What did you use your flashlight for today?

[scottyhazzard]

Walking back from a get together with my wife and daughter and four other friends and their children at 10pm down our greenbelt to our houses when I heard something coming from the street. It was a doberman pincer charging us from about 50 yards away growling and ears back no leash and its owners just idly watching. I stepped between it's charge and my family and friends and hit it with my Jetbeam RRT01 and told everyone to get back and opened up my Benchmade Griptilian. It barked twice and I got a little lower to brace for impact and tried to think of how I should go for its throat, sacrifice my left arm and go for its jugular while it chewed my arm? Either way I new I was going to get hurt bad but that dog wasn't going to get past me to my family alive. It paused and I shouted as loud and authoritatively as possibly,"No, bad dog, go home!" It tried to look around the light but I think it could not see me or the rest of our families behind me. I shouted again and it paced side to side about 7 or 8 feet away, I shouted again and it trotted back to its owners and they walked back to their house without saying a word. All seven of us were silent until my buddy Marcello said, "That was impressive."
Thank you Jetbeam.

[Kevinkw1]

Walking back from a get together with my wife and daughter and four other friends and their children at 10pm down our greenbelt to our houses when I heard something coming from the street. It was a doberman pincer charging us from about 50 yards away growling and ears back no leash and its owners just idly watching. I stepped between it's charge and my family and friends and hit it with my Jetbeam RRT01 and told everyone to get back and opened up my Benchmade Griptilian. It barked twice and I got a little lower to brace for impact and tried to think of how I should go for its throat, sacrifice my left arm and go for its jugular while it chewed my arm? Either way I new I was going to get hurt bad but that dog wasn't going to get past me to my family alive. It paused and I shouted as loud and authoritatively as possibly,"No, bad dog, go home!" It tried to look around the light but I think it could not see me or the rest of our families behind me. I shouted again and it paced side to side about 7 or 8 feet away, I shouted again and it trotted back to its owners and they walked back to their house without saying a word. All seven of us were silent until my buddy Marcello said, "That was impressive."
Thank you Jetbeam.

Geez! Good going! I have the same jetbeam, great to hear its now battle proven! Whenever I accidentally shine my light at my dogs, they act like its ok, but they weren't coming to bit me! Maybe they are as dazzled as humans?

[HotWire]

I used my SF Minimus to help me install a new LED in the car's radio. Now I can read the display! Yay!

[scottyhazzard]

Geez! Good going! I have the same jetbeam, great to hear its now battle proven! Whenever I accidentally shine my light at my dogs, they act like its ok, but they weren't coming to bit me! Maybe they are as dazzled as humans?

I dunno I guess that it couldn't see well enough to see how many we were or how much of a threat we were so it didn't commit to the attack. Thank goodness 'cause that would have really hurt. Nice too that the dogs nails were long enough to make a clack- clack sound to alert me it was coming. Sooo lucky.

[Richub]

Crazy owner of that dog should have reacted... Some people shouldn't be able to get a dog at all just for the security of everybody around them.

Nice to hear you weren't hurt.

[Nyctophiliac]

Wow - scottyhazzard - that is intense. Well done for quick thinking and protecting your family and friends. None of us know how we will react in a life threatening situation, wether we're freeze like a rabbit or fly at the attacker like a bear - you're somewhere in the middle - cool and calm assessing of the situation and appropriate action with the tools you have and rely on. I'm sure if the dog had continued it's attack you would have stood your ground and done your best. Actually, by then, I'm sure sone of your friends would have waded in to help and to save you and your arm!

I cannot believe how some dangerous dog owners just have little or no control over their pets - it really should be up there with grievous bodily harm or attempted murder in some cases - hefty jail terms and lifetime pet ownership bans.

Well done sir, you are a protector and a survivor.

[Monocrom]

Walking back from a get together with my wife and daughter and four other friends and their children at 10pm down our greenbelt to our houses when I heard something coming from the street. It was a doberman pincer charging us from about 50 yards away growling and ears back no leash and its owners just idly watching. I stepped between it's charge and my family and friends and hit it with my Jetbeam RRT01 and told everyone to get back and opened up my Benchmade Griptilian. It barked twice and I got a little lower to brace for impact and tried to think of how I should go for its throat, sacrifice my left arm and go for its jugular while it chewed my arm? Either way I new I was going to get hurt bad but that dog wasn't going to get past me to my family alive. It paused and I shouted as loud and authoritatively as possibly,"No, bad dog, go home!" It tried to look around the light but I think it could not see me or the rest of our families behind me. I shouted again and it paced side to side about 7 or 8 feet away, I shouted again and it trotted back to its owners and they walked back to their house without saying a word. All seven of us were silent until my buddy Marcello said, "That was impressive."
Thank you Jetbeam.

Glad to hear that you and your family are O.K.

Hope you called the cops on those idiot owners. Or, at the very least, Animal Control.

Owner who allows his dog to basically charge at a group of neighbors will allow that BS to happen again. Next time, outcome might not be so good. Especially if it happens to a child in the neighborhood. Those owners are responsible for their dog. They did nothing while it charged at you and your family, that's reckless negligence on the part of the owners.

[scottyhazzard]

Thanks guys. As for the owners of the dogs we were all shocked. They could all see we had children and not a peep from them. Animal control wont come out unless they know the owners are home during business hours. They said all they can do is knock on the door in this situation. "Please contact us again if you feel you need our services" -What services? Lucky we are all Ok.

[ericjohn]

I use mine to find the cats toys every night and to get around the house or the take some trash out before I go to bed. This is a every night thing with the cat or she cries all night. I use my house lights very little at night and just use my flashlight most of the time and for those middle of the night bathroom visits, if you were to look at my windows at night it probably looks like a burglar casing the place. I like to watch TV in the dark so its easier to just use my flashlight than to turn the lights on when I get up. And I am using it right now to post this before I go to bed all the cat toys are accounted for.

when i am at my house, i too use a flashlight to take out the garbage. i have to walk a gravel road to the main highway to place the trash down. it's fun to shine it at road signs. i usually use one of my bright star worksafe lights. hopefully i can get some lantern batteries for my G-Tech Lanterns.

[Monocrom]

Thanks guys. As for the owners of the dogs we were all shocked. They could all see we had children and not a peep from them. Animal control wont come out unless they know the owners are home during business hours. They said all they can do is knock on the door in this situation. "Please contact us again if you feel you need our services" -What services? Lucky we are all Ok.

Not sure what the laws are in Northern California regarding pepper-spray, but if you can legally obtain some, it would be far more effective against a charging dog than light and a good folder. I know that REI sells a large cannister formulated to fight off bears. A bit expensive. But should prove effective against the biggest of dogs.

EDIT:

Another useful tactic is to put up fliers all over the neighborhood with the words "Warning: Dangerous Dog in the Area." Followed by a brief account of what took place to you and your family . . . Along with the names and address of the owners of that dog. Animal Control doesn't want to do anything about it until someone is viciously mauled by the animal, doesn't mean those idiot owners get to hide and pretend nothing took place. What are they going to do? Complain about the fact that you refuse to ignore that their dog tried to attack your family. Honestly, if I lived in a neighborhood with those types of irresponsible dog owners, I'd genuinely appreciate the fact that a neighbor who nearly had a fatal encounter decided to warn everyone else around them.

[crizyal]

Checked for wood tics.

[Ishango]

@scottyhazzard: Wow, impressive story. Glad you stepped up for your loved ones!

I was on holiday last week. We were in a holiday village park in a woody area. The park was dimly lit and in some places were I took the dog out it was unlit and very dark. I used my Sunwayman V10R, Fenix LD10 & LD01 and ZL SC30w the whole week for walking the dog after dark. One one occassion we were out and my Sunwayman V10R stopped working (it lit up flickering when keeping the switch pressed, but releasing it made the light turn off instantly again). Luckily I had my backup lights with me. Taking the battery out for a minute solved the issue, but it was not handy fumbling in the dark. Without backup lights it would have been a rather unpleasant walk back to the cottage.

I called my Sunwayman supplier the day after and they immediately sent out for a replacement which I received in the mail the day I got back. Great service, too bad this happened to such a great light.

[a4d]

Well wonderful rainy day here in NJ and I work on emergency back up power systems and i've got one running right now and i use my light all the time in the work I do. When they are outside I use it to poke my head inside with it and check for leaks or anything else that could be wrong. Sometimes when the unit is inside the building lighting is very uneffective so I use my light. I've been using my surefire G2L latley. Nice little light to do what i need it for. Water tight is very important because 24 hr call and were an emergency service so no matter what the weather im out there. Thanks to my surefire and fenix for holding up to the abuse I put them through.

[Ragnar66]

Lets see, shots fired call so lit up a mile of beach with the tm11, located a bunch of shells.
Used a a red filter on the olight m20 for a safe night time approach on a group
Used my tcr1 for a bunch of traffic stops.
Nice to have a reason to use my lights.....

[M@elstrom]

Walking back from a get together with my wife and daughter and four other friends and their children at 10pm down our greenbelt to our houses when I heard something coming from the street. It was a doberman pincer charging us from about 50 yards away growling and ears back

[snip]

It paused and I shouted as loud and authoritatively as possibly,"No, bad dog, go home!" It tried to look around the light but I think it could not see me or the rest of our families behind me. I shouted again and it paced side to side about 7 or 8 feet away, I shouted again and it trotted back to its owners and they walked back to their house without saying a word. All seven of us were silent until my buddy Marcello said, "That was impressive."
Thank you Jetbeam.

Thank you indeed! good work scotty! I chanced upon a aggressive roaming dog recently at work and it certainly gets your adrenaline flowing doesn't it?

[frigiliana]

Repaired a bath shower mixer tap , needed to see inside where i found a broken part preventing the lever moving would have struggled without it
Sunwayman M10A XML-T6

[GForGeep]

I work at 4am everyday and I use my flashlight as I leave the house to look for spiderwebs on my way to the car because I hate running into spiderwebs with my face...

[Slazmo]

I use my flashlight as I leave the house to look for spiderwebs on my way to the car because I hate running into spiderwebs with my face...

Everyone hates those high altitude spider webs, especially the ones here in Australia with the Night Orb web spider!!! The web is strong enough to stop you in your tracks, the spider is ugly enough for you to writhe in disgust and the bite is painful enough for you to remember to take your torch next time!!!

[JemR]

Another useful tactic is to put up fliers all over the neighborhood with the words "Warning: Dangerous Dog in the Area." Followed by a brief account of what took place to you and your family . . . Along with the names and address of the owners of that dog. Animal Control doesn't want to do anything about it until someone is viciously mauled by the animal, doesn't mean those idiot owners get to hide and pretend nothing took place. What are they going to do? Complain about the fact that you refuse to ignore that their dog tried to attack your family. Honestly, if I lived in a neighborhood with those types of irresponsible dog owners, I'd genuinely appreciate the fact that a neighbor who nearly had a fatal encounter decided to warn everyone else around them.

I second Monocroms' suggestion, scottyhazzard. If, as it does appear, these people are still taking no responsibility for their animal after this incident. Have they come to your house to apologize? Consider doing as described. Inform your neighbourhood and SHAME the owners. Shame the owners, why not! It is wholly their fault not the dogs. Training and a leash. Just as Monocrom says, in his previous post, almost certainly not the first time it would have run at someone and probably not the last.

May I also strongly commend you on your actions!.

[GForGeep]

Everyone hates those high altitude spider webs, especially the ones here in Australia with the Night Orb web spider!!! The web is strong enough to stop you in your tracks, the spider is ugly enough for you to writhe in disgust and the bite is painful enough for you to remember to take your torch next time!!!

That alone makes me think twice about wanting to visit Australia...

[Samy]

That alone makes me think twice about wanting to visit Australia...

Its a great place to live for flashaholics! So much excitement! You need a flashlight to reduce the risk of death from wildlife! The orb spiders are pretty big but they make big massive webs so you can spot them easily, and they aren't poisonous...much. I am out in my backyard each night walking and feeding the dogs, general potting around the house etc and the biggest threat is the eastern brown snakes or the red bellied black snakes or the taipan snakes or the trapdoor spiders or the funnel web spiders or... Both my dogs were bit by snakes last year, one died and the other survived after being rushed to the vet for antivenine. You need a backup light just for the backyard

Any how's, last night I had to deliver a package when I turned up the gate was locked and the occupants were on their back deck with music playing. Beeping the car horn, flashing the car lights or calling the customers phone didn't get their attention. So I used my SC600 to shine over the roof of the house and shine/flash on the trees in their backyard. That managed to get their attention.

Cheers

[biglights]

Any how's, last night I had to deliver a package when I turned up the gate was locked and the occupants were on their back deck with music playing. Beeping the car horn, flashing the car lights or calling the customers phone didn't get their attention. So I used my SC600 to shine over the roof of the house and shine/flash on the trees in their backyard. That managed to get their attention.

Awesome!!!! I love my SC600, its a bad little light.

[HaileStorm]

Used my light to look for my lost card. All 1000 lumens of it. And... I didn' find it despite having such a bright light had to call the bank.

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[LightWalker]

Its a great place to live for flashaholics! So much excitement! You need a flashlight to reduce the risk of death from wildlife! The orb spiders are pretty big but they make big massive webs so you can spot them easily, and they aren't poisonous...much. I am out in my backyard each night walking and feeding the dogs, general potting around the house etc and the biggest threat is the eastern brown snakes or the red bellied black snakes or the taipan snakes or the trapdoor spiders or the funnel web spiders or... Both my dogs were bit by snakes last year, one died and the other survived after being rushed to the vet for antivenine. You need a backup light just for the backyard

I would be running me some turbo mode.

[Kitchen Panda]

Used the HP11 headlamp for dusting the kitchen cabinets (lots of light helps, I find), then used it for barbequing burgers for the family, then today used the headlamp for *cleaning* the gas barbeque. I miss the old charcoal briquette days; much easier to clean up, gas BBQs are full of nasty sharp edges and folds in the sheet metal designed to hold grease and bite fingers, as well as millions of bolt heads that make it difficult to wipe down. Oh well, lots of light (and about a dozen paper towels) helps; ironically, the "grease trap" had only a single droplet of congealed grease. Got so much use of the HP11 the last two days I had to recharge the batteries.

Bill

[The Engineer]

I used my Eagletac P20C2 MKII XM-L to search my dad´s escaped fire salamander in the basement
My Dad used my Eagletac D25C2 Clicky

[HardmixS]

I used my new XT11 on my first snipe hunt!

[Richub]

It's summertime here, which means there is daylight from 5 am until well after 10 pm. So I hardly use my flashlights at all these days...
Apart from the odd search in a dark spot/location using my Fenix E05, most of my lights are on a 'summer holiday' now.

[Monocrom]

Summer here as well. Though thankfully darkness comes just past 8pm. So it's not too bad.

[HaileStorm]

Just used my AA's to look for my son's teddy bear in the living room, haha!


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