Why I Always Carry a Flashlight...

I started carrying a flashlight with me everywhere I go a couple of years ago. A tornado came through the area and struck a local shopping mall. Of course the news media was all over it and interviewed some of the victims and several made mention that with all the lights out and the emergency lighting not working it was very difficult to find their way out of the mall. This got me to thinking. What if I found my self in the same situation. What would I do?

I thought of my cell phone. It can provide light in an emergency, but I really thought I might need to save the battery to make contact with emergency services or family members. Especially considering you never know how long you may be without power. A recent storm caused power outages that affected people for up to a week. So, the obvious chose became to find a flashlight that I could carry with me at all times.

The next question was, how to carry the flashlight. Some of the typical ways to carry them are: On the key chain. I considered this but it added too much bulk to an already overloaded key chain. This would probably be something the ladies might consider since they carry keys in their purse and not in their pocket. Then I thought about around the neck on a chain. But, I'm not a necklace kind of guy anyway and any flashlights that would work would be larger than I want hanging from my neck. That left one place I could think of, my pocket. So, I began my search for a light which I could carry in my pocket and would be functional. The picture above shows the results of my search. The light has yet to save my life but I assure you it have saved me in other ways on many occasions.

• Locating a screw my wife dropped when cleaning a light fixture

• Changing the water valve in my sons refrigerator

• Finding my dog in the yard

• Resetting a tripped breaker

• Finding other things too numerous to mention in poorly lit areas

• Searching spaces for items where there are no lights

• Locating the key slot in the door when coming home after dark

• Finding the cord to my phone charger when I go to bed after the wife

• Working on plumbing under sinks or in walls where it is hard to see

• Getting the newspaper before sunup

• Locating items in the attic

• Searching for a strange noise in the dark

• Looking for the wife's lost earring under the bed

• Looking at a child’s tonsils or sore throat

• Of course when the power has gone out

• Finding lost keys

• Looking for strange noise under the car hood.

• Walking to the car at night

• Getting dressed in the morning before my wife gets up

• Numerous other times I know I forgot to mention

I still carry mine mostly for safety reasons, but as you can see I have used it on many occasions for other reasons. I am sure you can think of thousands of other times a small flashlight would come in handy. With new technology such as LED, etc. I bet you can find the perfect flashlight for your own use.