Flashlight Stories Part1

Ok here is one of my flashlight stories and hope you will post yours.

Once my friends and I were hiking and decided to come back in the dark. Not only did we decide to hike back in the dark but we also aggreed to hike back down in a rushing creek about 3 feet high in the dark all the way back to the car.

All we had was my Mini-Mag. Well, to make a long story short, we fell all kinds of times in the creek and it was very dark. Walking in a creek in the dark makes for the slips real bad. I did fall in the creek a couple of times and i did drop my mini-mag deep in the creek. We could see the light but it bounced off the rocks and it took some time to acctually find where it was at. Did I mention the water was cold! Any how, we made it back soaked and banged up.

The mini-mag despite falling in somewhat deep water for awhile and being banged against rocks took a beating and took it like a champ. It's bulb never busted.

Not as dramatic, but in Physics lab, we were doing an LED lab. We needed a light to set up the circuit, but we were working in total darkness.(so we could see at what voltage the LED goes out) My teacher was using his Arc AAA-p. Everyone else was using a cellphone. Well, I still had my SF G2 in my backpack. Accidentaly light up my half of the room

Back in the mid-1970s, I was snowmobiling with my dad on the Dan Moller ski trail in Juneau AK. Somewhere around 3rd Cabin (about two miles up the trail), I hit a mogul and the snowmobile (an Arctic Cat 400 I think) crashed into a ditch and the motor quit running. I took my Eveready Big Jim out from under the seat, and used it for signalling purposes. After my dad saw the flashlight beam, he came over and helped me pull the snowmobile out of the ditch. It refired at once, and we both rode back down the trail and back home to our little brown house on Nowell Avenue.

I'm asleep in my dorm; it's arround 2am. The fire alarm rings.
Man!! That thing is loud!
I grab my keys and my SN2... Most people are already getting out of the building. Funny to see those tough guys runing that fast... I follow along... We trample each other but manage to get outside.
Darn it's cold!
Already, I get the word that some drunk idiot smoked in a bathroom and set one of the trashcans on fire. The firemen get here and turn on their mags and crappy headlamps. I turn on my SN2 and wow! finds out how much smoke there was in the air... The beam looks like a light-saber.
They put out the fire and bring giant fans to get the smoke out. We wait for 45 minutes outside, frozen like microwave dishes... The only thing keeping me awake, the light and warmth from the SN2.
Thank you mr Bulk!

...although maybe an incan light would have made more heat that night.

I was doing my BMT (basic military training) at that time. We are having night range. By the time we finish, it's like 11+pm or 12am. Everyone had to pick up all the empty catridges they can find, most were using this 1AA incan that was issued, some got the biggest L torch they could find from the "e-mart" (a store selling army stuff, courtesy of the army) And that was the D size L torch (L torch are those angle torches you see most soldiers use, Electrolumen's Anglelux comes to mind)

I took out my PT Surge, opened up the bezel and remove the battery cartridge (loaded with 8 Sanyo 1850mah freshly charged) and turn it 180 degrees around such that the switch actually works. (don't want it to turn on in my bag) and on it. Everyone (the whole 100++ recruits) looked in my direction (it was a dark and cold night and there were no lights),

It is possible to light up the end of the 100 meter range board. Lol! You should have seen the look on their faces... priceless....

I was over at a friend's house (David) and another friend (Chris) was just about to leave when he said he lost his keys. We looked all over the house for them, but they were nowhere in sight. Then he said they may have fallen out of his pocket in his car, so he needed a flashlight and asked if he could borrow one from David. As he went to go look for a light, I took out my L4 and said, "Here you go." Of course, I got teased for carrying a flashlight, but who cares.

Chris heads out to his car and David gets back with a 2AA Maglite and asks where Chris went. I told him he was already outside with my L4, so he goes out to help him look. A couple of minutes later, I see bright flashes through the window and hear David say, "Coooool!" as he walked through the door holding my L4 strobing it because he thought it was cool and didn't think a small light could be so bright. He announces that Chris found his keys in his car and was outside calling AAA on his cell phone. He then proceeds to start flashing the light at everybody at which point I took it back before somebody smacked him for blinding them.

He and the other people who poked fun at me for carrying a flashlight asked me questions about it, if they could see it, how much it was, and came to the conclusion that I was indeed crazy for paying that much. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif

So many stories...where should I start?? Ok, here's one...

As Singapore males, all of us are required to do National Service, be it in the Army, Air-Force, or the Navy for a stint of 2 years. After that we are transfered to the reserve units where we carry on with our secular life but report once a year for training up to a duration of 1 month. We call this reservist training.

I was called up to do an urban warfare training thought by the SOF and we were told specifically to bring along our flashlights. I brought my G2Z and in it was my P61. I had brought along my E2e with KL1 too for other uses but forgot to take it out of barrack along with me.

We trained from early in the morning to dark at night and throughout I was waiting for night to fall. Then it came... The brightest light that this guy was holding was a UKE Q40 and he was bragging to everybody about it. I refrained from taking out my G2Z, not yet, I told myself.

We took turns to do the training. And just when it is my turn to go in, and I realized he was sitting opposite where I was training, I took out my G2Z. It was the brightest flashlight you can find among all the soldiers there.

After training I noticed that he wasn't bragging about his Q40 anymore but as pride would have it, he refused to ask me what light I was using. I of course prefer to keep him in suspense...

I went to a church camp recently with about 200 other people, all packed into three big Tour-Bus-Type buses.

All our bags had been stashed away in the cargo holds of each bus and when we got to camp, all the bags were unloaded into a huge pile and people had to search through it to find their stuff.

Problem was, it had already gotten dark by then and nobody could really see where their bags were! (bad planning i guess). Anyways, everybody was just kinda standing around trying to identify their bags by what little moonlight there was, and one guy even pulled out a tiny little torch which produced like, no light, and was trying to find his bag with it. Fortunately my friend and I had our G2s with us, and we both pulled them out and kinda floodlit the whole area. There were immediate reactions as people suddenly went to collect their bags that they could now see!! (the guy with the weak torch didn't switch his torch off even though he most certainly could not see his beam, and kept 'using' it to search for his bag...) /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I was camping with friends at a lake. About midnight some yahoo from across the lake(small lake), starts shining his, what appears to be a Mag, light at us and laughing. I pull out my PT Surge and shine it back at him. They shut up and went to bed. The Surge isn't outstanding but it is impressive for the size and price.

Late, last November (it was below freezing), my daughter and I were locked out of the house. My wife was sleeping with earplugs and didn't hear us knocking at the door. The bedroom windows were covered with heavy, room darkening, drapes, but...I had my Scorpion with me and shined it at the windows. After a minute, the drapes parted to show a scowling, sleepy, face. Yes, she let us in - probably, ONLY, because our daughter was with me.

My idiot college student next-door neighbor was having drum practice one night recently and the noise was clearly audible inside my house where I was trying to sleep (also my new-born). I mean he was trying to raise the dead or something. Anyway, I go over there and ring his door bell and knock on the door but of course he can't hear me. I walk around to the front window where I can get a glimpse of him through where the drapes are slightly opened. He's wearing some kind of soundproof ear muffs and wailing away on this poor durm set like there is no tomorrow. I'm beating on the window, but still no response. Suddenly I realized that I had a PT Tec-40 in my hand so I turn it on and start shining it on his face and flashing it. That got his attention pretty quickly and he finally came to the door where I politely suggested an alternative use for the drumsticks.

Just last night I was trying to wake my wife up from sleep because she is occupying half my side of the bed. I could not wake her up as she is very much sound asleep. I took out my M3 and blasted it onto her eyes. She coiled up a bit and turned her head away, her body following suit...Now that is what I call power flasher.

Woooo... that's a hot encounter Andy! I can't take the PT Surge or the PM6 for long... but an M3... you veteran flasher! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I remember specifically the event that started me down the path to flashlight collecting.

Summer camp, June, 1983. I was 10, about to turn 11. It was unseasonable cool that year. I had just completed 5th grade and was going into the 6th. This was my first time to do the "week at camp" thing. It rained a lot and was generally pretty miserable the entire time. There was a basic list of stuff that the camp people gave us as recommended things to pack. That included a rain poncho and a flashlight. My Dad supplied me with both. Well, to my disappointment, he gave me what I now know to be an Eveready model 330, black with the red reflector head.


I remember specifically that my Dad got a gross of surplus Marine Corp (he retired Lt. Col.) D batteries, and he gave me two for that trip. Man, if I had only known then what I know now.... Anyway, one night in particular, we had to go across the camp, which was a few hundred yards, in the rain, at night time, from our cabin to some sort of assembly hall or some crap. I was the only one with a rain poncho and a flashlight, so they made me go up front. That sorry a$$ light flickered and worked for about 2 seconds, despite my best jiggling of the switch and banging against my hand. Basically it was a total failure. Really made me mad. It was after that experience that I wished I had REALLY GOOD flashlights.

Years have passed, and as part of my personal therapy, I buy these same lights whenever I see them at garage and estate sales, and I take them home and give them fresh good cells and new KPR102 bulbs and clean all the switch contacts really well. All of them work like champs, now! Each one I rebuild helps me get over that stupid damn camp experience 21 years ago.

Wow, I must say you deal with that much better than I do.
I have a tendency to buy the offending light and smash it send the parts to the maker or at least I use to. I learned they do not care if they work as long as someone buys them.
Topper /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

well, my Story is before and after i see SUREFIRE Lights..

Before: i thought the 60Lumens Bulb MN03 was Very Dim since my friend got LOTS of Lights, Maglite 4C with OverDrive 3Watt Luxeon, 2D maglite with a 5Watt Luxeon, and MANY MANY MORE.. And to me SureFire build was really NICE but the maglite puts out MORE LIGHT and MORE THROW..

After: After i meet ``pjandyho`` my thinking change about SureFire.. MN03 was really BRIGHT!! He pop into my eyes withoput warning!! Think he also use KL5 to do that also..

Thank you for the compliments. I hate to do that but I love to do that on you. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nana.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crackup.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crackup.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nana.gif

Better not meet me again or I will pop the M3's 225 lumens on your eyes /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/evilgrin07.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/evilgrin07.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/evilgrin07.gif

hmm let me think - work partners irritating me by flashing his m@glite in my eyes - a half second burst from my L4 and they quit mucking around, only happens about once a week

offender coming at me with a screwdriver - 160Lumen burst from my M11 (pelican) made him drop the screwdriver and lay down - i was about half a second from hitting him with my baton.

work partner and i both carrying SF6p found a group of intoxicated youths on a site, snuck up on them - one of us on each side of the group - lit them up and they all sat there blinking and saying "what the F**k"

HaHaHa!!!! but i wanna meet up.. wanna see M3!!

[ QUOTE ]
pjandyho said:
Thank you for the compliments. I hate to do that but I love to do that on you. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nana.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crackup.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crackup.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nana.gif

Better not meet me again or I will pop the M3's 225 lumens on your eyes /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/evilgrin07.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/evilgrin07.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/evilgrin07.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

I will show you only the beam. You won't get to see the whole light, but just directly into the beam.