Has a flashlight truly saved your hide? How? (Or Minimag saves stupid hunter, lol )

Has a flashlight ever been the principal instrument that has helped save you from possible injury/death/dire consequenses?

My AA Minimag saved both my brother in law and myself about 20 years ago, from almost certain death by hypothermia.

We were out bowhunting in late October in a fairly new area and it had been a VERY wet month. Before we knew it it was dark in the woods, very dark and moonless night. We stumbled around trying to find our way out and eventually found ourselves in the middle of a swamp, up to our knees in water, in perhaps 35 degree temps with no way to remember exactly how we had gotten there. Part of the problem was we had gone over a section of this type terrain on a smallish land bridge and it looked "familair" so we kept moving forwards.

My Minimag(he did not carry one that trip) picked up the remains of an old fenceline. Just a line of posts perhaps 15 feet apart with no wire left on them. By using the light we followed the line of poles out of the woods to a road where we made it back to our truck. We were very cold, wet and shivering, and without the light to recognize the fenceline, and find each pole quickly to follow, we would have succumbed to hypothermia long before finding our way out.

The flashlight has saved me many times from getting into such a fix, but this was the time they got me out of such a fix.

nope, hope i never will.
good reminder though, never leave your light at home!

Re: Has a flashlight truly saved your hide? How? (Or Minimag saves stupid hunter, lol )

I EDC several flashlights in my pockets, and right now I am using a Lumapower Mini-D as my quick go-to light since it has enough throw for a quick overhead clearance check at work. I operate a broadcast microwave truck with a 54 foot mast. It would be a major problem if I elevated the metalic mast into an overhead power line, or other overhead obstruction! I start at 3:00am, so right now, the first three hours of my shift are in the dark, so a flashlight is an essential, and yes it can save my hide on a daily basis.
I carry quite a few lighting devices with me, from a 400w K5600 HMI A/C powered light, to three Photon Freedoms in UV, White, and Red. Also in my arsenal, a McCullough X900, AmandoTech 3152, ElectroLumens K2 and P4 Stunners, and an M6 with Powerizer RCR123 and MN61. Just the tip of the iceberg!
What can I say, I'm afreaid of the dark!
:laughing:

Re: Has a flashlight truly saved your hide? How? (Or Minimag saves stupid hunter, lol )

I hope to never get into a Life-Death situation. But if I do, I'll have a light(or two, or three...) with me.

Nice story, I'm glad to hear that you and your brither got out of there relatively unharmed.

Re: Has a flashlight truly saved your hide? How? (Or Minimag saves stupid hunter, lol )

Nope never had a flashlight save my life, but I've carried one 24/7 for several years now...so, should a situation arrise where having a functioning light will save my life,I am well sorted.

Great thread and story BTW, thanks for sharing.


CFU

Re: Has a flashlight truly saved your hide? How? (Or Minimag saves stupid hunter, lol )

Nice story, thanks for sharing. Prime example when a flashlight can make the difference of live and death in a very "mundane" situation. I've been fortunate enough to not been in a situation like that, so far.

Re: Has a flashlight truly saved your hide? How? (Or Minimag saves stupid hunter, lol )

I know this has been posted a very times but this is the story that always comes to mind when I think of a flashlight being a life saving tool. It is off of Safe Lights web site.

http://www.palights.com/pages/testimonials.html
"I work in the financial center in New York City. I was one of the fortunate to escape the collapsing towers last week. I found myself hiding in the dark. Your light proved invaluable to me. Not only could I find it with the soft light it emits, it was bright enough to lead others around, soft enough to hold in my teeth, and worked even after dropping it, several times, in the dust. Thank you, thank you." Michelle S. Kert

Re: Has a flashlight truly saved your hide? How? (Or Minimag saves stupid hunter, lol )

Well every time I go into a cave its pretty essential that my lights work. Of course I do this on purpose so I'm not sure it counts.

Every year the NSS publishes a list of all cave related accidents. Each year there are a handful of rescues of unprepared people trapped without light, but I don't think anybody has died that way, although being stuck in the dark for a day or two would really suck.

Sub_Umbra said:

...In the early 70s I was on a small tug with a tow crossing the Gulf of Alaska when we lost our generator (lights, radio) and our main engines just as the barge we were towing began to sink into the 35F water. Amazingly, the only light that could be made to work that night was a dopey disposable incan, wrapped up in a baggie in my kit, that I had carried around for years. I gave it to the engineer and he used it to finally get a gas powered pump running and it saved the day. That was another "flashaholic moment"...

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...

new years eve 2003/04 I attended a hike with a group of ppl (just knew a few of them be4) with sleeping on a remote primitive lodge (well, what might be remote here).
Temp was truly Winter, heavy wind, foggy/snowy + Snow at least knee high even where the wind moved the snow away. Around the path was dark forest and some cliffs around (again, what might be cliffs here, but enough to surely die).
All laughed about the comments of the ones who knew me, regarding the lights I surely brought with me (some lights of course, including my, while not brightest, at that time most precoius light: an orange Minimag with glass lense, FraenLP and a Shoppe user potable Madmax).

The 2nd half of the group which came another way and started later (around 1600 or so) was expected for 1800 at the very least, but did and did not arrive. The ones in our group knowing them got more and more disturbed and while three of us got ready to search for them (I was with the 2 who knew the missing but just out of curosity, imho there was no chance we could have found them) and the owners of the lodge phoned to the "Bergrettung" down at town (who already wondered whom are the cars there), I saw a light from the outside.
A couple visiting the lodge owners found our 7 ppl in the woods. They were totally lost, without any light in dark forest, some even wearing something like city shoes. :Ohgeez:
Was just luck, as the two came to the lodge, that was officially closed and only opened for us, to get to the owners. Found our ppl wandering around there, already heading into the wrong direction (not to lodge, not to car).

The both also had just one light, an Energizer Headlamp. I would have never ever used such a light, but this one surely saved our 2nd halves *** back then.

You dont even need a bright light to receive a good outcome.

All my lower power lights saw a ready use, as there was no light at all around, even by the ppl wondering and laughing at "bringing a light" at all. Anyone surprised?

PS: out of "my" group about one half got something like Minimags and smaller lights
PPS: that orange MiniMag was lost up there and never found (at least I did not get it back)

Re: Has a flashlight truly saved your hide? How? (Or Minimag saves stupid hunter, lol )

Lee1959 said:

Has a flashlight ever been the principal instrument that has helped save you from possible injury/death/dire consequenses?

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This happend to me a while back (15~18 years ago). Our home has an inner courtyard to the front door and is shaded by a big tree within which is more than enough to block out the evening streetlights from peeking into the front windows.

One night after coming home late, I hopped the gate and started counting paces to the front door because it's pretty much pitch black, and this time I left my 4D Maglite in the car. I heard a chain tinkle and drag across the concrete to my right front. I made a quick turnabout and hopped back out of the courtyard and headed for my car to grab the Maglite. After approaching the gate cautiously, I lit the area up and to my surprise there's this big AST looking at me! With him there, I decided to go around the side of the house to get in.

Can't believe that my brother decided of all nights to bring home a dog and put him out front in the courtyard! Had I not any light whatsoever, I might have been bitten by a canine that's not familiar with me!

Re: Has a flashlight truly saved your hide? How? (Or Minimag saves stupid hunter, lol )

cave dave said:

Well every time I go into a cave its pretty essential that my lights work. Of course I do this on purpose so I'm not sure it counts.

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It counts. Secondary and tertiary lights have saved by butt in caves more times than I care to remember. In some of the caves I used to frequent, without light to get out you wouldn't last a couple of days, due to hypothermia.

Lights have probably saved me from frostbite a couple of times. If you get unexpectedly soaked, in bitter cold weather in the middle of nowhere, sometimes the only reasonable course may be to build up a big fire. Then you can warm up while drying everything out, especially those socks and boots. Having a light makes it much easier to rapidly build up a decent fire when time really counts.

I've used my lights to help other people out of serious problems outdoors, on several occasions.

One more instance just remembered. Late September or early October, we were camping at the top of some big sandstone cliffs, while on a rock climbing trip in Arkansas.

While it was still light, had set up my Eureka 2-man tent with bug netting zipped up completely, even though it was late enough in the year and cool enough that bugs were not a problem. We sat around the fire after dinner drinking beer and talking for a couple of hours. As I unzipped the door and began crawling into my tent for the night, for some reason I turned on my MiniMag incan, which was not always my practice.

Right on top of my pillow, which consisted of a folded up fleece jacket, was a web containing a big fat black widow.

How she got in past the tent zippers, I have no idea. But if I hadn't turned on my MiniMag before crawling in, I might have put my hand on top of her. If I hadn't put my hand on her, it might have been worse. If I'd have crawled over her in the dark without touching her, then I'd have laid my face down right on top of her.

.

Re: Has a flashlight truly saved your hide? How? (Or Minimag saves stupid hunter, lol )

http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=87919
see post #12

Re: Has a flashlight truly saved your hide? How? (Or Minimag saves stupid hunter, lol )

Grew up in the woods (Iron County, UP of Michigan) and as a kid, dreamed of a quality light, but they just didn't exist. We used clunky RayoVac 2D lights that threw a dim yellow beam for too short a time and were unreliable. Late 70's, got a 4D Maglight when they just came out. Used it for search and rescue and it was the best. Went to a mining headlamp later when I needed to search and recover in mine shafts and tunnels. Worked well, but I always carried two mini-mags and a slew of extra batteries. Needed them a few times and was glad to have them. I made a clamp for my hat using a 1/2" PVC pipe holder and a small brass carpentry clamp. Carried it in my pocket and if my main light failed, I could clamp a mini-mag onto the side of my hat in an instant and continue. Less light, but still ok.

When I got my Surefire E2E, I carried it as backup for wilderness searches. Worked well and found it's share of the lost.

Today, I'm not doing S&R, but I'm sending lights to those who are. We have people working in jobs where they need a good light but who just don't know how advanced lights have become. I enjoy passing one on to someone that will use it everyday and has been without.

Ken

Re: Has a flashlight truly saved your hide? How? (Or Minimag saves stupid hunter, lol )

Went hiking in the summer at a popular State Park. It's about 45 minutes to sunset, a thunderstorm is brewing and I just realized that I lost my favorite hat about 2 miles back on the trail. So I go back to where I figure that I lost it which is on a rocky climb up a hill. When I look down on the rocks, there's a girl (about 22) there by herself. It turns out that this was her first time at the park and she's lost, but she has my hat!

The sun will be down in 10 minutes, the rain has begun and she has no idea where she is and we're 3 miles into the park.

She had a park map, but no compass, no flashlight, no water, no rain gear, but the best darn guardian angel that she could get.

Me and my E2e got her back to her car. If I hadn't lost my hat, they'd be searching that park for her by morning.

Re: Has a flashlight truly saved your hide? How? (Or Minimag saves stupid hunter, lol )

Good story, Mikul. And a Happy Ending, too !

Re: Has a flashlight truly saved your hide? How? (Or Minimag saves stupid hunter, lol )

I can remember times at my Aunts place in the Texas woods where a light would have been nice to have. We never were in any REAL danger that I know of, but snakes and other wild critters were fairly abundant...

Would NEVER be caught without a light outdoors THESE days!!!

Re: Has a flashlight truly saved your hide? How? (Or Minimag saves stupid hunter, lol )

I've done a fair amount of caving in my youth with just a minimag, exploring so called uncharted or unexplored caves. Usually not alone so i was with 1 or 2 others people who also had a flashlight. I also traversed many a long distance urban sewer systems under the streets with minimags. I was a kid then so i'm sure i would have just died if those lights ever quit on me. but they never did.

Re: Has a flashlight truly saved your hide? How? (Or Minimag saves stupid hunter, lol )

Everytime I go explore in a place where light is not available whatsoever. Usually, a 5mm LED light will do for seeing where I'm going in the darkness. Any brighter, you ruin your night vision and risk getting caught.

Handlobraesing said:

Everytime I go explore in a place where light is not available whatsoever. Usually, a 5mm LED light will do for seeing where I'm going in the darkness. Any brighter, you ruin your night vision and risk getting caught.

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caught by what? the flashlight police? or some evil indigenous tribe in the jungles of maneaters?