Jetbeam M1X strobe backs down physically aggressive person

[Bushman5]

recently in Vancouver we had our annual fireworks night. About a million people cram themselves into the downtown core and the surrounding areas around the shoreline to watch the show and listen to the music simulcast on the radio station. For the most part 99% of the crowds behave, but there is always idiots that ruin it for everyone else. We have had stabbings, melees, bear spray incidents, fights, damaged property, drunkeness etc. But for the most part its a family affair.

GF and I cycled over to the opposite side of the inlet, to watch the show from the park. we plopped ourselves down on the nice brown dry grass, she broke out her camera and i enjoyed a icy wobblypop. I played with all my lights (yes i brought them all) :twothumbs maaaaan that M1X throws a bloody huge beam downrange in the dark! and we watched the show. bang boom oooh ahhhh bang boom ooohhh aaaaahh

thruout the show there was tons of little bats flying around, snacking on the skeeters. I would wave my TA30 in the air and the clouds of skeeters would get lit up, then the bats would swarm to the where the lights where shining, it was neat.

anyways, intro aside lets get down to the nastiness of some people.

We waited for an hour for the crowds to disperse before cycling out. I had my Dinotte 200 lumen taillight strobing and the 200 lumen headlight blinking. We paused on the little bridge over the pond, to light up the beavers that were splashing around. GF paused for a cig break. About ten minutes later a couple of men walked up and got in my face, yelling at me that the bike light was too bright and that it was damaging to the animals :thinking: He got closer and closer to me, to the point of being about 2 feet away. I could smell bourbon on his breath and noted his eyes were bloodshot. He jabbed a finger in my chest and pushed me, saying he was goign to throw my bike into the pond, and yelled SHUT THE RED LIGHT OFF (i cant print what he said, family forum and all) . His buddy was a little too close to my GF too.....

I told him to back off, he did'nt. He continued to get verbally and physically aggressive with me, swearing and pushing me in my chest and neck.

I whipped out the Jetbeam M1X, and strobed him (on the super fast strobe setting) right in the eyes, then smacked his arm away from my neck. He threw up his hands over his face and stumbled away from us, the sloped ramp of the footbridge greatly assisting him :naughty: . I had both of them completely blinded, their night vision shot to heck. A verbal barrage ensued, expletives being hurled. I told them to have a nice night and keep walking. They did. They also walked right into a tree. The GF and I doused our bike lights and rode back the other way and around to a different route. We could still hear them cussing.

Anyways, that was my night. I know some hate strobes on their lights but i love them for utility (warning light for roadside repairs at night) and safety reasons (incident in park).

 

[TAIGERSX]

Strobe is on the light for a reason heh . U're lucky that they stopped going "wild" after being blinded . Next time when u're going to the wilderness especially with your GF, I recommend the 2 millions volts Cheetah stun gun .

 

[Bushman5]

hahaha, nah, us Canadians cant carry stuns or firearms. So i chose the "blind em and extricate ones selves from the area" technique.

 

[Vox Clamatis in Deserto]

Yep, I had similar results with a couple of indigenous inebriates a few months ago:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showpost.php?p=2858018&postcount=17

hahaha, nah, us Canadians cant carry stuns or firearms. So i chose the "blind em and extricate ones selves from the area" technique.

Yep, don't know that I would try it in the U.S., might be a case of bringing a knife to a gunfight.

 

[gsxrac]

Hah good job Bushman! Yea I prefer the "throw the drunken _____ into the water" routine but if i had a light set to strobe you can bet your boots id try it out! Glad you and yours got out safely, just wish youd yelled out "CANDLEPOWERFORUMS BIATCHES!" as you rode away! Sorry my imagination gets the best of me sometimes lovecpf

 

[nbp]

What's a wobblypop? :shrug:

 

[SFG2Lman]

you have a far cooler head and better thought process than I would have I applaud your rational thought and excellent self control, Its always better to have a "I got to use my flashlight on some morons" story instead of a "I went to jail" story, nice work!

 

[waddup]

another option would have been to turn your bike lights off when asked.

what you did was risk your and your girlfriends safety.

it would have been smarter to turn the lights of and leave quietly.

if your assailant had had a knife and had shut or covered his eyes when you strobed him, things may have ended much worse.




you were lucky, not clever.

 

[recDNA]

You should have told him bicycles are bad for beavers too.

 

[AbnInfantry]

another option would have been to turn your bike lights off when asked.

Bushman5 wasn't politely "asked" anything by a rational human being. He was accosted by a pair of belligerent drunks, one of whom committed assault and battery. Did you miss that part?

it would have been smarter to turn the lights of and leave quietly.

That assumes a fact lacking any credible basis: that inebriated, physically aggressive malefactors (none of whom constitute animal lovers in my experience) would have allowed Bushman5 and his girl friend to "leave quietly." Personally, I'm not in the habit of turning my back on intoxicated, aggressive knaves who just physically assaulted me.

if your assailant had had a knife and had shut or covered his eyes when you strobed him, things may have ended much worse.

If Bushman5 had followed your advice, it's possible he would have been attacked from behind, rendered unconscious and his girl friend beaten, raped or worse. Your use of the word "if" allows the speculation of any possible scenario ensuing. It's entirely possible one or both of the thugs Bushman5 described had a knife in their possession; we simply don't know. This is another reason (in addition to the perils of being unarmed) not to turn your back to miscreants who've already demonstrated their amorality and physical aggression, particularly when they're under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. Also, should I be attacked in a similar situation, I hope the assailant has his eyes closed as you mentioned.

 

[MrGman]

Well its good that it turned out well however you should never have let them get within striking distance in the first place, that is an unnecessary risk. I agree that you don't have to comply and turn down the bike lights.

I don't agree that it was the strobe that worked the magic. Just blinding them with an overwhelmingly powerful in your face type of light most probably would have done the trick. But we will never know for sure.

Its good that they were drunk and blinded in general as alcohol does help to accelerate night blindness symptoms anyway and that no one was hurt. If he poked his finger in your chest twice he could have sucker punched you so I think I would take away an attaboy for letting him get that close. I would say blind him before he is in arms reach if that is all the "force" you have. Glad you and the GF are okay. G.

 

[Bushman5]

another option would have been to turn your bike lights off when asked.

what you did was risk your and your girlfriends safety.

it would have been smarter to turn the lights of and leave quietly.

if your assailant had had a knife and had shut or covered his eyes when you strobed him, things may have ended much worse.




you were lucky, not clever.

you were not there, nor do you have a grasp of the situation nor are you aware of any training i or my GF have had. These two males were nothing more than drunk and super stoned on grass older hippies. One got a little aggressive, babbling about animals and the sky and lights and trying to get thru me to throw my bike into the water "because i was harming the animals maaaaaan....."

I dealt with it in a calm controlled manner and used a flashlight to put the balance in my favor. It worked. nuff said. Had i felt of had my GF felt the situation was going another way we would ahve dealt it using other options, including training and tools on hand.

further, i think it is great that one can use a flashlight instead of a knife or gun. Zero Paperwork............ .

 

[Bushman5]

What's a wobblypop? :shrug:

beer! :thumbsup:

 

[problemchild200]

Fire your politicians and get your gun rights back. Using a flashlight to save your life is just plain nutz.

 

[Niteowl]

What's a wobblypop? :shrug:

beer! :thumbsup:

wobblypop........ that's great. :drunk:

Great story, good to see a happy ending.

Unfortunately in my case, having had a few wobblypops, I most likely would escalate the situation if my wife didn't beat me to it. :shakehead

Well done Bushman.:thumbsup:

 

[hyperloop]

Everybody has their own way of dealing with a situation like that, and i wouldnt second guess anybody's way of dealing with things as (a) i wasnt there (b) most of these tales end well i.e. no one hurt, no house got egged etc

I was focusin more on the dude walkin into a tree after being strobed and trying not to laugh out loud in the office.

great story, great use of strobe.

was it really dark where you were? I'm thinking it must have been a place with little or no ambient light as even if i were strobed (which i did to myself hahaha), if there is sufficient ambient light, i would still be able to see a bit with bright spots in my vision but i'd be able to see a tree at least.

 

[jp2515]

Everybody has their own way of dealing with a situation like that, and i wouldnt second guess anybody's way of dealing with things as (a) i wasnt there (b) most of these tales end well i.e. no one hurt, no house got egged etc

I was focusin more on the dude walkin into a tree after being strobed and trying not to laugh out loud in the office.

great story, great use of strobe.

was it really dark where you were? I'm thinking it must have been a place with little or no ambient light as even if i were strobed (which i did to myself hahaha), if there is sufficient ambient light, i would still be able to see a bit with bright spots in my vision but i'd be able to see a tree at least.

I will guess the persons involved might have been inebriated. So drunk + strobe means impaired night vision and thus walking into things.

 

[Outdoors Fanatic]

Fire your politicians and get your gun rights back. Using a flashlight to save your life is just plain nutz.

+1!

Well said.

 

[Bushman5]

Everybody has their own way of dealing with a situation like that, and i wouldnt second guess anybody's way of dealing with things as (a) i wasnt there (b) most of these tales end well i.e. no one hurt, no house got egged etc

I was focusin more on the dude walkin into a tree after being strobed and trying not to laugh out loud in the office.

great story, great use of strobe.

was it really dark where you were? I'm thinking it must have been a place with little or no ambient light as even if i were strobed (which i did to myself hahaha), if there is sufficient ambient light, i would still be able to see a bit with bright spots in my vision but i'd be able to see a tree at least.

it was pitch black in the park where we were, surrounded by huge swaths of trees. As we left a few others walked up and asked us to light the way for them

 

[Vesper]

I've seen that show in Vancouver. Great fireworks competition. I hope you were also ready to smash the M1X over either or both of their heads if need-be.

MY EYES! THE GOGGLES DO NOTHING!