3:15 AM last night

[dajab77]

I'm glad everything turned out ok. I'm glad I read this post for many reasons. One, being that I decided to research the Olight M20, in part because of this post, and now I am considering getting one.

 

[varmint]

My M20 is the 340 lumen model they have a 500 for about the same price, its brand new I think. I am so tempted!!!!

 

[OfficerSheepDog]

Removed in order to respect DM51'S request.

 

[Burgess]

Great thread here -- thanks for posting !

:thumbsup:


BTW, my Olight M20 Warrior Premium R2, now 3 years old, is STILL my Brightest flashlight !

It's certainly a GREAT performer ! ! !



Oh, one more thing . . . .


Kinda' surprising how many of you refer to a guy "about 25" years old

as a Boy or a Kid.

;)
_

 

[Darvis]

Awesome story. We flashaholics are accustomed to the insane outputs of most of today's high performing lights, but most folks are not at all prepared for what comes out of the business end. This is regardless of wether they're up to no good or not.

I think (powerful) flashlights are one of the few things left in this world that really surprise the heck out of folks when the "lights come on."

The best part is that we (being on the delivering end) get to see that in all it's glory!!! I never get tired of it.

Glad all ended well!

 

[besafe2]

Great story with great outcome, but one piece of advice, please don't go outside if there's a next time. It could.ve turned out different.

 

[dmattaponi]

I'm for self-protection, and I wouldn't think of faulting someone for protecting themselves (and their family) with whatever means necessary. That said, I think it would have been better to stay inside (in a secure location) where you would have had more control over the situation, and been better able to protect you and yours. Going outside into an unknown could have been biting off more than you could chew, and I think naive. In this case, you had a drunk, neighbor who evidently wasn't intent on harm. Had he had a couple of friends stationed accordingly, the outcome might have been much different regardless of how bright your light was.

Yes this is a flashlight forum, and the comment above from a mod, makes it abundantly clear that we must watch our p's & q's and keep the topic to flashlights, but there is in truth a lot more to this thread than a simple flashlight discussion. Flashlights are nice, and I carry one in my pocket everyday recognizing that I might someday need one for just such an ocassion. That said, I wouldn't want others running off "half-cocked" thinking of their flashlight as being some sort of light-saber - lifesaver, as I doubt in most cases that a light alone would do much against a determined attacker, and OP's story could have come out much worse (regardless of his confidence in handling this and past situations). I hope I haven't crossed the line drawn above. If so, I apologize. Delete as you think appropriate.

 

[EV_007]

I too agree that staying indoors would have been the par for course. What if drunk had "friends" lurking outside with him? More unknown variables to control rather than being inside. Also if the kid was shot, court would ask why did you leave your house, go outside and leave secure area? Castle doctrine and all, but just my two cents.

That being said, I think the situation was handled well. I'm sure the OP knows his area and limits. Kudos for flashlight use as a deterrent, with sufficient backup of course.

We live in a sucky world which makes us potential targets of litigation if only to defend ourselves.

..better judged by twelve than carried by six.

 

[brembo]

I keep my BC40 on top of the fridge, sorta central location in my home. It's plenty powerful enough to mess with someones vision. I have a German Shepherd as well and it makes me feel very secure. His superior hearing and hardwired desire to protect home and owner make for a very effective intruder alarm. He's a big dog and his growls reverberate nicely in his chest, I'm thinking anyone blinded by my light will turn around when they can't see what beast is making that sort of noise. Of course if they are dumb enough to approach further I have a tool John Browning developed. Sane people stop and yell from my driveway or honk their horn, friends are ferociously licked.

 

[Wildlands]

Ok, I am going to add my own tale to this thread,since this happened last night.

I have an old dog, and he's in a rough stage right now, so when he woke me up at 4 am in the morning, I knew he had to take care of some business. I got dressed quick, and had my maratac AAA on my keyring. I helped him down the stairs, and outside so he could do his thing, and looked around. It was drizzly and foggy last night, and I had just gotten a Fandyfire STL-V2 (3 XM-L wall of light) and an Ultrafire WF008 (thrower) from DE (and 4 TANK TK737s for gifts) that I wanted to try out. So I got the dog back upstairs, and got my lights, and headed out to the Green Belt walking trail out back of my place.

I walked down towards the Amato's end of the trail, because there are no lights on the trail, and I lit up the trees along side the rail tracks and down the path. As I point the light down the path, 200 yards down, I see a person. I turn off the lights, and continue walking down the trail.

As I get close, I can hear a mans voice, and he seems to be talking to himself. I hear cursing, and while it is dark, I can see his figure getting closer. I hug the right side of the path along a chain link fence that separates the walking trail from the rail tracks, but I see this guy is now coming right at me despite my efforts to avoid his path, and his voice is getting louder, and he says something like, "I don't give a ____ what happens, this ____ (incoherent)..." I have the Fandyfire in my left, the Ultrafire thrower in my right so I point the Ultrafire right at this guys face, and let him have it.

He doesn't even squint as I light up his face. I see he's a white guy, got a ruddy complexion and the tan of someone outdoors a lot, mid-40s, 180-190ish, 5'10", brown salt and pepper hair that is in need of maintenance, his shirt is disheveled and open. He looks bleary, but I see his pupils trying to dilate to adjust to the light. It stops him cold, and I walk right by him, within two feet, keeping the light right on him. He says, "What the ____ man, your 'lights' are _____ me up". As I get next to him, and my right hand can't track him with the Ultrafire across my body, I cut the light to give him 1 second of recoup time, and then hit him with the Fandyfire for two seconds as I walked past. Then without saying a word, I continued down the path, listening to hear if he was coming after me.

Now, I am a big guy, still young enough to take care of myself, 6'3", I bounced for years at clubs, bars and large events. [part deleted - DM51] But like most of you guys, I like to be prepared. [part deleted - DM51] I pride myself on ending fights before they start, and in avoiding conflict wherever there is another option.

In my opinion, this guy was drunk. I don't know if he wanted to fight me, but he sounded aggressive, he came right towards me, and the flashlight stopped him in his tracks while he tried to figure our what to do when someone changed the game plan.

I don't think he could tell if I was a cop, I never said a word to him. I never broke stride, and never threatened him with movement or words. But I feel that if I had not had the lights ready to go, this event would have been a lot more iffy, and might well have taken physical force to resolve. The lights did exactly what I wanted. I wanted to stop his plan of confronting me. I wanted him confused, I wanted him unsure of himself. By not speaking, I made him even more unsure. By blinding him, I left him with few senses to assess and make a new plan. By continuing to move without hesitation or alteration, I left him with few options until I was well out of the zone of 'danger'.

When I got past him, I got to the corner of Broadway, and looped back around to avoid the trail, staying on the main road back to my place.

I love lights. I love this forum, and I love that we can share stories like this. Thanks guys.

 

[00Moonshine]

Like varmint, I live in a rural area of Texas, and on the two occasions that someone has banged on my door in the middle of the night I've responded just as he did. Grab a bright light, one of those things DM51 doesn't want mentioned, and out the back door to circle around the house and come up behind whomever is in front. And as I suspect varmint does, I look out across the pasture keeping an eye out for additional intruders. My property is fenced and the electric gate is closed, so if they're banging on my door they're already trespassing. The closest sheriff's deputy may be 30 minutes or more away, so unless you handle your own business it's probably not gonna' get handled. In my book varmint did just fine.

 

[DM51]

Wildlands, there are various reasons why your post might have been deleted, but it had merit so instead it has been edited to remove some of the more profane and controversial passages.

Please bear in mind that this is a family-friendly forum. Some of the language you used was highly inappropriate.

 

[Bobby_C]

Good job on handling it with little issue and a happy ending.

I'm glad everything turned out ok. I'm glad I read this post for many reasons. One, being that I decided to research the Olight M20, in part because of this post, and now I am considering getting one.

I think the Olight M series are great lights. I've been using a 6P with a 320 lm drop-in for a couple of years and recently bought a M20-X rated at 500 lm. I tested both lights at night and while the M20-X doesn't throw farther than the 6P, it lights up a LOT more area within the same distance. The build quality is on par with SureFire, IMO. If you do get one, you won't be disappointed (M20 or M20-X).

My M20 is the 340 lumen model they have a 500 for about the same price, its brand new I think. I am so tempted!!!!

You can just get the XM-L drop-in though it's not the full 500 lm (364 lm?). But then again, as a flashaholic you should buy another one :D.

 

[Wildlands]

Wildlands, there are various reasons why your post might have been deleted, but it had merit so instead it has been edited to remove some of the more profane and controversial passages.

Please bear in mind that this is a family-friendly forum. Some of the language you used was highly inappropriate.

Complete apologies, DM51. I was thinking about the event and how it happened since it was so fresh in my mind, and not forum policy, which I should have done before hitting the post key. I will not make that mistake again, and I am sorry to make you edit it out.

 

[Vortus]

Pretty well handled I think. I couldn't do something like that simply because of our motion sensitive lights. We have a double mount on each corner of the house, a single porch light at the back door and another porch light at the front door. All with motion sensors. If someone or something comes within our yard, its pretty much lit up automatically. I would probably have more if I was out in the country.

 

[bitslice]

A pity, I thought this thread before it was gutted was getting interesting,

The use of flashlights in a tactical sense isn't something I've heard described before, but if we can't mention the thing that DM51 doesn't want mentioned in the same paragraph as the holy/sacred bulb+battery, then I guess we are never going to hear any stories from people who have experienced this. An interesting and highly relevant discussion opportunity missed I think.

Ah well, I guess I'll go back to watching paint dry using my torch, while I wait to be infracted for speaking my mind.

 

[Vortus]

I think a bit of an over reaction bitslice. They are just trying to keep the forum clean and family friendly from a language standpoint. As well as curtail some of the discussions about right/wrong of someones actions that have not only been discussed to death but also proven to digress to the point of mudslinging.

 

[DM51]

A pity, I thought this thread before it was gutted was getting interesting,

The use of flashlights in a tactical sense isn't something I've heard described before, but if we can't mention the thing that DM51 doesn't want mentioned in the same paragraph as the holy/sacred bulb+battery, then I guess we are never going to hear any stories from people who have experienced this. An interesting and highly relevant discussion opportunity missed I think.

Ah well, I guess I'll go back to watching paint dry using my torch, while I wait to be infracted for speaking my mind.

Instead of watching paint dry, I suggest you take a look at Rule 8 before you make your next post. No hurry; you now have plenty of time on your hands.

 

[Samy]

Great story. I usually carry a 0.2 lumen light and sometimes a night vision scope when doing a patrol at home after hearing a noise. It helps to be discreet. Though it's always good to catch someone by surprise with a blast of several hundred lumens. It's 30 plus minutes for the police to turn up here too, and that's when they're in a hurry.

Cheers

 

[Monocrom]

I am horrified by this story.

Horrified that the OP handled the situation in the correct manner? Rural area means pitch black at night. Of course he didn't know it was the neighbors' kid ringing the bell. He only was able to I.D. him when he used his flashlight on him. Also, I own an Olight M20 Warrior myself. Yes, it's very bright on the high setting. No, it's not going to leave permanent damage to a drunk's eyes. It's uncomfortable, but that's what you get for showing up uninvited and unannounced at someone's place at 3 o'clock in the morning. (Generally, a person is up to no good when they do that sort of thing.) When that sort of thing happens, especially in a rural setting, yes; you go to the door prepared for the worst.

In this case, it was just a drunk kid. Let's not play "what if" because "what if" didn't happen. We know how the situation played out, and the OP did everything correctly.

I could understand you being horrified if we all lived in Heaven on Earth. A place where everyone is kind-hearted. No violence exists. And folks enjoy a drink without overdoing it. Reality isn't such a nice and friendly place. Heck, even the parents of that kid knew what he did was out of line. They stopped by the next day to apologize for their off-spring's actions, not to demand an apology due to the OP having shined a powerful flashlight into the face of their son because the OP wanted to simply identify who showed up at his door that early in the morning.