Big Maglite's Make Me Sentimental (true story)

[Liquidspaceman]

My dad was a big, scary man with a heart of gold. We lived in a remote area and believe it or not, the nearest "big facility" was a State Mental Hospital.

On two occasions, we ran into problems with escaped mental patients trying to get into our house because we were the first house you encounter on "Lakeland Rd."

My father was always weary of noises around our property and had a giant black Maglite that he'd use to investigate (and to use as a weapon). I remember once a group of teenagers came to a party we were having uninvted. These were local hoodlum types. One of them actually had a stick as a weapon.

My father walked up to the group of 5 teenagers, and holding just his big Maglite, he told them, "you're not on the guest list." He then noticed one of them had one of those heavy sticks in his hand (like a half a bo staff). Using his Jedi Mind Powers and knowing how to deal with trouble makers he said, "I'll tell you what. You can stay at the party, but you have to give me the stick. If you don't, I'm going to kindly ask you to leave."

The guys, probably more fearful of my dads size than his maglite, gladly gave him the stick. The local town hoodlums also respected him and my family. Though they might have messed with others in the neighborhood, they never messed around with me or my family after that.

I was only 5 at the time, but I also have recollections of my dad beating up a "peeping tom" with the maglite back in the 70's. The guy was yelling "don't hit me sir" while my dad wailed on him... and my dad stopped after the guy cried to stop. After calling the cops, wouldn't you know it, the guy escaped from the State Hospital. He was peeping in my sisters window.

Lots of good memories of my dad and his "flashlight." I remember lots of times everyone being scared inside the house when we heard a weird noise and my dad, not hesitating for a heartbeat, grabbing his maglite (sometimes with a butcher knife in the other hand) and walking around our property. Made me feel safe and secure.

Dad passed away 10 years ago. RIP Dad. I will always remember how safe I felt having you around... :twothumbs

 

[Zatoichi]

Wow, those are your GOOD memories?

 

[jcs71]

That was a great story. I always like to read real stories like that. Do you remember what size the maglite was? Do you also still have it for keeps sake?

 

[PetaBread]

 

[Liquidspaceman]

My mom still has my dads light. When she passes I hope she'll give it to me. That thing has more wear on it than I can even imagine.

It was a D cell from what I remember. I don't remember how many.

 

[kramer5150]

:twothumbs

 

[Liquidspaceman]

:twothumbs

Lol, perfect picture.

 

[Big_Ed]

My mom still has my dads light. When she passes I hope she'll give it to me. That thing has more wear on it than I can even imagine.

It was a D cell from what I remember. I don't remember how many.

You should inspect, clean, lube the threads and o-rings, and maybe install fresh batteries, upgrade to a stock xenon bulb, basically just give it a once-over to keep it in tip-top shape for your mom. You know, a tune-up for the MagLite.

 

[greenLED]

Liquidspaceman, thanks for sharing. That really is a nice story.

Here I'm sitting at my desk, with my dad's recently restored 2C Mag right next to my screen, and getting teary eyed thinking how much he'd like some of the fancy lights we can get these days.

He passed April 2, two years ago. I can relate to that missing feeling of safety.
:mecry:

 

[american lockpicker]

Liquidspaceman of all the people on here I find your posts the most interesting. :thumbsup:

 

[Twinkle-Plank]

Keep it in stock form or maybe add a little inscription some where about your dad.

 

[Toohotruk]

And maybe make sure to leave the small traces of blood and hair from the escaped psychos for sentimental value.

 

[Liquidspaceman]

And maybe make sure to leave the small traces of blood and hair from the escaped psychos for sentimental value.

:twothumbs

 

[SupremeEye]

Dude got damn, I say you pass it on and keep it in the family as a heirloom.

Get it inscribed with your fathers name and when you go have your son/daughter do the same and keep it going.

Tell the story.

 

[f22shift]

:mecry:


:whoopin:

 

[swampgator]

The guy was yelling "don't hit me sir" while my dad wailed on him...

Possibly the best sentence I've read all week!

 

[Monocrom]

So... How often did the deranged lunatics show up at the house?

 

[DaveG]

Those large Mags do make you feel good, just as long as you are not on the wrong end of one.Hats off to your Dad.

 

[Spence]

I don't know if you caught this story on another thread.

 

[Spence]

I don't know if you caught this story on another thread.

I'm a retired LAPD Detective and my history and story go back 37 years. The state of the art flashlight was called "Kel Lite" and they were big D cell aluminum lights, bigger than Mag Lites and heavier. I had a 5 cell and one night I came upon a roof top burglar who had gone through an air vent into the attic of a clothing store. I didn't take my baton with me since I was carrying this big metal pipe with a huge head and light coming from it. I crawled down into this attic and confronted the burglar in the maze of ceiling joists. Now, mind you, this was an old two stories tall building and it was a 20 foot drop through a flimsy, suspended ceiling to the shop's floor below. This burglar wouldn't do anything I said, because he was strung out on "Angel Dust", phencycledine, which was a large animal tranquilizer that gave a man super human strength. Instead of surrendering to arrest, he came at me through the tangle of joists and I had the fight of my life to keep from falling. He produced a pry bar which he had used to break through the roof vent. After taking a number of hits from it I struck back with my trusty Kel Lite and put more than one monkey bump on his mellon faster than he could rub them. He lost his grip and balance and fell through the ceiling and onto a dress rack and floor. It took me awile to get out of the attic and down to the shop waiting for the owner to show up with keys. I didn't have to worry about the burglar because he had a broken leg, some other injuries and was just lying among the scattered dresses waiting for me and the paramedics.
Kel Lites were very big with cops and emergency workers back then, but they eventually were replaced by Mag Lites and Streamlights in popularity, and ceased production. Boy, do I wish we had some of these current lights back then, however, I doubt if I would have won that little battle that night with a 2 CR123 SF 6P.

The true cop & his flashlight story is in the "Cool story of the day" thread by Spence.