*laughs manically while rubbing hands*

My family has been sending some Christmas gift ideas and my brother asked for a headlamp for him, plus a handheld flashlight for my nephew.  Uncle EBuff gets to do some flashlight shopping!!!  

Quote from: EBuff75 on November 23, 2025, 12:36:48 AM*laughs manically while rubbing hands*

My family has been sending some Christmas gift ideas and my brother asked for a headlamp for him, plus a handheld flashlight for my nephew.  Uncle EBuff gets to do some flashlight shopping!!! 

I love it when you're given not only a specific request for a giftee, but it's also something that's right up your alley.  So liberating to know what to shop for, that the shopping will actually be fun and that you're not getting the person some lame gift just for the sake of giving a gift.  

It almost as much a holiday present to you as it is for the recipient.

Quote from: majorhavoc on November 23, 2025, 07:23:38 AM

Quote from: EBuff75 on November 23, 2025, 12:36:48 AM*laughs manically while rubbing hands*

My family has been sending some Christmas gift ideas and my brother asked for a headlamp for him, plus a handheld flashlight for my nephew.  Uncle EBuff gets to do some flashlight shopping!!! 

I love it when you're given not only a specific request for a giftee, but it's also something that's right up your alley.  So liberating to know what to shop for, that the shopping will actually be fun and that you're not getting the person some lame gift just for the sake of giving a gift. 

It almost as much a holiday present to you as it is for the recipient.

Yep!  Even my mother jokingly replied that this sounds like it's right up my alley and that they'll leave those gift purchases to me!

Picked up a new-to-me flashlight today.  Why "new-to-me"?  Well, it's older than I am!  It's a Ray-O-Vac Sportsman, 2 D-cell flashlight.  No specific date, but likely sometime in the mid-50s to early 60s from what I can find online.  Only thing missing is the loop on the bottom for hanging / lanyard (which I could probably replace with a simple split-ring if I wanted). 

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The bulb was bad, but I had a few of those around, so that was a quick replacement.  I did use a wool wheel on a rotary tool to polish up the contact surfaces on the head and copper switch plate a bit to make sure that I had a good connection.  Funny part is that I put in some rechargeable D-cells that are worth more than the flashlight! 

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Not very bright, but it works!  The switch has three positions:  off, momentary (you can see the push button right in front of the switch, to use for things like Morse code), and on.  Switch clicks into each of them with a soft click and the reflector is in pretty good shape.  I need to clean the glass (actual glass, with lots of little chips around the edges), but overall the the light is in very nice shape. 

Figured it was time for a few vintage lights to join my collection!

Quote from: EBuff75 on May 27, 2026, 07:01:46 PMPicked up a new-to-me flashlight today.  Why "new-to-me"?  Well, it's older than I am!  It's a Ray-O-Vac Sportsman, 2 D-cell flashlight.  No specific date, but likely sometime in the mid-50s to early 60s from what I can find online.  Only thing missing is the loop on the bottom for hanging / lanyard (which I could probably replace with a simple split-ring if I wanted). 

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The bulb was bad, but I had a few of those around, so that was a quick replacement.  I did use a wool wheel on a rotary tool to polish up the contact surfaces on the head and copper switch plate a bit to make sure that I had a good connection.  Funny part is that I put in some rechargeable D-cells that are worth more than the flashlight! 

You cannot view this attachment.

Not very bright, but it works!  The switch has three positions:  off, momentary (you can see the push button right in front of the switch, to use for things like Morse code), and on.  Switch clicks into each of them with a soft click and the reflector is in pretty good shape.  I need to clean the glass (actual glass, with lots of little chips around the edges), but overall the the light is in very nice shape. 

Figured it was time for a few vintage lights to join my collection!

I used to refurbish old hand tools - hand planes, chisels, crosscut and rip saws, spoke shaves, etc.  I even crafted a few complete carpenter's tool kits in wooden cases I made myself - complete with dovetail joinery.  I always thought that if I made a business out of doing that (impossible - you can't possibly charge enough to justify the time/effort) that a restored vintage all-metal D-cell flashlight would be the perfect compliment.  You did a beautiful job restoring yours to working condition.   

It was already in pretty good condition when I got it, so there wasn't much needed other than replacing the bulb.  I probably spent a grand total of about 5mins polishing the contacts at the head, replacing the bulb, and cleaning the glass.  

The tail spring / tailcap could use some attention.  There's a bit of surface rust there that can cause a connection issue sometimes.  Fortunately, the old standby "fix" works just fine - give it a whack!  The tail of the light flares out so that the bottom of the spring drops into that flared area to retain it.  I can get it out, but it'll take some time to pry it loose.  Then I can clean out the rust and polish up the contacts to hopefully make it a bit more reliable.  

And just because I can, here is a beamshot onto my garage door from about 75-80ft.  Not very bright, but it's a surprisingly tight beam.  About like what you'd get from a Maglite when it's fully focused.  
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I also compared it to a modern Dorcy 2D light.  No significant difference in output between the two (which makes sense - same batteries and essentially the same bulb).  The Dorcy has a slightly wider beam, that's it.

A few years ago, Rayovac did a collaboration with that "Stranger Things" show and released a limited edition D Cell battery light that looked a lot like that Sportsman light.

They just modernized it a little bit by making it an LED light instead of the old style bulbs.

Just for funzies, here are my next oldest flashlights.  Both of these I've had since new and they date back to sometime in the mid-80s.  The red one needs a new bulb, which is why it's not on.  I received it as part of the 1984 Christmas pageant at our church (it had a cardboard star taped onto it for the pageant).  The year and my name are very faintly written on the side.

The Rayovac Workhorse was a Christmas gift and it still works great!  Just slide the button forward and it turns right on.  Both of them use a very simple sliding switch that presses a piece of spring steel against the bulb to turn it on.  That's about as fail-safe as it gets!

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I don't have a picture of it, but the next oldest would be a 3D Maglite that's from the early 1990s.  Not much to see with that one though, as it looks just like every other Maglite!

Quote from: EBuff75 on May 27, 2026, 07:01:46 PMNot very bright, but it works! 

People's eyes were much better for seeing in the dark back then. Their retina's and night vision wasn't burned out with CRT and computer monitors, and those lifted redneck trucks with the 10,000 lumen headlights driving around with their brights on.

Quote from: 12_Gauge_Chimp on May 27, 2026, 10:27:49 PMA few years ago, Rayovac did a collaboration with that "Stranger Things" show and released a limited edition D Cell battery light that looked a lot like that Sportsman light.

They just modernized it a little bit by making it an LED light instead of the old style bulbs. 

When I was doing some poking around online, looking up information on this flashlight, I came across an interesting video where a guy modernized a couple of older flashlights.  The ask for how they were to be modernized was very specific (exact lumens, exact color temperature, and requirement for high CRI LEDs) and makes me think that they were for a movie / TV show, where they needed the lights to show up when they were filming.  He said that custom requests like this ran about $450 per light, but that was also 7 years ago, so I imagine that it would be quite a bit more now.

Given how long Stranger Things ran, who knows.  Maybe that's what these were for! 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyK-wJKttOQ

That could be.

The ones I mentioned were mass produced by Rayovac and definitely not 450 bucks. Matter of fact, the Walmart I found the flashlights in had them on clearance for like 5 bucks.

Back in the day, I remember reading about the X-Files using (for the time) very high-end flashlights so that they would show up during filming.  This included big floodlights (Maxabeam), dive lights (Underwater Kinetics), and both Streamlight and SureFire xenon flashlights.  In the interview, I remember one of them commenting about how heavy some of the lights were for their size. 

Something that drives me nuts in older movies / shows is when a character is using a flashlight and the beam is obviously coming from off camera.  When they do that, it never truly follows the character's movements. An example of this is in the classic Don Knotts film, 'The Ghost and Mr. Chicken', but I've also seen it in newer films like 'S.W.A.T', where an extra flashlight beam shows up in the subway scene, then merges with the light from the real flashlight!  Oops!

However, if you've got a bright enough flashlight, you can actually use it on-camera.  When the video mentioned a requirement for a high-CRI LED, that immediately made me think that it was being used on-camera and they wanted a light that would show colors as accurately as possible (especially if it's supposed to mimic incandescent, which is high-CRI by it's nature).

Quote from: EBuff75 on May 28, 2026, 12:42:06 PMSomething that drives me nuts in older movies / shows is when a character is using a flashlight and the beam is obviously coming from off camera.

What bothers me, even in the XFILES, but mostly other crime scene shows, is when the 'investigators' get to a crime scene and use their flashlights to illuminate the room, but its in a room full of lamps and overheads; but who can be bothered when you have a handheld flashlight. I usually end up yelling, "Just turn the lights on people!"

I remember in the XFILES they had these 'flood's with a giant battery and a coiled cord going from the battery box to the flood light. Also they would SFX 'smoke' in the area so you could see the beam of light.


Found us another logo for UFoZS.

Quote from: MacWa77ace on May 28, 2026, 01:15:14 PM

Quote from: EBuff75 on May 28, 2026, 12:42:06 PMSomething that drives me nuts in older movies / shows is when a character is using a flashlight and the beam is obviously coming from off camera.

What bothers me, even in the XFILES, but mostly other crime scene shows, is when the 'investigators' get to a crime scene and use their flashlights to illuminate the room, but its in a room full of lamps and overheads; but who can be bothered when you have a handheld flashlight. I usually end up yelling, "Just turn the lights on people!"

CSI was notorious for that and it really bothered me too!  Using a light to focus you sight (following the beam with your eyes to stay focused on the area where the light is pointed) is one thing, but relying on them for the entirety of your scene light is dumb!

I got a gift from Olight.  I guess it was a prize from their recent contest for the 250th, but I don't remember entering.  Anyway, it's a nice pen with a light at the tip, red and white lights on the clip (with adjustable brightness), and a green laser (with two brightness/power levels) on the top.

https://www.olight.com/store/open-3-multifunctional-pen-light

$80 pen for free, without even asking?  Yeah, I'll take that!

Sweet looking pen!  You were due for a change in luck. 

Quote from: NT2C on Yesterday at 07:54:24 AMI got a gift from Olight.  I guess it was a prize from their recent contest for the 250th, but I don't remember entering.  Anyway, it's a nice pen with a light at the tip, red and white lights on the clip (with adjustable brightness), and a green laser (with two brightness/power levels) on the top.

https://www.olight.com/store/open-3-multifunctional-pen-light

$80 pen for free, without even asking?  Yeah, I'll take that!

Beats the free pen that I received last week in a Doctors Without Borders charity appeal.  It's a combo pen, screwdriver, and light and essentially fails at all of them...     This is at least the 2nd of these that I've gotten from them. 

Quote from: EBuff75 on Yesterday at 10:42:31 AM

Quote from: NT2C on Yesterday at 07:54:24 AMI got a gift from Olight.  I guess it was a prize from their recent contest for the 250th, but I don't remember entering.  Anyway, it's a nice pen with a light at the tip, red and white lights on the clip (with adjustable brightness), and a green laser (with two brightness/power levels) on the top.

https://www.olight.com/store/open-3-multifunctional-pen-light

$80 pen for free, without even asking?  Yeah, I'll take that!

Beats the free pen that I received last week in a Doctors Without Borders charity appeal.  It's a combo pen, screwdriver, and light and essentially fails at all of them...    This is at least the 2nd of these that I've gotten from them.

Hey, be good to them.  My orthopedic surgeon volunteers with them, 6 months of the year.

Quote from: NT2C on Yesterday at 12:12:55 PM

Quote from: EBuff75 on Yesterday at 10:42:31 AM

Quote from: NT2C on Yesterday at 07:54:24 AMI got a gift from Olight.  I guess it was a prize from their recent contest for the 250th, but I don't remember entering.  Anyway, it's a nice pen with a light at the tip, red and white lights on the clip (with adjustable brightness), and a green laser (with two brightness/power levels) on the top.

https://www.olight.com/store/open-3-multifunctional-pen-light

$80 pen for free, without even asking?  Yeah, I'll take that!

Beats the free pen that I received last week in a Doctors Without Borders charity appeal.  It's a combo pen, screwdriver, and light and essentially fails at all of them...    This is at least the 2nd of these that I've gotten from them.

Hey, be good to them.  My orthopedic surgeon volunteers with them, 6 months of the year.

I do send them some money from time to time, which is why I keep getting appeals for more!  

Quote from: EBuff75 on Yesterday at 10:42:31 AM

Quote from: NT2C on Yesterday at 07:54:24 AMI got a gift from Olight.  I guess it was a prize from their recent contest for the 250th, but I don't remember entering.  Anyway, it's a nice pen with a light at the tip, red and white lights on the clip (with adjustable brightness), and a green laser (with two brightness/power levels) on the top.

https://www.olight.com/store/open-3-multifunctional-pen-light

$80 pen for free, without even asking?  Yeah, I'll take that!

Beats the free pen that I received last week in a Doctors Without Borders charity appeal.  It's a combo pen, screwdriver, and light and essentially fails at all of them...    This is at least the 2nd of these that I've gotten from them.

I got one of those tactical/survival multitool pens as a gift. I rank them only slightly higher than those steel survival cards. You know the ones - one edge is a saw that doesn't actually saw, another edge is supposed to be a knife that doesn't cut anything except maybe yourself, a "screwdriver" in one corner, a hexagonal cutout that hopefully fits some random nut or bolt that for some reason your very life depends on. And my personal favorite: another cutout vaguely in the shape of a compass rose that indicates direction except nobody-knows-how-it's-supposed-to-work-because-lets-be-honest-it-doesn't-actually-do-anything.

The bottle opener probably works, I'll give it that. Because cracking open that beer is the one thing that'll ensure your survival in an emergency situation.