KuroNekko
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2014
- Messages
- 89
I've searched the forum and found some related threads on this topic but most are over ten years old so I figured to start a new one to hear more from current active members. What's your story on how this all started? Most here will admit their interest in flashlights is odd and most in society do not understand. A flashlight is a tool for most people akin to a hammer, vice grips, a drill, etc. so what made them special to you?
I briefly shared my story in my very first introduction post here back in 2014. While I'm a relatively new member here with few posts, my passion for flashlights goes back over 20 years. Here's my (long-winded) story:
In the summer of 1994, I was 11 years old and our family was moving from Australia to Japan. On our way out, we vacationed in New Zealand. There, I saw a Maglite Solitaire for the first time ever and thought it looked cool in its all-metal black body. I hadn't seen an all-metal flashlight of that size before and given it was priced within something I could afford with my allowance money I saved up, I bought it. Little did I know in the months that follow, my new gadget would be called into duty and forever make an impact on me.
On January 17th 1995, the city of Kobe, Japan experienced a catastrophic earthquake. Kobe also happened to be the city we moved to in Japan. The earthquake hit at approximately 5:45 AM so it was dark when things started shaking. I vividly remember the circular movement of the quake and that it wasn't just side to side. I recall my body lifting up and hitting the ground repeatedly as I was brutally awaken from my slumber on the tatami mat floor. After what felt like at least 20 seconds of the violent shaking, I recall my parents yelling for my brother and I to make sure we were alright. Fortunately, everyone was unharmed but the apartment was a mess. Things were all over the floor, including all the dishware that fell out of the tipped cabinets and shattered onto the dining room floor. Being an unprepared family, we did not have any emergency supplies, including functioning flashlights, save for the tiny Maglite Solitaire I had bought months before in New Zealand. Immediately after the earthquake, I took out my tiny Solitaire and it was the one and only flashlight my family counted on in the confusion of the darkness immediately after. It was paramount in making sure we got around the debris safely and checked on various things. We relied on it until we later bought other flashlights and the electricity was eventually restored. To this day, my mother recalls the tiny flashlight that showed the way through the darkness.
In the few years that followed, I became interested in flashlights because of my Solitaire in the earthquake. When I visited the United States on vacation, I once again spent my allowance on flashlights. I acquired a Maglite 4C flashlight and also a 6D flashlight. I recall the perplexed look on my dad's face when I carried the jumbo-sized Maglites to the counter at Walmart. Not long after, I discovered Surefires and Streamlight Scorpions as they sat in glass cases in an outdoor goods store in Japan. They were very expensive with import mark-ups but being the determined teenage flashaholic, I saved up and eventually bought both a Surefire 6P and a Streamlight Scorpion. It was also around this time in my mid-teenage years that I got into camping and airsoft with my friends so the Maglites, Surefire, and Scorpion came into use. I used the Maglite 4C and Scorpion as my flashlights for camping and nighttime airsoft while I kept my Surefire and Maglite 6D as more of novelty items. I can say as a teenager with these flashlights, I was the "flashlight guy" among my friends, outshining anything they had. They were also useful given the mountains of Japan often have wild boars that come out at night. We'd use the flashlights to light them up when we heard them.
In 1999, I moved to California, USA and despite moving to a mountain community where street lighting was a rarity, my interest in flashlights waned. It was probably because I was more interested in driving... and girls. However, I brought all my flashlights from Japan to the US and they sat in my room as a dust-covered collection other than for the occasional brown-outs from heavy snowfall in the winters. When I moved to college, I took some of the flashlights with me.
In 2003, I again faced another disaster. It was the year in which Southern California faced a major wildfire outbreak in every county. In the San Bernardino Mountains, a wildfire started by an arsonist called the "Old Fire" burned from the bottom of the mountain up to about 6,000 ft in elevation, taking out most of a little mountain community called Cedar Glen. Cedar Glen happened to be where our family had our house and it burned down. Again, we were able to survive unharmed and evacuate the most important of our possessions. However, I regretfully didn't expect the fire to actually burn down our house and didn't make sure to pack all my flashlights. I later realized I had lost my Maglite 6D and my trusty little Solitaire to the fire. My Maglite 4C, Scorpion, and Surefire were fine as they were in my college apartment in Orange County.
After graduating college, I moved to Washington DC for an internship and ended up there for the next decade. With all the new things in life, flashlights took to the back burner and I lost my Maglite 4C in the move. However, I always had my Surefire and Scorpion nearby. By that time, the Scorpion was non-functional but the Surefire was working.
In the December of 2013, my obsession with flashlights was reinvigorated much like a dying person comes to life from a jolt of a defibrillator. My brother was getting married and I was his Best Man. As a groomsman's gift, he gifted me the best flashlight he could acquire at a Sports Chalet, remarking that he wanted to get something worthy of me as a "flashlight fetish man" or something to that effect. It was a Fenix TK15S2. At the time, I wasn't even aware of the brand or that LED flashlights had come to take over the industry given my interest in flashlights had dimmed out like one running out of batteries. Coincidentally, the Bachelor Party consisted of an offroading/camping trip back into the mountains we once had our house so I picked up two CR123As for my all-new Fenix before heading up the mountain. Once night fell at the campsite, I tried out my new Fenix and my jaw damn-near hit the ground. I, along with my friends and brother, were amazed at how bright and how far a handheld flashlight could throw a light. Keep in mind that at the time, the pinnacle of flashlight performance in my mind was still stuck in the 90's with my incandescent Surefire 6P. Seeing the LED performance of the Fenix TK15S2 was a revelation.
Not long after, I signed up here and I got 18650's for my Fenix along with a multi-bay charger. I then got another Fenix; an E11. I also got an LED head for my Surefire 6P. Having got a bunch of free primary CR123As and CR2s from work, I added a Foursevens Mini MLR2 to my collection. Since then, my collection grew, reinvigorating my passion for flashlights. However, it wasn't just about collecting for me given my earthquake experience and the many memories of adventures while camping as a teenager. The restored passion brought back nostalgia of good times and the appreciation for making it through the tough ones. My new collection also itches at me for new adventures and I have taken to night hiking on a regular basis, carrying and rotating through at least 3 flashlights on each hike. I'd have to now agree with my brother that "flashlight fetish man" is a fitting moniker and here I am today.
What's your story?
I briefly shared my story in my very first introduction post here back in 2014. While I'm a relatively new member here with few posts, my passion for flashlights goes back over 20 years. Here's my (long-winded) story:
In the summer of 1994, I was 11 years old and our family was moving from Australia to Japan. On our way out, we vacationed in New Zealand. There, I saw a Maglite Solitaire for the first time ever and thought it looked cool in its all-metal black body. I hadn't seen an all-metal flashlight of that size before and given it was priced within something I could afford with my allowance money I saved up, I bought it. Little did I know in the months that follow, my new gadget would be called into duty and forever make an impact on me.
On January 17th 1995, the city of Kobe, Japan experienced a catastrophic earthquake. Kobe also happened to be the city we moved to in Japan. The earthquake hit at approximately 5:45 AM so it was dark when things started shaking. I vividly remember the circular movement of the quake and that it wasn't just side to side. I recall my body lifting up and hitting the ground repeatedly as I was brutally awaken from my slumber on the tatami mat floor. After what felt like at least 20 seconds of the violent shaking, I recall my parents yelling for my brother and I to make sure we were alright. Fortunately, everyone was unharmed but the apartment was a mess. Things were all over the floor, including all the dishware that fell out of the tipped cabinets and shattered onto the dining room floor. Being an unprepared family, we did not have any emergency supplies, including functioning flashlights, save for the tiny Maglite Solitaire I had bought months before in New Zealand. Immediately after the earthquake, I took out my tiny Solitaire and it was the one and only flashlight my family counted on in the confusion of the darkness immediately after. It was paramount in making sure we got around the debris safely and checked on various things. We relied on it until we later bought other flashlights and the electricity was eventually restored. To this day, my mother recalls the tiny flashlight that showed the way through the darkness.
In the few years that followed, I became interested in flashlights because of my Solitaire in the earthquake. When I visited the United States on vacation, I once again spent my allowance on flashlights. I acquired a Maglite 4C flashlight and also a 6D flashlight. I recall the perplexed look on my dad's face when I carried the jumbo-sized Maglites to the counter at Walmart. Not long after, I discovered Surefires and Streamlight Scorpions as they sat in glass cases in an outdoor goods store in Japan. They were very expensive with import mark-ups but being the determined teenage flashaholic, I saved up and eventually bought both a Surefire 6P and a Streamlight Scorpion. It was also around this time in my mid-teenage years that I got into camping and airsoft with my friends so the Maglites, Surefire, and Scorpion came into use. I used the Maglite 4C and Scorpion as my flashlights for camping and nighttime airsoft while I kept my Surefire and Maglite 6D as more of novelty items. I can say as a teenager with these flashlights, I was the "flashlight guy" among my friends, outshining anything they had. They were also useful given the mountains of Japan often have wild boars that come out at night. We'd use the flashlights to light them up when we heard them.
In 1999, I moved to California, USA and despite moving to a mountain community where street lighting was a rarity, my interest in flashlights waned. It was probably because I was more interested in driving... and girls. However, I brought all my flashlights from Japan to the US and they sat in my room as a dust-covered collection other than for the occasional brown-outs from heavy snowfall in the winters. When I moved to college, I took some of the flashlights with me.
In 2003, I again faced another disaster. It was the year in which Southern California faced a major wildfire outbreak in every county. In the San Bernardino Mountains, a wildfire started by an arsonist called the "Old Fire" burned from the bottom of the mountain up to about 6,000 ft in elevation, taking out most of a little mountain community called Cedar Glen. Cedar Glen happened to be where our family had our house and it burned down. Again, we were able to survive unharmed and evacuate the most important of our possessions. However, I regretfully didn't expect the fire to actually burn down our house and didn't make sure to pack all my flashlights. I later realized I had lost my Maglite 6D and my trusty little Solitaire to the fire. My Maglite 4C, Scorpion, and Surefire were fine as they were in my college apartment in Orange County.
After graduating college, I moved to Washington DC for an internship and ended up there for the next decade. With all the new things in life, flashlights took to the back burner and I lost my Maglite 4C in the move. However, I always had my Surefire and Scorpion nearby. By that time, the Scorpion was non-functional but the Surefire was working.
In the December of 2013, my obsession with flashlights was reinvigorated much like a dying person comes to life from a jolt of a defibrillator. My brother was getting married and I was his Best Man. As a groomsman's gift, he gifted me the best flashlight he could acquire at a Sports Chalet, remarking that he wanted to get something worthy of me as a "flashlight fetish man" or something to that effect. It was a Fenix TK15S2. At the time, I wasn't even aware of the brand or that LED flashlights had come to take over the industry given my interest in flashlights had dimmed out like one running out of batteries. Coincidentally, the Bachelor Party consisted of an offroading/camping trip back into the mountains we once had our house so I picked up two CR123As for my all-new Fenix before heading up the mountain. Once night fell at the campsite, I tried out my new Fenix and my jaw damn-near hit the ground. I, along with my friends and brother, were amazed at how bright and how far a handheld flashlight could throw a light. Keep in mind that at the time, the pinnacle of flashlight performance in my mind was still stuck in the 90's with my incandescent Surefire 6P. Seeing the LED performance of the Fenix TK15S2 was a revelation.
Not long after, I signed up here and I got 18650's for my Fenix along with a multi-bay charger. I then got another Fenix; an E11. I also got an LED head for my Surefire 6P. Having got a bunch of free primary CR123As and CR2s from work, I added a Foursevens Mini MLR2 to my collection. Since then, my collection grew, reinvigorating my passion for flashlights. However, it wasn't just about collecting for me given my earthquake experience and the many memories of adventures while camping as a teenager. The restored passion brought back nostalgia of good times and the appreciation for making it through the tough ones. My new collection also itches at me for new adventures and I have taken to night hiking on a regular basis, carrying and rotating through at least 3 flashlights on each hike. I'd have to now agree with my brother that "flashlight fetish man" is a fitting moniker and here I am today.
What's your story?