Reservoir Canyon cave

Lights: Ra Clicky 140Cgt, SureFire L1

Received my replacement tails from HDS and took them for their first use inside a cave at the base of the grade. I used the Cgt and L1 and found that it's true what many say, that caves have a strange ability to absorb light. With the Ra and SF both on high, I had a combined output of around 210lm (250 with burst) and it was merely adequate after coming out of the sun. The L1 was clearly more useful, its focused spot lost less light to the dark walls and filled the narrow space well with its spot.

Death of a Stallion

Me, Ian, Katie
Lights: Me - Ra Clickies 140Cgt & 100wwCT; Ian - NiteCore D10

In the evening I went out to return some stuff to Ian and buy Sam's red L1. I got to Linn's a little after 10, hung around for about an hour talking cameras and stuff with Ian while the closing finished. We left around 11.30 and he immediately took off while I called Sam to let him know I was coming. I pulled onto Main and my phone started ringing, so I stopped at the intersection and answered; it was Katie. She asked if Ian had left and said she'd just heard someone crash badly at the bridge right below their house. I told her Ian probably hadn't had time to get there yet but said I'd check it out anyway....

I arrived at the bridge, drove slowly past, and saw a damaged car with no lights on sitting on the other side of the rail with its nose facing back towards the park. I kept going to the park, turned around hurriedly, and raced back to the scene. I parked as close to where they were as I could, saw two people just out of the car, got out to ask if they were ok. The guy, tall and very clean cut looking, came up and started telling me he'd just crashed his car (obviously), etc., and made it clear he wanted me to stick around and help. He appeared completely fine, the girl with him was a little shaken up and had injured her left hand, so I was more worried about her. Fortunately, Ian returned with Katie a couple minutes later, he'd been going through there at about the same time and seen him losing control, went home to get his light and Katie. I hadn't gotten a good look at the car yet since it was in the shadows and I was busy looking them over and trying to help, but when I finally saw it in the light I realized it was a *Nice* car. Turns out it was a gorgeous dark blue metallic Ferrari 575M. Pretty tragic. Eventually the fire department/ambulance/sheriff/chp/Ron the tow truck guy (that's who all showed up) started arriving about 10 minutes after we called. Quite a scene. Ian got to help the tow guy by telling him how to get the F1 gearbox in neutral. Ian and Katie took the girl back to the hotel, I followed the tow and chp, watched the tow guy take the car to his house for the night. I got home at 1:30, after spending almost two hours there.

Ian and I used our lights to clear away small debris from the road and redirect passers' attention towards the water treatment plant, hoping no one would notice the smashed up Ferrari hiding behind us and pull over to possibly create more trouble. We also helped them check the car interior for their stuff, search through purse, etc.

VW wranglin'

Me, Ian, Will
Lights: Ra Clickies 100wwCT & 140Cgt, Mag 4D

I got back into town a little before sunset, so I went for a drive through town and along Moonstone. As I was coming out on Weymouth, a bigol truck passes me by
from the highway to upper Weymouth, and it's pulling a trailer with a car on it. So I'm like wait a minute, that bigol multicolored Dodge with huge steel bumper is Will! And that's Cammi's Ghia! And following behind, that's Ian and Katie in the GTF! So I chased 'em. Followed up to the new house, watched and photographed as they they unloaded it. Then Katie stayed there (because she was all fancied up and too pretty to play with VWs) and I went back to help them get their bug, which involved picking up the front end and moving it up onto the trailer since we didn't bother bringing the keys. Near the end of it, Katie called to ask if we needed the keys. I told her we didn't and that everything had gone smoothly... which was completely a lie. It was lots of fun. Lots of lighting too. I used the 100wwCT I was carrying to give Will some light to work by. Later I got 140Cgt too. When we unloaded the bug, Will drove it off the trailer and found it had no brakes, so I used both Clickies to light up the driveway as he went zipping down it. Dean commented on what a bright little light the Cgt is... while it was stepped down to about one quarter power. (Note to self and reminder to others: make sure I get a copy of my recording to him soon.)

Flashlight quote/incident of the day:
While giving Will light to hook up the trailer
Ian: mine's brighter *shines 4D Mag at me*
me: oh yeah! *shine back with wwCT*
Will: hey, I don't care whose is brighter!
me: whoops, sorry Will, I should have done it like this *turn wwCT back to the job, pull Cgt out with other hand, blast Ian with burst*

Moving day (another)

Lights: Ra Clickies 100wwCT & 140Cgt

Once again helped my mom move. Got to new place after dark, made good use of Clickies. Mainly used ww since the gt has a screwy tail that will need to be replaced. More problems with that one... Really appreciated its sustained 100lm flood when it came time to sweep around for any dropped things when clearing out the truck.

Clicky walk

Lights: Ra 140Cgt, Ra 100wwCT, Ra 70Tr, NT 120P, HDS B42XRGT, SF 6P-M60, SF G2Z-M60WL, SF L1(gen6)

Around 4am this morning I went for a walk down to the beach to compare lights and see how my new wwCT fared. So here are my brief observations.

140Cgt: This is a great light. Using it confirms my opinion that this beam style is the most useful and practical. More than any other, it just cuts a huge swath wherever you point it.

100wwCT: Good throw, very adequate, but no better than the Cgt, short of L1. Color is just beautiful of course, and that helps to give it an advantage over Cgt at a distance. Also, it just kills the B42 for throw, which it should, but it's still impressive since the 120P never really seemed to.

70Tr: Might throw a little better than ww at 70. About same at 100. Good but not amazing.

120P: Seems actually more floody than Cgt. Doesn't throw as well, but near field seems slightly brighter; very even illumination. Its mediocre tint makes things look just that little bit flatter and less pleasant, but it's really not bad on its own, at least on light surfaces like rocks.

B42XRGT: Using this light is fun, such memories, good times. It'd stood the test of time well, its tint is still very nice and it's always been able to throw very well against the 120P, even at barely more than a third the power, about. But I think it's finally done. It still carries better than any of the competing lights, but the wwCT beats it for tint and destroys it in throw. So I guess that is the true successor, at last. It took a long time to find a light I truly think is better, and it's still not better in every way.

M60: I use the M60 as my throw reference, it's the big gun when I'm not carrying a hotwire or HID. That's why I was surprised when it didn't really impress me. Admittedly, it's running on primary CRs still (since its turn as a moto headlight), instead of its usual RCRs, but it should still be doing about 230lm, so I figured it would destroy everything. It did not reach dramatically beyond the L1, just lit up the surroundings much better; a lot of light, but not a very substantial throw advantage.

M60WL: Still the best tint, just a little bit richer than the Ra. More but dimmer spill. Other than that, pretty much the same; roughly same output and throw.

L1: Impressive throw. Clearly outdoes all the other single cells, comes respectably close to the M60 (on primaries). Really solid little light, despite the fact that it's the only stock full production light going up against more expensive boutique lights and semi-custom builds. It did itself proud.

More Clickies!

After exactly a month away, My 140Cgt is back from the shop, and it brought a 100wwCT with it! Hurray!

Morro Bay wetlands (Dying Flashlight Game)

Light: Ra Twisty 70Tr

Went into the wetlands just before sunset, ended up staying longer than expected and went all the way out to the little sand spit. It was heavy dusk by the time I headed back and the only light I'd brought was the Twisty on an RCR it had been using for probably a couple weeks. It quickly dropped from full power to 35lm. When I got off the spit, I had to choose between going straight back to the road and back to my car or taking the longer, trickier, but less treacherous route around through the wetlands again. Knowing that a dying RCR will plunge through the levels pretty quickly... I decided to take the long route to make the dying flashlight game that much more satisfying. It had stepped down to about 17 or 9lm by the time I got out, but it kept going long enough to pick my way through the half soaked paths and across a small stream.

The Woodland Stretch

Contributed by Sam

Into the darkness I went. Up the streets, down the pavement, and eventually into the redwoods.

Using my 100wwcn to light my way, I scaled a small hill and found a favorite tree I like to sit against.

Just before reaching the tree, I heard sound behind me. I look and see a man, with his dog. I turn off my flashlight.

Arriving at the tree, I squat down and become completely silent and still.
I heard the man talking to his dog.

"what do you smell?"
... "what do you smell?"


The dog's collar rang out like a small bell as it climbed the terrain.
They were both in the dark.

..."what is it boy?"
"what do you smell?"

The dog arrives at my tree, presses against me.

I press my hand against it, and felt the dogs face go by in an instant. His nose smelling, breathing..
I say "Hey doggie" in a very low voice as he smells me.

The man arrives now too.

"Hey.. man.... what'cha doing?"

"I'm enjoying the dark..."

"Ah yeah, that's a good thing to be doing."
"I'mtaken my dog for a walk"

Then the man talks to his dog, and they go back the way they came.

The Basic Plunge

Light: HDS B42XRGT

I was hanging out at Linn's with Ian, Katie, Tia, Cammi, Van, and Kellen. After their style presentation bombed, the girls ignored us and started on their crazed wedding planning. Van played his iTouch games, his new favorite pastime, but I got bored. Eventually, I couldn't resist the temptation. Tia's glass of ice water had been sitting ignored the whole time, so I turned on the B42, set it to secondary, turned it nose up, and dropped it in the glass. It sat there for the rest of our night there, about half an hour.

M60 fills in on CX500

Lights: SF 6P w/Malkoff M60, HDS B42XRGT, Ra Twisty 70Tr

After some Linn'sing, Charlie and I hung around the behind the bank lot like old times. He had his cig, I had my Dragon Pearl green tea. We reminisced about bank wall tennis, car chases, old friends, the usual stuff. Got a visit from a familiar face from the past, watched some raging drunks running and screaming at each other on Bridge. Around 12.30 we decided it was time to take off, so Charlie went to fire up the motorcycle and got nothing. It's been a rainy weekend, so we figured the starter got wet or something. The headlight came on but looked a little dim, run switch was where it should be, but the starter didn't respond at all. After 10 minutes of rocking it and peering at it (with B42 and 70Tr), we finally resorted to bump starting it. First attempt only showed us how easy it is to get a 500lb bike to slide along damp pavement. Second attempt fired it right up, but suddenly it had no headlight. We let it run a little, peered at it some more, banged on the lamp, jiggled wires, jiggled ignition, nothing. He shut it off, found that it would now start up fine on its own and the headlight would flicker whenever the starter was pushed, but it died completely as soon as the engine started. We eventually had to give up on getting it to work. I switched the M60 module over to the 6P for better cooling, put in primary CRs for more reliable power, wrapped the light in electrical tape with some padding to help it sit securely, then paracorded it to the middle of his gauge cluster. It worked pretty well, plenty good enough for him to ride behind my car at 30mph through town to leave it at Tia's house. By that time it was about 1. We set off around 1.15, I got him home to Cayucos about 1.30, and he snuck into his house through the back.

Post-tea sunset walk

Me, Samy
Lights: Ra Clickies (140Cgt and 140Cn)

After the Samy farewell tea at the Cozy, Samy, Noelle, and I went down to moonstone to watch the sunset and wait for the rise of the full moon. We walked around a bit, sat and watched the ocean, and ended up using the Clickies quite a bit after sundown. When we got back to the car, we both used them to bounce light the cabin.

Christmas tree preparation

Light: Ra Twisty 70Tr

Had to do some trimming of my mom's Christmas tree, so I used the only halfway suitable tool I had on hand (Spyderco Cricket) and the Twisty. Of course it worked well, despite low battery blinks.

MB photo shoot

Light: Ra Clicky 140Cgt

I was driving home a little before midnight when I noticed the nice cloud formations that the moon was peeking through, so I decided to stop for some photos. I ended up spending almost two hours in Morro Bay, down by the beach, taking 15 second shots of the lights across the harbor and, later, me using the Clicky for various lighting effects. It worked very nicely, both as a very dim glow for making camera adjustments and as a bright burst to reflect some lighting off a tree. At the end of the night, when I got home, I found that I'd reached the end of the duracell that came with it, it would no longer even try to burst. I tried it again a little later and it would kick up to burst but immediately drop, though I think it may have only dropped back to 100, rather than the usual halving.

$5 Home Depot 1AA vs 140Cgt

Light: Ra Clicky 140Cgt

I was at my mom's house when a friend of hers gave her a 1AA flashlight that he got from Home Depot for something like $10 for two or three. It was actually a pretty decent looking little light for the price, looked like about 25lm and a decent beam. But when my mom got it, she of course immediately flashed it across the room at me. I responded as anyone in my position would: I pulled my Clicky out of my pocket and hit burst. She commented to her friend, "See how much brighter his is?" and he said something to the effect of, "Well this one only cost about five bucks. A good flashlight starts at about $15. See how nice and round his beam is? His probably cost $39.99!" She then asked how much it did cost and I declined to state... That one made me smile.

Cemetery walk

Lights: Ra 70Tr, NovaTac 120P

After tea, Hayley and I went for a walk in Santa Rosa cemetery. I hadn't come very well prepared since I wasn't expecting a walk in the dark, but I had my Twisty and I gave her the 120P. I set it to primary and handed it to her, no instruction beyond how to turn it on. I took a little amusement from that, since some silly cpf-ers insist that the light is just too complicated to hand off to someone without ground schooling. Rubbish. You click, it turns on; click again, it turns off; the UI is completely transparent if you want it to be. We had a nice walk, enjoyed the profound silence of the area, and had fun looking at the variety of tombstones.

More Port O'Brien assistance

Light: NovaTac 120P

Once again, the 120P provided lighting for the band to load up the trailer. I don't know how they manage it without me... ;)

Another Clicky dream

I had another dream about the Clicky. I got mine, but the body was covered in text and advertising and an X-Men logo with a picture of Wolverine. It had really nice aggressive knurling in a kind of spiral pattern. The body was thinner than it actually is, kind of AA size. The button was half moon shaped and offset to one edge for easier reach and set into a shrouded tailcap like the Twisty's. I went through the levels and found that the tint shifted around, getting really warm sometimes at low levels. Burst was incredibly bright, lit up the whole room, but when it dropped I could hardly tell the difference.

So I've had two nights of flashlight dreaming this week, both included something about the Clicky's release, and both tied flashlights in with marvel superheroes. This is getting too weird.

Schizatch Pursuit

Light: SF G2Z-M60

After class, I went into slo to leave some welcome home artwork for Chris to deliver to Noelle. But while I was preparing it, he took off past me. I went after him, chased him onto santa rosa, and managed to get right behind him at a light and flash his mirror with the M60. That got his attention real quick. He turned to look at what was going on and I got him in the face, which was necessary in order to... which was really fun. He threw up his hands and made a face like he'd walked into a surprise party. He pulled over into a gas station, we had ourselves a chat, and I handed over my art.

Clickies!

Not an adventure, but I figure this is a milestone worthy of a news flash since we've been waiting so long. The Clickies, both prototypes and the first of the pilot run of production models, have started to arrive! Finally!

Flashlight dreams (uh oh)

Strange dreams this morning, so I'll include the flashlight bits here since there hasn't been much activity lately.

I had a dream in which Hayley gave me a pack of novelty flashlights, to make up for losing the minimag I'd apparently loaned her. The interesting thing about the lights is that they were named something like "Ba Rok." I commented on how great it was that they were Barack lights, but looking at it now the Ba part seems to be tied to Ra, which was in the other dream I had. The lights started out black I think, but then changed into like six versions of Iron Man. No idea where that came from. I think we heard a noise like someone approaching the building, so we got up for a look and saw Tia walking up to the steps. We went out the door to meet her and found my mom standing on the halfway landing of the steps, shining a light on Tia, who of course thought it was me.

At some point, I had a dream about going to a show in a fancy opera house. I arrived a little late, as the lights were going down, so they didn't want to seat me until the intermission. Fine, went in to find a place to stand, turned on my HDS and put it to lowest output so I could see where I was stepping. A security guard walked by and told me to turn off the light. I apologized, but when I looked at the light I found it was already off, which I told him. He said it was on, I looked again, and then I tried to explain to him that what he was seeing was his own doing, the cool tinted led light he was shining on me was making my led glow slightly. He got angry but started to walk away, accused me of giving him attitude or something, and as he disappeared down a stairwell I shouted after him that I wasn't doing anything but trying to educate him. Or something like that. I started to wander around looking for a seat.

The Ra dream I had was similarly strange. I was in a large darkened room, sitting in the back. Henry Schneiker came out, only it didn't look like him; he was younger, bigger, and had short blond hair. He looked kind of like Patrick Swayze in Donnie Darko. He came to the back of the room and reached into a pocket or bag and set a Clicky on the table in front of me for the unveiling. I turned it on and shined it around the ceiling so everyone could see it. I tried to input commands and go through the levels as a demonstration, but then I realized that I couldn't and he was controlling its functions from a remote control while talking about it, so I just held it and aimed it around while he demonstrated. The beam was imperfect, like an old optic, defined center with blotchy spill and some chromatic artifacts. Also, when it changed level or I held the button down or something, it projected a green checker patterned focusing beam just like my Canon S3.