We all love a good flashlight story, right? Then let me tell you about how I used my lights last week. Enjoy!
The Preparations
About a month ago, I began thinking about how to propose to my girlfriend. I got the idea that I could propose using a flashlight somehow, which would be fun and uniquely me. Searching online for ideas turned up this guy's proposal: HowHeAsked. Summary: His girlfriend took a long exposure photograph, and he did light-writing with a flashlight asking her to marry him. Nice! I wish I had thought of it first. My girlfriend is a photographer, so that would have worked nicely for me, but I wouldn't want to copy the guy, so I worked on my own idea.
After considering several ideas, I settled on placing the ring in the head of a flashlight so that the shadow of the ring would appear in the beam pattern. Well, that turned out to be harder to achieve than I initially thought. Due to the paths of the rays leaving a standard LED reflector light, it is tough to get a small thin object to cast a shadow. I found that I could achieve the desired effect with a light that had a tightly focused hotspot. This placed the ring's shadow in the spill. The shadow wasn't sharply focused, but it was clear enough for my purposes. Here's the idea:
The light I selected for the ring presentation was a Jacobs A60. Not a very grand light, but an excellent bang for the buck, and probably my funnest light (I don't have any other good throwers).
I didn't want to scratch the glass lens, so I replaced it with a polycarbonate disk that I cut. I first tried taping the ring to the lens, but the matte scotch tape I used cast a shadow messing up the image of the ring. At my Dad's suggestion, I drilled holes in the lens and used fine wire to attach the ring to the inside of the lens as illustrated below. The picture shows white anti-scratch film that I left on the lens to make sure she wouldn't see the ring early. I removed this film later.
The last major problem was how to carry the light with me on the special night. My lady knows I'm a flashlight guy, but carrying around the A60 in my hand would be odd, even for me. I improvised a belt loop using a carrying loop from a Polar Bottle, which is kind of a figure-8 shape. I secured one loop of the figure-8 with my belt, and slipped the light into the other.
Our families wanted to be present at the special moment, so I secretly planned for them to meet us during the evening. I arranged for my family to bring several more of my flashlights and some of theirs for use during the proposal. This was nice because it let my flashy friends get to be a part of the special moment.
Here is the rest of the entourage:
From left to right,
Foursevens Preon 1: This first-gen Preon was my first serious light, and my EDC for a while.
Quark Smart QSL-X: My current EDC.
Sunwayman M10A: EDC after the Preon, but before the Quark Smart. Served me well.
XM-L Zoomie: Purchased this one to find out how well a zoomie can throw. Found that the beam pattern is pretty much useless for my purposes.
Singfire SF-349: Purchased to see if was really as good as advertised. It was. These are nice gifts to give away, and a good light to let people borrow.
Jacobs A60: The star of the show
Ultrafire Wf-502B with XM-L T6: One of my long-term flashy friends. This is my bike helmet light.
Jetbeam DDR26: Gave this one to my Dad as a Christmas present. I'm not fond of the interface, but he likes that it is USB rechargable and really bright.
Convoy C8: Gave this light to my brother. Great output, tint, and beam pattern. He almost never uses it, but he's got a great light if he needs it.
Ozark something: I didn't actually invite this guy. I have a strong distaste for 3xAAA lights, but at least it's not a showerhead light.
The Proposal
I picked her up from her house and as we drove to the area of operations (Sundance Square in downtown Fort Worth), I let her know that I was carrying three flashlights in order to belatedly celebrate National Flashlight Day (which the day before). Yeah, proposing on the 21st would have been great, but the 22nd was the month-aversary of when we first met, and that seemed like it would be more significant to her for some reason.
After parking, we shopped for a Christmas present for my aunt, and then went for a horse-drawn carriage ride. Afterwards, we headed into the square and took a few pictures in front of the giant Christmas tree there. Then we sat underneath some awnings in the square, and I got out my lights. I showed her my Preon and Quark Smart (she'd seen both of them before), and then drew out the A60 (stealthily removing the protective film). I think this was the first time I had shown her this light. I showed her how the beam could throw, comparing it to the Quark Smart, which is rather floody.
I shined the A60 at the awning above us to make the beam pattern clear, and then I "noticed" that there was a dark ring in the spill. "What does that look like to you? It looks kind of like a ring with something on it..." And then it clicked, she thought to herself, "Is he proposing?" She didn't know what to say, so she replied "Maybe there's something wrong with your flashlight." I switched off the light and then turned it so she could see the ring in the light. She was speechless.
I began removing the ring as our families gathered around. They lit us up with the lights.
Well illuminated by my flashy friends, I pulled out my proposal letter, dropped to one knee, and proposed. She enthusiastically accepted, and after congratulations and pictures, we all went out to dinner.
Later that evening, we opened a few Christmas presents early, and I gave her her own light, a Klarus XT1C (XP-L).
I am a greatly blessed man. God gave me an excellent woman who is a great friend and helper. We're hoping to marry in May, and maybe a few flashlights will make an appearance.
P.S. Does this earn me flashaholic status?
The Preparations
About a month ago, I began thinking about how to propose to my girlfriend. I got the idea that I could propose using a flashlight somehow, which would be fun and uniquely me. Searching online for ideas turned up this guy's proposal: HowHeAsked. Summary: His girlfriend took a long exposure photograph, and he did light-writing with a flashlight asking her to marry him. Nice! I wish I had thought of it first. My girlfriend is a photographer, so that would have worked nicely for me, but I wouldn't want to copy the guy, so I worked on my own idea.
After considering several ideas, I settled on placing the ring in the head of a flashlight so that the shadow of the ring would appear in the beam pattern. Well, that turned out to be harder to achieve than I initially thought. Due to the paths of the rays leaving a standard LED reflector light, it is tough to get a small thin object to cast a shadow. I found that I could achieve the desired effect with a light that had a tightly focused hotspot. This placed the ring's shadow in the spill. The shadow wasn't sharply focused, but it was clear enough for my purposes. Here's the idea:
The light I selected for the ring presentation was a Jacobs A60. Not a very grand light, but an excellent bang for the buck, and probably my funnest light (I don't have any other good throwers).
I didn't want to scratch the glass lens, so I replaced it with a polycarbonate disk that I cut. I first tried taping the ring to the lens, but the matte scotch tape I used cast a shadow messing up the image of the ring. At my Dad's suggestion, I drilled holes in the lens and used fine wire to attach the ring to the inside of the lens as illustrated below. The picture shows white anti-scratch film that I left on the lens to make sure she wouldn't see the ring early. I removed this film later.
The last major problem was how to carry the light with me on the special night. My lady knows I'm a flashlight guy, but carrying around the A60 in my hand would be odd, even for me. I improvised a belt loop using a carrying loop from a Polar Bottle, which is kind of a figure-8 shape. I secured one loop of the figure-8 with my belt, and slipped the light into the other.
Our families wanted to be present at the special moment, so I secretly planned for them to meet us during the evening. I arranged for my family to bring several more of my flashlights and some of theirs for use during the proposal. This was nice because it let my flashy friends get to be a part of the special moment.
Here is the rest of the entourage:
From left to right,
Foursevens Preon 1: This first-gen Preon was my first serious light, and my EDC for a while.
Quark Smart QSL-X: My current EDC.
Sunwayman M10A: EDC after the Preon, but before the Quark Smart. Served me well.
XM-L Zoomie: Purchased this one to find out how well a zoomie can throw. Found that the beam pattern is pretty much useless for my purposes.
Singfire SF-349: Purchased to see if was really as good as advertised. It was. These are nice gifts to give away, and a good light to let people borrow.
Jacobs A60: The star of the show
Ultrafire Wf-502B with XM-L T6: One of my long-term flashy friends. This is my bike helmet light.
Jetbeam DDR26: Gave this one to my Dad as a Christmas present. I'm not fond of the interface, but he likes that it is USB rechargable and really bright.
Convoy C8: Gave this light to my brother. Great output, tint, and beam pattern. He almost never uses it, but he's got a great light if he needs it.
Ozark something: I didn't actually invite this guy. I have a strong distaste for 3xAAA lights, but at least it's not a showerhead light.
The Proposal
I picked her up from her house and as we drove to the area of operations (Sundance Square in downtown Fort Worth), I let her know that I was carrying three flashlights in order to belatedly celebrate National Flashlight Day (which the day before). Yeah, proposing on the 21st would have been great, but the 22nd was the month-aversary of when we first met, and that seemed like it would be more significant to her for some reason.
After parking, we shopped for a Christmas present for my aunt, and then went for a horse-drawn carriage ride. Afterwards, we headed into the square and took a few pictures in front of the giant Christmas tree there. Then we sat underneath some awnings in the square, and I got out my lights. I showed her my Preon and Quark Smart (she'd seen both of them before), and then drew out the A60 (stealthily removing the protective film). I think this was the first time I had shown her this light. I showed her how the beam could throw, comparing it to the Quark Smart, which is rather floody.
I shined the A60 at the awning above us to make the beam pattern clear, and then I "noticed" that there was a dark ring in the spill. "What does that look like to you? It looks kind of like a ring with something on it..." And then it clicked, she thought to herself, "Is he proposing?" She didn't know what to say, so she replied "Maybe there's something wrong with your flashlight." I switched off the light and then turned it so she could see the ring in the light. She was speechless.
I began removing the ring as our families gathered around. They lit us up with the lights.
Well illuminated by my flashy friends, I pulled out my proposal letter, dropped to one knee, and proposed. She enthusiastically accepted, and after congratulations and pictures, we all went out to dinner.
Later that evening, we opened a few Christmas presents early, and I gave her her own light, a Klarus XT1C (XP-L).
I am a greatly blessed man. God gave me an excellent woman who is a great friend and helper. We're hoping to marry in May, and maybe a few flashlights will make an appearance.
P.S. Does this earn me flashaholic status?
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