Just got back from a trip to Italy
Story goes like this:
After 2 plane rides, 2 cab rides and about 24 hours of travel altogether, we arrive at our destination.
Look at the time, and we have dinner in 2 1/2 hours. -- Planned to catch the bus that would take us close, but ended up missing it due to an old schedule being posted up....
We had no choice but to walk. -- So walk we did.
A "19 minute walk" according to google maps, turned into a 1 hour event of climbing down the side of a mountain. (I guess google maps doesn't account for elevation).
Nothing but old steps descending into the abyss. The more we walked the deeper in to the forest we got, soon the canopy completely covered overhead, shortly after this the sun seemed to drop right out of the sky and suddenly it was night. With every step it became harder and harder to see. We heard branches and twigs snapping all around us, but couldn't see a thing.
Finally I remembered I had my HDS Rotary on me, I pulled it out and BAM, light filled the never ending staircase and we were "saved".
After over an hour we finally made it down the mountain side, only to see the next bus we needed to catch close its doors and leave the station.
Dinner was in 50 minutes at this point and we were determined to make it... or die trying -- So we went ahead and walked about 45 minutes to the restaurant.
After all of this, I ordered a pasta dish, received about 25 strands of pasta and 5 small shrimp and was charged $40.
I left more hungry than I was when I sat down at the table.
Looked at my watch, we covered about 9 miles in that time. Couldn't believe that was how my "vacation" started.
Sadly, the overpriced food ... skimpy portions and walking until my feet were throbbing wasn't isolated to this day, and became the norm for the following 2 weeks I spent there. Needless to say, I don't think myself or my HDS will be stepping foot back in Italy for a very very long time. (If ever!)
I will say however, It really was clutch that I had that HDS on my person that evening. If not for the HDS the chance of injury to myself or significant other was quite high. It was pitch dark, in an unfamiliar area, climbing down the side of a mountain on ancient stairs that were in disrepair. -- This is why I always have a solid, dependable light on me... Just in case.
The cool part was, I never even turned the rotary to full blast. 1) I didn't know how long I needed light for, because I didn't know how long this path was going to take. 2) I felt as though it really wasn't necessary, in the pitch dark, the rotary even at 75% was plenty to see what was needed. --- After this, I'm very happy I went with a rotary, the output was the only reason why I hadn't bought an HDS in years past. But in all honesty, for normal EDC tasks the HDS is far more than sufficient and having the very low lows is amazing for sneaking around the house or campsight at night or early morning without waking anybody up!