Blog policy update

I've been kind of thinking about it for a while, and tonight I decided to go ahead with it. Though I'd like to keep the primary focus of this blog on flashlight stories, I'd also like to open it up as a place for stories of other kinds of EDC items, such as knives, since most light carriers tend to have other tools on hand. Hopefully this change will provide some interesting new variety.

Lava Flow

Contributed by Sam
Location: Campus Apt.
Knife: Spyderco Lava

Situation: We ran out of toilet paper....


Casually, I walked down to my building's community advocate, and was intending on leaving a drawing on a dry-erase board of me sitting on the toilet with a gleaming question mark where the roll would be.

It turned out that she was inside her room; so she saw me approach and opened the door wondering of my query.. I stated my purpose, "Hello, we have run out of toilet paper, are you who I get it from?" She got up to help right away, grabbed a key card and opened up the utility room...

She walks over to a box, scuffles with it a bit and then says "Ah.. hang on, I gotta get something to cut this with"... No sooner did I say "I've got something," I had the knife out, opened and ready to be handed to her... She looked surprised a bit and said "oohhn nooo" and pulled her hands away, then said "you do it!" .... So I carefully cut through the tape securing the box shut, closed the knife, pull out a bag of rolls, and thanked her for her time.

Now, we will not be left ass-ringed on the toilet, contemplating what type of college ruled notebook paper would be most effective.

Atascadero walk

Lights: Ra Clicky 140Cgt, Fenix E01

Went for a late night neighborhood walk with Michelle before heading home from a movie night with her and Chris. I used my Clicky and mostly kept it at 35 and 100lm. It was a dark night with some light from streetlamps and houses, so a lot of light was needed. Michelle made me happy by having the little Fenix I gave her. It was a nice walk, full of crickets, a passing freight train, and warm overhill night air. The only worrisome moment was when we got some attitude from a dog. I switched the light to the other hand and went for my handy Manix, but it was just barking from a yard. After that I kept my half-full Nalgene in a more convenient spot so I'd have a better alternative.

Another Cambria outage

I had intended to go to first home Coast football game of the season, but around the start time my lights went out. Then Ian called from Linn's; they were out too and he needed me to come down and provide some illumination so they could close up. Turns out the whole town was out due to someone hitting a power pole on Santa Rosa. I took various long running lights down: Ian put the Magled in the dishwashing hovel and claimed the Zebra as his getting-around light, Katie took the ProPoly to finish up her work. Ended up not being needed for very long, they were closing and we all left together shortly after. I left them with the Zebra, Mag, and ProPoly for the night. The game was cancelled and played at the other team's home the next day.

Here's the story:
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/north_coast/story/860062.html

HSU Room Lighting

Contributed by Sam
Lights: Ra 170CT & 85Tr, NiteCore D10 (Nichia 083), CMG-R
Location: Campus Apartments

Upon arriving at school for Fall semester, I began to live utilizing the few items I brought with me from home.

The harsh florescent-tube lighting of the room was too bright, and wasted too much electricity for me to just be sitting in here, staring at a book...I noticed that my roommate had bought a desk lamp, that burns a 40w bulb.. That wouldn't do for me.

So I began inspecting my room, noticed that the bed frame was made of wood, creating a surface which I could attach things by hook or pin. Promptly I purchased some finely wound hemp rope, maybe about 1/8 in diameter, and some clear plastic push pins.



With these items, I created a small rope line, which I could then attach things to and hang down above my desk.



As you can see, the 170CT with some diffusion works well as a temporary light source. I use the 85Tr as a permanent fixture there, making use of both its white and red output for late night computer work.





The CMG rides on the ceiling above my bed, providing ample book reading light and preserving night vision sensitivity. It is powered by nimh eneloops for long term use.



So far this setup has served me well. I have plenty of light output no matter where I am in the room. I also have a headlamp if it becomes necessary..

Spending my evenings without the main room light on makes me feel better. The harsh artificial light is unnecessary compared to flashlight usage and the reduction of electricity is a positive side effect.