Sledding in the dark-some people aren't smart

Tonight, my wife and I took out 3 year old daughter sledding at the place where they are building our new church. It was out in the middle of a cornfield surrounded by some small hills for sledding. There were quite a few people who showed up and they had a few bon-fires going but the hill where the kids was sledding was still quite dark. A small few had some small incans and a few low output LEDs. My wife wouldn't let me bring by 15MCP Thor but she did let me bring my Mag 85, AE Powerlight, Surefire M3 and E1L. It was pretty funny, I didn't turn anything on untill we got down to the bottom of the hill where all the people where. I couldn't really see the hill so I lit it up with my Mag 85. Two guys were kinda freaked out by the light as it lit up the entire side of the hill with blinding light. I took my daughter up the hill to sled down and lit her up on the way down with the Mag 85 so she wouldn't hit anyone or anyone hit her while she was going down. My wife was at the bottom of the hill. Some guy at the bottom yelled up at me "No Flashlights Please". That kinda ticked me off since the kids couldn't really see where they were going. One time, my daughter went down the hill and I ran back down to pull her back up. Not having my light on, two other girls in one of those tubes came down the hill and ran right into my daughter while she was still on the sled. Luckily she wasn't hurt. After that, I was upset and we left. While leaving (long trail back through the field), I had my AE on. Some lady did tell me that I was smart for bringing a flashlight. All I thought was Duh, its dark, why not bring a flashlight. It was icey and people were slipping on it because they couldn't see in the dark. Whats up with people? Isn't it common sense to have a flashlight in the dark? Especially outside.

Aaron1100us said:

Some guy at the bottom yelled up at me "No Flashlights Please". That kinda ticked me off since the kids couldn't really see where they were going.

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I'd have just ignored him. Just cause he is stupid enough to go out without a torch, why should you have to fumble around in the dark. If you were shining it directly in his eyes he may have a point but if you are just lighting up the way, what's it got to do with him ???

Aaron1100us said:

Some guy at the bottom yelled up at me "No Flashlights Please".

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If he yelled that at me I would simply comply, and blindly crash into him with the sled when I got to the bottom. :devil:

people do have a funny attitude about that sometimes.
Some even act as if you are a sissy for needing a light.
Even my buddies rip on my alot about my lights, till they need one.
I have been called the "local flashlight nerd" more times than I can count.

~John

LowBat said:

If he yelled that at me I would simply comply, and blindly crash into him with the sled when I got to the bottom. :devil:

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Ditto that.

:lolsign: maybe the're not used to flashlights in iowa

*

Jay R said:

I'd have just ignored him. Just cause he is stupid enough to go out without a torch, why should you have to fumble around in the dark. If you were shining it directly in his eyes he may have a point but if you are just lighting up the way, what's it got to do with him ???

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I kind of see both sides of this one, depending on the situation.

I was a ScoutMaster for a couple years, and Boy Scouts love their flashlights. Flashlights (of COURSE) have their place and are valuable tools. What we tried to teach the Boy Scouts, though, is that they don't have to be used ALL THE TIME. Depending on available light and the surroundings, there are times you can easily go without a flashlight. If there's snow on the ground, and the moon's out, I could easily maneuver after my eyes were adapted.

And that's the key.

When your eyes are night adapted, you're running around just fine, and someone comes along with a light - it messes up your night adaptation. Then, you either have to use a light yourself, or wait up to 20 minutes to be fully adapted again.

It always used to **** me off when a Scout would do that. Some Scouts, especially the younger ones, would turn their flashlights on some time around sunset, and have them on all the time (literally) for everything. We would tell them to turn them off and they would say "I can't see!" Wait a minute. "I still can't see!" Patience, boy, patience. When we were able to actually get them to sit in the dark for long enough for their eyes to adapt, they could see that they could get from the camp fire to where they had to pee to the tent and back, all without a flashlight.

Back to sledding in the dark - I could see how someone might feel, if the moon was bright, the sky clear, the snow white, and the ambient light good, that they were well-adapted and a flashlight wasn't only not necessary, but would mess them (and everyone else) up.

:candle:

The skies were overcast and we were far enough away from the city (5 miles) so there wasn't much ambient light. The few small bon-fires were going and you could sort of see the people on the hill sledding but IMHO, it was not safe, atleast for sledding with about 40-50 kids on a poorly lit hill. And my daughter did get hit by two girls who where on one of those tubes because they could not see her. And looking at the bon-fires and then looking at the hill totally messed up the eye sight. Standing on top of the hill wasn't too bad but you still couldn't see the people at the bottom very well. I guess I'd rather **** someone off and be safe. I only kept the light on my daughter while she was going down the hill and then turned it off when my wife was next to her. I probably should have used the E1L or M3 instead of the Mag 85, my bad.

I have a temper issue at times and probably would have just aimed all my lights at him LOL

Perhaps your daughter got hit because the other girls had lost their night vision from the guy shining the big lights around

Seems like a good place to use blinky lights on the kids.