# Non-flashaholic friends, we all have them



## KingGlamis (Aug 1, 2007)

I'm sure we all have non-flashaholic friends. Share your stories about when they needed a light and didn't have one. I just now got a call from one of our good friends saying the power is out at their house and her husband couldn't find any flashlights. Sorry, but I'm laughing because of all the teasing I get about owning so many lights. She said she lit some candles and that my buddy (her husband) was looking for a flashlight using the light from his cell phone. I offered to drive over and loan them a few flashlights but she declined, saying "we'll be OK with the candles." Sorry, but in my book candles don't cut it. Maybe this will motivate them to get some lights and KNOW where they are.


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## flash_bang (Aug 1, 2007)

I doubt it'll make them get some decent ones. If they're anything like my non -enlightened friends.
The thing they don't realize is that they're always in trouble and stuff, so having some would be good.
Have a good one,
Flash


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## Patriot (Aug 2, 2007)

Candles huh..........brother...

It took power outages to get my family to put a few reliable lights in there homes. My mom now has a key chain button cell, and Inova in her purse. While dad put about 5 or 6 LED mags and lanterns in the house. My brother purchased two 4D energizer lanterns and Husky 3 stage LEDs from Home Depot. I guess it's a lot better that nothing at all.


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## jbosman1013 (Aug 2, 2007)

A couple of nights ago my girlfriend went home and when she got their she had to park down the street. There was road construction and she could not park close to her house. When she got out of her car she almost steped on a snake, that scared the hell out of her. The next day she told me the story and said how she wished that she had a flashlight and said she would never make fun of my flashlight's again.


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## scott.cr (Aug 2, 2007)

What a great time for this thread.

A friend of mine who drives an older Integra (90-93 body style) has it very nicely "fixed up," and his cars are constantly being broken into or stolen. (Why doesn't he park in the garage? I don't know...)

Anyway, like two nights ago his mom wakes up screaming at 3:30 in the AM. My friend jumps up, sees someone casing out his car, and grabs for a flashlight. And grabs. And gropes. What? Can't find it??

Thing is, I gave him a P90-powered Surefire 6P for JUST such occasions. EXACTLY this occasion. And it was nowhere to be found...


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## soffiler (Aug 2, 2007)

Mountain biking after work last Thursday with a group of 12, we are all well aware of the fact that the days are getting shorter, yet only me and one other guy bother to bring lights into the woods. As darkness is starting to gather and we're making progress back to the parking area, one of the group gets a flat. It's a minor delay that's fixed promptly and we continue, until another of the group has a serious mechanical failure (broken derailleur). He's near the back of the pack, and six people up front escape to the parking area unaware of the problem. In the remaining group including the broken bike, we've got both of the guys with lights. One is a nearly worthless cheapo plastic 3xAA bike light, and then there's me with my SSC-modded Coast Focusing Lenser plus a second battery cartridge and a backup P1D-CE with spare cell. Basically, all six of us got out of the dark woods by my lights. Now, I am expecting some of these people "got religion" from this experience and they'll be shopping and looking for advice. And, some won't.


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## scottaw (Aug 2, 2007)

My fiancee occasionally likes to throw in a jab about all my flashlights, but for some reason the dorcy 1W i put in her car seems to be getting plenty of use....hmmmm

Also, i was helping my neighbor do some work in his attic (unlit) so i gave him my PT apex to wear, and when i was in the attic gave him my P2D to use. The next day he tried to find a fenix at wal-mart (obviously couldn't), but came home with a mini-magled. Maybe i'll give him the P2D when i grab a 120P. Try to turn him into a flashaholic.


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## fishx65 (Aug 2, 2007)

The famous statement I here from my non-flashaholic friends is " Dang that thing is bright".


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## Sakkath (Aug 2, 2007)

My ex girlfriend had my phone and was browsing through pictures I had taken, then she came to a picture of my flashlights!
"I can't belive you've taken a picture of you'r flashlights!":ironic:

I flashed a friend of mine with my red photon freedom microlight, and he was like: "No stop that!"
at the time I thought he was just kidding, but he actually thought it was a laser :naughty:


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## Archangel (Aug 2, 2007)

I don't know if this counts since i was there, but last week a couple of us went to the lake to fish - well, they were fishing; i went just to see what fishing looked like - and somehow dark snuck up on us. I don't know that we *needed* a light to wend our way through the trees, but my Spy with dying batteries made it a whole lot easier. (pause) Actually, i guess they did need it, 'cause there's no way there was enough light for them to swap lures, which i remember them doing. I guess if i wasn't there they would've taken longer to walk back and either used the same lure or just quit early. Hardly a big deal, but still...


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## Daekar (Aug 2, 2007)

My favorite quote from non-flashaholics: "What's in that thing!? A small star!?" :huh: My girlfriend has started to be a mild convert... she uses her G2 to illuminate herd animals from long range, all the people at the Ag. school think it's a mini-spotlight. heh heh... imagine what they'd think of a small HID!


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## smokelaw1 (Aug 2, 2007)

One of our best frineds become a freind when she was our real estate agent. We looked at a lot-A LOT-of houses. We would go in basements and attics often without light, and I would pull mine out...everyone was always SO APPRECIATIVE of the light, and talk about what a fantastic thing it was to have on you when house shopping...and she does this for a living! She still doesn't carry one.....


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## Noxonomus (Aug 2, 2007)

I don't really hear about times they needed a light and didn't have one, so I only know about times when I was there to provide a light. I don't know how far these things would have gone had I not been there or how many other times they have happened.

One time I was with a friend who lives and works in a rural area and we stopped off to check up on her horse after dark. Now I know she keeps a minimag in her glove box but despite being in a dark area with most of the the lights turned off for the night it never occurred to her to grab it before leaving the car because she expected to just turn on the lights when we got to the building. So when she goes to turn on a light she walks into the even darker interior of the barn and cant find the cord for the light, at which point she promptly pulls out her cell phone for light and still cant find the thing, as soon as I saw that I pulled out a real flashlight. It turns out the cord had been pined under a pallet with a few bales of hay on top. I don't know how much longer it would have been before she would have gone back to the car for the light or if it would have occurred to her at all, but I do know I wouldn't want to have tried to move that pallet in the dark it was hard enough when we could see.


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## sysadmn (Aug 3, 2007)

scott.cr said:


> What a great time for this thread.
> 
> A friend of mine who drives an older Integra (90-93 body style) has it very nicely "fixed up," and his cars are constantly being broken into or stolen. (Why doesn't he park in the garage? I don't know...)
> 
> ...


 
This is a good argument for buying people lots of cheap flashlights and putting them all over. I've put cheap lights in my wife's desk drawer, the closets by the front and garage doors, the kids' dresser...

Of course, for us, it's an argument for arguing about which expensive flashlights to buy, then buying them and putting them all over


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## soffiler (Aug 3, 2007)

I don't think scattering flashlights all over works at all. Non-flashaholics will usually pass up a flashlight that is right under their nose and beat their way around in the dark. People just won't use a tool that is "outside the box". I think that realtor story a couple posts above tells the tale pretty well.


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## VidPro (Aug 3, 2007)

no more non-flashaholic friends for me, i gave them my old crusty obsolete (LED) junk and they converted the next day.
hey whats a candle anyways :thinking:


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## Monocrom (Aug 5, 2007)

KingGlamis said:


> .... Sorry, but in my book candles don't cut it....


 
I bet they were old, used, Birthday candles!
I bet they were!!! :lolsign:


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## beetleguise (Aug 5, 2007)

:bow:As a recent convert, I must admit I was blind, but now I finally see. I was stumbling in the dark at work every night with nothing but a poly-stinger. I realized that I needed more candlepower in order to see the top static wick on a 757-200, so I bought the ultra-stinger. This was brighter, but I was still in the dark- unaware that more lumens were out there- I just needed to seek them. 
And then one night, while watching you-tube for entertainment, I saw the "torch" video. I was awestruck.oo:
I had to find out more, so I searched the web frantically with my co-worker "Aircraft800". Soon we each owned a couple of modded maglites. He with his custom machined mag 11 and me with my simple but bright mag 85. We were blinding pilots as they taxied into the terminal every night. Our co-workers did not respond to the message of light as we hoped. These infidels just don't understand like us, for they have never held the power of a modded light in their hands. That is how they will be won over......... we must put the power into their own hands and then they will see the light.:bow:


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## Spin (Aug 6, 2007)

beetleguise said:


> :bow:As a recent convert, I must admit I was blind, but now I finally see. I was stumbling in the dark at work every night with nothing but a poly-stinger. I realized that I needed more candlepower in order to see the top static wick on a 757-200, so I bought the ultra-stinger. This was brighter, but I was still in the dark- unaware that more lumens were out there- I just needed to seek them.
> And then one night, while watching you-tube for entertainment, I saw the "torch" video. I was awestruck.oo:
> I had to find out more, so I searched the web frantically with my co-worker "Aircraft800". Soon we each owned a couple of modded maglites. He with his custom machined mag 11 and me with my simple but bright mag 85. We were blinding pilots as they taxied into the terminal every night. Our co-workers did not respond to the message of light as we hoped. These infidels just don't understand like us, for they have never held the power of a modded light in their hands. That is how they will be won over......... we must put the power into their own hands and then they will see the light.:bow:


"We were blinding pilots as they taxied into the terminal every night."
Hmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!


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## beetleguise (Aug 6, 2007)

We always wait until they shut down the engines, just to be safe!:naughty:


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## quokked (Aug 6, 2007)

I've been passing out the fauxtons at work (a bunch from dealextreme)
And all the feedback I've been getting on them is great. 
Apprantley the little fauxtons have saved the day a few times for the recepiants of these little lights. 
And some of them are being used as night navigation lights, to make sure they don't fall down the stairs when they get home. 

They're just the right price (damn cheap) to give away and they put out heaps of light, plus they're small and people put them on their keys

They're a great little giveaway item to give to people to 'Enlighten' them and at least educate them that a good source of light can be damn handy!


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## Pistolero (Aug 7, 2007)

I think I'll do the fauxton thing and start passing some out.

What's funny is that one buddy of mine likes to ask which lights I'm carrying, as I rotate through them often. His mockery is short lived after I gave him a cheapo Garrity or Brinkmann for his bday. After seeing my energizer storm lantern, he picked one up. (Prudent move for this area, if it's not floods, it's hurricanes or a crummy power company)

When storms come, he tells me he breaks out the lights and silently hopes for a power failure.


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## carrot (Aug 7, 2007)

Pistolero said:


> When storms come, he tells me he breaks out the lights and silently hopes for a power failure.



A true flashaholic.


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## sween1911 (Aug 7, 2007)

My boss told me that a few weeks ago, he had to go outside in the dark and check the connection to their home air conditioning unit. He had to use A CANDLE. I asked him, didn't he have a flashlight? I think he said "it" (referring to the only flashlight they had?) was packed up in their RV.

Since my boss takes such good care of me, I think I'll pick him up a nice light somewhere. After all, one morning I had come into work with some nicks from shaving, he got me a Gilette Mach III razor.


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## TORCH_BOY (Aug 8, 2007)

Most of my Friends are Non-flashaholic, the strangest part about this is that
they all have at least one Flashlight in the house


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## Lunal_Tic (Aug 8, 2007)

Just got back from a client's and had one of them showing off a CountyComm light we'd given her a while back to the others in the office. Later she asked about changing the battery in a PALight we'd also given her. She said she used it all the time; made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. 




sween1911 said:


> My boss told me that a few weeks ago, he had to go outside in the dark and check the connection to their home air conditioning unit. He had to use A CANDLE. I asked him, didn't he have a flashlight? I think he said "it" (referring to the only flashlight they had?) was packed up in their RV.
> 
> Since my boss takes such good care of me, I think I'll pick him up a nice light somewhere. After all, one morning I had come into work with some nicks from shaving, he got me a Gilette Mach III razor.



That's a hell of a boss. Definitately get him a good light, maybe even a headlamp. I'm sure he'll appreciate it.


-LT


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## Daekar (Aug 8, 2007)

carrot said:


> A true flashaholic.


 
That's what I've done almost my whole life, long before I ever found this place! I love power-outages unless I'm trying to do school work on the computer. :naughty: I always hope for power outages now that I'm out of school, I think my girlfriend thinks I'm a bit nuts.:shrug:


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## jsr (Aug 8, 2007)

The times I can remember off the top of my head right now...

1. During father's day dinner with my in-laws, power went out on a few city blocks. We were in a 2nd story restaurant eating. I took out my Vital Stream (see signature link for details) and bounced it off the ceiling to provide light for the room. Eventually, the restaurant personnel brought out a lantern light (those 10-bajillion candlepower ones) and shined it at the ceiling also. It started to die and dim in about 15 minutes. My light, tailstanding on the table, was still going strong and I continued to eat the whole time (can't let it spoil my dinner!). We eventually left w/o finishing our meal, as did most of the patrons that night.

2. Continuing from the above story, when we got outside, again, no lights on the blocks around us. My bro-in-law parked underground, but the lights don't work, so there's no way he could see anything. I lent him my Fenix P1 and he used it to navigate to his car. The biggest benefit the light provided was that a sewage pump stopped working because of the power outtage dumping streams of sewage into the underground parking. The light helped them avoid stepping into flowing rivers of poop.

After that night, several of my wife's family members were asking me where to get lights and to get them some. I had already given out a few as presents, but they didn't carry them, using them mostly at home and leaving them there.

3. Outside my house, my sis-in-law ran over a nail and got a flat tire. The street lights were out, so there wasn't enough lighting to really see anything. I took out several of my lights from my house including my SL TL-3, SL Scorpion, and Jetbeam Jet1 and passed them around for people to hold while I changed the tire. My sis-in-law now has a light in her car that I gave her.

4. Outside my in-laws' house, one of their cars wouldn't start. Again, no working street lights, so out comes one of my EDCs (I don't recall which one I had on me), and my sis-in-law brings out her SL TL-2 that I got her, and my bro-in-law brings out his Huntlight FT-01 that I got him. Ha, they're starting to learn. Got enough light to get things working.

I've been telling my wife that I'm waiting for another power outage that will scare them again into seeing the value of good flashlights and carrying one with them (which they still don't do, except for some keychain lights I got them).


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## lucio (Aug 9, 2007)

storeroom shutting the light off and turning all my flashlights on and switching of and on them in turn and enjoing the volume of lights building up .

well, to stay on topic, some months ago I wanted to show off my new AE powerlight 24W and I showed it to my friends at night. well, no need to tell you how amazed they were. some were laughing, so impressed they were by the throw. one was pressing me asking about the price and saying he wanted to really buy it, but after having heard it, it didn't ask me no more the days after. and I even lied: I said a lot less of the real price .

time ago lights went out in the palace where I live, so no elevator. I live in the seventh floor, and while I was stepping up I was hearing some people talking on the floor very curious about who was the guy so well supplied: when they discovered who was the student of the next door they couldn't believe at their eyes . they told me they had spent a lot whole of time groping in the stairway: well, 7 floors aren't so much, but in the pitch black it's quite annoying.

others stories are just too common to be mentioned.

oh God, I can't imagine how many horrors I've done with the verbs.. :huh: :shakehead sorry to of all you for my bad english.


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## stephenmadpotato (Aug 9, 2007)

Just had a power outage last night and I had to feed my neighbors cat, so I grabbed my XENON police light and ran into one of my neighbors trying to grope his way to the shed, helped him out.


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## souptree (Aug 10, 2007)

lucio said:


> storeroom shutting the light off and turning all my flashlights on and switching of and on them in turn and enjoing the volume of lights building up .
> 
> well, to stay on topic, some months ago I wanted to show off my new AE powerlight 24W and I showed it to my friends at night. well, no need to tell you how amazed they were. some were laughing, so impressed they were by the throw. one was pressing me asking about the price and saying he wanted to really buy it, but after having heard it, it didn't ask me no more the days after. and I even lied: I said a lot less of the real price .
> 
> ...



Your English communicates just fine! :thumbsup:


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## iineijbaldj (Aug 10, 2007)

I guess i'll be the one to swerve off topic. 

For 'gift' flashlights , being a non-flashlightaholic, I give away the 9 led 
DX lights but I'm working up to being a flashlightaholic, slowly, and I had
a Q. 

It seems that lots of bodies, flashlight bodies, are using the 3-AAA / 3 sided 
plastic holder with a spring screwed to one side and a contact on the other. 

When I bought a bunch of lights at Dollar Tree last year , for $1.00, they had 
3 white LEDs in them and they had that 3-AAA plastic holder. I bought a bunch because I realized how easy it was to slide out a 3pack and pop in a fresh 3pack. 

Then I bought the 9 LED from DX and they've got the same 3-sided AAA holder. If it's so common I'm thinking it's time to make a charger to charge
all 3 AAA batteries in series. 

Has anyone done it ? 

No flames please. I realize what I'm talking about are pieces of crap. hehe. 

Andre


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## krayonc (Aug 10, 2007)

OMG...I had no idea. I almost lost my coffee when I read this sig...

Iwon'tbuymorelightsIwon'tbuymorelightsIwon'tbuymor elightsIwon'tbuymoreli... Ooh! Shiny!

That's too funny. Being new here & trying to learn a bit more, this whole thread got me thinking about how many flashlights I've got and I realized that I've got at least 30. Oh, I'm sure that's a piddly amount to you lot but hey.....I might have a tendancy to flashaholism that I've not addressed. I always have one with me.

But are my flashlights QUALITY flashlights? hmmmm.... I gotta say "no"...not after reading a few of the threads on this forum. I have, however, seen the error in my ways and aim to _enlighten_ myself.


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## Monocrom (Aug 10, 2007)

krayonc said:


> But are my flashlights QUALITY flashlights? hmmmm.... I gotta say "no"...not after reading a few of the threads on this forum. I have, however, seen the error in my ways and aim to _enlighten_ myself.


 
Allow me to help you....

"Get a Fenix light!"

"Get a Surefire light!"

There.... that should cover 98% of the responses you'll get from members of this site.


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## RGB_LED (Aug 10, 2007)

After reading the posts here, I had to chuckle because, as flashoholics, we've all had first-hand experiences that are close to, or exactly like the ones that were posted...

During the power outage on the east coast a few years ago, I used the flashlight I carried with me to help guide my co-workers out of our office building when the emergency lights in the stairwells didn't come on as they were supposed to. My one pregnant co-worker made a point of e-mailing me and my managers for helping her down 10 flights of stairs. Unfortunately, there were no flashoholics in my office; I know this because the very next day, several co-workers came up to me and asked, 'So, why do you carry a flashlight on you? That's so geeky!'.  Unenlightened they are...

A few months ago, I attended a friend's bbq where the guys were talking gadgets, so I pulled out my HDS U60 and showed my buddies the light, even mentioned that I was thinking of modding it with a Seoul. One of my friends, who works for the local transit authority expressed a lot of interest as he works with maintenance staff on the tunnels and he was looking for some good lights to give to his team to illuminate the tracks and tunnel - the lights had to be rechargeable and with good throw. I sent him all kinds of information from Lighthound, to Fenix, to PT Apex, even info about R123s and SAR sites where he can find attachments for helmet lights. Fast forward several months; I recently asked him how the lighting situation was... his response? 'Oh, I picked up one of those small Petzl Tikka headlamps for inspecting the tracks - it's not bright enough but it works for now.' 

Unfortunately, you can lead a horse to water... but you can't make him drink...

On a more positive note, I am going camping next weekend with a potential Flashoholic convert who's looking to purchase his first LED light... he's trying to decide between a Fenix P2D-CE or a P3D-CE. Hmm... maybe I'll convince him to go with the the new Rebel-based lights instead...:naughty:


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## HeadCSO (Aug 15, 2007)

I work in a large government office with nearly a 1000 people. Recently, part of the office suffered a power outage caused by a power surge, resulting in several electrical circuits that needed resetting. However, the control box was in an isolated room with no windows and it was pretty dark in there.

Now bear in mind this is a large government department. The maintanance crew and security were on the scene trying to effect repairs and all they had was one no name flashlight that put out a weak yellow beam that couldn't light up the control box from 2 feet away. Fortunately I was passing by and lit up the whole room with my L1D-CE in turbo mode, alowing them to complete their work.

Have they learnt their lesson - NO. Still no decent flashlights .


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## stephenmadpotato (Aug 15, 2007)

HAHAHAHAHA just last night, the main circuit popped while my dad was workin on something. I offered him my xenon police light and he said no, ill be fine. I know the way around my own BOOM! (nails his head on a cabinet and ripped it clean off the hinges) ahahahahaha I led him downstiars while hes cursing my mom for leaving it open lololol.


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## HeadCSO (Aug 16, 2007)

scott.cr said:


> What a great time for this thread.
> 
> A friend of mine who drives an older Integra (90-93 body style) has it very nicely "fixed up," and his cars are constantly being broken into or stolen. (Why doesn't he park in the garage? I don't know...)
> 
> ...


 

A friend of mine is almost as bad. I bought him a Surefire E2E for a birthday present. However he doesn't keep any spare batteries for it. Last time he ran out, I had to supply another pair of batts. Still hasn't ordered any. Next time, I'll leave him in the dark. :candle:


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## soffiler (Aug 16, 2007)

HeadCSO said:


> A friend of mine is almost as bad. I bought him a Surefire E2E for a birthday present. However he doesn't keep any spare batteries for it. Last time he ran out, I had to supply another pair of batts. Still hasn't ordered any. Next time, I'll leave him in the dark. :candle:


 
A SureFire E2E birthday gift... Wow, you are a generous friend! Sounds to me like your friend just isn't drinking the CR123A Kool-Aid however. It is a committment.


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## Monocrom (Aug 16, 2007)

HeadCSO said:


> I work in a large government office with nearly a 1000 people. Recently, part of the office suffered a power outage caused by a power surge, resulting in several electrical circuits that needed resetting. However, the control box was in an isolated room with no windows and it was pretty dark in there.
> 
> Now bear in mind this is a large government department. The maintanance crew and security were on the scene trying to effect repairs and all they had was one no name flashlight that put out a weak yellow beam that couldn't light up the control box from 2 feet away. Fortunately I was passing by and lit up the whole room with my L1D-CE in turbo mode, alowing them to complete their work.
> 
> Have they learnt their lesson - NO. Still no decent flashlights .


 
I work in a large, private, financial building. All new employees get a personal emergency fanny-pack. Not too big. But an inca Garrity Life-lite is included in each pack. The security console contains Emergency and Medical kits, along with two 3D cell Maglites, a couple of Streamlight lanterns, and some disposable 2D cell lights..... with plenty of extra D cells on hand. 

A couple of times a year, the Security Manager gets a catalog of industrial supplies from a company I can't recall. The flashlight section is huge! And even includes Surefire models. 

Good to know that someone at my job-site knows the value of lights.... Still, I always have my 2C MagLED in my locker, and my main EDC on me. Usually a Surefire L4.


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## Dr Jekell (Aug 17, 2007)

Monocrom said:


> I work in a large, private, financial building. All new employees get a personal emergency fanny-pack. Not too big. But an inca Garrity Life-lite is included in each pack. The security console contains Emergency and Medical kits, along with two 3D cell Maglites, a couple of Streamlight lanterns, and some disposable 2D cell lights..... with plenty of extra D cells on hand.
> 
> A couple of times a year, the Security Manager gets a catalog of industrial supplies from a company I can't recall. The flashlight section is huge! And even includes Surefire models.
> 
> Good to know that someone at my job-site knows the value of lights.... Still, I always have my 2C MagLED in my locker, and my main EDC on me. Usually a Surefire L4.



Dam that would be a great catalouge to get.

Can you find out the name & web link :naughty:


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## Burgess (Aug 17, 2007)

-- from HeadCSO:


_Have they learnt their lesson - NO. Still no decent flashlights ._



Oh, they've learned their lesson, all right.


"Whenever we need a decent flashlight, get HeadCSO . . . . "

"He always carries a really good one !"



(insert Big Sigh here . . . .)

_


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## soffiler (Aug 17, 2007)

Dr Jekell said:


> Dam that would be a great catalouge to get.
> 
> Can you find out the name & web link :naughty:


 
Hey Dr Jekell - be careful. The industrial suppliers I am familiar with all charge very high prices. Their business is to have an enormous inventory of anything that might be needed to keep industry running, and to deliver fast. Large inventories and fast-turnaround deliveries drive their overhead costs way way up.


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## Monocrom (Aug 17, 2007)

Dr Jekell said:


> Dam that would be a great catalouge to get.
> 
> Can you find out the name & web link :naughty:


 
Thing is.... I'm not sure they'll sell to private individuals. 

But yeah, I can find out for you. That's no problem. I'll check the security console when I go back to work on Monday.


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## FlashSpyJ (Aug 17, 2007)

Someone mentioned that you should keep alot of lights around the house, in strategic places. And someone said that it wouldnt work. And alot of you said that your friends and co works etc arnt getting lights even after some light-needin experiences....

Well im not one of thoose people that worships Oprah, but I happend to see one of her shows where she was telling people how good it was to have alot of flashlights around the house, and that she keept one in every closet she has. She then showed a large mag lite looking light with alot of leds in it, and said it was brighter and lasted longer than regular incans. And told people that they really should get alot of lights to have in their house just in case.
Regarding to how popular Oprah seems to be, and that she can turn a non-famous brand or product into a world wide known thing and make people buy the stuff, it really amazes me that there arent more of us flashalohics! :thinking:


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## Monocrom (Aug 17, 2007)

FlashSpyJ said:


> .... Regarding to how popular Oprah seems to be, and that she can turn a non-famous brand or product into a world wide known thing and make people buy the stuff, it really amazes me that there arent more of us flashalohics! :thinking:


 
I'm actually not surprised.... There's a huge difference between being an actual flashaholic who is genuinely fascinated by lights and how they work, vs. just being someone who blindly obeys the Big O.

The former will buy different lights to try out. The latter will stop once every room in their home has a light in it. (With a one-bedroom apt., that means 4 lights).


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## soffiler (Aug 21, 2007)

We have a vendor for injection-molded plastic components that we've known for years. We are pretty good friends with the owner/operators of the outfit. The shop is located in a sort of old-school industrial building, not well lit, and the machinery has lots of shadowy areas that you sometimes need to see into. One day I was over there to address a minor problem, and the shop-floor manager pulled out a Minimag to light up an area inside a large injection molding tool. It was the usual weak yellow you expect from a Minimag needing new batteries. I gave him a 3-watt Luxeon 2xAA (a private-branded model but identical to Ray-0-Vac) which just blew the Minimag away. Fast forward. I was just over there again today, and no LED in sight, but there's the old Minimag in his holster...!

I guess the habits of non-flashaholics are hard to change.


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## Lefselight (Aug 21, 2007)

The head mechanic at work has well over $50,000 in tools, mostly Snap-On, (he drops everything when the Snap-On truck rolls up). What does he have for flashlights? A Mini-Mag and a really crappy shake light. He borrows a flashlight from me, fairly often. They do use fluorescent trouble lights because they got tired of changing bulbs on their incandescent trouble lights all of the time.


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## Flying Turtle (Aug 21, 2007)

Same here. The head maintenance guy at work, truly a great mechanic who can diagnose and fix just about anything, relies on an old MiniMag. Once he didn't have it and needed to peer into an overhead duct in my office. I offered up my Arc AAA. After growling about it not being a light he was pleasantly surprised how well it worked.

Geoff


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## Illum (Aug 21, 2007)

some non-flashaholic friends can be anti-flashaholic activists....even at those times where he needs it most, but instead prefer to refuse flashlights [even fauxtons] saying something about job security for his propane lanterns and zippo lighters.....

well once when I needed his help over for a project in my shed he took one of my dorcy 1 watts [123a] and left with it. [yes, the *shiny* factor kicks in here]
I didn't bother to get it back after seeing beamshots on his living room wall the next couple of nights


I asked him about it and he played dumb, acting as if he doesn't know what I'm talking about...oh well, at least he has a light




Dr Jekell said:


> Dam that would be a great catalouge to get.
> 
> Can you find out the name & web link :naughty:



reminds me of fox-international
fox-intl.com


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## KingGlamis (Aug 21, 2007)

So I think I may have converted one of my best friends. He and his wife went to a sporting goods store this past weekend and they split up to look at different things. After a while she went to look for him and couldn't find him. After searching for a while she found him in the FLASHLIGHT isle. :thumbsup: When she asked was he was doing, he said, "Checking out the flashlights for Doug (which is me)." I call BS. I think he was there looking for a flashlight for himself. Even his wife agreed. She said "he was probably hoping to buy a flashlight brighter than your best one so he can be the top dog when we go camping this weekend." I laughed and told her, "That's not going to happen if he is shopping at a sporting goods store."


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## Monocrom (Aug 22, 2007)

Dr Jekell said:


> Dam that would be a great catalouge to get.
> 
> Can you find out the name & web link :naughty:


 
Here's the info I promised you. (Sorry it took a bit longer than expected).

The company is LSS.

LINK - http://www.labsafety.com/


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## soffiler (Aug 22, 2007)

Lefselight said:


> The head mechanic at work has well over $50,000 in tools, mostly Snap-On, (he drops everything when the Snap-On truck rolls up). What does he have for flashlights? A Mini-Mag and a really crappy shake light. He borrows a flashlight from me, fairly often. They do use fluorescent trouble lights because they got tired of changing bulbs on their incandescent trouble lights all of the time.


 

I hope the fluorescent trouble light is one of the Snap-on models. I happen to have some experience with those, and they are built pretty tough :thumbsup:.


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## Khaytsus (Aug 22, 2007)

soffiler said:


> We have a vendor for injection-molded plastic components that we've known for years. We are pretty good friends with the owner/operators of the outfit. The shop is located in a sort of old-school industrial building, not well lit, and the machinery has lots of shadowy areas that you sometimes need to see into. One day I was over there to address a minor problem, and the shop-floor manager pulled out a Minimag to light up an area inside a large injection molding tool. It was the usual weak yellow you expect from a Minimag needing new batteries. I gave him a 3-watt Luxeon 2xAA (a private-branded model but identical to Ray-0-Vac) which just blew the Minimag away. Fast forward. I was just over there again today, and no LED in sight, but there's the old Minimag in his holster...!
> 
> I guess the habits of non-flashaholics are hard to change.



And probably the same dead batteries he was trying to use last time.... 

I see the maintenance guys here at work all the time banging and twisting Mag AA's trying to eek a little light out of them. I helped one out some weeks ago by shining my P2D on Low behind what he was working on (Looked like he was identifying a filter on a water dispenser or such..) and he was blown away, asked what the brand was, where to get it, and how long it'd last.. I quickly told him about the different models, and one of them being very close in size to the Mag he wore, but much much brighter and would run for a very long time.

I'm sure he still has the Mag AA.


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## Khaytsus (Aug 22, 2007)

Something else that just came to mind....

Non-flashaholics tend to poke fun at someone who has a EDC flashlight, or for that matter, even one or two in a desk drawer at work.

But they always come to you when they need a flashlight, don't they!


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## KingGlamis (Aug 22, 2007)

Khaytsus said:


> Something else that just came to mind....
> 
> Non-flashaholics tend to poke fun at someone who has a EDC flashlight, or for that matter, even one or two in a desk drawer at work.
> 
> But they always come to you when they need a flashlight, don't they!



They sure do. And when they need a tape measure, or knife, etc. Funny how we all NEED the same things at work, but I'm the only one that actually carries them on me.


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## soffiler (Aug 23, 2007)

KingGlamis said:


> They sure do. And when they need a tape measure, or knife, etc. Funny how we all NEED the same things at work, but I'm the only one that actually carries them on me.


 
Doug -

That brings up a good point. This might seem to be slipping off-topic but it is definitely related, philosophically.

Central Tools is a manufacturer, and we are pursuing a concept called "Lean Manufacturing" which has a wide variety of principles associated with it, but one of the hallmarks is *reduction of waste*. There are many kinds of waste, and one of the biggies is wasted motion which equates to _*wasted time*_. (In mfg of course we're talking about the repetitive build of widgets hour after hour and day after day, so even a few seconds of waste on each widget adds up to real money eventually.) But in the case where you need to do some task even once, and you don't have the tool, you can waste remarkable amounts of time finding/borrowing/obtaining the tool. And it gets worse - some people don't even realize what tools they need. For me, a good EDC flashlight is high on that particular list. From simply dropping a screw on the floor, to diagnosing some arcane problem in a complex piece of machinery, good lighting speeds the completion of the task.


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