dyeman12
Newly Enlightened
Things that go Clicky in the night…
I received my brand new Ra Clicky 140Cn from the delivery guy (or the Brown Santa as I like to call him) and that very evening got the call to put it into service. Here's my story and I'm sticking to it…
Later that same evening, my wife gets a call from a close friend of hers who lives about five minutes away. She states the some stranger comes knocking on her front door at about 7:30pm, but would not state his business or why he was there. This little lady is an absolute sweetheart with three little ones at home and a husband who often has to travel for work. She had immediately called her husband on his cell, as he was out of state, and he wisely tells her to turn on the exterior flood lights that are all motion activated. When two of the three flood lights activated, she became concerned that something was out there tripping off the motion sensors. She calls my wife for some quick assistance. She wasn't fearful enough to call 911, but just wanted someone to take a quick look around her yard. The wife relays the situation to me and I was on my feet with Clicky in hand, cell phone in pocket and headed for the door within moments. After telling the wife to keep her friend on the land line and to call 911 on her cell at the first hint of any problem, I was out the door.
After rolling up on the friend's house, I slipped a little H&K insurance into the waist band and knocked on the front door to check in. She verified it was me through the locked door and I told her that I would walk the perimeter of her yard. I also instructed her to call 911 if she heard anything out of the ordinary. Their house is in a nice residential neighborhood, but is bordered on two sides by tall white pines and an open field - plenty of dark spots for some pilgrim to potentially lurk in.
Now, after all that setup, the good part. I give the light a single click as I round the side of the house and start scanning the bushes next to the house. It is really dark around the low shrubs and side yard, so I give it the click and hold to fire up the high beams. Man, what a beacon in the night! I was quite impressed with the tighter focus and longer throw as it really punched right into the branches of the trees and out across open field. It dropped a level after 10 seconds but still yielded quite the volume of light for such a small device.
I continued around perimeter of the house, staying close in and checking all the corners. Upon reaching the opposite side of the house, I moved out along their exterior fence line next to the tall pine trees, scanning all the while. I then stepped into the tree line and walked its perimeter in the reverse direction. White pines always have all their needles on the outer extremities of the branches, creating an almost "hollow" interior that has a pretty eerie effect at night with nothing but the bare branches inside.
It was in this long tunnel-like interior of the tree line that I re-engaged the burst of 140 lumen and was downright amazed at the beam that shot down through about 150 feet of what appeared to be a trail that ran through the pines. I now know that the narrow beam is just I was looking for in this light. It has great color, plenty of spill to illuminate the side areas and what a hot spot.
As I rounded the last corner of the tree line and was coming back to the front yard, a neighbor who had been driving past and saw me out in the tree line searching, stopped to ask if everything was copasetic. I filled him in on the situation and he stated that it was a well patrolled neighborhood. Though he did not ask what light I was using, I could tell that he was trying to see what I had been using to flood the area with so much light. As he drove away, I checked back with a very grateful little lady and relayed that all was well. She was quite relieved and the look of their little three year old daughter sneaking a peak around the door was priceless. It does feel good to come to the rescue!
On the drive back, I realized a satisfaction that it was worth every penny that I had just paid for this outstanding little night-cutter. I was also thankful for the excellent assessments and informed opinions I had read in this forum. I both thank and curse you lot for exposing me to the realm of higher end personal illumination! I am hoping that it will be a manageable addiction.
I received my brand new Ra Clicky 140Cn from the delivery guy (or the Brown Santa as I like to call him) and that very evening got the call to put it into service. Here's my story and I'm sticking to it…
Later that same evening, my wife gets a call from a close friend of hers who lives about five minutes away. She states the some stranger comes knocking on her front door at about 7:30pm, but would not state his business or why he was there. This little lady is an absolute sweetheart with three little ones at home and a husband who often has to travel for work. She had immediately called her husband on his cell, as he was out of state, and he wisely tells her to turn on the exterior flood lights that are all motion activated. When two of the three flood lights activated, she became concerned that something was out there tripping off the motion sensors. She calls my wife for some quick assistance. She wasn't fearful enough to call 911, but just wanted someone to take a quick look around her yard. The wife relays the situation to me and I was on my feet with Clicky in hand, cell phone in pocket and headed for the door within moments. After telling the wife to keep her friend on the land line and to call 911 on her cell at the first hint of any problem, I was out the door.
After rolling up on the friend's house, I slipped a little H&K insurance into the waist band and knocked on the front door to check in. She verified it was me through the locked door and I told her that I would walk the perimeter of her yard. I also instructed her to call 911 if she heard anything out of the ordinary. Their house is in a nice residential neighborhood, but is bordered on two sides by tall white pines and an open field - plenty of dark spots for some pilgrim to potentially lurk in.
Now, after all that setup, the good part. I give the light a single click as I round the side of the house and start scanning the bushes next to the house. It is really dark around the low shrubs and side yard, so I give it the click and hold to fire up the high beams. Man, what a beacon in the night! I was quite impressed with the tighter focus and longer throw as it really punched right into the branches of the trees and out across open field. It dropped a level after 10 seconds but still yielded quite the volume of light for such a small device.
I continued around perimeter of the house, staying close in and checking all the corners. Upon reaching the opposite side of the house, I moved out along their exterior fence line next to the tall pine trees, scanning all the while. I then stepped into the tree line and walked its perimeter in the reverse direction. White pines always have all their needles on the outer extremities of the branches, creating an almost "hollow" interior that has a pretty eerie effect at night with nothing but the bare branches inside.
It was in this long tunnel-like interior of the tree line that I re-engaged the burst of 140 lumen and was downright amazed at the beam that shot down through about 150 feet of what appeared to be a trail that ran through the pines. I now know that the narrow beam is just I was looking for in this light. It has great color, plenty of spill to illuminate the side areas and what a hot spot.
As I rounded the last corner of the tree line and was coming back to the front yard, a neighbor who had been driving past and saw me out in the tree line searching, stopped to ask if everything was copasetic. I filled him in on the situation and he stated that it was a well patrolled neighborhood. Though he did not ask what light I was using, I could tell that he was trying to see what I had been using to flood the area with so much light. As he drove away, I checked back with a very grateful little lady and relayed that all was well. She was quite relieved and the look of their little three year old daughter sneaking a peak around the door was priceless. It does feel good to come to the rescue!
On the drive back, I realized a satisfaction that it was worth every penny that I had just paid for this outstanding little night-cutter. I was also thankful for the excellent assessments and informed opinions I had read in this forum. I both thank and curse you lot for exposing me to the realm of higher end personal illumination! I am hoping that it will be a manageable addiction.
