings, or food money, then THAT is a different story.
 

Albany Tom

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Excellent suggestions.

Another is to do a critical look up and down at her next time she mentions the flashlights, and ask, in a sweet concerned voice, "Honey, are you feeling ok, you look a little heavier".
 

webley445

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St. Pete, Fl.
Originally posted by Albany Tom:
Excellent suggestions.

Another is to do a critical look up and down at her next time she mentions the flashlights, and ask, in a sweet concerned voice, "Honey, are you feeling ok, you look a little heavier".
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Gee, that outfit make you look heavy....
 

browntown

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thats too much, I am an avid remote control airplane hobby guy, and the forums for that one are filled with similar posts, as are the car forum i hang out on and my roomates radiation detector online club. Seems like women will lift an eyebrow at anything that takes away from you paying attention to them. Thats always has been my experience at least.

"But honey, we need a 100k cp flashlight, what if........?"

browntown
 

Joe Talmadge

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Silicon Valley, CA
Well, my wife still makes fun of the flashlight collecting, but in the past month there have been two major breakthroughs:

1. Power outage. Now she carries a Princeton Tec Rage or Blast (whatever the 4xAAA light is) in her purse. She asked for it!

2. She's asked for a light to use at home, "a bright light, not one of those wimpy lights you have". In her parlance, UKE 2L might qualify as "wimpy", in which case, this is a major step forward! Anyway, this was in response to me barring her from using my M-4 as her "search the room for shoes" light, since this week I needed the M-4 for a bona-fide home-defense type situation and found it to be depleted and yellow due to her use.

For #2, I'm thinking of picking up the smaller non-OC Tigerlight. Be useful for both of us, and I don't have to worry about her running down expensive batteries looking for shoes and belts
smile.gif


Joe

PS Nevertheless, she still makes fun of my flashlights. Just like she makes fun of my knives, though she carries one now!
 

Wulong

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Dec 19, 2001
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The husband/wife thing is as old as...well, the husband/wife thing.
smile.gif


We say: Surefire, Streamlight, Arc.
They say: Donna Karan, Prada, Coach.

It'll never change.
 

Quickbeam

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FlashlightReviews.com
As a friend of mine used to say something similar to this to his spouse and I have found it to be quite helpful at times -

"At least you know exactly where the money is going and you know where I am when endulging myself with the simple pleasure I get from my hobby. The money could be spent in bars on alcohol, in the streets on drugs and loose women, but it isn't. I'm enjoying myself, hurting no-one, and you know where I am and what I'm doing. I keep my purchases reasonable and allow you to indulge yourself on the things you enjoy provided you do the same."
 

PlayboyJoeShmoe

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Shepherd, TX (where dat?)
No spouse. But no one I know, from my Dad to my best buddy, can understand needing more than a couple lights.

That's what CPF is for. Nobody rags you here for having a flashlight fetish!
 

Skyline

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It's all about building up a support system. CPF is a great start. You also need real-life friends who are gadget freaks to back you up.

I have a co-worker who is a real gadget freak. We share some interests (MP3 players, digital cameras), but the point is mutual respect for really cool things. He has appreciated my Benchmades and my Surefires. I've appreciated his cool toys too.

grin.gif
 

Rothrandir

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US
my parents heckle me about it...

but it doesn't stop them from using my lights all the time
rolleyes.gif
 

Carpe Diem

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Wisconsin
bmccue1964...

Be strong.

You can never have "too many" flashlights.

Again, be strong!

The life of a flashaholic is very lonely at times...yet always bright and beautiful.

smile.gif
 
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