People need to EDC.

The officer described the disaster site as a "particularly shocking scene".

Passengers told how they used mobile phones and novelty glowsticks as impromptu torches to guide them to safety after the collision.

Full article

I am sincerely glad none of ours were involved in the crash, but more people need to EDC. I've navigated by the light of a cell phone before (deliberately) under very much tamer circumstances and it's not something you want to do in the chaos.

Fully agree.

I always EDC, . . . . . . except for one day. Murphy's Law came into play. I went into Walmart, the power went out, and it was the one time I didn't have my EDC. I DID have my little Inova on my keychain, but not my REAL EDC. Fortunately, it was daytime and the skylights did their job well.

Yup. I totally agree. If more people would just TRY it, they'd see that a small flashlight is a very, very useful thing to have on your person during all waking hours (or by your side during non-waking hours).

I think you're missing the point from what you quoted from the article. Cell phones are useful for illumination in an emergency. For many people, that is "good enough". You say people "need" to EDC. But if a cell phone is adequate emergency illumination, I'd argue they don't.

It does not take much light to navigate out of a dark building. And at night outdoors, your eyes can always become sensitive enough to starlight for navigation.

What flashlights do is extend your visual range in either situation. However, while nice, that is not necessarily a "need".

I certainly EDC a flashlight, and find it useful. But if a cell phone works for someone, I'm not gonna knock it.

It's better than nothing to have a cellphone with reasonable illumination to use in an emergency. I've used it myself when navingating the stairs when the baby is sleeping and I don't want to turn the hall light on or shine a bright flashlight.

I totally agree with Kevin though. Far too many people exist in this world to serve as reminders to the rest of us why someone would want to carry several flashlights, some costing hundreds of dollars. Why someone would go out of their way to change their wardrobe and learn how to carry and use a full size handgun and extra ammunition. A flashlight is a wonderful tool that is always handy, and it' s a shame that more people don't carry one, at least a small inexpensive one on their keychain to find their way back to the bigger light to get themselves to safety.

If all I had was my cellphone, I'd certainly use it. Rewind 10 years ago when cell phones weren't all the rage, or had seven-segment displays lit by tiny little LEDs. I bet a lot of people on that train would have been blundering around in the dark. Somehow, I suspect they used the cellphones because they happened to have it.

I conducted an experiment, dousing the lights and walking around by cellphone in my own room - it can be done, certainly. However, like I said, relatively tame circumstances. In a wreck, or disaster scene I could imagine things being vastly more chaotic even without smoke/fire (let's not go there).

Even the 5mm Photon 1, which is running on depleted cells and has flaky contacts (mine, at least - gotta clean it some day), totally stomps all over the cell phone in terms of light output. A P1 is enough to be considered an "EDC", as it's a purpose-built light, and it takes up no more space than a single key on a keyring. Despite being used to all the goodies here on CPF, I'm finding it doesn't take much of a light to make a BIG difference. No money for a real P1? Grab a $1 CountyComm light. It can be latched for constant-on too, unlike the P1.

I agree with EDC'ing (well everyone here would) I have often felt that a far more usefull feature in a cell phone would be a small led light (finding key holes ect), of much more use to most people than a camera.

the nokia 3200 has 2x SMD leds at the bottom that you can switch on by holding the * key - turn them back off the same way - output is about equal to a Infinity Ultra
im sure there is a few more phones with lights or a "flash" for the camera