CARRY A FLASHLIGHT!!

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  • CPT Nervous

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    17   0   0
    Mar 7, 2012
    6,378
    63
    The Southern Bend
    I've always told myself that I should carry a light. I know I should, and I had something happen last night that made me actually do it.

    I went out with some friends and my girlfriend last night, we had dinner at Texas Roadhouse. (I'm a fan of Logan's, my buddy wanted me to try Texas, definitely not going back. Steak was mediocre, potatoes sucked.) We met up at my friend's house, and rode together.

    Anyway, it was a long day, and we went out late, and we returned to my friend's house and talked for a bit. It was about midnight, and my other friend and the GF and myself were about to leave. We got into our vehicles and were about to leave. He was parked behind me in the driveway, so I was waiting on him to back out so I could get out. As we were getting into our trucks, we noticed a man pull up in the neighbor's driveway. The friend behind me was watching him, and I noticed the guy was carrying a baseball bat. He walked to the front door, and started knocking pretty hard with the bat. The friend behind me called me, and we were both watching this guy, phone in one hand, gun in the other. The man then hit the windows with the bat, not hard enough to break anything, but he kept hitting the windows and yelling for the occupants to come out.

    Then he looked at us, and walked back to his car. He put the bat in his backseat, and walked to the trunk. Then he looked right at me, and pulled something small out of the trunk, and held it waist level right in front of him. He looked back at me, and my friend behind me couldn't see what he was getting, and my first thought was it looked like a handgun. I told him I thought it was a gun, and then the man got back in his car, and backed out of the driveway. He pulled up on the curb kind of blocking in my friend's truck, and started yelling at me, telling me that it was his cousin's house, and not to get involved. I cracked my door and looked back at him, gun in my hand, ready to go. I told him he needed to leave, and that we weren't involved. I just wanted to make sure he wasn't going to do anything stupid.

    He eventually drove off, and then came flying down the street in the other direction. My buddy still had his G26 in his hand, I had holstered my 19. My GF was carrying a G19 as well, but she never drew it. My other friend was at his front door, and we told him what happened, and that he needed to keep his gun close. Then we all left.

    Now, fortunately that was then end of that, but damn, I wish I had a flashlight on me! I carry a 600 lumen Terralux on duty, and I have some Olight and Surefire lights, but they stay at home. No more! I didn't want to approach this man, but it would have been nice to light him up while he was on the porch, and confront him verbally. He didn't know we were armed, but I bet he would have left sooner if he did. Who knows, any number of things could have happened. I really thought he was going to fire some shots at us. One drunk versus three competent, trained people would have yielded pretty good results.

    The friend who lives there talked to the neighbor this morning. He says it is indeed his cousin, and he gets drunk and does this from time to time. Some family!

    I am now carrying a tac light wherever I go. I urge all of you to do the same. Whether or not I would/should have used it is of little important. It would have given me more confidence, and that can make a difference.


    Stay safe.
     

    MCgrease08

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    37   0   0
    Mar 14, 2013
    14,374
    149
    Earth
    I recently started carrying this little Bushnell Tracker and it's a great little light for just $20.

    It's only 140 lumens, but it's very well made with aircraft grade aluminum. It has standard mode as well as red and blue light settings. The blue is meant to help with following blood trails when hunting, hence the Tracker name. It runs on a single AA battery.

    I plan on getting several more of these for various vehicles and bags.

    20150926_140206_zps9ta6tn9_edit_1443290735141_zpstsgkllba.jpg
     

    Alamo

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    10   0   0
    Oct 4, 2010
    8,093
    113
    Texas
    Every time I have not had a light with me, I have regretted it. And not just a night. In the middle of the day raised the hood on the car to see what mayhem was loose in the engine compartment, and couldn't see a darn thing because of the contrast between the bright daylight sun and the shadow of the engine compartment. Not as exciting as some fool with an object in his hands, but still frustrating.
     

    CPT Nervous

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    17   0   0
    Mar 7, 2012
    6,378
    63
    The Southern Bend
    I recently started carrying this little Bushnell Tracker and it's a great little light for just $20.

    It's only 140 lumens, but it's very well made with aircraft grade aluminum. It has standard mode as well as red and blue light settings. The blue is meant to help with following blood trails when hunting, hence the Tracker name. It runs on a single AA battery.

    I plan on getting several more of these for various vehicles and bags.

    20150926_140206_zps9ta6tn9_edit_1443290735141_zpstsgkllba.jpg

    Looks like a handy little light! I'll check that out.
     

    jerrob

    Master
    Rating - 100%
    17   0   0
    Mar 1, 2013
    1,939
    113
    Cumberland Plateau
    I recently started carrying this little Bushnell Tracker and it's a great little light for just $20.

    It's only 140 lumens, but it's very well made with aircraft grade aluminum. It has standard mode as well as red and blue light settings. The blue is meant to help with following blood trails when hunting, hence the Tracker name. It runs on a single AA battery.

    I plan on getting several more of these for various vehicles and bags.

    20150926_140206_zps9ta6tn9_edit_1443290735141_zpstsgkllba.jpg

    Is that the model with a tail button clicker and red/white/blue LED? Great light, I lose one at work about every three months and go back to Wally World to replace.
    I have one of the Olight minis with a rechaging base, collects dust 'cause it's never used, I'll take one of those Bushnell $20 ones over it anytime.
     

    Hammertime

    Marksman
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Sep 18, 2015
    271
    28
    Mccordsville
    Sounds like an interesting situation. Thank you sharing. I'm glad that nothing escalated past shouting! I'll be caring a Surefire X300 Ultra on my new OC when I pick it up early next month, and then after that, I want to take a look at getting a standalone light. The Surefire Lawman looks nice!
     

    tcecil88

    Master
    Site Supporter
    Rating - 100%
    1   0   0
    Nov 18, 2013
    1,902
    113
    @ the corner of IN, KY & OH.
    I always have at least one flashlight and a lot of times a weapon mounted light as well. they are small and light enough now that it's not inconvenient to have one. I have bought a few lights from here, Gun Shack , I have 2 of their P2's and a G3. The P2 was 20 bucks, has a bright, dim and strobe function with a strike bezel. It runs on either a single CR123 and is super short, or runs off a single AA and is a little longer. The current version is a the G2. I have used mine for several years.
     

    actaeon277

    Grandmaster
    Site Supporter
    Rating - 100%
    4   0   0
    Nov 20, 2011
    92,864
    113
    Merrillville
    Every time I have not had a light with me, I have regretted it. And not just a night. In the middle of the day raised the hood on the car to see what mayhem was loose in the engine compartment, and couldn't see a darn thing because of the contrast between the bright daylight sun and the shadow of the engine compartment. Not as exciting as some fool with an object in his hands, but still frustrating.

    What he said.

    I made fun of my brother for carrying a flashlight in the middle of the day.
    He brought up stuff like this.
    Now I carry a flashlight all the time.
     

    level0

    Expert
    Rating - 100%
    6   0   0
    Mar 13, 2013
    1,099
    48
    Indianapolis
    I never considered carrying a light until my youngest sister used the light she carries in her purse to help her neighbor break into her own house. Granted, my sister didn't need the primary illuminating capability of the light that time, but the hard aluminum shell made short work of the little door window so her neighbor could get into her house.
     

    Woobie

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Dec 19, 2014
    7,197
    63
    Losantville
    I carry this light:

    E5 980 Lumen LED Flashlight | PowerTac USA

    I use it almost every day. When I did pest control I used it almost every hour. Bought it at the 1500 2-3 years ago, and it has never failed. Even during heavy use (multiple times a day, several minutes at a time, on a brighter setting) battery life is close to a month. And on its brightest setting it will turn night into day. I never knew how handy one would be. Now I can't live without the dumb thing. I don't like to hold a flashlight and a handgun if I can help it, so I have a separate light on the pistol for target identification.
     

    Cameramonkey

    www.thechosen.tv
    Staff member
    Moderator
    Site Supporter
    Rating - 100%
    35   0   0
    May 12, 2013
    31,688
    77
    Camby area
    I carry a little Coast HP2 66 lumen light. It runs on 1AAA and is literally the size of 1 1/2 AA batteries. It's not a 600 light, but when I carried one of those I was always leaving it behind if I didn't think I would NEED it. And when I did use it for utilitarian tasks, it was blinding the the point it didn't always help. This little light is ALWAYS in my pocket. Came in handy last night when we lost power. I was the only one in the house that didn't need to go find a light.

    Its not perfect, but what do they say about 22s in the pocket vs 45s in the vault?

    Hoping to to get a kitchen pass Wednesday to test its tactical abilities at Coach's low light shoot.
     

    Drail

    Master
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Oct 13, 2008
    2,542
    48
    Bloomington
    One day I was in the old Indianapolis airport and the power went down. Being packed in a large crowd of strangers in total darkness with escalators and posts everywhere was pretty freaky. I think I was the only one with a flashlight. Never leave home without it.
     

    T-DOGG

    I'm Spicy, deal with it.
    Site Supporter
    Rating - 99.6%
    262   1   0
    Feb 4, 2011
    17,408
    149
    New Haven
    One day I was in the old Indianapolis airport and the power went down. Being packed in a large crowd of strangers in total darkness with escalators and posts everywhere was pretty freaky. I think I was the only one with a flashlight. Never leave home without it.
    I was just going to post this same reason. I carry a flashlight everywhere, have them stashed throughout the house and in the cars. I use my light at work constantly, but also carry it anywhere I go. I always think about being at a Restaurant or shopping somewhere and the power goes out. I don't want to have to use the light on my smartphone unless I absolutely have no other choice.
     

    rhino

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    24   0   0
    Mar 18, 2008
    30,906
    113
    Indiana
    I don't need to repeat how I feel about flashlights.

    When you're at home, you need at least one fully functional light available to you all the time.

    If you're out of the house, you need at least one fully functional light on your person all the time. It's as important as a knife and in some situations, more so. It's more important than a gun and you'll use it a lot more. People who don't use flashlights frequently are people who have learned to cope without one. not people who never need a light.

    It's not just for night time, either. I probably use lights indoors to see in the shadows behind and under things more than I use them at night.
     

    Bigtanker

    Cuddles
    Emeritus
    Rating - 100%
    24   0   0
    Aug 21, 2012
    21,688
    151
    Osceola
    I've had this Rayovac for 4 years. I bought it at Meijer for about $35. It's scratched but still works great. I work at night and use it all the time.

    51KD33W5ymL._SL500_SL160_.jpg
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