I'm intrigued by all the threads on the Tank 007, DQG III, etc. I read up on the lights and try to justify why I would need one. Ultimately though, I'm not coming up with any good reasons. I'm not in law enforcement, I'm not a mechanic or electrician, I don't live out in the woods... I'm a city dweller with a desk job. Why would I need to carry a flashlight?
Of course I have lights in my car and at home. But outside of that, if I just need to illuminate something for a few seconds, I just use my cell phone.
Well, for those moments you need a flashlight, didn't plan to bring one, and the cell phone isn't bright enough. For instance - you dropped your keys (or anything else) on your way across a parking lot, yard, etc. . . and you were carrying a bunch of stuff and didn't know when/where you dropped them. Also to impress others. Aww. . . c'mon, why do you need a good reason - just do it!
I use mine to light up the backdoor while I'm trying to unlock it (my Tank is so bright I don't have to aim it right at the lock to see). Or I've used it when I've dropped something (like under my car) and it has rolled away.
If you work in a brightly lit place (I work in a hospital) you will be surprised how often some extra light comes in handy.
For finding stuff (Last time it was a tiny screw from the boss' glasses dropped on the carpet. Time before that it was the RFID chip from his car key - fell out while I was replacing the battery) you've dropped on the carpet a light is amazingly useful. Get your eye down to floor level and sweep the beam of a light over it. Works every time for me.
For finding keyholes in the dark - we were running on generator power this afternoon - when they switched back to mains power the lights went out and stayed out. The corridor to my office is windowless and the lights were out.
You would be surprised how often you will find a use for it.
Get a Fauxton (Photon 2 clone) or a dirt cheap AAA light (Even a Maglite Solitaire if you must - though a match would be more useful) and put it on your keyring. See how many times you find a use for it.
if you need to be convinced, maybe you don't need one.
but i agree with Don. try one out, like a fauxton. fauxtonsaredirtcheap and feel like nothing on your keys. you might be surprised by how often you use it.
Ill second that. Give one a go if you haven't already, but EDC habits are simply something that comes out of personal experience rather than needing someone to say you should. If you don't need it, you will probably end up adjusting your edc load accordingly
Probably you don't need one, but sometimes it is convenient to have a small light handy. Also, if you want to try something like the Tank it is cheap, small, and there when you might find one advantageous. I don't really need one having not carried one for most of my life, but sometimes it is handy.
That's what I'll probably end up doing... Still, it would have been nice to have an excuse a reasonable explanation for the wife. As someone said on another thread, my light will still be cheaper than her new shoes!
The OP puts a fair Q. I'm in a similar position, i.e. live in the middle of a big city. I don't have a desk job, but working in construction I have dedicated toolbox light/s, just as I have glovebox torches for the car, kitchen draw ones for the flat..
So I guess I don't *need* an EDC light as such, and tbh, since joining BLF i've acquired so many torches that I find myself looking for reasons to carry one with me just so they get used. But as the others have said, it's surprising how often it's useful to have a torch with you, and I'd certainly hate to be without at least a good keychain light.
one time my pregnant wife started to bleed so we went to the hospital . they started to inspect down there, using a hospital flashlight. it was pathetic though. i offered my fenix ld01, and they took it and did the rest of their inspection using it.
A couple weeks ago I was driving home from doing some work at my cousin's church when an oncoming car swerved in front of me and nearly hit me head on. The car hit a guardrail flipped upside down and landed on its top over 20 feet from the guardrail. The car hit the guardrail at about 50 mph beside me and it sounded like a bomb going off! I stopped and so did another car. It was a country road with no lights so it was pitch black. We could hear a baby crying so the other guy that stopped laid on his back and crawled in the car while I held my Trustfire R5-A3 so he could see. The 2 year old was hanging upside down in a car seat with the car seat belt across her neck. The other guy could not get to the belt release and yelled for a kinfe. I pulled out my SRM 704 I always carry and cut the seat belt and got the baby out. I then held the flashlight so the other guy could pull the woman driver out of the car. Unfortunately the woman driver was intoxicated but by the grace of God her and her 2 year old barely had a scratch on them from a horrendous crash. Yeah, I have a reason to carry a flashlight and knife all the time.
One of the cops had an incan 6D maglight and was shining it on the car to look at it. I pulled out my R5-A3 with a 14500 in it and shined it on the car. On of the cops said "Holy crap" and asked where he could get one.
Why wouldn't you carry a flashlight? That's the question.
There a millions of reasons to carry. To be a hero, to save the day, to find stuff, to impress your friends, to see if deer are stuck under the car, to avoid stepping on big fat cats that think you too can see in the dark, to look for monsters under the bed, to find your way to the trailhead when a hike took too long, to give peace of mind, to balance out you pants because the knife you carry is huge, to have an unexpected answer when hot chicks ask, "Is that a flashlight in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?" (this, of course, has never happened to me, but I'm prepared just in case it does), too look for stuff in the barn where the lighting is bad, to shine in my wife's eyes as a distraction as I try to wrestle the remote away, as a Thank You gift to some random military person you meet at the Shop Rite, to look for toy mice under the oven, to look for porcupine up in the trees.
I got more, but my one finger is tired.
And if I haven't said it before, welcome to BLF, Silverman.
The whole idea of a non-work related edc is so that you have a light with you for those times when you didn't expect to need a light. Think about it.............if you knew you were going to need a light then you'd have a task orientated light with you for that task. A keychain edc no matter whether a fauxton or a Black Cat or a Tany E09, etc, is for the unexpected. (That's what I tell SWMBO. )
I was recently with my son I asked him to grab the light out of his car. He handed it to me and then I found it didn't work, I opened it up to find leaky batteries, a corrosive mess to clean up, and no spares.
Cell phone is great with a charger and power working. Doesn't hurt to have a backup, though. What I want is a quality light that will charge or run my cellphone. Backups are good.
i know ppl in dark places (e.g. dark household) who prefer not to use light at all. i dont need excuses or justification, i simply *enjoy* using my EDC light and looking at bright reflecting objects. there are dark areas or spots even during the day, and it gets dark every night. enough reason to carry a tiny cheap AAA keychain light. i am so delighted by the quality of my chosen AAA lights (Tank and Fenix in particular) that i simply *want* to have them on me. for fun, enjoyment and joy.
other folks carry keys they seldom use, pens, multitools, nail clipper, useless keychain pendants, paracords, mp3 player, cell phone (you do!), knives, or guns, or purses. to me it's all about joy and enjoyment. reason enough. (and of course i use them daily, whenever i can. Tank or Fenix with 10440's. it's the blast)
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