How I Got Here

Illumination Addiction

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Jan 11, 2008
Messages
3
3 years ago I was at a Walmart with my wife and our 3 small children. It was about 8:00 P.M. when a bad thunderstorm hit and eventually, you guessed it, the electrical power went out. Don't know if they didn't have emergency lighting or it just didn't work but it was pitch black dark inside. It wasn't long before people in the store began to panic. I'm sure there were thieving types that were going to steal and employees/loss prevention types trying to stop it. I remembered that I put a small photon LED on my wifes key ring so I got it from her, corralled the family and led my family out as quickly as I could leaving our cart full 'o' stuff right there in the isle.

Ever since that night, I vowed that my wife and I would have a real flashlight on us everywhere we go.....day or night. Neither one of us have broken that vow. I am however always in search of something better, hence, here I am. Our EDC's are a SF L4, SF L2, SF G2 with BOG Cree Q5 drop in, SL NF2 LED or a SL Scorpion LED. All great lights but I'm always on the lookout.
 
:welcome:

You have some nice lights, I'm sure you'll add plenty more though :D

Regards,
Tempest
 
A friend became a addict after an experience on his ATV.

He had to walk about three miles through the woods on a moonless night after his ATV broke down.

It was also a very cloudy night and it was so dark it was almost like being in a cave.

He managed to find his way home after falling down several times once or twice in a huge mud hole and this was in in 20 degree weather.

He had no source of light not even a Bic lighter.

Today he carries at least two lights on him at all times several more in his truck and at least two on his ATV.
 
Welcome to CPF. I see you like Surefire's, and I can highly recommend 2 right off the bat. First the L1 CREE which is the perfect EDC with a nice low, and a piercing bright high. Second is the U2 Ultra which is the perfect all round utility light. It has 6 levels of brightness, controlled by selector ring between the battery tube and the bottom of the head. Some people EDC this light as well. I have both of the above, and IMHO they are not only two of the best lights that Surefire has to offer, but two of the best lights on the market. Enjoy your stay here. It's a great community where it's easy to make friends....and spend money :broke:

PS. You can check out the rest of my collection at the link in my signature.

ML1TIR.jpg
U2Ultra.jpg
 
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For a first post you "sure" have a great start on illuminating your world.:p

Welcome to CPF. I can't find the Icon.

Bill
 
Welcome to CPF! That is an interesting story, I'm sure you will learn more about flashlights than you ever thought possible.
 
Gentlemen,

Thanks for the warm welcome!

bondr006, that collection is impressive, to say the least. I really like that L1. I bought the SF L2 because of the low/high output but it's just a little long to pocket carry for me. I like the size of the L4 but no low output with that model. I think I have it bracketed now and the L1 might just have to be next on the shopping list. Thanks....I think.:grin2:
 
You also might want to consider the new HDS Twisty that should be coming out soon. Henry has a reputation for making well-engineered, tough-as-nails lights. It also has 3 brightness levels. I have three other HDS's and they are my favorite lights.
 
Hi everyone, this is my first post, I just signed up here a little while ago. I've been reading this site for the past 3 months. I used to go urban exploring a lot and recently started up again. Urban exploring led me to finding dependable flashlights and google eventually led me to here. I don't have a lot of lights... yet. Just a P1D-CE Q5, MTE C2, some modded minimags, old Inova 5 LED, and got the preorder for the Jet I Pro... This is such a great and informative site. :twothumbs
 
I worked for a very large division of a very large company. This company did top secret hush hush military stuff, therefore no windows. Except for the presidents office of course. Anyway, I was in the mens room at the center of this 500,000 square foot building when, yeah....

Boom! A transformer explodes, the floor shakes and the lights go out.

The emergency generator fails to come on line.

I am in the middle of the darkest dark you ever saw (or didn't see) with my pants around my ankles, waiting a half hour for a guard with a cheesy little AA light to come get me.

I have had at least one, often 3-4 lights on me always ever since.
 
I am in the middle of the darkest dark you ever saw (or didn't see) with my pants around my ankles, waiting a half hour for a guard with a cheesy little AA light to come get me.

Mine is similar...our office had a full day power outage this past summer. Not so bad in the offices as we have windows. But the bathroom has none and was as dark as you can imagine. I was the one lucky enough to be elected to stay all day and man the phones, etc. Unfortunately, my bowels drove me to that dark bathroom...I bought my first quality light the next day and have not stopped yet.

I also lived through the by NYC blackout a few years ago...strangely that had no effect on me...
 
I'm sure many of us here are reading these comments wishing these situations would happen to us. :)

Sometimes I don't realize how many lights I now carry around. Now that it's winter I'm usually out in my leather jacket, which has a Dereelight CL1H in the front zipper pocket, and a SF G2 with the Malkoff M60 Q5 in one of the other pockets. So right there I have two lights that output around 200 lumens each. Then I always have my Fenix P2D in a holster on my belt, and lately the Nitecore Defender in my front left jeans pocket. Then if I'm out I have my keys, usually two sets of keys, and one has an older ARC AAA, a LiteFlux LF2, the other has a Fenix LOD-CE Q4, maybe a little photon type LED, and then some little red LED's on my little keychain SAK's (one on each keychain).

So basically, if I was in the middle of a WalMart, etc, and it went pitch black, people would think a UFO was leaving the building.
 
It would have been ironic if you had been in the flashlight department of Walmart when the lights went out. No high end flashlights for sale there, but any port willdo in a storm.

optodoofus
 
I'm flying down the interstate at 2:30 am, and a deer runs right out in the middle of my lane from the median. I go from 80 mph to about 35 mph in a few seconds. I finally get the truck over to the side of the road, and it dies. I reach over to my side to grab my cell phone, and it is not there, I must have forgotten it. So, there I was with no phone in complete darkness except for the stars. Semi after semi drive by for over 3 hours, and finally someone calls the cops. Even if I just had a Pelican Mini flasher on my key chain I would not have had to sit there in the dark with a banged up neck for that long, because surely someone would have seen it. I never realized how important having a flashlight on hand could really be until this incident.
 
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Welcome to cpf.

I am always amazed in a big room of people when no one has a light. I used to work in a 35 story building in Denver. The engineers had to cut the power for several hours one Sunday afternoon. They did not worry about flashlights because it was in the afternoon. They did not remember that the stairwell emergency lights were out, and the stairwells were pitch black...and that they would have to clime the 35 stories 3-4 times. It usually took me 23 minutes to run it up the stairs the few times I did it for exercise.

So anyway, their little Minimag lights did not have the batteries to run 3 hours, so they ended up taking them in the dark a number of times each. My light was a SF M3 with the HO bulb....I could not have helped them much either, but oh well. Now I always try to take a decently long running light with me when I leave home in the morning.
 
Welcome to CPF!!! It is a great place to learn!!! We have all had those times where we wanted more light, or any light!!! So yes I carry a light for that reason, and extra batteries are always close by.
 

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