Well I found it. (Lost torch). In this thread, we talk about search and rescue missions

[etc]

Really nothing ****** me off more than losing my favorite light.
So last night I realized I don't know where my Hound Dog MD4 is. I went to sleep not really sad, just kind of numb. I think I've had that Malkoff Device for a number of years. Lost track. It's close to the latest gen. Maybe 3-4 years. I have two of them, one is neutral, beautiful tint but lower on lumens, I think 950 or such, the one I lost was full blast and pure white and over 1000 lumens. I liked the latter one and that the one that decided to evaporate into thin air. Of course.

I kind of suspected where it went, I was packing things in the car and while I usually stick it in the backpack, I put it in the rear pocket of my Vertx pants. And if you have Vertx pants you know the rear pocket is not very deep especially for an MD4 Hound Dog and with that fancy tailcap. I think I sat in the car, it fell out of my rear pocket and off the seat, on the floor between the seat and the door. And the next time I opened the door, probably at a gas station, it just fell out without me noticing it. I felt like such an idiot. Keeping it for years only to lose it such a dishonorable way.

My only consolation was that someone found it and hopefully put it to good use. So it wasn't "gone-gone" in a swamp somewhere, to get recycled into molecules for the next bazillion years. It merely changed ownership, unless a car ran over it, which is doubtful and even if it did, probably didn't do anything to it. Gas stations are high traffic areas, I am sure it got picked up in a nanosecond.

That was the going version. After searching the car for 100 and 1 times, and the yard, the grassy area between the car and the house. It wasn't there. When you open the door and something falls out, you hear a distinct bang, especially something as heavy as a Hound Dog. I thought maybe it fell on the grass which would perfectly explain why I did not hear anything. Seems like the perfect logical explanation and a totally wrong explanation as it turned out.

I ended up finding it in the bathroom of all places.
What actually happened, I unbuckled the belt (I have a fancy mil spec belt) and just fell out from the rear pocket onto the floor. The real mystery is why I didn't hear it then. It makes a very distinctive bang when it hits the floor. Maybe it hit something soft on the floor, like a towel that I sometimes have laying there, although it's not there upon examination.
I shall put it in the Unsolved Mysteries category.

I hear losing things in the bathroom is is actually fairly common. Cops lose firearms, I've found a cell phone once (Not mine, turned it in at the front desk).

I am glad. Made my day today. When you have a successful search and rescue mission.
Mental note: Do not put huge Hound Dogs in the rear pocket of your jeans, dockers or pants as it's an inherently unstable platform. My compact MD2 Malkoff OTOH stays there no matter what. It does fit better in the leg pocket, the one below the side pocket.

Any other interesting stories of search and rescue, or tragic stories of lights that disappeared, never to be seen again?

 

[thermal guy]

I once lost my HDS in my backyard and had to get up on my roof to find it lol. I had the locator beacon on but had to wait till it was pitch black something like 11:00 in order to find it. 😁

 

[sgt253]

Glad that your situation had a positive outcome. I can relate, as I have Vertx pants myself. I once lost a McGizmo 27LT with a then rare led emitter. Unfortunately, the outcome was not positive. I had been training in some low light scenarios inside a warehouse on a Navy base. I must have inadvertently set the light down on a crate to free my hands for the tasks needed to be accomplished. We completed the training and left the area. I returned after realizing the light was no longer with me, only to find an empty warehouse and no light anywhere to be found. I still regret my mistake.
Best.

 

[etc]

I once lost my HDS in my backyard and had to get up on my roof to find it lol. I had the locator beacon on but had to wait till it was pitch black something like 11:00 in order to find it. 😁

Oh, that's creative. Applause.gif

 

[etc]

Glad that your situation had a positive outcome. I can relate, as I have Vertx pants myself. I once lost a McGizmo 27LT with a then rare led emitter. Unfortunately, the outcome was not positive. I had been training in some low light scenarios inside a warehouse on a Navy base. I must have inadvertently set the light down on a crate to free my hands for the tasks needed to be accomplished. We completed the training and left the area. I returned after realizing the light was no longer with me, only to find an empty warehouse and no light anywhere to be found. I still regret my mistake.
Best.

You know, you can only hope someone else inherited it. So it's not a total loss to humanity.

There is loss as in 'destroyed' and a loss as in "you no longer have it, someone else does".
Really two different things.

You know as well as I do we can afford to lose half of our collection with no noticeable decrease in performance. I mean so what? I think I could get down to one light and be perfectly happy.
Except that's not really true anymore.. but it *was* true 20 years ago, when all I had was a Mini-Mag with that 1 lumen bulb in it.

I had so many Malkoffs at one point out of the blue I gifted one to someone, who had zero of anything. M361, the triple mode one. I didn't really rhyme with me and I just gave it away to the dude, complete light.

You should practice these brief moments of insanity. Then someone will have one light, their only light and you will be down to 17.

 

[etc]

I suppose I should talk about my other close call.

So I watch checking the oil one night, while at some gas station and left the Malkoff M61-Triple-Low sitting on the battery, shooting at the oil cap area. Checked the oil, put everything in, drove for 2 hours. Then the thought hit me, where the *** is the M61LLL? Hm, I know one place where it's not - my side pocket. And it can't be anywhere else. Since that's its designated place. Double hmm... *Then* realized where I left it and realized it probably fell off a few hundred meters after I left the station 2 hours ago when I jumped on the interstate and 1,000 and 1 18-wheelers already drove over it, crushing it into the dust it came from. Malkoff is durable but not *that* durable. Ah, sign.

Pulled over, opened the hood and could not believe my eyes. It's sitting right there. On top of the battery. Still turned on. Which is particularly strange since it was a bit loose on top of it, nothing holding in place. Could have easily rolled off into oblivion. I suppose I accelerated gently and braked gently too, all that time!
M61 L L L is a strange light, not essential to me but has a weird flood unlike other Malkoffs and weird tint on top of that I don't particularly care for yet I've grown to rely upon it from time to time. It's kind of an emergency backup device that rides in the car generally.

 

[sgt253]

Yes, I agree that someone finding it and using it softens the blow. I'd like to think that is how it played out. For selfish reasons, I have given away quite a few lights myself. I like the feeling after gifting. You must have "esp" regarding the collection of my lighting tools; or I need to sweep my environment for listening/viewing devices, LOL! I'm staring at 27 lights (both work tools and collectables) as this is typed. An embarrassment of riches most assuredly.
While in a remote part of northwest Virginia, I used a favorite light given to me by my now late Father. Streamlight ProPoly 4AA. Placed on the roof of my Jeep in haste before getting in and leaving private property merging onto a County highway. After hearing a "clunk" and seeing an object fly from my vehicle's roof, I successfully doubled back to retrieve the light and be on my way. That particular light has served me well over the years. It is now relegated to semi retired status given its history.

 

[tech25]

Close call, I was assigned to the emergency management (back in my EMS days) in my hospital preparing for a snow storm. For the most part we already prepared so there wasn't much to do.

I decided to top off some spare ambulances and command vehicles. Being that I wasn't on the road that day, my holster carried MD2 was left at the garage and I was carrying my ZL SC600w clipped to my right hand pocket.

When I got back, I couldn't find it anywhere and all but gave up on it. I went home for the night and the next morning came in again for the same assignment, got into a command vehicle and there it was clipped to the seat belt. The clip must have caught onto the belt at some point after putting it on and when I took it off the light stayed on the belt blocked from falling off by the buckle. I was so relieved. It was my first powerful flashlight at the time, a step up from my other main lights, an MD2 with an M61L and a Malkoff drop in for a 3D maglight.

 

[bykfixer]

I remember a while back a member saying they had magnetized a light to a metal spot under their car and had driven off and wondered where their light was, then later found it still magnetized to the car and still on. lol

 

[Roger Sully]

My McGizmo Haiku is missing for couple of weeks.....I'm tryingnot to panic but I'm losing hope!! 😢

 

[Chauncey Gardiner]

My MiNI MKIII, Father's Day present went missing for three weeks. Our son found it attached to the bottom of the kitchen sink. I'd been using it to watch the soap dispenser being filled by my Better 3/4s. Problem was I turned it off and reattached it to the sink before climbing/crawling out. Probably, due to a gin & tonic, was distracted and all too soon forgot it. Out sight - out of mind. I didn't miss it for a few days, which made looking for it a nightmare. I drove to my last two jobs where I remembered using it.

I was so happy when it was discovered. Lesson learned; if yer gunna drink and illuminate, use a light you won't mind losing.

Roger, I've said a prayer asking that your Haiku will turn up soon.

 

[Roger Sully]

Roger, I've said a prayer asking that your Haiku will turn up soon.

Chauncey, it would appear you've got some pull upstairs! I walked into my wife's office Saturday night and there, sitting on the corner of her makeup table, was my light!
I'd shown her pics of it while it was MIA and she swears she'd never seen it....At least now I know I can buy new lights and she wouldn't notice 😂😂😂

 

[Chauncey Gardiner]

sitting on the corner of her makeup table, was my light! ...At least now I know I can buy new lights and she wouldn't notice 😂😂😂

That's a win - win, Roger.

 

[Poppy]

I found it!!!

Yesterday while checking for a flashlight in my daughter's car.
Solarforce, L2N.
I always liked this light. It was one of my first 18650 lights, but certainly my first P60 dropin light. I even soldered in an XML-2 when they became available.

At night on camping trips with the scouts, we had to take a 1/4 mile trek to the parking lot to put food in our cars for safe keeping. My daughter walked with a couple of fathers along this dirt road, and when she lit up her light, they were blown away!

I've been wondering where it was, for a couple of years. I figured it was packed away with unused luggage up in the attic, but didn't know for sure.

I'm glad that I found it. I put new batteries into the Rayovac 2AA indestructible, and I'll replace that Solarforce with a Convoy S2+

 

[KITROBASKIN]

That's great you found the L2N!

Just wanted to mention that in these here parts, a bear will get a claw or two in between the car door glass and the weather stripping and pop it like nothing to get after some good smelling food. They will bust the lock mechanism on a truck shell hatch. A neighbor lost a bag of dog food that way.

 

[bykfixer]

I miss solar force.

The only light(s) I've ever lost were Streamlight micro stream(s). I finally stopped buying them because they kept disappearing. Take one to work with me, go to use it and it wasn't in my pocket for some reason. Go to pull one out of my pocket to use in an engine bay.... gone. After like 3 or 4 I just figured it was not to be. I really liked the 12 lumen version for the narrow beam. Each new one would be brighter and floodier.

One day in the WTS section here somebody had a pair of 12 lumen versions.... cheap. Eh, what the heck? Bought 'em both. And to this day I do not know where one of them went. The second one was stashed in a drawer for safe keeping. But the others? Got me.

 

[Poppy]

I miss solar force.

Yes, so do I.

I also miss my Solarforce L2M
Its the 2 piece straight body, that can take an 18350, or an 18650.
That one has gone missing about 6 years ago.

It is probably in a box with my maglite 2AA Pro+
an energizer wide angle 2D light
a Rayovac 2 D- 3LED light.
and others I don't recall missing.

 

[DaveTheDude]

I've also experienced - too often - the maddening feeling when you know a missing light is somewhere in your home or work domain, but can't locate it even after a dozen thorough searches. You know it will eventually resurface, but not when.

My wife likes to say that a gremlin has taken it, and will return it when its task is completed (eventually). The longest I've had to wait for my gremlins to complete their work is eleven months. Typically however they finish whatever fiendish project required them to abscond with my torch within a week or two.

I'm told that patience is a virtue. I'm withholding judgment on that score.

 

[IMA SOL MAN]

Several times my wife has come up to me and asked "Are you missing something?" Then she will hold out a flashlight to me that I had been carrying in my back pocket. "Where did you find it?" I would ask. "In the bathroom next to the toilet." she would reply. Well I finally got a NiteIze Pock-Its and stopped carrying lights in my back pockets. That's the good story.

Now for the bad, sad story--kind of.
A family member got their commercial drivers license and began driving a semi rig. They needed a light. I loaned them my 3D ML300LX, one of my most dear and loved flashlights to do their rig safety inspections with--a great light for an important job. Well, several months into the job, they accidently left it at a truck stop after doing an inspection! Grrrrrr! Well, my family member soon after quit trucking, so I bought the 4D ML300L to replace MY PRECIOUS with. ML had/has them on special for the same price as the 3D ML300LX, so...yeah, kind of a no-brainer. But, I still miss that 3D ML300LX. I hope it was picked up by someone that can really appreciate it, and Karma sends me a nice freebie some day!

 

[Jean-Luc Descarte]

This reminds me of a time back in like 2019 when I'd lost my precious Convoy M1. I'd gone to a department store carrying it, and only when I got back did I notice it missing. Much the same situation as etc's, I thought I had put it in a pocket of the (insecure pocket-wise) pants I was wearing, and it rolled from my leg straight to the ground when I opened the door. I drove back to the store, looked all around the parking lot, even went so far as to speak to staff and check their Lost & Found. Nothing. Did the same thing the next day. Still nothing.

I was gutted. That light was special for several reasons: it was a college graduation gift from my father, my first Convoy with Biscotti and as such the first Convoy I really liked (the old 3/5 driver, with its blink on low, was... blergh ), and my only warm white light (3000K-ish). All that on top of being a really nice torch. Still, what happened, happened, so I got over it and moved on with my life.

A few months later I was getting ready to go out I don't remember where. All I remember was I'd swapped my glasses for sun ones. Went to put the glasses case on the holder above the driver seat and... bonk. It thudded into something solid inside the holder. Weird, I keep that empty exactly to avoid situations like this. What could be in there? I reached in there to find out. Cold, anodized metal. Diamond knurling. Cylinder shape. Cooling fins.

Man did I feel like hopping and dancing like a lottery winner

As soon as I got the M1 out of its hiding spot, I remember what happened: I'd stowed it up there precisely because I didn't trust the pants' pockets to hold it in place. But I'd never done anything like that before or after, so I just forgot. Mental notebook failed me completely.