About a year ago I became familiar with a term called “EDC”.  Every Day Carry.  What that is are the things that you carry with you on a regular basis to be ready for “Stuff”.  It’s a very different and individual thing.   Not only is it different individually but for the same person it can even be different situationally.  Your EDC may be different in the boat or camper compared to a night out at a fancy restaurant.

My EDC literally changes almost daily, but most days it is this:

 

From left to right,

1. Fisher Space Pen
2. OLight i3T Copper Flashlight
3. Swiss Army Knife Cadet Alox

Most days this is all a fella needs.  This fella anyway.  The fancy pouch is from a company called Hitch and Timber. And keeps everything from getting banged up and slides easily into my pocket.

The funny thing is that EDC must evolve and get better with time.  And that’s kind of where this blog leads me.

Into the world of flashlights.  Most people don’t think too much about flashlights.  Neither did I. On September 18th, 2018 Hurricane Florence dissipated and as you can see on Sep 16th, 2018 is the day I started thinking about Flashlights.  We were right in the thick of the Hurricane then and you can plainly see what was on my mind then.  I’ll stress that point.  I was in the middle of a full blown hurricane and my major thoughts were “Damnit, my flashlight is not that great”.

You see, I had a flashlight.  It was a part of a Craftsman cordless drill set and it worked off of a rechargeable Sub C battery brick that locked into the bottom of the light, and the drill.  In other words it was HUGE, not very bright despite the fact that it had an 18vdc power bank, and very cumbersome.

Oh yes, during Hurricane Florence I realized that what I really needed were some GOOD flashlights.  A GOOD flashlight by my bed, a GOOD flashlight by the kitchen sink/stove, a GOOD flashlight by the generator, and a GOOD pocket flashlight.

So you can see by my Amazon order page that I ordered two flashlights within a few days and then finally another light about a month later.  I got my first bit of flashlight information from reviews on Amazon and to be honest I never gave flashlights much thought.  “Push button, get light, walk around with light”.  I had no clue that a flashlight was more than that.  These are the things that I have learned about lights.

• The flashlight needs the ability to be REALLY bright.
• The flashlight should not get too hot while it is REALLY bright.
• The flashlight must be rechargeable.   NOTE THAT I SAID……..”The flashlight…………” and not “The batteries in the flashlight”.  When it is dark and stormy is not the time to realize that you weren’t as dedicated to maintaining your gear as you should have been.   A flashlight charging station is worth its weight in gold for ease and simplicity.
• The flashlight should be DURABLE and be able to withstand a drop.
• There should be more than one flashlight and in fact should be SEVERAL flashlights.  Let me give you an example.  I jog.  Yeah, I know that’s funny but it’s true, and most of the time I jog before the sun comes up.  Obviously a big giant tactical flashlight is not what I need here. Something smaller will suffice.
• The flashlight should have a good solid grip.  You are not going to be using your flashlight in optimum conditions.  When you need it, it will be dark, windy, rainy or all of the above.
• The flashlight should strobe.  A super bright strobe can disorient someone up to no good.
• The flashlight should provide the user immediate feedback in some manner of how much charge it has left.   Flashlights with AA or AAA batteries just go dim and then you whack it in your palm hoping to create fresh electrons or wake up some of the sleeping electrons.

So back to my picture of my Amazon ordering page. The Anker light in the middle is rechargeable but you have to take it apart to plug a micro USB in.  Let’s face it.  I’m not going to do that.  At least as not as much as I should.  That Anker light is in my camper right now and I haven’t charged it in ages.  It does still work as I turned it on just yesterday.  Shoulda charged it then.  I didn’t.

So I bought some flashlights off of Amazon.  Believe me that what I posted was not the whole lot of them.  I tried several lights and ended up giving most of them away.   On my list above they hit almost none of the wickets.  They are however, inexpensive and do cast a light in the dark.  They are good for indoor usage when the power goes out.  Good for leaving by the bed, and walking to the toilet with.  Good for going camping and walking to the bathhouse with and when you drop it in the leaves and need a flashlight to find your flashlight………well then you haven’t lost much.

So after much trial and error I have stumbled upon the lights that hit ALL the wickets in my list above.

OLight.

Here’s my two favorite OLights.  First up the Seeker 2 Pro.  This is one bad assed light.  3200 lumens.  This thing will light up whole tree line FAR AWAY.  The light is crisp, bright, and the hotspot is perfect and focused.  The button has lights on it that show you the intensity setting and the charge level.  The handle is grippy and half rubberized.

And the whole light is RECHARGEABLE.

 

Not only is this cool magnetic mount pretty unobtrusive to install  (mine is near a USB outlet). It just slaps up magnetically.  Now THIS I will charge regularly.  There isn’t much thought, no hassle, no disassembly……..just pop it up on the charging base.

Not only does this light charge ALMOST EVERY OTHER RECHARGEABLE OLIGHT USES THE SAME STATION.

What’s not to love?

The Seeker 2 Pro is an amazing light.  Once you’ve used this you’ll realize that all other lights are suited for getting you from the bed to go take a leak in the bathroom when the power is out.

When I jog I carry this:

This is an SR1 II Titanium Spring. Yeah, it’s a little expensive but my other EDC when I’m not carrying the fancy leather pouch.  Finally here’s the OLights I have so far.  The blue one will put out 2000 lumens.  It’s a sweet, sweet light.   As you can see my copper EDC light started out as just a plain black one.  Again, I evolved into a little classier stage of carry.   I’m like that.

Don’t settle for crap flashlights. A flashlight is a TOOL. A valuable TOOL.  You need something that you know will perform when the lights go out.  Living in Eastern North Carolina just inland of the Outer Banks we catch some Hurricanes here.  No crap light will do.

Don’t be like me.  Don’t wait until you’re right in the middle of a life or death situation to realize your flashlight is not up to the task of keeping you safe.