Give me an excuse to use my flashlights

[Swedpat]

I wish I lived in a place where I actually could have more practical use of my flashlights and headlamps. Mostly I just have fun with the lights and now and then I go outside the city and in the forest to have practical use of lights, even if the reason to that also is just for fun. Power outages are fun. It's fascinating how bright 500lm feels in a settlement with the street lights out of function. A bit spooky feeling but fun. Unfortunately power outages are very rare where I live. Normally several years between every occasion and they last less than an hour. With other words I have very hard to justify 100+ collection of flashlights for the reason of power outage...
My main practical use of flashlights is at night when I need to go to toilet. Using a ~1lm level is very comfortable with dark adapted eyes.

 

[ChrisGarrett]

I just had hurricane IRMA knock my power out for 82 hours here in Miami. My stuff got lots of use and I have lots of batteries here, so that was good.

The biggest issue was keeping my two 12vdc 10" fans running in the hot temps and the 22Ah/12Ah SLA/AGM I use for them, in lieu of the D batteries they take.

With a 60w 12vdc solar system, I was able to keep them topped off, which was frankly more important to me, than charging up my zillion flashlight batteries/cells.

Heck, even keeping my Tecsun PL-390 AM/FM/SW stereo radio topped off was more important.

Chris

 

[Keitho]

Unfortunately power outages are very rare where I live.

Awesome, spoken like a true flashaholic!

 

[dragosios]

I use my various flashlight to water my garden plants at night. Or maybe better said pot plants, still giving me tomato and bell pepers, as well as parsley and more aromatic plants.

 

[mickb]

1.Camping. You will love how often you get to use your light in the outdoors at various settings. Looking for firewood, things making noises in the woods, or just having it in your tent at low ratings while you eat and read for a couple hours.

2. Night hiking, advanced camping with a rucksack. Big one is you realise just how long your lights do last on low/sensible settings.

2. Join local volunteer groups for emergency services, rescue, coast guard. You will surprised how you can become 'the guy' with 'that flashlight' when everyone else is struggling with an old p7 led lenser at 300 lumens...

 

[glockboy]

Get the Digoo DF-101 fan, it use 18650 battery, I like it better than the 02 Cool fan.

I just had hurricane IRMA knock my power out for 82 hours here in Miami. My stuff got lots of use and I have lots of batteries here, so that was good.

The biggest issue was keeping my two 12vdc 10" fans running in the hot temps and the 22Ah/12Ah SLA/AGM I use for them, in lieu of the D batteries they take.

With a 60w 12vdc solar system, I was able to keep them topped off, which was frankly more important to me, than charging up my zillion flashlight batteries/cells.

Heck, even keeping my Tecsun PL-390 AM/FM/SW stereo radio topped off was more important.

Chris

 

[arKmm]

Just join the police, plenty of opportunities daily!

 

[Going_Supernova]

Would you like to get paid for playing with your lights? If so, then get a night job! I used to sell life insurance, and that was mainly house calls in the evening. During the winter, I needed a very bright light with throw to read house numbers from in the car out on the street, as some streets had dim or no street lights. You don't have to sell life insurance, of course, but any job that gets you out at night will do (pizza delivery, Amway meetings, Rubbermaid parties, night watchman. etc.).

Get involved with your community! Join Boy Scouts, and go to the evening meetings and events.

Take your XYL out on the town! Visit other couples in the evening for cards, Monopoly, barbecue.

In order to prep your household for an emergency, once a week have a "blackout", and shut off your power at the breaker box. Length of "blackout" will depend on what is practical for your family--ideal would be at least 24 hours, but maybe all you can do is 6 pm until bedtime. Something is better than nothing, and will help you be prepared, while scratching your flashaholism itch.

Try underground exploring. There are all manner of underground structures in cities that are seldom seen by the public and are very dark. Ask around and see if you can tour some of them. Be sure to invest in a hard hat and some rubber boots or waders, you may need them.

You might get involved with caving, but don't try it by yourself if you are a beginner, get with a knowledgeable group and let them know you are a beginner.

 

[Johnnyh]

Ever do metal detecting/treasure hunting? Light comes in very handy to check out holes/plugs if your in the shadows. Just use a beater that you can rinse off...gets real dirty...

 

[DIPSTIX]

I think I want to start taking our dogs to a public park to give them their walks. It is getting dark sooner now so I might be able to make some use of my high output throwers. I think I'll bring some protection in case someone tries to steal the flashlights, misses, or the puppies.

 

[panchovilla]

For years I would use them to walk my dogs at night before bed. Now I pretty much just use one when I get up through the night to raid the fridge or whatever else. Fairly light sleeper here.

It's odd. Back then I wanted a light that would reach out. Now I pretty much use the moonlight setting, unless I'm getting under the hood or seeing what goes bump in the dark.

 

[TouchOfRed]

I Only have a few flashlights. But I use mine when walking the dog at night. Getting dark early now.
Also, I just got a reason to buy a thrower. Feels like I didn't have a reason to buy a thrower before, but now there has been alot of wolf sightings nearby, they have also shot a few. And we are passing a few big Fields where there Are alot of deers. So seeing a wolf is not impossible. And I want to see if there is anything out on the fields, also my partner is very afraid of wolfs. So a thrower might be a good idea. Because my Convoy L6 just doesn't reach out very far on the fields.

So I ordered myself a Manker MK35. Waiting eagerly.. updating the tracking five times a day to see where the package is :laughing:

 

[Hugh Johnson]

I'll triple the suggestion for night hiking. It's an amazing feeling being in the forest or on a trail at night. I don't like to do it alone so I plan something with a friend. So much the better. Like another poster said nothing will make your gear feel more valuable than having to depend on it.

 

[DoubleA]

Welcome fellow 'Sconnies! I'm near Cedarburg, NW of Milwaukee, but I live outside of town and the backyard meets a wildlife refuge so plenty of dark here.

While we're revealing our locations in Wisconsin, I'm in Eau Claire.
I use my light for going to the bathroom at night. I use a weak light with low batteries for that purpose. Nothing wakes me up faster at 3am than turning on a bright house light after I just woke up with a full bladder, so a weak light fits the purpose. It also gives a purpose for low batteries.

Other than that, I use lights to see in the backyard at night. Also to go down the stairs to the basement at my Dad's house. The reason is because there's a light switch to turn on the overhead light at the top of the stairs, but not to turn it off at the bottom.

 

[blueridgeman]

Get the Digoo DF-101 fan, it use 18650 battery, I like it better than the 02 Cool fan.

That might be nice for sitting on the deck in the summer down here, are the two 18650s that come with it decent?

 

[edpmis02]

Preserve the lifespan of CFL bulbs by not turning them on for quick (less than 10 minute) uses.

Looking under bed, closet, back of freezer

Getting clothes together in the morning (high CRI lights)

Nightlight (I use a warm Quark^2 moonlight mode) with a homemade diffuser

Taking showers (enjoyable to see steam swirl around hot led)

 

[Tachead]

Preserve the lifespan of CFL bulbs by not turning them on for quick (less than 10 minute) uses.

Looking under bed, closet, back of freezer

Getting clothes together in the morning (high CRI lights)

Nightlight (I use a warm Quark^2 moonlight mode) with a homemade diffuser

Taking showers (enjoyable to see steam swirl around hot led)

CPF bulbs? Who still uses those?. They are terrible for the environment and 3 times less efficient compared to LED's. And, who can stand the annoying warmup and low CRI they have. My whole house has been running 90+ and 95+ High CRI LED bulbs for almost two years:rock:.

 

[horizonseeker]

With the ventura fire currently raging and the wind roaring on Wednesday night, we lost power for about 2 hours (I think). For a member of this forum, it was the perfect time to use a lot of different light in true darkness.

I ended up using my Klarus G20 26650 light standing on a table to give light while brushing my teeth. With 2 - 3000 lumen output, it felt no different than having the room lights on.

For all other tasks, ceiling bounce was enough for just about everything.

When needing a smaller light, used Klarus Mi7 on 14500 for a 700 lumen light.

All in all, because this was not a true emergency, I had the luxury of using the lights that normally would not see use at home. But given the city is so bright at night, it takes extraordinary times to really use the lights.

(I didn't use any of the old standbys like my malkoff just because I figured, for one night, let's go big with 4 figure lumens.)

 

[Eric242]

I want to know more ways to be able to use my flashlights. I am willing to be put into a situation where i need one but I also need an excuse to tell the wife how we got into the situation.

Take a little hammer and smash all the light bulbs in your house. Once it gets dark you´ll have plenty of use for your flashlights and even your wife will appreciate these now. You will also have a nice topic to discuss with your wife (how the hell did all the bulbs, even the spares, get smashed???).

Eric

 

[aih]

My suggestion also requires a dog, particularly when said dog thinks he is free to ignore you when he can't be seen by you, and he's out in the yard at night and won't come in when called. Of course said dog must understand that he can be seen when illuminated by the flashlight. Frequency of opportunity to use flashlight will vary with individual circumstances.