Whew, just had my first real-world flashlight scare!!

I was helping a friend carry some alcohol into his house for a Black Friday party, and one of the girls there noticed a figure on the sidewalk approximately one driveway down from where we were standing, vomiting and laying on the ground hysterical. I asked my friend if he wanted to go check him out with me per the girl's suggestion. So he agreed and we proceeded to head that direction. I fired up my EX10 on high (wish I could lie and say it was a hotwire or Milky-mod) to shine on the ground and we walked over to where the problem was. Turned out to be a 16-17 year old kid obviously high on some mystery substance, as he wasn't being responsive to our speech, or was just ignoring us, couldn't be sure at this point. I didn't shine the light in his eyes, just let the outer edge of the spill beam encompass where he was. The vomiting continues and a few more guys show up to the party. They get out of the car and head over to where we're standing cause the girls are pointing in our direction. Once there, the 'high guy' stands up, puts his glasses on, and says directly to me with a straight face: "Are you a cop?" I'm sure he thought I was given the state he was in, and the fact that I had a bright flashlight in my hand. I calmly and reassuredly responded: "No man, I'm not a cop. We're just here to make sure you're alright. Do you know where you're headed?" So then he goes: "Are you a F*@^&#$ COP!!" and lunges toward me specifically, almost as if he was trying to throw a head butt. So I quickly stepped to the side to avoid the contact, and the poor guy fell straight to the ground and knocked himself out for a moment. We all stood there for a bit in disbelief, then he came back to consciousness, dazed. Still reacting to the 'mystery drug', he got up, said a few more not-so-nice words, and went his way. I can't say that I was terrified, but it definitely had me wired for the next 30 minutes or so. You just never know what to expect in an encounter with a drug-crazed individual. The girls didn't go back outside the rest of the night. When I decided to leave, I fired up the EX10 again and did a quick perimeter search of the house just to make sure. Then I went my way.

So this wouldn't be an appropriate anecdote for one of the SF 'True Stories' that you win a gift certificate over I don't think, because:
1) I wasn't carrying a SF, &
2) Having a flashlight went to my disadvantage rather than the other way around :thinking:

In retrospect, had I known this specific situation was going to occur, I would have chosen a different light. Then the flashaholism kicks in: what light? Your own variables will likely differ from mine a great deal, so I won't list them. But I will list the light: an L4 with a P7 emitter swap and two-mode Acorn driver (5% & Max)

Are you going to change your screen name?

Great story, I hope the kid is alright.

and btw, why the question LED Thrift?

It's kinda random imo

How is having a flashlight in such a situation a disadvantage? if you were going to check out the character and see that he was okay anyway (the girls would've heard him even if they hadn't seen him) wouldn't you rather have had some form of illumination? being behind the light gave you a tactical advantage IMHO whether you were shining the light in his face or not :thumbsup:

M@elstrom said:

being behind the light gave you a tactical advantage IMHO whether you were shining the light in his face or not :thumbsup:

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Excellent point, guess I didn't think of it that way when I made my post. I sort of felt like having the flashlight made me a target, similar to those "Shoot Me First" tactical vests that I hear some people refer to.

I've had several "flashlight scares" over the years. Having the only 200+ lumen light in any dark situation is as much an advantage as having a weapon imo. If you've ever been on the receiving end of a truly tactical light with wide open pupils you'll know what I mean. My main cary light for nighttime scenarios has 700+ lumens out the front, a strike bezel, a bustacap tail, and weighs enough to whomp somebody good if needed. I've never felt the need to smack someone with it, the lights output is more than enough to give me enough advantage to survive the situation.

I have a lot of friends who don't understand why I carry flashlights everywhere I go, they always assume it's no tactical advantage at all. I've challenged several friends to come at me in the dark, I say I promise I won't whack them. All I do is shine em or strobe their eyes and never once has somebody gotten ahold of me. 99 times out of 10 I can get cuffs or zipties on em before they even know what happened.

Confrontation scenarios aside, I use my lights every single day and night. I don't know how I ever lived without em. Good job to the OP on trying to help first, and secondly for avoiding the attack. Sounds like you and your friends learned some valuable lessons.

g

mr.squatch said:

99 times out of 10

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Nice, a 990% success rate. :laughing:

To the OP:

It's sad to say, but the older I've gotten, the more I realize how true it is that "no good deed goes unpunished". You were just trying to help someone out, and you could've been hurt or worse if the guy had a knife.

I know hind sight is 20/20, but in a situation like that, call 911, report the problem and ask for the cops and an ambulance, and stand back.

Helping people is all well and good, but in a situation like that you need to use caution first and protect yourself to avoid becoming a victim.

Again, sad to say it, but that's the reality of the world we live in, regardless what rosy picture some may try to paint.

i think he would have approched the situation diffrently knowing if the guy was high on some whacked out drugs.

he probably just thought it was a guy from the party throwing up from too much beer?

and mr.squatch, do u carry handcuffs and zip ties around with you?

ninjaboigt said:

and mr.squatch, do u carry handcuffs and zip ties around with you?

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Doesn't everyone?

g

I do not see anything that was done as being wrong or in any way encouraging an attack. I would have called the police after the fact to report it as the man was a threat to himself as well as others.

I had a similar incident happen to me a few years ago. I was going to drop off some guitar picks at a pupil's house, when I saw something very awkward: a guy laying in bushes. At first I thought he was dead, so I pulled out my EDC at the time (SF A2) to see what's what. I took a look, and it was obvious he was some 13-14 year old kid knocked off his @$$ from being drunk. On his face and hands were gang tatoos, so I knew not to get too close to him. 10-14 y.o. wannabe "gang" members are a dime a dozen in my neighborhood, unfortunately... nay, in the entire SF Bay Area.

I called 911 and waited for fire/EMS to arrive. In the 15 minutes of waiting, other concerned folks came around to make sure all is well. I recall an older lady saying "he's still a baby". Seeing those gang tatoos, the state he was in, and of course, his age, I concurred and thought about how ridiculous this world has become.:shakehead Fire/EMS arrived, they did the "chest rub" to wake him, and they took care of the situation. All in all it was scary, very strange to say the least! My guitar pupil came out to take a look at what was going on, and she was pretty shocked too.

It's safe to say I'll be EDCing an HID from now on!

mr.squatch said:

Doesn't everyone?

g

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I used to as a Security Officer till they (the handcuffs) became annoying to carry... I need to get a pair of S&W hinged to make things easier to carry with my EDC.

brighterisbetter said:

In retrospect, had I known this specific situation was going to occur, I would have chosen a different light. Then the flashaholism kicks in: what light? Your own variables will likely differ from mine a great deal, so I won't list them. But I will list the light: an L4 with a P7 emitter swap and two-mode Acorn driver (5% & Max)

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It is unclear as to what your selection criteria are, but your first sentence should be a clue. You generally don't know when some stressful situation may occur. So guessing as to what gear to carry on some arbitrary day is simply a silly exercise. My advice is to carry general purpose gear, carry the same gear, carry it in the same place, and learn to draw it with no conscious thought. People who frequently rotate through different carry lights, most likely with different user interfaces, and carried in different locations and orientations are just setting themselves up for a brain fart.

Bruce B said:

I used to as a Security Officer till they (the handcuffs) became annoying to carry... I need to get a pair of S&W hinged to make things easier to carry with my EDC.

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I carry two of these http://www.galls.com/google/style.html?assort=general_catalog&style=RS148&cat=3025 with four pair asp trifolds. They don't weigh anything and hardly take up any room. They also have a couple other belt-carried options if you're still doin the SO gig

g

Justin Case said:

It is unclear as to what your selection criteria are, but your first sentence should be a clue. You generally don't know when some stressful situation may occur. So guessing as to what gear to carry on some arbitrary day is simply a silly exercise. My advice is to carry general purpose gear, carry the same gear, carry it in the same place, and learn to draw it with no conscious thought. People who frequently rotate through different carry lights, most likely with different user interfaces, and carried in different locations and orientations are just setting themselves up for a brain fart.

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Excellent point, my EDC lights are the Nitecore EX10 on my keyring, and a Ti PD-S in an AOTH belt holester (sometimes the latter is rotated with a LunaSol 27). They're what I have with me AT ALL TIMES, except when in the shower. Perhaps the next move is to switch out the EX10 with something a bit more potent. I never use the ramping anyway, so a simple on/off high-output clickie may be the ticket. I'd like to stick to single CR123's though, and still be keychainable. Any suggestions?

mr.squatch said:

I carry two of these http://www.galls.com/google/style.html?assort=general_catalog&style=RS148&cat=3025 with four pair asp trifolds. They don't weigh anything and hardly take up any room. They also have a couple other belt-carried options if you're still doin the SO gig

g

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Yeah I'm still doing the SO gig, and I'd prefer a pair of cuffs over zip tie style cuffs... even though my company prefers us to be totally hands off... which is stupid cause sometimes the cops are too far away when you need them.

Ever since I reduced my EDC lights from a P3D-RB100 to a NT 120P and a Nitecore D10, I've missed the extra lumens. I just did my first P7 build in a MRV. Love the light output put to big to EDC. I'm seriously thinking about a Milky e2e P7 build!

brighterisbetter, it's a good thing you had the awareness to side step the guy when he lunged!

bluecrow76 said:

It's a good thing you had the awareness to side step the guy when he lunged!

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That's what happens you're sober and the other guy's not :twothumbs Plus, my reflexes are pretty good since I've been MMA training.

Whenever someone asks:


" Are you a Cop ? "



i reply:


" No, are You ? "

_