Army life lessons: Carry a flashlight

Washington Post columnist Tom Ricks has posted a list of Ten Life Lessons the Army Has Taught Me. Guess what's Lesson 1?

Yeah, the same kind of lesson I got when I worked as a security officer and I am sure its the same for LEO's as well, I would change the "knife" for a "multi-tool" such as one of the Leatherman's etc. Even today I try to carry most of the mentioned items......as well as a mobile phone......

I carry a Lowe Alpine compact camera case - inside is a P4 modded HDS EDC, a small SAK (including bottle opener & corkscrew!), an Attwood prybaby, Firesteel, Fisher Pen, Antiseptic wipe, plasters, Neurofen, £20 note, 3 123 cells and two 50p coins. A H3 glowring and photon keychain are attached to the zippers.

If I am at work it lives in my laptop bag and if I'm camping or walking it lives on my belt backed up by a more useful knife and a TiPD-S.

The light and the corkscrew have come in handy on numerous occasions, which thankfully is a sign that the biggest emergency I have had to face is opening a bottle of wine round the campfire! But............


btw......is Tom Ricks a Lt Col or just a Captain of the Obvious?

Great advice!!!

That's kind of funny. My supervisor once asked me to sign something and I told him I didn't have a pen (and certainly not a notebook). He said, "Aren't you Army officers always supposed to have a pen and notepad?" I never was a posterboy for the Army.

It was actually CPF that got me carrying a flashlight, not the Army. Once I realized that you could get something many, many times brighter than a Mini Mag in a smaller size, it made a lot more sense.

Paul_in_Maryland said:

All these items are small, cheap, and lifesavers when you have them and deal breakers when you don't.​

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Cheap until you find CPF and then end up spending $100+, $200+, etc. on something you thought would never in a million years cost more than $20.

I should be carrying each of these items all the time, in addition to band-aids and antiseptic. I've been cutting my hand quite a bit recently, the other day I took out a good chunk of skin next to my thumbnail. I got the flashlight part down (Pila GL3).

I don't need to join the army to know that i need to have a flashlight on me at all times

My list is Light, knife, lighter and cell phone. I don't smoke but carry a lighter.. I'm not sure why but I'm sure one day I'll need to be able to make fire lol... and it sets me apart from the animals

How true! I remember being promoted to Corporal and getting the position of fire team leader. My squadleader shoved a pen/notepad in my pocket and told me to get a watch and a haircut. I already had a flashlight tho.

WTH said:

Cheap until you find CPF and then end up spending $100+, $200+, etc. on something you thought would never in a million years cost more than $20.

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I would argue that life is worth more than '$200+'.

When I was in the army, we were specifically told NOT to use flashlights in the field, ever. (On guard duty we were issued MagChargers, though, and they were fun to play with.)

Only remaining thing to add is never pass up a chance to take a combat nap. 10 minutes can make all the difference !

And deny the enemy his nap whenever possible. Hammer 'em hard and constantly.

i like # 5

Army coping skills: never stand when you can sit, never sit when you can recline, sleep every chance you get and stay as far as you can from the flagpole (Headquarters).

Since I'm a minimalist, I just use my cell phone for the pen, paper, watch, and flashlight (the screen is really bright!). Sometimes I carry a knife but I usually forget.

I carry a leatherman Blast, a Surefire L7, a mini mag LED 2AA (not the greatest), a pen, a pencil, a highlighter, a sharpie, and a notepad. Sounds like I cover that criteria pretty well.

Got everything covered, except my cellphone functions as watch, pen&notepad. The fenix P3D is a tad big though, so maybe I won't carry it.

Monocrom said:

LOL .... Cheap flashlights? Where?!
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They do exist, just not around here