Too many lights!! What to do!!

What do you guys do when you think you have to many lights and you would like to get more but cant justify spending more cash? Do you sell them or just keep adding and spending?

I pass them on to people who still think flashlights use 'D' alkaline batteries and bulbs. :thumbsup:

Don't have that problem yet, as I don't have so many lights.
Guess it's a problem I'm looking forward to...

On the other hand, can you really have to many lights??

I think I need more lights, but my spouse would beg to differ. Fortunately my lights all pretty much look alike to her. As long as I don't keep them all in one spot, they tend to blend into the background. So, sorry... I guess I'm not much help [emoji1]

I'll add... I also display over 350 antique glass insulators in the house. So what's a couple dozen extra flashlights?

Insulator Collector said:

I think I need more lights, but my spouse would beg to differ. Fortunately my lights all pretty much look alike to her. As long as I don't keep them all in one spot, they tend to blend into the background. So, sorry... I guess I'm not much help [emoji1]

I'll add... I also display over 350 antique glass insulators in the house. So what's a couple dozen extra flashlights?

Click to expand...

^^ Heck yeah!!!!


I started out with a flashlight in each room. Then it was one on each wall of each room. Then one on every table/shelf/desk or display against each wall in each room. Then certain tables/ shelves/ displays in said rooms began to receive a 'theme' collection.

Yet there are times I walk past all those, clear to the other end of my home to grab a particular favorite (because it isn't on my person atm).

My wife likes how I make them blend in with the decoir of nick-nacks, collectables and various other items we display in our home.


Like this...



Or this...

We had Nanos and Keymates on the Christmas tree too.




But I'll say this; if you have the extra dough, keep going. If you are going in debt or putting off projects, driving a crappy car, not saving for your future etc... so you can buy more flashlights...
STOP!!!

It's just a hobby.

I've recently cut down my collection from >100 lights to about 20.

- I threw away my non-working and junk lights
- Gave away my cheap lights to various friends and family
- Sold off the rest of my lights, including my maglite collection, in a few lots on ebay. I could have got more money if I sold them individually, but there were just too many.

My remaining lights are mostly Surefires and custom Maglites. I didn't intend for it to be that way, but it turns out that my most practical useful lights are the ones with the simplest user interfaces (single mode and 2 mode lights). I also put a lot of effort into ordering parts and building the custom Maglites, so didn't want to part with them.

1. Make sure everybody I love has a quality torch. (those that have no interest in learning the ways of li-ion get the decent ones that don't need that). This comes first.

2. Sell what I won't miss on the forums.

3. Buy what I want.

Easy.

Too many lights? I do not understand... :candle:

mpett1 said:

What do you guys do when you think you have to many lights and you would like to get more but cant justify spending more cash? Do you sell them or just keep adding and spending?

Click to expand...

The scenario is very different depending upon:
1. if *I* think I have too many lights, OR;
2. if my *wife* thinks I have too many lights.

Simple justification comes with a NEED. If I NEED something... I get it. Sometimes if I just WANT something, I develop a NEED for it, and I get it.

If SHE is the one who thinks I have too many lights. IF I want it, I get it and she shrugs her shoulders when it comes in. Oh yeah and rolls her eyes

If on the other hand, if it is ME who thinks I have too many lights, I'd probably start giving them away. Come to think of it, I have given some of them away, now, I don't have too many, but I do have enough. Honestly, I have more than I need for me, except my personality is to have enough for the people around me, not just my household, but my neighbors too. For example, I have about 7 lanterns that run on D cells, 3 good lanterns that run on AAs, and 4-6 additional ok lanterns that run on 4* AAs. I probably wouldn't use more than 2, so the rest are to lend out.

You did mention: "justify spending more cash"
In a marriage, a consensus on how one spends cash is important.
We all have different levels of disposable income, and we have to be cognizant of what we can afford.

There was a time that I had a more expensive hobby, and I WANTED to add something to my collection. I justified spending the cash on it, because I put a new roof on my porch. I had a Victorian home with a wrap around front porch. I did the work and saved at least $1,000 I later convinced myself that I saved $1,800 and bought what I wanted. My wife didn't complain, and I didn't have to justify it to her... I had to justify it to me!

Sometimes that's how I do things. For example, my car might need a repair ... $200 labor. I can do it myself, but need to spend $100 on tools. I might do it myself, and know that the next time, I'll have the tool! In my mind, tools are easy to justify. Toys, a bit harder. LOL... when my son went into auto mechanics, I surprised myself at how well I was able to set up his tool box, and still have some tools left.

Sorry for rambling.

Take a look at WHY you want more lights.
Is it because you want to try out different tints? Different emitters? Different levels of outputs? Different UI's. Different lights for different tasks? OR Just more?

I am very surprised that a number of people "catch and release" lights on the WTS forum, and get prices near to what they spent on them. To me... I expect USED to be 50% off. Yet that is often not the case around here.

Convoy lights are typically less than $20 and can be used to test different tints and outputs.
P60 modules and a single host can allow you to test even more tints and output levels, and different drivers, for about $20 for the host and ~ $20 - $40 for the bulb-module.

So... there are options, but overall, you have to stay within your budget, and maybe work enough overtime to justify the expense.

I hope all this made sense.

bykfixer said:

^^ Heck yeah!!!!


I started out with a flashlight in each room. Then it was one on each wall of each room. Then one on every table/shelf/desk or display against each wall in each room. Then certain tables/ shelves/ displays in said rooms began to receive a 'theme' collection.

Yet there are times I walk past all those, clear to the other end of my home to grab a particular favorite (because it isn't on my person atm).

My wife likes how I make them blend in with the decoir of nick-nacks, collectables and various other items we display in our home.


Like this...



Or this...

We had Nanos and Keymates on the Christmas tree too.




But I'll say this; if you have the extra dough, keep going. If you are going in debt or putting off projects, driving a crappy car, not saving for your future etc... so you can buy more flashlights...
STOP!!!

It's just a hobby.

Click to expand...

OH man... Am I Smiling!

I just knew we had more in common than helping people, fixing cars and stuff. Is that a Mr. Spock character behind the unopened pack of Star Trek Playing Cards?

Geez... I love Spock! I saw the pilot episode when it aired the first time in ? 1967?

Poppy said:

OH man... Am I Smiling!

I just knew we had more in common than helping people, fixing cars and stuff. Is that a Mr. Spock character behind the unopened pack of Star Trek Playing Cards?

Geez... I love Spock! I saw the pilot episode when it aired the first time in ? 1967?

Click to expand...

Sure is....from back before GI Joe had kung fu grip. lol.

My youngest is a TNG fan. I have a "top 10 why Kirk is cooler than Picard" t-shirt. He has a why Picard is cooler shirt.

The pilot episode (yes it was '67) gave me nightmares. (Still does when I think of those big brained dudes. lol.

Live long and prosper sir Poppy.

bykfixer said:

Live long and prosper sir Poppy.

Click to expand...

Thank you sir.

And for my favorite quote:
"The more advanced the mind becomes, the greater the need for the simplicity of play."
TOS "Shore leave"

There's a closed Facebook group called "Flashlight Fanatics" where people buy, sell, and trade lights. Trading your less favorite lights for ones you like better might be a good option. Click to join the group, and an administrator should approve you quickly.

There must also be something like that on CPF - maybe the WTS forums.

Thanks bro

1DaveN said:

There's a closed Facebook group called "Flashlight Fanatics" where people buy, sell, and trade lights. Trading your less favorite lights for ones you like better might be a good option. Click to join the group, and an administrator should approve you quickly.

There must also be something like that on CPF - maybe the WTS forums.

Click to expand...

I use to ask friends if they need a new quality flashlight, but unfortunately almost all of them are not ready to pay more than (corresponding to) a few dollars for a light. I have several lights I want to sell but have been too lazy to put them on some sale site at internet. Several lights have already became gifts to good friends, though.

bykfixer said:

I started out with a flashlight in each room. Then it was one on each wall of each room. Then one on every table/shelf/desk or display against each wall in each room. Then certain tables/ shelves/ displays in said rooms began to receive a 'theme' collection.

Click to expand...

Yeah... I'm averaging about 1.5 per room now that I've found this forum. My wife makes fun of me to our friends, but caveats it with how they have saved our buns during power outages, and various other "need a light" times. I'd say I'm at saturation based on her level of tolerance... I'm going to have to donate one from now on whenever I pick up a new one. Rotate the herd as it upgrades. I've hit the household critical mass per the Mrs..

We still have a ton of gen-2 LED Mag-Lites... I'll start dumping those off to friends as I buy more Malkoff, Surefire, Streamlight or HDS stuff.

It's just a hobby.

Click to expand...

Not if you use them. :naughty:

Simple, gift them,ones you may not use.................then more can be justified that may get more use:thumbsup:

I never have too many lights. Sure i got some that are not being used as of yet but it's because i haven't needed them yet. Sometimes i want a new light, mostly for a brighter, more options and different battery configurations.

If I am not too far off topic, may I ask a secondary question? What do you do with the boxes your lights come in? My collection is between 130-150
Lights right now. When I get a new light I have a routine of cleaning threads, lubing "o" rings, a tiny amount of deoxit on contacts and a quick treatment with a Sentry cloth. I take the spare "o" rings and accessories, label them and put them in a compartmented container, user manual into a small notebook and then the box goes into a large tub with lid. I keep everything so when I go to sell lights, I can repackage everything just like when I got it. In the rare event I need to return a light for service, I ship it in the original box. The reason for the question is that I am going to move in 30 days, and while my wife accepts my lights, she thinks I am nuts for keeping the boxes- and storage space may be a concern. What do you guys think?

As a previous poster mentioned, leave some of your expendable, "simple-to-use" lights at the homes/vehicles of your family/friends, in convenient locations. They'll eventually use them when the time is right, and thank you later for it. Check the batteries periodically for them.