The best thing about giving a flashlight as a gift

I love giving flashlights as gifts. particularly the E01, and the E05. Rarely are they appreciated initially, but later...

The best thing about giving flashlights as a gift are the stories that you hear later on; after they needed a light and they happen to have one on them.

Within the past week I have two people come up to me and thank me again for the E01s that I gave them a few weeks ago. One was in the basement of her apartment when the power went out, the other ended up in a maze of dark alleys here in the city. Both remembered the lights they had on them and found their way out without a problem.

What are your gift giving stories?

The flashlight gifts I give are always lost by the recipient. What a wonderful world.

It's great that the people you gave lights to actually carried them. I haven't always had as good a reception when giving flashlights as gifts. Like you said, they are often not appreciate by non-flashaholics when they initially get them. If people insist on giving lights as gifts to non-flashaholics, I suggest giving them as stocking stuffers, rather than as the main gift. Just my two cents.

What have been other people's experiences?

I gave a few Malkoff MD2s hi/lo to family and co-workers and it's a big improvement over whatever they had. I would say the only lights I feel comfortable giving to family/friends are Malkoff and Surefire. During the unlikely event of the light crapping out, I know Gene and SF will take care of it with no problems. They actually asked me to give them spare batteries because they used the lights when they had the power outage during a hurricane....geez, good thing I got them a M61L...primaries aren't cheap...LoL!

Knowing you gave a gift that is going to be used and appreciated. It's also cool when you see someone carrying the light you gave them.
I gave my dad a Streamlight Poly Stinger led, seeing how much he enjoyed that light was priceless.

I have not given any lights yet.
But I just purchased 2 Fenix LD40's and a set of AA lithiums for country friends. I don't know if they will initially appreciate them. I am hoping they are in their vehicle and ready for a nite time emergency.
I am also debating ordering a couple of Zebra headlamps for some nephews.

herosemblem said:

The flashlight gifts I give are always lost by the recipient. What a wonderful world.

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Xmas has yet to come where i will be giving some budget lights as gifts. i am sure they will not lose them. They are kids but i believe that they will appreciate the lights for a long long time.

On the other hand, Mum constantly loses things, even keys and spectacles, or purses! i want to give her a light as gift, but it has to be something unobtrusive which she is going to carry around for sure (keychain, purse). it's a risk and a challenge. i would be sad, disappointed, irritated and full of regrets if she lost the keychain light. Why? because it was a hassle to get them cheap (waiting time, hongkong, china; costs nerves and energy. i would call it "true efforts"!) and they arent cheap after all (SS keychain light by iTP or Lumintop costs ~30$).

Let's see how thankful they will be after a while with the lights on them. i'd report.

sounds like a plan.

I'm giving 3 Jetbeams BA20 (with new Eneloops) to 3 couples as Christmas gifts...They already have everything except a good flashlight lol.

I got ridiculed by them for collecting flashlights (with $$$ you could have bought xxx or yyy..)..but right at that moment, we lost power, and I handed over my Olight i3 so they could get around. They were blown away with the output of that small light

When we had power back on, they stopped making fun of me :duh2:

They did borrow my i3 to walk the dogs and was impressed with the small light.
Figured the BA20 would be handy for them since it's easy (only high and low), and runs off 2 AAs (they have a boatload of eneloops for their gaming controllers and random electronics).

I have given 2, Terrulux litestar 100 AA light 100 lumens, the lady loves hers and the man well its just in a drawer somewhere as he asked to borrow 1 to look at his truck oil with. Some are really thankful others are not. I recieved 1 for Christmas a DerreLight VBS and cant put it down. It was a perfect gift for me.

I wish I would have read this thread sooner. I just purchased a xmas gift for my dad. He still uses a 6P daily at work. Time for an upgrade. Do I hear birthday gift?

Southpaw3612 said:

I wish I would have read this thread sooner. I just purchased a xmas gift for my dad. He still uses a 6P daily at work. Time for an upgrade. Do I hear birthday gift?

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What does one give a person who is using a 6P daily? High CRI or neutral LED replacement bulb?

I have given away a bunch of Fenix LD20's and Quark AA2 lights to most in my family. The best response yet came from my nephew this past spring after I gave him a Fenix LD20 R5. He said, "whooooa I'll be the coolest kid in scouts with this thing." He's since been on several campouts (one on an island for a week and another on a sailboat for a week,) and says his fenix is the brightest in his troop. Says his cool-factor has been elevated.....ha!

I can not see how it would not be. Flashlights are inherently cool aren't they?

michman said:

I can not see how it would not be. Flashlights are inherently cool aren't they?

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Pretty much at any age.

Outdoorsman5 said:

Pretty much at any age.

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Right on!

I've gifted a couple E05's with positive results. For the most part that's as much as I want to spend on a gift light unless I know they'll appreciate it. Also a keychain light ensures that it will be with you when you need it.

Seeing the flashlights I gave my dad lying all over the place and then see him use them (even if just to see the keypad on the microwave).

The people that you gifted saying to you how useful it was and how they love them and how bright they are! I've given E01s to people and they were surprised that they are as bright as their huge incan cheapo lights..I was quite surprised that they thought the E01s were bright..

herosemblem said:

The flashlight gifts I give are always lost by the recipient. What a wonderful world.

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Blight said:

It's great that the people you gave lights to actually carried them. I haven't always had as good a reception when giving flashlights as gifts. Like you said, they are often not appreciate by non-flashaholics when they initially get them. If people insist on giving lights as gifts to non-flashaholics, I suggest giving them as stocking stuffers, rather than as the main gift. Just my two cents.

What have been other people's experiences?

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I only give flashlights to people who have expressed some appreciation for the fact that I have one handy at all times. A flashlight isn't an entertainment device or a status symbol, so people won't carry it around just to show off. There's no point giving someone a tool they've never needed before.