DesertFox
Newly Enlightened
When I'm lurking on CPF, I usually avoid the Flashlight Reviews Forum. That's because I end up finding a review of a torch I just have to get. That's what happened about three weeks ago. I read selfbuilt's review of the Olight S10 Baton and decided it was time for a new EDC. It fit all the requirement: small, bright with a nice low mode. The only thing I wasn't real impressed with was the strobe mode. I have never found any use for strobe mode other than showing it off to friends.
That is, until last night.
Me, my wife and a couple of her coworkers had attended an off-Broadway show in New York's West Village and were waiting on the subway platform for a train back home to Brooklyn. It's a little after 10 p.m. and there are only about 10 people on the platform. My wife and her coworkers walk down the platform while I hang back near the turnstiles reading movie posters.
As I'm standing there, I look down the platform and see a guy jump onto the rail bed. I figure he has dropped a cell phone or something and is foolish enough to risk his life to retrieve it. I look the other way down the tracks and sure enough here comes the train. His timing couldn't be worse.
I look back at him and realize he isn't retrieving a cell phone. There is an unconscious guy laying on the tracks and he is trying to get him back on the platform. Wife and coworker see what's going on and rush to help pull the guy up. The would-be rescuer looks like he is about 160 lbs and the unconscious guy is way over 200, so it isn't going well. I'm too far away to help them so I head toward the train to try and signal the operator to stop. The platform is curved and there are steel support columns, so the operator can't see the commotion up ahead.
As the train enters the station, a couple of ladies closest to it start waving their hands, trying to signal. The train operator just starts blasting his horn. He doesn't slow down. By this time the train is two cars into the station. The rescue is going on about six cars into the station and I am half way between the two.
That's when the light bulb goes on in my head. The "useless" strobe mode on my new EDC!!!!. I pull out the S10, activate the strobe and hold it out over the tracks as far as I can, pointing it toward the operator and waving it up and down. Almost immediately, the sound of the blasting horn stops, replaced by the screech of brakes. The train comes to a stop about a car and a half from the rescue. Good thing. They haven't gotten the guy off the tracks yet.
I walked up to the train operator. He opened his window and I told him what was going on. He radioed for help and NYPD and EMS were soon there. Tragedy averted.
As we were boarding the train, my wife said something she is going to regret. "Wow. It's a good thing you had that flashlight."
So, now I'm off to the Flashlight Review Forum. I only have a couple of lights with a strobe function. :devil:
That is, until last night.
Me, my wife and a couple of her coworkers had attended an off-Broadway show in New York's West Village and were waiting on the subway platform for a train back home to Brooklyn. It's a little after 10 p.m. and there are only about 10 people on the platform. My wife and her coworkers walk down the platform while I hang back near the turnstiles reading movie posters.
As I'm standing there, I look down the platform and see a guy jump onto the rail bed. I figure he has dropped a cell phone or something and is foolish enough to risk his life to retrieve it. I look the other way down the tracks and sure enough here comes the train. His timing couldn't be worse.
I look back at him and realize he isn't retrieving a cell phone. There is an unconscious guy laying on the tracks and he is trying to get him back on the platform. Wife and coworker see what's going on and rush to help pull the guy up. The would-be rescuer looks like he is about 160 lbs and the unconscious guy is way over 200, so it isn't going well. I'm too far away to help them so I head toward the train to try and signal the operator to stop. The platform is curved and there are steel support columns, so the operator can't see the commotion up ahead.
As the train enters the station, a couple of ladies closest to it start waving their hands, trying to signal. The train operator just starts blasting his horn. He doesn't slow down. By this time the train is two cars into the station. The rescue is going on about six cars into the station and I am half way between the two.
That's when the light bulb goes on in my head. The "useless" strobe mode on my new EDC!!!!. I pull out the S10, activate the strobe and hold it out over the tracks as far as I can, pointing it toward the operator and waving it up and down. Almost immediately, the sound of the blasting horn stops, replaced by the screech of brakes. The train comes to a stop about a car and a half from the rescue. Good thing. They haven't gotten the guy off the tracks yet.
I walked up to the train operator. He opened his window and I told him what was going on. He radioed for help and NYPD and EMS were soon there. Tragedy averted.
As we were boarding the train, my wife said something she is going to regret. "Wow. It's a good thing you had that flashlight."
So, now I'm off to the Flashlight Review Forum. I only have a couple of lights with a strobe function. :devil:
