Share your Independence Day Flashlight Madness here!

Diesel_Bomber

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Feb 19, 2006
Messages
1,772
I'll start.

Just got back from a July 4th shindig. The end of the evening was watching fireworks on a large field. This was all done outdoors and after dark, of course. Thousands of people. How many flashlights? Four. Three of them were mine; two SL PP Lux AA's and a G2/P61. The fourth was a sickly incan and too far off to identify. Comments I heard were:

"Jesus H. Christ that thing's bright, where do I get one?"
"Hey, that's a good idea, we'll bring a light next year."
"Hahahaha, dumbass with a flashlight."
"Pardon me sir, can I borrow that for a minute?" (Police officer on a bicycle, referring to the G2; I let him.)

I'm still amazed by it. Going to an outdoor unlighted event AFTER DARK and out of thousands of people, only one person outside my group brought a flashlight.

I was LP'ing and gave different colored glowsticks to the kids. It was much easier to keep track of them while they were playing.

Next!
 

Trashman

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Mar 15, 2005
Messages
3,544
Location
Covina, California
I seemed to be the only one at the fireworks show that I attended, too. When the lights went down, it was cool to sweep the beam of the SL Scorpion (xenon) across a herd of thousands of people (repeatedly, throughout the night). I was in the bleachers, so the sweeping was definitely noticed. I brought the FFIII which I thought would be fun to use on strobe mode, but I didn't get any noticeable reaction from anybody. While the band was playing, "Hot, Hot, Hot," there was a very large samba line of several hundred people circling the center of the football field, and I could see some of the people waving at me when I shown the light upon them. The field was completely dark (my mom couldn't even see the samba line without me shining on it.)

Thought I might add, that my FFIII was impressively bright!
 
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senecaripple

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jan 4, 2005
Messages
1,262
Location
Winden/Sinaloa
the only flashlight we had to light up the fireworks was my keychain light. didnt think to carry any real flashlight at my friends house.

incidentally earlier in the day, one of the house guest received a citation for discharging fireworks. he just lit up some firecrackers as two scooter cops passed by the house. not a very smart move. guess the six pack he drank earlier slowed down his judgement. even his son's told him to stop. but guess he didnt care or heard the warning. not a smart move. now he has to appear in court and answer to these charges!
 

Sigman

* The Arctic Moderator *
Joined
Sep 25, 2002
Messages
10,124
Location
"The 49th State"
4th of July fireworks in Anchorage, Alaska stinks this time of year!! Too much daylight - they're just noise. :sigh:
 

Lunal_Tic

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 29, 2004
Messages
2,875
Location
The Wilds of Tokyo
Sigman said:
4th of July fireworks in Anchorage, Alaska stinks this time of year!! Too much daylight - they're just noise. :sigh:

I guess you can't set them off in the place you test your flashlights . . .the bathroom. :laughing:

-LT
 

Sigman

* The Arctic Moderator *
Joined
Sep 25, 2002
Messages
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Location
"The 49th State"
Lunal_Tic said:
I guess you can't set them off in the place you test your flashlights . . .the bathroom. :laughing: -LT
Oh we have "fireworks" in the "test lab" now & then - of course it all depends on what we had to eat earlier! :toilet: :eeew:
 

darkhanger18

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Jan 9, 2006
Messages
94
Location
Westchester, New York
took the amandotech hid to the fireworks along with the l4... we had the hid pointing straight up in the air when it got dark, and everyone that was with us never got lost :) l4 was good for trying to get everyone back to the car
 

greenLED

Flashaholic
Joined
Mar 26, 2004
Messages
13,263
Location
La Tiquicia
Had my U2 out for the fireworks session last night. Pretty cool to see the light shine through the smoke, etc.
 

clipse

Enlightened
Joined
Dec 17, 2003
Messages
428
I took my Streamlight Scorpion to my dads. (about 30-50 people) and where they were using the fireworks, all they had was a 2AA mini maglite. Well, my little nephew (can't walk yet) wondered off and everyone freaked out. They were shining that poor mini maglite all over the place and no seeing a thing. I used my Scorpion and gave my SL propolymer 4AA Lux to my wife and we found the little tyke within 15 seconds. Odd thing is, when I showed up I gave my dad his 20 year old 3D maglite back that I replaced the lens, reflector, and added a Luxeon LED to. I still don't understand why he didn't have it with him.

After using my SL Scorpion I got alot of "G--D-MN thats a bright flashlight." :)

The next night we went to an event in a local city that had several thousand (my guess is 7-8 thousand) people. I irritated alot of people. One guy started yell strange things about 20 yards behind me.(I think he was drunk) and I took my Scopion and shined right at him. He started yelling real dramatically that he was blind. Strangly enough, I didn't hear anything out of him after that. :)

clipse
 

Sigman

* The Arctic Moderator *
Joined
Sep 25, 2002
Messages
10,124
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"The 49th State"
Wonder if Larry got the "Tank Light" up & running so the International Space Station could see the show? :D
 

yuandrew

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Apr 12, 2003
Messages
1,323
Location
Chino Hills, CA
I bought my MagLED 2D out again for the walk to a street in my neighborhood which overlooks the city. The were lots of other neighbors hanging out at that spot as well, just one of the traditional places to watch several firework shows at once from Chino to Ontario/Rancho Cucamonga.

No one had expected to see an LED light with that much throw before let alone it looked like an ordinary 2D Mag. I sort of used it as a "laser pointer" to point out a few spots where a show would start. My friends and I also used it while hikeing up a nearby hill to get a better view.

After most of the crowd had left, we got out our stash of fireworks and let them off in a small picnic area and my friend was using my light to see the fuses when he lit them.
 

The_LED_Museum

*Retired*
Joined
Aug 12, 2000
Messages
19,414
Location
Federal Way WA. USA
The fireworks here were past my bedtime, but I used my Arc AAA P to see the fuses on the fireworks we lit in the back yard of my parent's house across town.
 
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