Qoose
Enlightened
So the backstory. Some time ago, I decided that I needed to rekindle the 8 year old flashaholic in me that oogled at the flashlights hanging in their shiny clamshells at our local hardware store. All I really had at the time was a mag solitare knockoff and a decent but huge Dewalt 12V lamp. After researching like mad (largely on CPF, thanks all!), I finally settled on the Surefire L1. It was a great first light for my jump into true flashaholism.
Package hit my door, almost hugged the UPS woman, and then the L1 went everywhere with me. I quickly adopted the EDC way of life, and I used it almost every day. It went on my long hikes at night into the forest with my dog, who is no longer with me (he's still alive, just needed a better place). It went snowboarding with me over the moguls and down the diamonds at night. It was with me all the time, helped pull wierd things out of my car chasis that I couldn't see, poking through little spaces finding critters, and of course let me not stumble my way into my bedroom after I hit the lights.
Newer technologies came about, and I finally gave in, switching it out of EDC duty and onto my desk. On one hand it's a great place for an emergency grab light (Red Cross affiliations recommend a light by where you sleep/spend the most time, and I would trust my L1 in the event of an emergency). But a large part of this was because I didn't want to lose it doing a handstand somewhere or having it get caught and lost in the bushes. It had it's share of character marks, and had a pretty good life. I wanted it to stay safe on my desk, ready to go, but enjoying retirement. I was pretty happy with what I had, which was good since I don't expect my tiny collection to grow any while I'm in college.
Well, I got back from a hiking trip, and was refreshing all of my cells in the lights that I took with me. I decided to check up on my old friend, maybe give it a fresh cell. Got back to my desk and started looking around.
It's gone. I've searched everyone for it, but I have no clue where it went. I've spent days tearing through every pack and drawer I own, asking anyone who I possibly could have lent it to (which was never). Words cannot describe the anger and sadness I feel. It's one thing to lose a decently pricey torch, being on a pretty tight budget going to a very expensive college, but to lose my very first real flashlight, really hits another level. The metal might be able to be replaced, but the memories are another story.
Anyway, that was a bit of a rant. Thanks for reading, and I hope not many of you have to know what it's like to lose something like this.
Package hit my door, almost hugged the UPS woman, and then the L1 went everywhere with me. I quickly adopted the EDC way of life, and I used it almost every day. It went on my long hikes at night into the forest with my dog, who is no longer with me (he's still alive, just needed a better place). It went snowboarding with me over the moguls and down the diamonds at night. It was with me all the time, helped pull wierd things out of my car chasis that I couldn't see, poking through little spaces finding critters, and of course let me not stumble my way into my bedroom after I hit the lights.
Newer technologies came about, and I finally gave in, switching it out of EDC duty and onto my desk. On one hand it's a great place for an emergency grab light (Red Cross affiliations recommend a light by where you sleep/spend the most time, and I would trust my L1 in the event of an emergency). But a large part of this was because I didn't want to lose it doing a handstand somewhere or having it get caught and lost in the bushes. It had it's share of character marks, and had a pretty good life. I wanted it to stay safe on my desk, ready to go, but enjoying retirement. I was pretty happy with what I had, which was good since I don't expect my tiny collection to grow any while I'm in college.
Well, I got back from a hiking trip, and was refreshing all of my cells in the lights that I took with me. I decided to check up on my old friend, maybe give it a fresh cell. Got back to my desk and started looking around.
It's gone. I've searched everyone for it, but I have no clue where it went. I've spent days tearing through every pack and drawer I own, asking anyone who I possibly could have lent it to (which was never). Words cannot describe the anger and sadness I feel. It's one thing to lose a decently pricey torch, being on a pretty tight budget going to a very expensive college, but to lose my very first real flashlight, really hits another level. The metal might be able to be replaced, but the memories are another story.
Anyway, that was a bit of a rant. Thanks for reading, and I hope not many of you have to know what it's like to lose something like this.
