Thought this might be a story worth sharing..

[RedForest UK]

Well, it was a couple of weeks back now, but reading a few other recent peoples stories on here I thought this one might just be worth sharing. I know we all like to read stories of how other peoples lights proved useful at some time, even if it is just to justify our own constant carrying of a light often way brighter than we could imagine ever needing in any day to day situation, (although night time is generally when lights come in most useful) So, heres my latest one.

I was over at a friends party, we were all a bit drunk so the memories a little bit fuzzy, but I still remember it pretty well. His house backs onto a canal, so at some point someone had the bright idea of crossing the bridge to the dark unlit path on the other side of the canal, where we started locking people in the builders portable toilet, throwing things about etc. and obviously the always necessary traffic cone ended up on one of my friends heads :buddies:

As it was about midnight, and so very dark, I'd brought out my new Solarforce L2 with a nailbender XP-G drop-in driven at 1.4A with me, as any good flashaholic would. But looking back across the canal I noticed a group of three lads about 20 years old or so stood together, hoods up, dark clothes and whatever you might expect at that time of night.

What raised my suspicions was when one of them broke away as the other two walked off and went down the bank on the other side of the canal towards someones motor boat. I thought that was a bit odd, due to the way he walked and him pulling his hood down to cover his head before he went, on an already dark night. :thinking: So, after about 30 seconds, and hearing a few banging noises like he was trying to force his way into it, out came over 300lumens of light from my side of the canal :devil:

Not only were the boat and the canal lit up like daytime, but the trees around it for someway, the whole section of the bank on the other side of the river and a couple of houses on the street behind it were lit up like a police searchlight :naughty: I guess I would've felt bad if it had in fact proved to be his boat, but my guess turned out to be right as I heard him swear quite loudly before bolting off up the bank covering his face with his right arm and running of down the road again!

I was a bit too out of it to bother anymore about it and just turned around to blind another one of my mates who'd by now come over to see what all the fuss was about. But there you go, even when you least expect it a bright flashlight can be a lot more useful than even a hopeful flashaholic might imagine.


If anyone else has any flashlight related stories they haven't yet got off of their chest, then feel free to share..

 

[kaichu dento]

There's one more for the good guys!

 

[TorchBoy]

Pity you weren't a little less drunk at the time - you might have thought of calling the police. But good work, what you did do.

 

[Locoboy5150]

Cool story! It's interesting how when late at night, a simple flashlight can scare the bad guys away. No, it's nowhere near as much of a deterrent as a weapon like a firearm, but a bright light is better than nothing. Bad guys seem to not like bright lights. I usually keep my EDC light ready in my hand whenever I walk into a dark area late at night.

 

[Flying Turtle]

Good job routing those scoundrels. And thanks for sharing your torch tale.

Geoff

 

[RedForest UK]

Thanks guys, I'm glad it proved interesting to some like minded people. The last person I told was my girlfriend who just muttered something and looked at me in a funny way! :shrug: At least she still carries the little Tank E-07 I gave her in her handbag, and enjoys using it when we go on runs at night time, so I guess there's some hope for her yet..

Cool story! It's interesting how when late at night, a simple flashlight can scare the bad guys away. No, it's nowhere near as much of a deterrent as a weapon like a firearm, but a bright light is better than nothing. Bad guys seem to not like bright lights. I usually keep my EDC light ready in my hand whenever I walk into a dark area late at night.

I guess it's just like suddenly being put on stage where everyone can see you right in the middle of everything. I know I wouldn't like to be in that situation if I was doing something I felt at all worried or guilty about.

I would support the general idea of guns are scarier too, but if I had used one to scare him off then it could well have been me facing down a few years prison sentence over here in the UK.. :sigh:

 

[TorchBoy]

Re: Thought this might be a story worth sharing.

No, it's nowhere near as much of a deterrent as a weapon like a firearm, but a bright light is better than nothing.

My guess is you're American. Unless Red discharged the firearm, how and why would the hoodlum have even noticed? And discharging the firearm without even the excuse of protecting his own property... Not a good idea.

 

[Locoboy5150]

Re: Thought this might be a story worth sharing.

Unless Red discharged the firearm, how and why would the hoodlum have even noticed?

I was speaking in general terms of how to scare away bad guys in the dark, not this specific case.

 

[AnAppleSnail]

Re: Thought this might be a story worth sharing.

I was speaking in general terms of how to scare away bad guys in the dark, not this specific case.

Generally, people doing property crimes or creeping around in the dark hate being visible.* A flashlight (or any other sort of light, like a streetlight) is a cheap, 24/7, multipurpose thing that cuts down on such crime dramatically. Not only does a sodium vapor lamp (or vigilant partiers with (photon artillery)) reduce these crimes, but you can see better.

*Just for my own entertainment I creep around in dark fringes, but I don't break things or mug people. Bright area lights take all the fun out.

 

[^Gurthang]

Red,

Good story. Glad you were out-of-reach though. Too often [at least here in the U.S.] the perp. tries to take out witnesses. I always carry a light when I'm walking the dog, morning or night but if I spot a car or person(s) I'll change my path to avoid them, too many "bad ***" mind set red-necks these days, better to give them a wide berth.

 

[RedForest UK]

Red,

Good story. Glad you were out-of-reach though. Too often [at least here in the U.S.] the perp. tries to take out witnesses. I always carry a light when I'm walking the dog, morning or night but if I spot a car or person(s) I'll change my path to avoid them, too many "bad ***" mind set red-necks these days, better to give them a wide berth.

Thanks, we have a similar problem with groups of anti-social and often aggressive lads about.. The other two had gone already though, and one benefit of the strict UK weapon carry laws is that you can be reasonably sure that unless they are a serious criminal, they are unlikely to be armed. Even where I live, which is supposedly the 'gun and knife crime capital' of England it is only certain areas and a small minority who would be carrying weapons. Also, having done my fair share of kickboxing and other martial arts I would have felt pretty confident in that situation. Having about 15 other people behind you further lessens the likelihood theyll show any aggression towards you in the first place, and if worst comes to worst then I can run 100m in 12 seconds, which should hopefully be enough to keep me safe

 

[march.brown]

This has nothing to do with flashlights ... But "baddies" were involved.

A friend of mine in the same gun club (before all handguns were banned in the UK) was fed up of having his car broken into ... In those days it was possible to buy a blank-firing device that used 12 bore blank cartridges ... It was mounted under the drivers seat facing the car door ... When the drivers door was opened a foot or so , there was a loud bang ... Bear in mind that the barrel was only a few inches long , so it was very loud ... He had to remember to disarm the device before opening the door fully.

After a couple of break-ins , he had no more trouble.

Trouble is that when a blank goes off , there is quite a bit of cardboard and wadding coming out and that would sting a bit.

Still it did work.

I shudder to think what would have happened if he had caught the perpetrator as he really could handle himself properly.
.

 

[Essexman]

Great stories guys, thanks foe sharing :wave: