New Yorkers and other city dwellers -- When/where do you use your lights?

I'm sure all of you who live in New York City and other well-developed cities are tired of those streetlamps that ruin a flashaholic's good fun. I know I'm dying to use all my lights but there's just way too much ambient lighting around in the city... Soo, exactly as the title says -- when and where do you use your lights?

Used my L0P in the movie theater on 83rd and Broadway a couple of weeks ago to look for our 2yr old's lost hat after a showing of Curious George. My wife had the Aleph 2. We were well prepared!

Otherwise not too many places to use them.


cfb

Try a dark alley or the park?

Any enclosed public place is a hazard, I always carry a torch.

Power out, torch out.

Also useful for quick signalling of location to family etc.

I live in downtown Seattle so not much darkness even at night. I like walking my dog late at night in Discovery Park which is a large city park. It gets very dark there so it's a great place to try out new lights. Other than that there's plenty of nooks and crannies in the city if you want real darkness. Sometimes you just have to go looking for it. Bright flashlights are good city lights since with all the ambient lighting your night vision rarely gets a chance. An ARC AAA wouldn't do much good for me walking down the street.

JimmyB

Most of the Dallas/Fort Worth area is so well lit that there's rarely a need for a flashlight... I most often use mine in the dark patches along the wooded bike trail behind my apartment - but don't really need them.

I always take a flashlight or two to First Saturday; it might be a "lighted location," but those high-pressure sodium lamps are spaced a little too far between whenever you're digging through a box or trying to read some fine print.

I guess I'm a typical white-collar urbanite; I EDC for added convenience and emergency-preparedness, not because I need a flashlight on a daily basis.

I live in the outskirts of Tokyo, the majority of the time, the main streets are well lit, but the side streets where the houses and apartments are located are poorly lit. Riding a bike at night, you do need a light, i am not content with the bike light so i always have an excuse to use my edc.
The edc comes out when i drop something and have to find it in the dark.
On another note, i live close to an air force base and the general lights coming off there are so strong there is an eerie yellow glow being cast upwards in that general direction all the time.

I mostly use mine indoors. Look for something under the couch, shed extra light on something I'm trying to examine closely, find my way to the bathroom at night, that kind of thing. Outdoor lighting is (ugh) bright enough that flashlights aren't needed. Unless, of course, there's a blackout .

For the past 6 months, mine have mostly been used indoors as well. When I was in the States I was able to go camping more often even though I lived in Chicago. Here in Edinburgh, I've found that the wooded walk along the River Leith is the place for my lights to shine. There are lots of walkers, joggers, cyclists on the path after dark and most of them have lights so I don't appear too suspicious playing with my lights there. But as far as where I live (on the Mound) forget it, too much ambient light.

Urban exploration.

I have no use for flashlights besides that

Right before I go to sleep, after I turn out all my lights, I shine mine down the hall just for fun. Sometimes I test the throw of my various lights off my 20th floor balcony, down into the park below me.

Of course the main use in the city is in case of black out, or misplacing something at a bar or restaurant...

A good chunk of the Metro trains are underground. Now it's been a LOOONG time since we've actually had a major power failure on the Metro but all you have to do is experience total darkness, 60 feet underground, surrounded by strangers and you'll never be without a light of your own again!

paulr said:

Unless, of course, there's a blackout .

Click to expand...

Don't we all just pray for this!

My back yard is far enough away from the ambient street lighting that using a light doesn't hurt. And there are a few streets where the overgrown trees block the streetlights so my bikelight actually does more than just enable me to be seen. In general though I just hope for a blackout. :laughing:

For those who are used to living in cities, we were amazed at how dark the last black out left us. That was the one overriding comment from everyone: "I never realized it could get so dark".

Waaayyy too much light around here too... I live in the west of my city, so to the east there is too much light from the city itself. To the west, well there's a military airstrip about 2 miles from my home, to the north there's the largest airport of the country at about 25 miles, which causes quite a glow in the sky, and to the south, well there are a lot of greenouses overthere which cause their share of light-pollution...

Dammit! I wish I still lived with my parents, in a small town, close to a forrest. Sigh... those were the days, go out with a bunch of friends at night to the forest and take some smokebombs and flashlights with you... that was fun, really scared some of my mates shitless

My house faces south. That is where the moon is visible from. Not to mention the street light on our front lawn. Therefore the backyard, on the north side, is the ideal place to shine/use a light. That's where I tried out my G2 when I first bought it and it lit up the backyard quite well. Yesterday I purchased a SL 4AA PP LED but haven't taken it outside yet. I used it indoors last night quite a bit. I think I have to get used to the blue-ish tint, even though it states 'white' light. I think I'll keep this light for its 155 hr run time (also considered the 3 C LED, longer length, 355 hr but higher priced).

[font=&quot]Primary use for things dropped in dark places and looking behind electronic equipment to identify correct sockets and adapters. Movie theaters, bars and restaurants to retrieve dropped items. I carry at least two lights when going out in the night. The cheap Dorcy 1 AAA to lend out and my new Fenix L1P is my new primary EDC. I'm going to go out into the dark desert and do some beamshots of my small collection of lights soon.[/font][font=&quot][/font]

indoors and at car parks and night walks around my park.


despite being in the city, we also live near a forest reserve so sometimes we do night walks there with our lights.

Mostly indoors. Dim ones for shuffleing around, brighter when I just can't find something. Outside I never need more than an EL Hyper Blaster or XO3 if I hear something that needs investigation as everything is pretty compact in my neighborhood.

It took a long time to find a place in the city that is dark enough for testing/comparing new lights. I needed a place that I could get to on my bicycle. A year ago I found that the wharves are nearly perfect for testing flashlights -- as long as I don't wake up in Gitmo.

Looks like most of you guys REALLY DON'T have a NEED for them . . . .