What did you use your flashlight for today?

[fulee9999]

Today I used my Malkoff MD3 to check out how the hardwood floor sanding gone and later my Black Diamond Storm to illumanite the crane end while loading some heavy equipment into my car. I've gotta say, this little headlamp is pretty amazing for the price, one caveat is that you have to manufacture your own locking mechanism of the battery compartment because it usually breaks instantly on the first closing .
( I am yet to get to it as you can see... )

 

[knucklegary]

@fulee9999, Is the toggle clasp plastic instead of wire loop?
I read a couple reviews that said it breaks easily, upon first closure in some cases.
Good to know, I was near ready to pull the trigger on a new Storm 450. If it has same plastic crap I'm passing..

 

[fulee9999]

@fulee9999, Is the toggle clasp plastic instead of wire loop?
I read a couple reviews that said it breaks easily, upon first closure in some cases.
Good to know, I was near ready to pull the trigger on a new Storm 450. If it has same plastic crap I'm passing..

It had the same plastic GoPro case style clasp, this wire loop you can see is just a random blue paperclip I've bent to shape...
This is exactly how mine looked in the first three minutes:

I also read the reviews, and I was like, nah, that couldn't break that easily, but as you close the battery compartment the waterproofing o-ring pushes the back of the unit a tiny bit back and when you try to close that very weak clasp it just snaps. If you ever closed a waterproof casing like on an action camera, you will be familiar with the reverse direction locking and the satisfying ka-chunk when it closes, well this one just breaks... You have to force the unit together and when there is no resistance you can close it. Very bad design.

On another note I believe the Storm 400 is newer unit if I'm right... no?

Anyhow, I also have an older Spot350, it's basically the same exact thing, only difference - other than the different closing mechanism - is that it only has a single colored LED ( it's red LED only instead of r-g-b ) and it's not compatible with the BD rechargeable battery.
If you really want the extra feature of the Storm, check out the STORM 500-R, but otherwise the SPOT350 is great headlamp, I really like mine, it has the whole-body locking as well, so it doesn't break.

 

[gurdygurds]

Zebralight Sc52w in lantern mode. Diffuser was fashioned 20 min ago in the garage when a nasal spray bottle met my box cutter. Perfect fit.

 

[Jean-Luc Descarte]

Used my Sofirn SP40 last night to troubleshoot my nephew's drag-along schoolbag. One of the wheels was seized and didn't turn properly.

After a bit of fiddling, including opening the inner lining of the pockets to get to the frame and finding out the axle is riveted on, I managed to disassemble the wheel and find the bearing. It was bone dry and one single ball was dislodged, putting pressure unevenly on the races and getting the whole bearing stuck on the axle. Easy fix with a screwdriver.

One bit of silicone grease (from the flashlight repair bucket) on the bearing later, it doesn't even make noise when spun. Not bad for my first time doing this kind of repair.

 

[gurdygurds]

Alternative nightstand setup….warm Yuji’d Photon Freedom chopstick hack.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

Today my travels took me to an old movie theater building. I used my PD36R to navigate the mostly unlit building, winding up multiple dark stairways all the way up to the projection booth where I needed to inspect some hardware. Most of the fluorescent lamps in the booth were burned out with one or two of them emitting only an occasional weak flicker. My flashlight really paid off today.

 

[Jean-Luc Descarte]

Today my travels took me to an old movie theater building. I used my PD36R to navigate the mostly unlit building, winding up multiple dark stairways all the way up to the projection booth where I needed to inspect some hardware. Most of the fluorescent lamps in the booth were burned out with one or two of them emitting only an occasional weak flicker. My flashlight really paid off today.

The way you're describing it, the movie theater feels like it was almost abandoned. The mental image is really rad.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

The way you're describing it, the movie theater feels like it was almost abandoned. The mental image is really rad.

It hasn't been used in a long time. Yeah a little spooky.

 

[Monocrom]

It hasn't been used in a long time. Yeah a little spooky.

Sounds like it would make a great back-drop for a horror movie. A smart entrepreneur would rent it, and use it as a Halloween Horror House walk-through experience. We used to have one of those old, Grand theaters in my old neighborhood in Flushing NY. Went there as a small child long after its prime. Converted into a movie theater. I can just imagine the amazing live performances that went on in that opulent place decades before I was born. Shortly there afterwards it became abandoned. Stood that way for decades. Just boarded up. In a prime spot too. Only a few months ago it was finally torn down by (I'm assuming) new owners. Sickening how such beautiful places are left to rot. Should have been saved decades ago as a historical landmark.

On topic:
The drunken, frequently hung-over, co-worker who shows up for his shift right before mine ends; called to say he was running late again. Normally that phone call comes every Monday morning. Unlike myself, he gets every single weekend off, yet still can't show up to work on time, on Mondays. It's his job to open up the gates. Doesn't really matter as the main gate is left open 24/7 for deliveries to the Cafeteria that pretends it's a boutique cafe. People who work there love to complain by sending e-mails that their favorite particular gate was locked when they showed up to work in the morning.

Proper reply would be, "Then take your lazy backside to the main gate that you know is always open, and drive around." These are fit, healthy adults doing the complaining. So security gets grief for it. Rather than giving it to that one joke of a lazy co-worker, or just firing him. So, got the call from him. Grabbed the keys. I despise Daylight Savings Time. Just an idiotic concept in modern life. Every year, I save $0.oo on candles thanks to it. Instead of the Sun being up, I'm at the gates in pitch darkness, trying to put a tiny key into a lock. Out comes my Powertac Sabre 2AA LED Penlight (very underrated penlight model). Used that to see the proper position of the slot to insert the key into.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

I have one of those six-in-one screwdrivers that has a reversible, removable hollow shaft with reversible bits on each end of it. Today it suddenly failed in a way that prevented me from fully seating the shaft all the way into the handle.

Out came the PD36R as I peered down into the hole in the handle to find that the coin shaped magnet that was pressed into the bottom of the hole had partially flipped on it's side, causing the edge of the magnet to face upwards, partially blocking the hole. So I used the removable shaft with the flat-head bit facing down to hammer the magnet back into place. This is the first time I've used a flashlight to fix a screwdriver.

 

[bigburly912]

I plumbed a shower. It was not fun. Literally working through a 12” hole

 

[Burgess]

After several years of extensive testing,
I can give a VERY BIG THUMBS UP to
Uniball PowerTank 1.0mm Black RT ballpoints !
Yes, it has pressurized ink, to write at ANY angle,
but has NEVER, EVER leaked or "crapped"
AT ALL for me !

FAR superior to Fisher Space Pens !

https://www.staples.com/uni-ball-Power-Tank-RT-Retractable-Ballpoint-Pen-Bold-1-0-mm-Black-12-pk-42070/product_572083?cid=PS:GS:SBD:PLA:OS&gclid=Cj0KCQjwhsmaBhCvARIsAIbEbH5yR19Ie2vn-AoNbIcUlcPiMfQjL1-MYcS1DLzzaV2dicDjo59Ge-IaAlTLEALw_wcB

 

[gurdygurds]

Today I used some Malkoff lights to make some money which I promptly used to purchase some Zebralights.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

Today I used some Malkoff lights to make some money which I promptly used to purchase some Zebralights.

Ahh, the circle of life lights.

 

[bykfixer]

I've been using an Elzetta G AA on medium (30 throwey lumens) to shine a path to make sure I don't step on doggy land mines when taking the pup out before bed time for the last month or so.

I looked at Elzetta to confirm the medium is 30 lumens and saw they have $10 off the AA and $20 off the RCR version.

 

[fulee9999]

after putting down some hardwood floor, I had a scratch on my finger, and I couldn't figure out if I had a splinter or or it's just a deeper cut... soooo I used my Malkoff E2XT to shine through my finger to see if there are any foreign bodies inside, or just tissue. Worked perfectly.

 

[bykfixer]

Well........
What was the conclusion?

 

[Monocrom]

Don't leave us hanging. ❓

 

[bykfixer]

Had a night shift operation last night and took the oportunity to use the short version of the Maglite ML150 with a white safety wand over the end. It was mainly used to see where there had been a pavement stripe that was removed to make sure all of the stripe was gone before they put down new stripes 3 feet away since we are shifting traffic 3 feet on a project.

My boss was with me and I have provided numerous nice lights to her over the years so when I saw what looked like a tactical light (in low light it resembled an Elzetta Bones) I asked "is that an Elzetta?" The response was such a let down...
"Harbor Freight, 5 bucks"......
Doh!!