What did you use your flashlight for today?

[PhotonWrangler]

I have a set of glow rods (cable fishing rods) and I discovered that one of them was missing from the set. So I retraced my steps from the last couple of times that I've used it, using a 365nm UV flashlight in the hopes that the green glow of the rod would jump out at me from the clutter of cables, pipes and other stuff in the ceiling. I haven't found the missing rod but I discovered some unexpected fluorescence in some cable jackets. I also found that some semi-illegible and faded handwritten labels were much more readable under the UV light, since the background paper glowed brightly while the ink residue didn't.

 

[rwolfenstein]

I used my handy dandy streamlight syclone to give me light while I worked on my hubby's Ford. Unfortunately its a common occurrence, because well its a Ford product.

 

[Monocrom]

Found
On
Road,
Dead.

 

[fulee9999]

@bykfixer @Monocrom oh sorry, so it turned out it was just a deeper cut, but no foreign bodies, so a bit of rubbing alcohol and keeping it clean, and now it's good as new

 

[PhotonWrangler]

Found
On
Road,
Dead.

Fix
Or
Repair
Daily

 

[Owen]

Pretty unusual for me, not being a cop or paramedic, but I was the second person on the scene, and only one willing to go 20' down an almost vertical dropoff, after a young lady went over an embankment in her car.
Used my ZL SC64w HI to see what I was getting into, holding it in my mouth while climbing down to the car.
Then to light up inside the car while assessing her condition before the police and fire department arrived.
Then for searching the car to find her phone and ID after we got her out and into an ambulance.

Reminded me that I need to go back to keeping a headlamp in the car, and give my first aid kit a look. Thankfully, she didn't require any treatment on the spot, but I haven't checked my FAK in so long that I don't even know what is or isn't in there.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

Pretty unusual for me, not being a cop or paramedic, but I was the second person on the scene, and only one willing to go 20' down an almost vertical dropoff, after a young lady went over an embankment in her car.
Used my ZL SC64w HI to see what I was getting into, holding it in my mouth while climbing down to the car.
Then to light up inside the car while assessing her condition before the police and fire department arrived.
Then for searching the car to find her phone and ID after we got her out and into an ambulance.

Reminded me that I need to go back to keeping a headlamp in the car, and give my first aid kit a look. Thankfully, she didn't require any treatment on the spot, but I haven't checked my FAK in so long that I don't even know what is or isn't in there.

Wow.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

I sued my PD36R yesterday to examine the mounting mechanism for a lithium battery in a server. It's about the size of a business card and it has a hinge on the top that I've never encountered before. Got it open without damaging it thanks to the light.

 

[Jean-Luc Descarte]

Mine is unusual but not so dramatic:

For a few reasons, I had a dentist's appointment that fell through today, and I only knew of it when I was inside the waiting room (stupid stuck Whatsapp). Long story short, the tooth ripper took a look over the tooth we're treating, and despite a bit of resin breaking off*, all is well and on schedule for the prosthetic crown.
*: resin put on top of older resin doesn't attach well

The kicker is, per my offering, she used my Convoy S21A to light it up. Just wish I'd remembered to set it to a higher mode than the lowest possible

 

[bykfixer]

This evening at 10 o'clock all of a sudden my tv viewing was interupted by some thumping music hollering out the b word, n work and a whole bump of other words while a bunch of young rednecks decided to crank up some rap music outside.

I walked out on my deck with a 3cell ML50 and lit up their entire back yard two doors down. Within seconds the music was at a much more reasonable level.

 

[Poppy]

Today I checked a bunch of Christmas lights strings, many were bad. I checked the fuses, and some had corroded, and weren't making contact. Apparently there is some kind of controller within the LED strings of lights. With a small screwdriver I was able to open them up, and I used my cell phone with its light on, and a magnifier app to examine the controller, in each of the failed strings.

 

[fulee9999]

This evening at 10 o'clock all of a sudden my tv viewing was interupted by some thumping music hollering out the b word, n work and a whole bump of other words while a bunch of young rednecks decided to crank up some rap music outside.

I walked out on my deck with a 3cell ML50 and lit up their entire back yard two doors down. Within seconds the music was at a much more reasonable level.

this reminded me of a story when my dad was in the military and he was on patrol duty around the base, which was located inside a forest, and as he was walking around the service road a car just pulled up out of the woods and the dude just jumped out to pee. My dad told him that the service road the dude is standing on is still part of the military installation and that he needs to leave immediately. The dude ( mildly drunk ) barked something back, but the sound of dad chambering a round in his rifle made the dude run back to his car with his ding-dong still hanging out and sped away. Morale of the story, military bases are no joke, and tired-cold serviceman don't appreciate talking back when instructed.

 

[ilikeguns40]

Every now and again I get a sheet metal screw I miss when emptying my pockets and it comes out in the dryer and gets wedged in around the spinning part and creates this loud grinding. I put my Malkoff inside to light up the whole area and get a pair of needle nose pliers and screwdriver and pull it out

 

[jonathannnc]

my mattress zipper broke and unbeknownst to me , the fire resistant layer was made of fiber glass and the zipper is not t suppose to be opened so I used my malkoff m61w md2 to clean my room and spot the pieces of fiber glass easier. Tough times!

 

[PhotonWrangler]

I was walking a vendor around the premises when we needed to peer into some small, dark channels in the ceiling to look for cable paths. Out came the PD36R on one of it's brighter modes, making quick work of the inspection. The vendor even complimented me on the light.

 

[3_gun]

Used my Hanklight bug zapper to send some creepy crawly thing to the bug afterlife from the heat of about 7k/L

 

[PhotonWrangler]

I was walking through a very poorly lit parking lot tonight. Out came the PD36R to scan for tripping hazards.

 

[Monocrom]

Showed up to the start of my graveyard shift job the other night. Literally still in my car. I usually drive around to check a pedestrian gate that is supposed to be closed. Practically never is. Lock on it. Never used. What do I spy against the large West wall? Another vehicle. Yet another trespasser. Trying to hide up against the tall delivery Box-truck like all of them do. (Box-truck is authorized to park on-site.) Talked about this issue before on CPF. Literally every trespasser parks there, thinking security won't notice. Meanwhile, it's the first place we check! Literally the first one.

Literally not in the mood to go inside, change, come back out again (this time on foot in the freezing cold), to do this stupid nonsense all over again. Parked behind the vehicle. Got out. Instantly unclipped my Klarus XT2CR Pro and slipped it into my hand. (Never know when 2100 rated lumens on Turbo w/ instant access might come in handy.) Driver started slowly opening the door. I identified myself and politely & professionally asked him to leave. He complied.

The collective passive-aggressive community mentality where I work is just downright sickening. Silly me, when I was a child; I was taught to respect other peoples' private property. Guess that's not done anymore. Also, now I keep my other Winter watchcap folded up on the seat next to me. Private purchase item. Technically not part of my uniform. But has the word SECURITY sewn into it in big white lettering. Switch watchcaps if this happens again.

 

[Poppy]

I used my CooYoo keychain light to illuminate the lock cylinder to my front door. Usually our front post light is lit, but not tonight.

 

[Stress_Test]

..................

........................ Instantly unclipped my Klarus XT2CR Pro and slipped it into my hand. (Never know when 2100 rated lumens on Turbo w/ instant access might come in handy.) ................................... Also, now I keep my other Winter watchcap folded up on the seat next to me. Private purchase item. Technically not part of my uniform. But has the word SECURITY sewn into it in big white lettering. Switch watchcaps if this happens again.

A big "serious" looking flashlight in the hand will also tend to make people think you're security or a cop, in my experience. Well, except for my stupid neighbor who saw me using a bright light as I walked up to my (dark!) front apartment door, and freaked out because she thought I was about to burglarize the place.

She was hollering at me from her door demanding to know who I was etc etc etc. I wanted to ask if she makes a habit of confronting large, strange men in the dark. Like I said, not too smart.