My T1A just saved my life...kind of

ninemm

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Below is the story about how I my DaFAB XP-G modded T1A saved my life...

Well maybe "saved my life" is a bit dramatic, but it definitely saved me from screaming like a girl, rolling around on the ground, and quite possibly loosing control of my bladder. :shakehead Not to mention many months of avoiding trees, trash cans, confined spaces, and perhaps the outdoors in general. It will all make sense you'll see. ;)

So, my dog and I are taking a midnight potty break/excursion (for the record she uses the bathroom outside, I don't :p). In my apartment complex there is a tree line between us and a sparsely used road. The roads/parking lots of our complex head straight toward the tree line and stop. At the end of each road is our dumpster and recycling containers. In search of the perfect spot to pee my dog and I are merrily walking and proceeding to go behind said containers/dumpster.

Seems safe doesn't it?
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I've got my T1A, with it's wonderful neutral XP-G beam on a lowish setting. We have some ambient light from the floods on the apartment buildings. As I shine the light ahead something shiny at about chest height catches my eye. At this point I'm approximately 3-4ft from going behind the first recycling container. I immediately pause and with a quick motion ratchet that T1A up to high.

:eek: :eek: :eek: :faint:

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This guy was chillen in the middle of this huge elaborate web that spanned the distance between the recycling container in the first shot and the tree line on the right...directly in the path we were headed. If I had not had the T1A I would have been ensnared in that web just like Frodo in LOTR. :laughing: I'm a borderline arachnophobe and this would have freaked me out beyond belief. Thankfully, my trusty T1A was there to alert me that something pure evil was in my path! Anyway, that's my story for tonight...off to bed. :wave:
 

Zeruel

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This was spotted next to our path on one of our flashaholic outings....

Oh, it's not that big....... only the size of a opened hand. I believe they're called face huggers. :laughing:

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ninemm

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Gah! I should have gone to bed and not looked at that picture Zeruel! lol

I mistakenly put this in the wrong forum too. :ohgeez: I pm'd DM51 requesting it be moved to the regular LED Flashlights section.
 

Kraid

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Ah! Geez, I know what you mean, Spidies are alright, so long as they're no where near me! Its good to be a flashaholic!:twothumbs

And, Z, that facehugger strikes the same kinda fear in a person that its namesake from "Alien" does!!!:eek:

EDIT: Anyone else think that first spider looks like a crab? Only less delicious!
 

bondr006

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Cary, NC - Land of the CREE
I have found a few of these around the house this summer
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I almost sat on one on my deck one evening. Thankfully I shined my D10 on the chair before I sat down.

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This one is hanging out in the shrubs out in the front yard....Got her illuminated with a diffused E2DL

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mcnair55

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I love these stories and pics,you spends your money on a decent light and true use comes back for us all to enjoy.

Give us more please.:D
 

jellydonut

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These pictures make me glad the scariest thing I'll see around here is a mosquito.:sick2: Almost makes up for the cold.. Almost.
 

ninemm

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You bring a camera for midnight outdoor potty breaks? lol

Haha. No, I went back out with the camera after we returned home safely and with our dignity intact. Thanks for the comments and stories guys. Black Widows are bad news bondr006.
 

DM51

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It's the second interesting "saved by my flashlight" story in just 1 week!

I'm not sure which of the two would be worse, Black Widow or Rattlesnake... :green:
 

etc

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Had the exact same thing happen to me, too. Walking at night and found some big spider hanging at the head level directly in my path. Didn't investigate it too much.

Black widows are known to hide in my firewood stack.
 

Hellbore

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Wow those spiders are beautiful but I would not want them on my face either!

Your flashlight really saved you! My Quark Turbo saved me from a spider too just last Saturday.

I was helping my Dad fix an electrical outlet outside, he was using a dim Maglite and I pulled out my Quark Turbo Warm, which has become my new favorite working light because I find the warmer color seems to make it easier to see what I'm doing when working on small things.

Anyway, with the brighter side spill, I was able to see a black widow hiding under the edge of the box that we didn't see before with the dimmer light, and it could have bitten us!

I said to myself hmm, there sure are a lot of crickets around the yard, I bet you have more black widows... So I went on a little hunt with my Quark Turbo Warm, and ended up killing 10 black widows in my parents' yard, all of them around the patio area where people hang out :eek: I wouldn't have killed them except that they were a danger to our family, small children use the patio and pool frequently at night and could get bitten!
 
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OCD

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You guys have black widows around the house?!

Ugh...

I've spent my 34 yrs in roughly the same area of Missouri in what I would call "the country" and never saw anything but brown recluse spiders. They were common in my parents house living in the woods.

About 2yrs ago, I happen to notice a Black Widow right next to the stone wall against my front porch! :eek:

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(Illuminated by my DeWalt 12V work light - I think! This was before my flashaholism and the associated toys!)

Over the next few nights, I spent hours in the dark waiting for her to emerge from under my porch to try and catch her alive to show everyone. :poke:

Finally, my patience grew thin and I used the shop-vac to catch her! Needless to say, she didn't survive! :awman:

Since then I see them all over in my shed, in my workshop and even in my dad's shed! Now I just torch (flames) each one I see! Its like they just showed up overnight and now are everywhere!
 
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jslappa

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I'm so freaked out right now. When I was about 6 I had a babysitter who let me watch "kingdom of the spiders" starring William Shatner. Circa 1976ish. There was no happy ending to the movie, and it ends with the entire town being covered in a cocoon! For years after that, I would have to lift up all toilet seats to make sure no spiders were in there(when using the bathroom). I still can't stand them to this day. I tried to get over the fear of spiders by buying the DVD some 10 years ago, but it's still sealed in plastic.

Damn, this thread sux.
 

Roger999

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I used to have black widows inside my old house, sucks to be who ever bought it :D.
 

eebowler

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Roger. that pic scared the *** out of me but, I doubt it to be true. Looking online, I've seen the same pic from different angles. The bird doesn't move and the spider doesn't move either... Not denying that there are spiders that eat birds but, one that catches them with a web with skinny legs like that? Hmmmm.

Still a BLEEPING scary picture though!!
 

Woods Walker

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It's the second interesting "saved by my flashlight" story in just 1 week!

I'm not sure which of the two would be worse, Black Widow or Rattlesnake... :green:

Believe it or not there is a risk of a person becoming more allergic to rattlesnake anti venom if injected with black widow anti venom first though no expert so could be wrong. For the times black widow anti venom is used and often it's not do to a possible nasty allergic reaction the relief is very fast.

I would take a black widow hit before a rattlesnake any day of the week because the tissue damage potential of some snake bites even with treatment can result in a much longer recovery. Also they hit much harder though like a Black Widow may not inject any venom aka dry bite.

Between things that go bump in the night, slips/falls and nasty creepy crawlies I pack two lights in the woods.
 
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