One time I wish I had my flashlight.

I was a senior in high school when this happened to me:

~January/February 2006

I would always sleep with my Mini Maglite in my pants pocket, and this night was no different. In Louisiana, the late winter is almost, always very stormy. We get severe thunderstorms and sometimes even tornadoes very frequently around this time of the year. this night was one of those stormy nights.

I lived about 2.5-3 miles (as the crow flies) south of the BNSF Sunset Route (also a route for many freight trains), and a north wind had been blowing. There was also a severe thunderstorm going on in the night, which knocked off the electricity. I was sleeping on the living room sofa as I had usually done every other night.

In the course of my sleep; my Mini Maglite had fallen out of my pants pocket and deep into the sofa. I had woke up in the middle of the night to the crash of thunder and realized the electricity was off. I reached in my pocket for my flashlight but it wasn't there. At the same time a high speed freight train was passing through my town (I didn't realize it was a train at the time).. The north wind was still blowing carrying noise of the train further to where I lived. Usually in that part of Raceland you have to be outside to hear the train passing through. BUT, with the north wind blowing, the sound was much louder. I did not think of all this right away,and one always has 20/20 vision in retrospect.

I panicked, as I had heard many people describe the sound of a tornado similar to a freight train, the electricity was off and there was a bad storm going on. I put this all together, and I seriously thought a tornado was headed straight for me. I fumbled around in the dark trying to get to my parents' bedroom and warn them when:
I heard the horn of the train.

I initially thought it was warning sirens; but then thought to myself "...wait a minute Lafourche Parish does not have warning sirens, right?" I realized it was a train and not a tornado, but was still shook up and distraught because at the time I was a severely backslidden Christian; I was wondering what would happen if it was time for me to meet my Maker.

At daybreak the electricity was back on, and I reached deep into the sofa and found my trusty Mini Maglite. All was well, sort of.

I enjoy telling this story, and I wonder if anyone has similar stories they would like to share about times they wish they had a flashlight.

Thanks for sharing the story eric, nice read, though I certainly wouldn't want a mini mag in that situation lol

Thanks for sharing that story, Eric. I would've been shaken up also had I been in that situation.

Now you need to upgrade that flashlight as well as a belt holster so it won't go missing next time!

Well my wife bought me a Mini Maglite LED and it is now my EDC. Sorry but Mini Maglite is all I can afford right now. I have a Streamlight Scorpion, but it needs a new bulb and new batteries.

I was wondering if anyone else had a similar story.

ericjohn said:

Well my wife bought me a Mini Maglite LED and it is now my EDC. Sorry but Mini Maglite is all I can afford right now. I have a Streamlight Scorpion, but it needs a new bulb and new batteries.

I was wondering if anyone else had a similar story.

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Doubt it, that's quite a unique story.

I mean if anyone had a story when disaster struck and he/she didn't have a flashlight.

ericjohn said:

I mean if anyone had a story when disaster struck and he/she didn't have a flashlight.

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Oh well in that case then yes I'm sure some will be along to share similar stories in that regard yeah.

I have told this story in part on this forum somewhere else but this is the perfect place for me to mention it again.

Several years back I started my day (about 2007 or 8) heading to work without any flashlights. I was just lazy and said to myself that I would not need one today. The day proceeded without incident. After work at about 10 PM I headed straight to the grocery store to pick up some ice cream. I had just got my ice cream and milk and had taken it to the counter to be checked out when the lights went out in the store. It was an unreal scene! It was totally dark like being in a cave. No emergency lights came on- nothing! I looked to my right where the large windows were located to see if I could see anything outside but to no avail, no light, nothing. I thought I would be able to see something like the Taco Bell or the streetlights but the power was off everywhere and the moonless sky was cloudy. I found myself paralyzed not being able to move due to the lack of light. I though to myself what do I do now? The cashier was the one to save the day not me. She had a cheap plastic incan light that was all of $3. She shined the light and then we all could see again. It turns out that the power had gone off and on several times that night thus why she had the light.

This was a definitive moment for me. I realized that I needed to have a light and being prepared was essential.

I work in a grocery store too, but I always have a flashlight in my pocket. The power has gone out twice in there, but too bad they have an emergency generator. Otherwise I could show off my flashlight to everyone else who was in the dark.

ericjohn said:

I work in a grocery store too, but I always have a flashlight in my pocket. The power has gone out twice in there, but too bad they have an emergency generator. Otherwise I could show off my flashlight to everyone else who was in the dark.

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I know. One would think they would have a generator or at least emergency lights. It was a Foodlion if that means anything.

I work with food and the power has gone gone out many times through the years. Dealing with hot equipment & food, cash drawers, staff, customers in the dark is not fun. This is why i now EDC a small superbright light and a spare in the car as well...

cheers

If you don't have a Nite-Ize or Kroll switch for your Mini Maglite, get one; flicking it on without having to fiddle with the head is much nicer.

I love the thread's title! It also reminds me of "this one time, at band camp..."

Can't remember anything disastrous that happened when I could not FIND any of my lights and was on the verge of a heart attack, but I have a few that have to do with a dead light:

I used to go camping with a childhood friend near his dad's house. We'd always leave late, always grab the old 2D incan from the drawer without paying much attention to the batteries and always get to our spot just before or after sunset. This one time there was no moon at all and we had to feel our way to our spot - no kidding, we couldn't see our own hand. Then we had to feel our way to the trees and then feel which branches we could break to use as firewood. Fortunately for us, winter had been hard and we had tons of firewood even though we where totally blind.

This other time, 3 of us decide we'll go further than usual and spend a couple of days in the woods. We left around 5 p.m. and walked untill sunset. Then we where right in front of the forest line, trying to see but it was like looking into a black hole and we found out at that instant that we never checked the batteries in our only flashlight, which was deader than dead. We had to camp in the clearing, right under high voltage lines. For some reason, the next day we felt recharged despite not sleeping very long.

These incidents are basically what pushed into the addiction of flashaholism.

I felt I needed a light, in fact, needed it, on my honeymoon, when he was descending a staircase of the hotel I was staying to go to the heated pool. Left a bit of daylight, and I was in a bathing suit, so figured there was no need for a flashlight, but when I started down the stairs to wash the floor of the pool, I noticed that the last bids were not with the lights lit. Keep going down the stairs I thought I was finished, but for lack of lighting, there were still a couple steps ... result, a beautiful sprained ankle, which swelled up right away and almost ruined the rest of my honeymoon. That was in 2007 ... now I do not leave home without at least two lights.

Cheers

P.S.: sorry my english