Flashlight / torch use by the public less common?

Minimoog

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I remember as a kid that when people went out at night they almost always had a pocket torch 'for the dark bits' and whilst it may have only been a 2AA penlight it was some light and you could see them coming also.
Then around 2006/7 LED lights arrived and there was a real boost in the amount of people out with lights - they made a good gift - and some were quite bright.

But the last couple of years has seen people walking with no lights at all - despite their phone probably having some sort of flashlight function. I was out yesterday along a very dark path through the wooded park and of course I had a light (SureFire E2o) and the amount of people out in total darkness was a suprise. I'm glad I had a light as I don't like seeing people as just shadows heading towards me. Last week I was out with my light (I live in a semi-rural area in the UK) and passed a husband and wife - no lights between them - and as I passed I heard her saying why haven't we got a torch and being quite forceful too "well I WANT ONE!" and I have a few recent encounters like that - as if torches were never invented and they had seen one for the first time. One little girl was walking with me ahead of her father to be in the torch beam and said "why haven't you got ta torch daddy". A torch is surely one of the first gifts to give a child - they love them! Seemingly no longer.

Maybe its the lack of decent lights for sale (ones sold in shops are usually quite nasty these days) or some other reason. Have you noticed this? I don't even see many people using their phones as lights any more.
 

novice

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...and of course I had a light (SureFire E2o)...

The E2O. What a glorious E-series incan. Not that much different from, but slightly better than, IMHO, the wonderful E2E. I am thankful that I have one in addition to my E2E lights.

After finishing a volunteer shift at a telephone hotline on Thanksgiving (here in the states (States?)), I went to my best friend's house and ate too much, but got to meet his cousin and her husband, who live in Chico, California, which is fairly close to Paradise, California, where the horrible wildfire did so much damage. They got the order to pack a car, which they did, but thankfully, did not have to evacuate. Anyway, she knew someone who is related to someone who used to work for Surefire, and had received a second Surefire E1B, after losing the first one walking the dogs. First, I was absolutely gobsmacked and giddy meeting a civilian who regularly carried and used a Surefire, and secondly, I assume that SF employees must have some great employee discounts.

Aside from that, I have given several different lights to friends in different battery formats, but most of the people I encounter do not necessarily seem to value lights as tools (or wristwatches). The cellphone seems to be the default gadget, most places I go.
 

peter yetman

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This is a complete bugbear of mine.
Every year from around now until Spring, people walk about on the lanes around here in semi and complete darkness without any form of light. The number of times that I think "Oh God, I could have hit them" doesn't bear thinking about.
In semi darkness even though it looks quite light to someone outside a car, the driver's eyes are adjusted to the glare of the headlights and can't see so miuch outside of their beams.
I think it will have take a serious accident for anyone to start taking responsiblity for being seen. I just hope that it's not me that's involved.
I now carry a small collection of lights in the truck to give to the unlit, but really, the looks I get when I stop, I wonder why I bother.
I reckon if you suggested that they use the light on their phone they'd say they were saving the battery for calls. Let's hope one of those isn't to the Emergency Services.
That feels better, thank you.
P
 

MikeSalt

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The problem is that many people don't think they need a torch, because they have one in their phone. However, then reality hits that the slightest stumble is going to send a £600+ gadget hurtling to the floor, so they opt for darkness instead. I know some torches can be that sort of money, but they usually still work even if they hit the concrete. The same cannot be said for the phone.
 

Minimoog

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Thanks for the input. Yes, I love my E2O, carry it always.

I'm not sure about the US, but in the UK it used to be the thing to buy an Ever Ready torch as a gift for children to carry when out. I look at some of the designs and they put safety in mind as the outer bezel was semi-translucent red plastic so from the side you could see a red glow. Its not just pedestrians moving about in the shadows - cyclists are now too. They have often have no lights at all and its like concept of personal lighting is being forgotten. If less and less light are being used, then less places will sell them. I'm already seeing that - the torch section in Halfords (large UK chain) is now down to some plastic junk, the Maglites are completely discontinued. What a shame. This will surely impact the amount of time and effort shops put into stocking lights.
 

Repsol600rr

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A friend of mine ended up dropping his nice phone trying to use it as a flashlight, as susggested by this thread. Thankfully only broke the screen protector and not the actual screen. Still a close call. I visited him a while back to help him work on his 68 mustang and he rembered my olight s1a and asked about it. He liked the magent in the tailcap and its brightness for size. He said after the phone drop he wanted a light to carry around. So I bought him an s1 mini on sale yesterday and will send him that and a head lamp I dont use for Christmas. He just bought a house with his girlfirend and is pinching pennies right now so I figure for about $50 I can bring a little light into his life (pun intended), and hopefully save his phone. He has terrible luck with phones. This will be the second friend that has understood the merits of carrying a dedicated light based on my example. Far as general public goes I almost hit 2 people about 3 weeks ago coming around a fairly blind corner. Most people in my neighbourhood do have at least something, if not a light a reflective vest. But theres still those that don't and even going the speed limit it can still be quite close when you finally see them.
 
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Lynx_Arc

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I think there are several reasons many people don't carry a flashlight.

1. In the past people have bought cheap lights that didn't last and ate batteries (AAAs usually).
2. People went from carrying flip phones that took little space and fit in a pocket with room to spare to larger bulkier smartphones.
3. Smart phones have decent output LED lights that many "found" and have been told how to use and are more reliable than junk flashlights.
4. Too many lights in the stores to choose from with many people unable or unwilling to discern a decent light for their use with many getting cheap junky lights or overkill lights or lights with battery types that end up constantly costing them money to replace batteries and ending up with them going back to their phone light.
5. The average person has already dumped wearing a watch for phones unless it is a fit or smart watch, dumping a mediocre flashlight isn't too hard to do as the smart phone is now considered the ultimate multitool for most folks these days.
6. If smart phones ever get smarter and put some sort of optic lens over a second LED in them thus making for a throwing flashlight then even more flashlights will be left at home.
 

peter yetman

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We went to a local Pub, a while back with Mrs. Yeti's sister and her pompous *** of a husband. The Pub supply lights to get you safely up the road to the car park. "I'm not using a bl##dy torch to walk up the bl##dy road" says he. It would have been so satisfying.....Hush my mouth.
P
 

Fireclaw18

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If you're out for a walk at night sometimes it's better not have a light on.

Without a light, your eyes get dark adapted and you may actually see more of what's around you. Turn on a bright light and lose your dark adapted vision. You can see everything in the light, but not much else.

If I'm taking a night walk, I will of course bring a light. But I only turn it on bright enough so I can see my footing. I only go to high power if I want to see something in the distance, or want more light on something. If I'm walking around in the suburbs on sidewalks where there are streetlights I won't turn on my light at all.
 

kamagong

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One little girl was walking with me ahead of her father to be in the torch beam and said "why haven't you got ta torch daddy". A torch is surely one of the first gifts to give a child - they love them! Seemingly no longer.

Sounds like a lack of proper parenting to me. :shakehead

My little girl already has several flashlights, from Girl Scout and Disney Princess types, to more serious tools. She knows the value of a good light.

40935893502_09bf6cc90c_c.jpg
 

Atr

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I agree with points made about being seen by cars on darks roads, the other day I was walking my dog of the lead late at night on a dark country lane with my light on low when I heard or sensed a car coming. I called my dog back and at the same time turned my light on max and directed the light down the lane to a bend in the cars direction, the car isn't actually in sight yet but I can see the light of the car headlights approaching the bend from the other side. Then I see their flashing me, they've obviously pulled over in a gap to let my car through, I flash back no you come to me, this went on a couple times then they finally drove around the corner and realised I'm not a car lol. Made me laugh a bit but I was using a lupine Betty tl2!

The thing is sometimes people drive the lanes which are not much wider than a car at crazy speeds at night so being able to alert them to your presence in plenty of time is essential I think.
 
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Modernflame

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One of my co-workers recently attended an evening wedding hosted at a private residence. Afterward, it was dark. He went outside, walking into an unlit area with no flashlight. Putting one foot in front of the other, he stepped onto what he thought was a slightly lower level of pavement.

....And splash! He fell into the swimming pool.

When word got around in the office, we laughed about it for a solid half hour. Poor guy doesn't see well. I'll be getting him a mini-mag or something soon.
 

Taz80

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My brother in law used to ride to and from work with no lights. My sister would tell him he needed to get lights, reflective vest or better yet both. He would reply " I can see fine I don't need lights". One day he was riding to work in the car with her, she told him to look for the bike coming up on the right. Even looking for the rider he didn't see him until they were on top of him. The next day he had a vest and light. I think a lot of people are clueless, things like being seen on the road at night, walking on the correct side of the road, having a light with batteries before the power goes out just doesn't enter their minds. Getting hit by a car isn't real high on my bucket list so I will continue to carry lights, and drive slow because of those that don't.
 

idleprocess

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We live in an unprecedented world of reliable modern conveniences. A commanding majority of people living in the industrial world have always had extremely reliable power, water, sewer, food, medical care, phone service for their entire lives. Similarly robust cell phone and internet access has been a thing for something close to a majority of the population for something going on 20 years.

Preparedness now seems to consists of a car charger for your phone, AAA roadside assistance, and an "emergency" credit card. References to the artifacts of labor - ideally artisinal in some fashion - may be hip, but actual tools aren't so much so when actually used as tools. When you've never gone seriously without and likely have neither labored for a living nor have your parents or peers, the notion of physical tool usage may well be an alien concept - something done by others with whom you never really interact. The smartphone suffices as a multipurpose device - toss in occasional use of the LED flash as a light (or just use the screen if the now commonly inbuilt flashlight utility is too hard) - and it can eliminate the flashlight for most unexpected casual usage.

All of this is a generalization of course and often fails when you come into contact with reality. Lynx_Arc hits at a number of more mundane possibilities. The number of alkaline leak-encrusted flashlights I routinely have to attempt to repair on my parents' behalf points to a regular problem with the cheap flashlights most often sought by the market and also suggests a reason why manufacturers are turning to the permanent li-ion cell charged via USB.

In my region, showerhead LED lights used to be common enough for pedestrians that they didn't seem unusual. But more often than not pedestrians are bumbling along staring at their phones or simply walking in the dark; the latter is generally fine since the streets tend to have enough streetlights that so long as they're on the sidewalks navigation is possible.

It's the professionals with crappy flashlights that confound. A HVAC contractor at my office has been poking his head up into the drop ceiling all over the building as part of a major upgrade. To his credit he's not using his phone to light up the darkness, but the Energizer headlamp with ~4 5mm LEDs is doing him no favors. I've been tempted to loan him my Olight H2R headlamp that happens to live in my work backpack, but it's a month-long job...
 

Steeldog

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My wife and I used to walk my dog in the evening dark hours. I was always used to letting my eyes adjust to the dark. I soon noticed when I'm driving how hard it is to see pedestrians or other fellow dog walkers.
People always speed in my neighborhood and I'm afraid to get hit. I always take a light when I'm walking with my wife and dog at night now. I notice how easy it is to get the attention of drivers and how they slow down and yield way before they get to me at an intersection.
During the early morning hours I run in the streets every other day with my dog and I use a headlamp. I'm never without a light when getting my excercise outdoors.
 

ChrisGarrett

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Maybe its the lack of decent lights for sale (ones sold in shops are usually quite nasty these days) or some other reason. Have you noticed this? I don't even see many people using their phones as lights any more.

I eat out 5 nights a week, week in and week out and people use their phones as flashlights all of the time.

99.9999% of the population isn't into flashlights as an EDC standalone item because they have the latest, greatest cell phone with a big old honkin' battery in it.

You can find decent lights here in America in any big box stores, from ChinaMart to Bass Pro Shops, so that's not it.

It's the cell phones that have obsoleted EDC lights for the hoi polloi.

Chris
 

kamagong

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99.9999% of the population isn't into flashlights as an EDC standalone item because they have the latest, greatest cell phone with a big old honkin' battery in it.

One of the biggest complaints about smartphones is that no matter how big the battery gets, or how efficient the energy usage is, inevitably they run out of juice. That's what happens with multi-use items. The more functions something has, the more functions there are that use energy.

:duh2:
 

LetThereBeLight!

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It's tragic that many of our loved ones, friends, and those in our community suffer from the normalcy bias: that unfettered belief that the way things are today (the sun will shine, the bank will be open, the food store will have ample food, the electricity/power will continue to flow, the pharmacy will be open) will be the SAME way TOMORROW, and the next day, and the next day after that!

In my view, that normalcy bias explains in part how very few utilize torches/flashlights.

The second reason to explain why very few utilize good L.E.D. lights (don't mean to slight the incandescent lovers among us!) is that flashlight manufacturers do NOT make having a flashlight FUN!

That's where I come in. And I dare say YOU! For example, I take a lot of ribbing every Christmas when I give out lights to family members and friends, but invariably I ALWAYS get a call weeks or many months later, "Wow, thanks so much for that light, we lost our power and it came in so handy!"

He who smiles last, smiles best, right?

Let me summarize: until more of our fellow humans develop a consciousness that questions that normalcy bias and prepares for ANY kind of possible interruptions, in this case, of our power grid through a storm, an EMP, a freak "act of God", etc., then torch use by the public will continue to be less common.

Perhaps if in our own ways we make flashlights "fun", then others will be open to having at least one light for everyday carry [EDC].

- LetThereBeLight!
 
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thermal guy

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I myself can never understand why everyone doesn't carry a light.you can get a good keychain light or edc light for 20 bucks or so. They are lifesavers and just as handy as a pocket knife. I won't go for milk without 3 on me
 

LetThereBeLight!

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One of my co-workers recently attended an evening wedding hosted at a private residence. Afterward, it was dark. He went outside, walking into an unlit area with no flashlight. Putting one foot in front of the other, he stepped onto what he thought was a slightly lower level of pavement.

....And splash! He fell into the swimming pool.

When word got around in the office, we laughed about it for a solid half hour. Poor guy doesn't see well. I'll be getting him a mini-mag or something soon.

Well, if Mr. Fixer ("Bykfixer") had been invited, that never would have happened.

He would have gone back to his vehicle and retrieved as many lights needed to place around the pool to enjoy the water reflecting back their luminescence!

Everybody needs a Mr. Fixer (or a Ven or a Vinh) in his/her life! :D

- LetThereBeLight!
 
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