Have you ever forgot your flashlight when you really needed it

[davyro]

I'm asking this because tonight i had some work to do on a shop front & the entrance to the shop was covered in & dark,all i needed was one of my lights on a medium setting for the work i needed to get finished.
Well i forgot my EDC & the job took twice as long & i'll have to go back in the morning to check the job looks alright.The job was in the next city to where i live so i'll get caught in all of the traffic going into the city,
I'll be losing time & money for the simple reason i forgot one of my lights

[LGT]

Yes I have. While it wasn't a dire situation, not having one of my thirty or so lights, of which I'll usually carry three or four, caused me to feel like a hapless imbecile. The power went out in a Grocery store and I had no flashlights. After patting down all of my pockets to find nothing, my only thought was "you've gotta be kidding me." Though the lights came back on within thirty seconds, I couldn't believe that I was shrouded by darkness with nary a light.

[Lighthouse one]

Would you believe that I even carry lights to Church.....Except this last Sunday. I was running late and didn't grab any. I always usher. I walked in and within one minute someone said the mens room light is out! Totally absolute dark in there. I hung my head in shame. We managed to take a bulb from a low ceiling in the lobby, by getting the tallest guy in church to stand on a chair and get a bulb.

[dc38]

@Lighthouse, I usually do the same, lol. But just the other day it happened at my aunt's, the power went out, and my whole family was like "where's David". I'd forgotten my lights on my desk luckily, I've got a phone with a couple of led's that eclipse the brightness of Nichias...phew! Flipped the breakers back on, and dinner went on without a hitch. I gotta say though...I've never felt more naked than being in the dark without packing some respectable lumens in my pockets. Heck, even having my Mag Solitaire would have been better!

[Ualnosaj]

No, but my RRT-0 XML with aggressive bezel, AA extender and Ti clip is just sitting in front of my keyboard at work. The cleaners better leave it alone. In my haste of playing with the RRT-01, I left it there!


___________
Posted from my phone.

[Norm]

I feel I'm not completely dressed without my EDC or iPhone.

Norm

[chmsam]

Nope.

The Streamlight Microstream is an option (there are of course others) that's small enough to EDC unobtrusively but bright enough to do the job most of the time.

And there's usually room in a coat pocket for something with a tad more oomph and then some.

[Cataract]

Can't remember forgetting my EDC light on a day I needed it, but my cousin (lurking flahaholic) once left the house with his dad to go fix something (light?) in a friend's closet and they both left without a flashlight. 2 minutes into the job my uncle looks at my cousin and says "we have tons of very pretty flashlights ... at home. It's very practical to have them at home..."

[Harry999]

I don't think I am ever without a light these days. There is usually something on a keychain or in my pocket. Even at night I have a small light on a neck lanyard and another clipped to my t-shirt collar with a P7 Suspension clip.

[someguy4747]

This is a reoccurring nightmare of mine! Ha ha I pretty much always take a light with me. Sometimes when I am lounging around the house I will find myself without one momentarily but there are always lights near by.

[Burgess]

Keep a tiny light on yer' Keychain.

That way -- you'll *always* have something !

[Xacto]

Well, since I usually have my car keys with me, I at least have access to a Fenix E05. Until a few weeks ago I did carry an additional Fenix E01 that I sealed in foil deep in my pants pockets as an emergency long-lasting light. I have to renew the foil / shrinkwrap and start carrying it again.

I case I should forget my EDC Surefire 6P on my belt and the one for my coat pocket, I have a SF G2L in both EDC bags I usually take with me. Add another Surefire G2 in yellow with the P60 incan bulb to the glove box in my car.....


Cheers
Thorsten

[Richub]

My Fenix E05 lives in my jeans pocket, so forgetting that one equals forgetting to put my jeans on.

I once visited a friend, and since it was a warm summers day, I only had that E05 with me. (no coat, so no coat pockets to carry more lights...)
Late that evening we wanted to go on a night walk, but since an E05 and a maglite solitaire was all we had with us, we decided not to go...

[lafirefighter]

Absolutely, it always seems to be the case. You're most in need when you're least prepared. As someone else pointed out, that's why I carry a small backup LED on my keyring.

[davyro]

I have a small light on my keyring but it wasn't bright enough for me to see all of the job i was doing,i usually use a jetbeam BC10 or a Xeno E03 for work as they're my cheapest lights & they both light up a good area easily.
With me working in construction i don't want to ruin any of my more expensive lights with paint, plaster,mortar & any amount of dust.The 2 lights i use for work are great at what they do why i didn't have one of them God
only knows as i carry an EDC light 24/7 any other time

[Ian2381]

Not that I remember,

There are just times that I wish I have brought more lights...

[Tim W]

nope.

[HotWire]

Yup. I drove across town to help a friend fix a PC and knew I had my two EDC lights on me. Well....I had the lights, but the brighter of the two had no battery. I'd taken the 10440 out to charge and not replaced it. Fortunately I had a small, cheap light as well, and I used that. 2 =1 and 1= 0! Can't be too prepared!

[JerryM]

No, and I am not sure that I ever "really needed" a flashlight unless I was camping. In town or at home I don't remember that a flashlight was ever critical.
Jerry

[Norm]

No, and I am not sure that I ever "really needed" a flashlight unless I was camping. In town or at home I don't remember that a flashlight was ever critical.
Jerry

You've never dropped something small in a dark corner or tried to look for something in the darkest corner of a cupboard?

I find that a bright flashlight shone at an acute angle the ideal way to find a small pill dropped on the floor, even in a brightly lit room.

Norm

[Richub]

I agree with Norm on the above.

Or check out my post about a blown main fuse. There are always situations where a flashlight can become essential.

[Samy]

I lost power at work last year, we couldn't operate business but i had to stay and look after the shop after dark. Not a flashlight on me but a half dead 4d mag incan i managed to find. Now i carry 2 decent lights and keep 2 more in the car when i go to work If i'm expecting storms with the possibility of power loss i take the TK 41 and others with fresh batteries so i can light the place up if we lose power. Also make sure i take my emergency services scanner.

cheers

[bstrickler]

Never forgotten a flashlight when I needed it. Always have my E01 on me, unless I'm working on the car (then it's in the tool box). My Surefire U2 is almost always in my pocket. If it's not in my pocket, it's right next to me.

I also carry a Fenix E15 on my keychain, and a 6P with a Dereelight 1.2a XR-E module, and 2 spare sets of primary CR123's in my car.

I have a 3D and 2D LED mag-lite next to my couch for emergency use, or we're going somewhere that will need extra lights, or a throwy light.

[Somnophore]

An E05 is plenty bright enough for a night time walk, 26 lumens isn't it? My P3 (13lumens) was more than sufficient for walking the dog, obviously more light is better, but it's more than sufficient to see where you're going and not step in stuff.

[JerryM]

Yes, but I did not really need one that I forgot. I have them in various places in my home so I don't have to carry one. Those things are not critical, and seldom happen. However, that is the reason many here carry a small key chain or AAA light in their pockets. Unless I forget my pants I have a coin light on my key ring, and a iTP3 in my pocket.
But I do not remember ever having a critical need for a flashlight at home. I keep at least two in each of my vehicles, and when I had a boat I had at least one that stayed in the boat during fishing season.
Here in NM we do not have long power outages as happens in other states like AR. It would be critical to have an outage without light. I have enough camping stuff that we are OK if that happened.

I do not doubt that such critical circumstances do happen, but it has not happened to me.
Regards,
Jerry

[mikeymoto]

Yes I've been without a light when it would have really been useful. I now have small aaa lights on all of my keychains, so there should be some light available when it's needed.

Mike

[EZO]

I have friends up the road from where I live in a rural area who are totally off the grid, way out in the woods. One evening many years ago, I was invited for dinner and arrived while it was still light out. Their house is about 75 yards away from their "parking area" and it is a windy path through the forest to their front door. Well, late that night after a delicious meal and a few glasses of wine I bid my friends farewell and started back towards my truck when I realized that because it had been light out when I arrived I had totally forgotten to bring any of the flashlights that are always in my vehicle and in those days didn't have a keychain light. (I had left my keys in the truck anyway, so it wouldn't have mattered.) I didn't think it would be hard to get up to my truck since I knew the terrain well so I started off in the pitch dark and before I knew it I was "lost" in the woods somewhere between my friend's house and my truck. After tripping over some tree roots several times I remembered that I had a book of matches with me but every time I lit one it would blow out right away or burn my finger tips after walking a few paces. It took quite some time and the entire book of matches but I finally managed to "grovel" my way back to the truck. What an ordeal! Never again!