this post was submitted on 10 Aug 2023
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Genuinely curious, because it's quite apparently about lifestyle in general: how often do you need a flashlight, especially a good/bright one? I mean, a bright one is nice to have, but it's not like I'd need one. Basically I can understand why people just pick whatever they happen to find from the first store they walk into, and they're happy with their purchase.
Currently, I don't even own a flashlight. I rarely need one and when I do, I've just used my phone's flashlight and it's been just fine for whatever I needed to do.
Literally carry one every day. 90% of the time, when it gets used it's not a need, but it was really nice to have. If you drop a screw or something small, you can either crawl around looking for it for 5 minutes, or you can shine a flashlight across the floor and see the shadow in 5 seconds.
I watch literal doctors and mechanics try to finagle their phones with the light on into weird places and I have no idea why more people don't carry a flashlight.
Sure, not everyone needs one, but if your job depends on needing extra light on a regular basis...
Bonus points if you have a flashlight with a beveled edge for self-defense. Good old blind and bash!
I originally got one as a self defense tool (though the bevel is 'supposed to be' for breaking a window, like if you're trapped in a car). Whatever's clever lol
Thankfully I never have had to use it for defense or survival, but I'll be damned it I don't use it for almost any reason at all, just because "I can't see that great, I need LIGHT!"
Flashlight is essential for winter in rural places, for working on cars or lighting up awkward places. I'd rather put in place a torch or flexi torch and have it fall over instead of my mid range phone which may lead to the screen scratching. Generally too, using my phone where I need a torch simply exposes my phone to risks.
I originally got a small, very bright flashlight, as a form of self-defense (the area I live in isn't the greatest, so you have to be a little more aware). I have several different self-defense options, but the palm-sized flashlight has become one of my favorites... and not just because of self-defense
Yeah, it can blind the hell outta someone and stun them from the sheer 'holy fuck, that burns my eyes', but it became most useful simply because I had it on me all the time.
A cellphone light soon became frustratingly clunky and I still couldn't see that great, when I just needed a quick light. It's an S.O.S, it's a defense tool, it's small and way more effective than a cellphone light... I never thought I would use it as much as I do, but it just became that way because it was almost always on me.
Now I have a little keychain light for the things I would normally pull my cellphone out for, and my pocket flashlight for everything else.
Jumping a car battery on a dark highway?... fuck a cellphone, I want to see everything and for everyone to see me as well (from a distance), so I don't get run over by someone not paying attention
You try to approach me with a weapon?...BLAM, blinded by the strobe light as I make a run for it, and you try to see again
Is that an opossum/skunk/racoon rustling from nearby? POW, power beam activates so I can see the bushes down the block. If it's closer to me, it's also temporarily blinded
Long story short: I hardly used a flashlight either, before I started carrying one for defensive purposes. Now I use it for a LOT of little reasons, and hate not being able to see (very well) because a light isn't bright enough.
It also has a bevel to break a window (like if you're trapped in a car)? But I've (thankfully) never had to use it except for, "I need a flashlight quick". It seems weird, but I understood it once I started carrying it