Meeting the UNconverted, semi-converted and those who see the light

subwoofer · Jan 10, 2012

Last night I was out at my regular hunting spot (a golf course) and while getting ready, a security patrol came round.

The only torch the security man had was a Led Lenser Tac Torch. This was well used being very very worn and looked more silver than black.

I had my Fenix TK41, TK21 and LD01, Zebralight H51 amongst others and while talking about the site, I pointed out something in the distance with the TK41 on Turbo. He immediately got the Tac Torch out and you could just about make out a projected ring of light in the TK41's spill. His comment was 'Oh, mine just needs new batteries and it will be just as good as that'! (that is my exclamation) 100 unregulated lumens vs 800 regulated lumens! I give up.

Admittedly he would have to count as the semi-converted as he loves his Led Lenser which was 'worth every penny', but the TK41 made the Led Lenser look like a Maglite Solitaire! And this is a professional who relies on his torch.

It sometimes surprises me how blind some people are to overwhelming evidence.

In complete contrast to this, on another occasion while preparing to go onto the golf course, a different security guard dropped by. He was curious to see what I was up to and had seen some bright light. He had brought his 4D Maglite and Ansmann Future 3D Plus over and was telling me where he had seen some rabbits, so I whipped out the TK41 to 'point' to where he was indicating. 'WOW, that is like a light sabre! What is it?' He turned on his torches and could hardly tell they were even on next to the TK41. The TK21 resulted in another WOW as he couldn't believe something so small could produce that much light. I gave him a little run down on his lighting and battery choices and he said he would be ordering the TK60 the next day with full capacity Ni-Mh D cells. The choice of the TK60 is because this security guard really does want something that can be used as a club as well as providing light - a true convert.

And finally - the UNconverted as I am reminded me of a recent flight (in 2011), where on landing we stopped next to an aircraft going through an inspection. A professional aviation inspector...and his choice of inspection light...a Maglight 4D with dim ringy beam. How could you properly inspect the condition of the wings and tail with such a poor beam, especially when the options now are literally light years ahead?

jamesmtl514 · Jan 10, 2012

I have encountered many unconverted people. They simply wont understand the need for a better flashlight, or anything for that matter. They don't grasp the concept: you get what you pay for.

As for the airplane maintenance being performed by a lowly Mag, in some cases it is actually preferred to have less light as you can see better. try reading something on a white paper with an 800 lumen light shining on the text. It washes everything out.
I saw an episode of Mayday (The TV show where they reconstruct airplane disasters) The culprit was a part with a crack in it. It was inspected, however they found that the inspectors flashlight was too bright and the crack went unonticed.

subwoofer · Jan 10, 2012

jamesmtl514 said:
I have encountered many unconverted people. They simply wont understand the need for a better flashlight, or anything for that matter. They don't grasp the concept: you get what you pay for.

As for the airplane maintenance being performed by a lowly Mag, in some cases it is actually preferred to have less light as you can see better. try reading something on a white paper with an 800 lumen light shining on the text. It washes everything out.
I saw an episode of Mayday (The TV show where they reconstruct airplane disasters) The culprit was a part with a crack in it. It was inspected, however they found that the inspectors flashlight was too bright and the crack went unonticed.

Good point about washout with too much light, but with a decent LED torch you can vary the output. Just because it can output 800Lm doesn't mean you have to use it on this setting, but you have it when you need it.

GaAslamp · Jan 10, 2012

subwoofer said:
It sometimes surprises me how blind some people are to overwhelming evidence.

Evidence is often easier to ignore or forget than one's inner desire to believe something.

subwoofer said:
The choice of the TK60 is because this security guard really does want something that can be used as a club as well as providing light - a true convert.

People are all different, of course. The first guy may be looking for justification for what he has already bought, while the second guy may have been looking for justification to buy something new.

Or their reasons might have been completely different ones. :shrug: Suffice to say that some people "get it" while others do not, and a smaller number of people are, for whatever reasons, innately more prone to become flashaholics than everybody else (and usually don't need to be "converted" at all). I wonder if there is a gene for this. :thinking:

subwoofer said:
And finally - the UNconverted as I am reminded me of a recent flight (in 2011), where on landing we stopped next to an aircraft going through an inspection. A professional aviation inspector...and his choice of inspection light...a Maglight 4D with dim ringy beam. How could you properly inspect the condition of the wings and tail with such a poor beam,

Perhaps the evidence says that people CAN properly inspect the condition of the wings and tail, especially when the beam is moving, which allows your brain to integrate a clearer picture. When something works, people tend to stick with it for various reasons--some are afraid of change, some are lazy to learn and try new things, some may not be aware of all of the new developments in the flashlight world, some are cheap :broke:

, and others are simply stubborn or hidebound, but when something of a utilitarian nature works, it tends to stick around for a good long time.

subwoofer said:
especially when the options now are literally light years ahead?

Well, for most work-type tasks at short distances, I personally don't need or desire anything more than a "dim" beam--just enough to see what I need to see comfortably. That said, it is awfully hard--I'd say impossible--to justify using a low-quality beam that makes your work harder, even if you can still do a good job. Maybe some of those who are in the latter group simply need to be shown the light (literally).

By the way, I recall an incident in my mom's backyard last year, in which she wanted to pick a bunch of fruit from her trees (she has a whole orchard that she planted herself over the last 10 years

oo

to share with some old friends of hers who were passing through town and were paying a visit, but she was so busy that it got dark before she realized it. I told her "No problem, we'll just use a flashlight :grin2:

," to which she replied "Are you nuts? :duh2: We can't see well enough with a flashlight! :laughing:" (she wanted to inspect the fruit for ripeness and such) So I just whipped out my little ZebraLight H51c and lit up a nearby tree with it--80 lumens was all it took, and she was like "Oh."

What's funny is that she's seen my flashlights before, including much brighter "tactical" models (that I hardly use these days

), but she still had this notion in her mind that flashlights all have dim beams that are rife with artifacts. She even has the Fenix E05 that I gave her on her keyring (I even saw her use it on her own once), but it didn't occur to her at that moment that flashlights could have nice enough beams to be usable for her purposes (I'd give my mom more and nicer flashlights if she'd take them, but she tells me not to waste my money because she wouldn't use them much anyway :shrug

. I guess it is difficult to banish ideas that one has held for decades unless one is an enthusiast for something (and even then...), whether it be flashlights or anything else.

Scottiver · Jan 12, 2012

I'm still trying to get over the fact that you were hunting on a golf course at night in the UK and the security guards didn't care about that! :huh2:

DM51 · Jan 12, 2012

Scottiver said:
I'm still trying to get over the fact that you were hunting on a golf course at night in the UK and the security guards didn't care about that!

If he has authorisation to hunt there, he is probably doing the security guards a favor by helping them to scare off intruders. People will be less likely to wander around there at night if they know an armed hunter is likely to be there. Win-win for the golf course - fewer gophers AND fewer intruders.

sniper · Jan 23, 2012

subwoofer said:
Last night I was out at my regular hunting spot (a golf course) and while getting ready,... /QUOTE]

What were you hunting?

I used to do security guard work, and I took with me all I had...my Maglite 3D. This was in the days BCPF. (before candlepower forum) I had added a Xenon bulb, for the extra brightness, and it didn't do badly. Besides, all the policemen I knew carried 4D Mags. That's all there was, back then.

I was working at a lemon packing warehouse, and at that time, some groups were burning citrus packing facilities to make "a statement"...never did find out exactly what it was, though.
It was scary to find a door I knew I had secured an hour before unlocked and open. Or to find a truck with its door open, and the alarm sounding that the key was in the ignition, and never see or hear a soul. A couple of times, I called the Sheriff's department to clear the facility.

There was nowhere I could go in that big, scary facility that the Mag couldn't light up marvelously, so, I have been really attached to Mag products since then.

Most people are like me, I think...they want a good, reliable light, inexpen$ive to run and capable of whatever performance they need, and perhaps a little extra. And Maglites provided that.

Of course, my old light couldn't hold a candle (hee hee) to my hotwire 3d, or the other one has 1 watt module in. The Mini-Mags blew bulbs, and got dim in an awful hurry, but the Terralux and Nite-Ize upgrades, as primitive as they seem to some, fixed that.

My nephew, who is an airline pilot, uses a A MMag with Nite Ize module that I gave him, to do his night walk-around inspections, and e says he doesn't want any other light. I'm flatttered.

For most of us, good enough is good enough, but I feel the guard was being foolish not to keep the batteries in his Coast in fresher condition, and heprobably looked into better lights on his next opportunity. Sooooo....you never know. Am I converted? Semi-converted, or what? I'm not sure. I just have fun with my little collection of lights.

I just bought a HIGH TECH Mag Led 2AA, to replace the standard MMag that got ruined by a battery leak, and a Fulton G.I. Issue 2D anglehead flashlight. I'm going to drop one of my 2 cell LED bulbs (bought before things got really good, 5 years ago) in it, just to see. Maybe I could get Wayne at Elektrolumens to mod it for me and make it a real fire-breather. Ya think?

mcdj · Jan 24, 2012

DM51 said:
If he has authorisation to hunt there, he is probably doing the security guards a favor by helping them to scare off intruders. People will be less likely to wander around there at night if they know an armed hunter is likely to be there. Win-win for the golf course - fewer gophers AND fewer intruders.

Golf course intruders, at night?

subwoofer · Jan 24, 2012

sniper said:
What were you hunting?

For most of us, good enough is good enough, but I feel the guard was being foolish not to keep the batteries in his Coast in fresher condition, and heprobably looked into better lights on his next opportunity. Sooooo....you never know. Am I converted? Semi-converted, or what? I'm not sure. I just have fun with my little collection of lights.

The main quarry was mentioned in my first post..... fwuffy bwunny wabbits (plus any rats or foxes I come across, and in the daytime, pigeons and crows as well).

DM51 was spot on in his observation.

Are you converted, semi-converted....sounds a bit like semi. The main thing being that if someone showed you a light vastly brighter than your own, would you want it, or just tell them how good yours is?

skyfire · Jan 26, 2012

reason i have so many lights is because i was first in aircraft maintenance. worked the evening shift, and a flashlight was my most used tool.

i use a warm tint XM-L in a bored C2 for my inspections, and i catch much more than my co-workers using their costco lights.
if i cant see a crack in the plane with my light, no way in hell will my co-worker see it with his incan mini maglite. most times, because the beam on their lights are so narrow, they dont actually look over and inspect everything, just whats required.

im just gonna say, most airplane mechanics are tightwads. a co-worker wanted a new light after seeing mines... i recommended something that cost $25. he said "thats too much" :duh2: at that moment i gave up.

ive even seen another guy using what looks like a 2 C sized plastic flashlight, duct taped to a construction helmet!

Meeting the UNconverted, semi-converted and those who see the light

subwoofer

Flashlight Enthusiast

jamesmtl514

Flashlight Enthusiast

subwoofer

Flashlight Enthusiast

GaAslamp

Enlightened

Scottiver

Enlightened

DM51

Flashaholic

sniper

Enlightened

mcdj

Newly Enlightened

subwoofer

Flashlight Enthusiast

skyfire

Flashlight Enthusiast

Similar threads

Latest posts