All flashlights are not created equal? Understatement, yes, but I don't want to lose anyone early on.
Thing is, flashlights -like anything else- have their own little corner of the world. Highly specialized research and development, a mature design and marketing hierarchy, fads, fashions, loathe factor, lust factor and their very own metalanguage. It follows, therefore, that a select group of people would totally geek-out over them.
For some people, a flashlight is a pink, yellow, or orange plastic thing that sits in the junk drawer and makes "C" batteries go dead.
Gag.
For me, the perfect flashlight (you're abso-freeking-lutely right, it's a quest) is a test bed nonpareil for the elusive fusion of form and function. Exceptional industrial design, bleeding-edge technology and confident utility, thanks very much.
Joy!
Here's my favorite (right now)
The Streamlight Microstream:
Last time I was at my parents house in Idaho, my dad (fellow flashlight geek) got an excited look on his face and disappeared into his office. As he hurried back out, he tossed this tiny thing to me and said "look what I found." We immediately set to, hushed tones and grunts of excitement:
"Emitter?"
"Only 1/2 watt, but check it out!"
"Sweet! Triple 'A'...What kind of switch?"
"Forward clicky...momentary."
"SWEET. It's so small...and...it feels like it's hard coated..."
"Yeah, H-II."
"SWEET!"
My brother rolled his eyes. Not the first time.
"I just don't get the flashlight thing."
My little brother, 6 years my younger and High School Valedictorian, had his M.D. before I had my first "real" job. He's the nicest guy I know and he's my best friend in the world. But sometimes he doesn't have a brain. And his taste is in his mouth.
I am nothing, however, if not patient.
"You have to admit, even if you don't like flashlights, that this one is cool." I said.
"I'm a Doctor, I don't have to admit anything." **
I dragged him into the bathroom (dark, no windows) to show him.
"Look at how freeking bright this thing is."
He seems genuinely surprised at how much light comes out of such a tiny package.
"Scratch it with your fingernail...feel that? That's hard-anodizing. Super tough. Military grade, dude."
Marginally more impressed.
"Best part is, the LEDs they're making these days are crazy. The 1/2 watt LED in this is easily 10 times more efficient than the 1/2 watt I bought last year."
His eyes start to glaze over...
"Ok. It's so efficient that even on a small battery like a 'AAA' it'll run FOR-EV-ER, seriously, like weeks. AND it'll NEVER burn out."
"Seriously?" Pause. "This little thing? Ok. That's pretty cool."
And that's all I got. But it's all I needed. Baby steps, right?
**he may or may not have actually said this.
When I tried to give it back to my dad, he said "it's yours." He's cool like that. He said he paid $20 for it on Amazon. A quick google tonight says as cheap as $13. Streamlight also makes a longer, two-battery version, The Stylus Pro. A little brighter, a little longer run-time. Sweet.
I had prepared a full-length deal on incandescent bulbs vs. LED, plastics, aluminum, coatings, optics, driver circuitry, and battery technology, but I figure that's what Wikipedia and Candlepower are for, right? Knock yourself out.
Simply put, this is a very cool little light. It's small, super bright, a single battery will last forever, and it's not super expensive.
Check on the sleeping kids. Plumb the depths of your purse. Help your pregnant wife down the theater steps after a movie. Is that a raccoon or a wookalar in the back yard?
A perfect gift if ever there was one. Careful, though...you may start something.
-ck
I am c jane, this blog promotes good stuff.
contact me:
dearcjane@gmail.com
41 comments:
My father-in-law and my husband are the same way. His brothers get it too though. I think it is great. It is a nice way to get each other a cheap gift, and it is a true benefit in a time of a crisis. Such a nice review. I will have to ask him if he has one already.
Reading this, I thought I was reading an email from my husband. LOL This is exactly the conversation around the dinner table with his family which includes a rocket scientist, a nobel prize winning physics guy, and a mechanical engineer or 2 or 5.
Too funny.
Seriously, flashlights?? Who doesn't love flashlights??? Chup,I see why CJane is so crazy about you. Keep up the good work :-)
I think husband is going to have to have one of these. Also, extra points for using the word wookalar.
can you give us a rating scale? where would you place maglites in your flashlight heirarchy?
My husband got an AF issue one (maybe a sure fire, is that a flashlight?) while he was deployed that was the size of a mini mag. While on a camping trip he showed it off to me. He shined it from our campsite and lit up the forest which was quite far away. I'm bad with distances, but it was enough to get me, who usually glazes over myself while he displays his toys, to pause and think it was indeed a very cool flashlight. I never knew they were collectors items, though. Fun to see what other people (men) get excited about.
Ours is big, yellow and usually doesn't even have working batteries (sorry if that made you throw u a little). I now see the error of my ways and will be purchasing a better specimen.
I just got mad at my 5 y.o. for taking our only working flashlight outside and pounding it to bits on the pavement, then blaming it on the neighbor kid. Sounds like we need one of these.
I seriously might need to buy a couple of these...my boys, ages 3 & 6, think it is the absolute coolest thing in the world to take a flashlight to bed at night, only, we are constantly scrambling for batteries.
By the way, love your posts, Chup - - you crack me up.
These posts are so great. My boyfriend is a total gadget guy, and now I have something in mind to surprise him with before his next camping trip. Thanks Chup!
just bought six of these for the men in my life. thanks for a good idea. ccc
My husband saw your picture and told me, "I want that collection of flashlights." Kindred spirit?
A friend forwarded me a link to this post because she thinks Chup and my hubby are "soul-twins." I have to say that she might just have a point. I truly appreciate hubby's obsession, especially when we lose power in a hurricane, but I have to admit that my eyes have glazed over many times during conversations.
I seriously thought it was just my husband who had a crazy affinity for flashlights! His collection isn't as impressive as yours!
But his collection of knives...
Perfect! My husband is getting this for his birthday.
I google-imaged flashlights trying to find the smallest one in the world and this popped up.. http://gizmodo.com/277078/japanese-turd-flashlight-is-thankfully-not-a-medical-gadget
Gag. BUGS. I love your one-liners. Do you talk like this in persono? Keep it up!
For some reason I now have a song playing in my mind: "This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine!"
My dad would be in your club if you had one. Thanks for the tip! This flashlight will make a great Fathers' Day gift for him.
Thank you for posting this. I thought somehow, that my husband and his dad were a little strange when it comes to flashlights, but now I realize this is totally a "man" thing. And you gave me a great b-day gift idea for my father-in-law, seriously what do you get for the guy who has EVERYTHING and wants nothing, but LOVES gadgets? Apparently this teeny-tiny efficient flashlight. Chup, you are heaven-sent.
It's in-born.. you either have it or you don't. My grandsons were born with it. One year I needed to buy a gift for one of them and found this flashlight that had never been opened from the package. The light went on... so to speak... and wala! the perfect gift. It was def the best gift he got! We had to make the whole house dark so he could find everything for us with the flashlight.
I'm sending this to my Hoss.
He sells flashlights, you know.
You and Hoss could be friends...he's tall-you're tall, he's bald-you're bald...the flashlight thing--a match made in heaven.
So totally out there since I know this was mostly a review post...but where are your headlamps? You have a very impressive collection of flashlights and so I'm puzzled by the lack of the one kind of flashlight we have in the house: 4 headlamps.
Do you keep your flashlight on you at all times the same way my husband keeps his Gerber with him? If so, which one you keep on you?
Sarah
I have a bit of a flashlight problem too. I have a flashlight for each job that it is needed for.. car one, camping one etc.
What we have trouble with in our house, is that the flashlight fascination is genetic and my kids love them too.. but I hate buying batteries all the time as the kids will tend to leave them on. Problem solved with our rubber encased solar rechargeable flashlights. I don't recall the brand.. I got two of them in the package from Costco. They work great, are rugged and handy when things go bump in the night!
Thanks for the addressing this need and helping me realize that I am not alone!
Must be a man thing. When gift giving time comes I always know I am safe getting my guy yet another flashlight, and he'll be as happy as he was with his first.
Plus my son (now 18) asked for when when he was 4.
Dude--I could power a lot of remotes with all the batteries your flashlights are using.
Excellent blog entry Chup! I am also a flashlight connoisseur but didn't realize it until I felt my pulse begin to race (insert sweaty palms for imagery) as I continued to read about the Microstream - I guess I am hopelessly hooked. My family, clearly aware of my addiction well before my recent realization, purchased a very impressive flashlight for me for my 40th Birthday. It is a Stanley "3-in-1" hand torch... I just love to say torch! You can use each of the 3 torches (told you) independently or combined with the included adapter. Check out this link; http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/12/04/review-stanley-3-in-1-flashlight/. I was a bit skeptical because I have always been a fan of Maglite products for their sheer durability and resistance to moisture. Not to mention, they just look and feel cool. The Stanley light is mostly plastic so I approached with limited expectations. However, along with the light was also delivered a 1989 Chevrolet K5 blazer (pause for mid-life crisis comments) to be my project and trail truck for exploring the terrain around Arizona. This torch has been a lifesaver on multiple occasions and I am now a believer. Since it is light weight (plastic), I have found that you can easily slip it in your back pocket without the worry of losing your pants or using zip-ties to fashion a spiffy set of suspenders. Oh yeah, I like zip-ties as well. Excellent job on the blog... keep it up! I think I will be expecting a Microstream for Father's Day! Perhaps you will get a 3-in-1 for Father's Day this year. Congrats and Best Regards, Tim
Oooh, I'm female and I love flash lights. I used to love my maglights, but have moved on.
Love this one...need to have one...or 10.
My collection may or may not resemble yours.
But you won't be a true flashlight geek until you mod them out! Our friend is always looking for new ways to get more candlepower or whatever it is and he's got THE brightest lights I've ever seen. Don't settle for what you can buy--aim high and CREATE!
Should my masculinity be threatened by this post? Cause it totally isn't.... nope.
Thank you! I just ordered one for my husband for his bday and one for my brother in-law for his bday!
I have a son who saved his hard-earned money for a Surefire flashlight when he was 15--then four years later when he was packing for his mission, it was the first thing in the bag. I pointed out that it wasn't on the list and he said "I'm going with the prompting I'm getting to take it." How could I argue with inspiration?
Now I want nothing more than to start collecting flashlights! I had no idea what I was missing out on - my husband is going to be thrilled! Thanks for this post - it might be life-changing.
I bought my dad about 10 flash lights last Christmas and I'm 89% positive it was the best present I've ever given him.
Thank you for more geektastic Flashlight ammo for dad's Christmas Stocking. I can't wait to use it!
Not the dreaded wookalar!!!! I thought our family was the only one to worry about those...guess I'm glad to know you're keeping them away, too. Love the flashlight, will have to get one for my husband as a deployment gift.
Reading this long post about flashlights I was thinking how kind of boring this week was gonna be then I thought, hey! This is a great list of ideas of gifts to get my husband. So thanks afterall Chup! :)
Chup you are just plain awesome. We don't even have one single flashlight in the house, so I now know what to give my husband for father's day.
I think you and my husband might be related. He loves flashlights and has a few dozen. In fact in his father's will he gets all of dad's flashlights. Silly Boys.
Um...I think my husband has at least half of those along with a variety of headlamps....
Thanks for the hints. I never know what to gift my hubby. That's kinda sad, I know. But, he'll probably LOVE this!
What would The Chup have to say about high candlepower flashlights? Like the ones with 2 million candlepower? The Ethan wants to illuminate the night sky with one of those.
just purchased this for part of our anniversary present! thanks!
So, I bought this light for my husband for his birthday (after reading this post). It was love at first light. He is so excited to have a flashlight that fits into his pocket. He did modify it some by changing the position of the clip so he can clip it onto his hat. He is very pleased with the light, and I'm pleased that something good came out of my blog reading. =) BTW, I watched Stalking Santa for the first time the other day (while I was folding clothes), and my first thought was "this has got to be the stupidest movie I've ever seen". But, as I got more into it, I've decided it's one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. It wasn't until it was over that I realized the connection of several of the actors to CJane. Anyway, I'm done rambling now, but I wanted to tell you thanks for the review on the light. It is as cool as you say.
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