$45,000 to be won-which flashlight would you use?

A local newspaper-The Winnipeg Sun-plays a game called Search For Gold.A small laminated certificate(the 'Gold')is hidden somewhere in the city limits.It is usually hidden in a large park attached to a park bench,picnic table,walking bridge,fence,etc.The Gold is worth $5000 to whomever finds it.One Gold is hidden every week for 6 weeks.Each Gold stays in play until found.Each day that a Gold is in play the Sun publishes a cryptic picture clue in the paper.Hidden in the picture are clues to the hiding spot of the Gold.There is also a word clue available online each day in the form of a riddle.Deciphering the clues correctly will lead you to the Gold and your $5000 reward.

Since the next days edition of the paper(with the new clue) is rolling off the presses by midnight people start lining up out side the paper's office/printing plant at 11:30PM to be the first to see the new clue and get a jump on the competition.This game is a flashaholics' dream come true,a reason to stay out all night,using every light in your collection,with the chance to win 5 Grand or more.The next series of game is tentatively set for early September.

In the past I have managed to find only two of these Golds.Here is a picture of them next to a Malkoff MD2 to give you an idea of their size.



The other major paper-The WinnipegFreePress-also plays the same game.They will only be playing three games this year but there will be a twist-if the the first certificate isn't found in 5 days the game will end and the money tacked on to the next game.If that one isn't found in 5 days then it will added to the last certificate.That one will be worth $15,000 and will stay in play until found.The certificate for game 1 will be hidden in 2 days on Monday and I am giddy with anticipation!

I started this thread with two questions in mind.......

1)Both local papers have been play this game off and on for over 20 years.Are these games unique to Winnipeg or are they being play elsewhere.And if your local papers don't play a game like this don't you wish they did!!!

2)Picture this:Your playing this game.The clues have lead you to a large park on the edge of the city.You get out of your car.It's 2:00 AM.There is thick cloud cover over head and absolutely no moon.The night is darker and blacker than a moderator's heart :devil:.Somewhere out there in the darkness is a certificate worth $5000 or more just waiting for you to find it.You reach into your pocket and pull out your 'go to light'.In this situation what would that light be and why?

Great Thread ! ! !


Wish MY newspaper would do something like this !

Wouldn't even need to be a BIG prize -- just an excuse to go out at night !




Must say, i have NEVER heard about similar events before your post.

But it IS a great idea !


You are indeed fortunate !


Good Luck to you, in yer' Night Hunts.

:candle:
_

I think the twin cities down here in minnesota has something like that every once in a while; I seem to remember hearing something about it on the raidio last summer.

Never heard of this before either but sounds like a lot of fun.

It really sounds fun! I could see it ending very badly in my area though :shakehead

Wow that sounds like an awesome competition! And a flashaholic's dream to boot You'd have to be careful with your lights, too much throw could find the "gold" when someone is closer to it than you :laughing:
The best we get from our local paper is sensationalist reporting on politics...

That sounds like a lot of fun. I'm guessing that you're going to be close to what you're looking for, so you'd probably do best with a very floody light, such as a Malkoff flood model.

Wait... so you've personally won over $5k?

I'd like to see one of these searches take place close to me and it would take me no time at all to choose my Ra Clicky.

We sure don't have anything like that here in the Bay Area as far as I know.

If we did, I'd probably just take my two EDC lights, a modified Mini-Maglite and a Fenix LD20, with me plus all my AA batteries. I like to travel light if I'm going to be hiking around in a park.

ANDREAS FERRARI said:

2)Picture this:Your playing this game.The clues have lead you to a large park on the edge of the city.You get out of your car.It's 2:00 AM.There is thick cloud cover over head and absolutely no moon.The night is darker and blacker than a moderator's heart :devil:.Somewhere out there in the darkness is a certificate worth $5000 or more just waiting for you to find it.You reach into your pocket and pull out your 'go to light'.In this situation what would that light be and why?

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I would pick a few UV lights, if the gold card is yellow. Yellow fluoresces quite well under UV light. That will allow you to find it MUCH easier. I'm willing to bet most people won't think of using a UV light.

I wish our newspaper/city would do something like that!!!! I would have so much fun.

~Brian

The Ashland, Wisconsin "Daily Press" occasionally does something like this, although for much smaller stakes. The medallions they use are usually not in plain sight, but tucked under or behind something. You'd have to be within a few feet to see them. Small, floody lights would be most useful, although a retina-burning thrower could come in handy to blind any competition who gets too close. Good luck.

Dave

ANDREAS FERRARI said:

You reach into your pocket and pull out your 'go to light'.In this situation what would that light be and why?

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I have a special one with light of a wavelength that causes gold to flouresce but can can only be seen by wearing special glasses tuned to the light. It also comes with a special button that envelopes me in a cloak of invisibility so that no-one else can see me seeing the light and grabbing the gold ticket.

I picked it up on ebay last week for fifteen dollars ninety. I got the last one in stock but the seller is going to be getting new stock later this week. Keep an eye out.................

ANDREAS FERRARI said:

$5000 reward.

In the past I have managed to find only two of these Golds.

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And you reinvested your winnings in flashlights?

I think i would use my Seraph P7 on my Porcupine body powered by 2x 17500 as my scanning light. Backed up with my M6. either i would run the LOLA setup. MN15 with 2x18650s or I might use the 6xCR123 and MN21 but with a 20 min lifespan I better make it count.

I would pocket my E2D with VME and M60 head.

ANDREAS FERRARI said:

One Gold is hidden every week for 6 weeks...
... In the past I have managed to find only two of these Golds.

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Did you win 1/3 of the prizes or was that over many years.
With a population of 633,451 in the last census, you are doing pretty good.

-

Hijack
PS
Did not know you live that close to Sarah Palin.
/Hijack

They hide a piece of paper that you can exchange for $5000? Why not for four American Gold Eagles? That's the real deal...

bstrickler said:

I would pick a few UV lights, if the gold card is yellow. Yellow fluoresces quite well under UV light. That will allow you to find it MUCH easier.

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JaguarDave-in-Oz said:

I have a special one with light of a wavelength that causes gold to flouresce but can can only be seen by wearing special glasses tuned to the light.

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That's the kind of outside the box thinking I was hoping for from my fellow CPFer's when I started this thread!Unfortunately they wrap the certificate in masking tape to hide it's color.

jasonck08 said:

Wait... so you've personally won over $5k?

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I've won $10,000 so far but have been close to winning on 20 to 30 other occasions.

nighttrails said:

And you reinvested your winnings in flashlights?

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The last $5,000 went into my bank account attached to my PayPal account.I think I've spent half of it on flashlights and accessories.

LEDninja said:

Did you win 1/3 of the prizes or was that over many years.

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I won two different years.That's why the design is different on each Gold.

jcvjcvjcvjcv said:

They hide a piece of paper that you can exchange for $5000? Why not for four American Gold Eagles? That's the real deal...

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The reason the game is called 'Search for Gold' is because when they started the game back in 1987 they actually hide a bar of solid gold.The problem was that people were finding the bars and not notifying the paper.