Seriously?
Why carry crap in your pocket if you don’t use it. If it’s in my pocket, it’s because I use it every single day. Exceptions being a ring of keys, of which I will use at least one every single day, but perhaps not every key sees daily duty; and the billfold which sees daily use as an entity but perhaps not every internal component.
If I don’t use it, it’s relegated to secondary storage: map pocket in the car, duffle bag, drawer at work, in the toolbox, etc.
I like your point on blinding light as a defensive weapon, but I can say I honestly would have used this exactly zero days in my lifetime to present. Of course, now that I’ve said it, I’ll need it tomorrow…
Not to mention 6 D-cells+18" of aircraft-grade aluminum= onehelluvaclub
I think the point of EDC is having tools you may need day to day. I don’t use all my items though but if the tool is small enough you get use to having it in your pocket. I don’t have a batman utility belt but things like carrying my leatherman squirt comes in handy maybe once a week.
If you want to condense your keychain I highly recommend the Keyport http://mykeyport.com/ It’s keyfob that has 6 “blade” slots that can have custom key blanks for house, car, storage, even chipped keys. They also have USB and LED light blades. I haven’t bought the USB or LED light blades because I ended up getting small alternatives, but for holding my 6 keys it’s a great product.
Being a STRONG advocate for a heavily armed citizenry, I want to agree… But pragmatically you would be skipping a step: one is highly, HIGHLY unlikely to go to jail for blasting someone full of lumens in the face with (PoWerFulL)flashlight -even with out provocation.
However, If one pulls a firearm on another in Texas(even if one is TPC 9.04 Compliant), there is a stronger chance you will be speaking to the cops minimum, or seeing Lew Sterrett from the inside out. Even if you do not break the law in Texas, you can be arrested and booked by some out-of-state-implant, anti-gun cop. Officer discretion be what it may, it is always up for the court to decide if Officer Friendly was right or wrong in booking you that night. Out of Dozens of times where I have momentarily blinded someone with a flashlight, I have not been arrested, or even talked to by the Poh’leze…yet.
Time & prudence allowing - starting with a flashlight, and strong voice commands gives one a much better grasp of what the others’ intentions are, and weather or not to draw. But I digress, Please re-read the last sentence your quoted portion.
If I pulled my gun out on every Hardheaded homeless guy who ran out of gas, and only needed, “…$5 dollars to get to Houston…” I would live inside Frank Crowley. DFW is full of (moronic)aggressive panhandlers.
I ask my self the same thing… but as soon as I remove something from my EDC, it seems like I needed the next day. Universe adores having fun at my expense. This have been true with just about anything I carry.
I.E. I carry a lighter, because creating fire from scratch can be Crazy hard. Fire is extremely useful. A while back, I needed to light on fire a truck tire to inflate it, after repairing it. I set the tire up, and with confidence, I pulled my bic lighter to find it was empty. Now I carry two lighters. And I dare NOT not to. That experience of having to create(& sustain) fire with the vehicle’s ignition was crazy hard.
I hear ya. I’m certainly not telling you (or anyone in particular)what to carry our how: you’re the one lugging all this stuff around, not me, so if you “need” it, who am i to say otherwise. But. … A functional lighter in the glove box would have solved that problem. And if it didn’t work the backup in the toolbox will. And if that doesn’t… anyway, regardless of how many backups you have, failure may still occur, so you just have to do what makes you feel right, and that may be different for each of us. I’m just amazed at all the shit
other people burden themselves with. When i was 6 i can remember being afraid of thunderstorms, tornados in particular, so when it was my bedtime and bad weather was afoot i would stuff my pockets with all the tools i thought i might need of i found myself miles away up a tree. I still only had half the crap other people seem to burden themselves with for “every day carry”.
Just another abject lesson in similar differences, I reckon. I’m told by experts that my fuel economy would improve at least ten percent by lightening my trunk box, but
A: It does not
and
B: I NEED all that stuff!
and
C: i already refuse to claim the ten percent for driving more sanely, so they can just roll their little expert certificate into a neat little ball & sit on it…
Speaking to the police is a strong possibility whenever you feel the need to defend yourself, whether with a firearm or a flash light. And don’t fool yourself, shining a 1000 lumen light into a strangers eyes without justification could easily be construed as assault.
The real problem with your belief that a flash light should be the first stage, is that in any situation where you would be justified to use ANY weapon (including a flash light), you really don’t have time to use one then switch to another. The general rule is that when the person is within 21 feet, you have time to drawer and operate one weapon, maybe. If someone is within 21 feet of you and approaching despite being warned off that is a serious threat and should be responded to as such.
All that said, I have found that when being approached by aggressive pan handlers who refuse to keep their distance, simply reaching my hand into my pocket causes them to veer off. They know the situation in Texas as well as any CHL holder.
A flash light is an incredibly useful tool; however, relying on it as a weapon is a major mistake, IMO. You can temporarily blind someone, but you can’t keep them from laying hands on you. And once they do, the outcome will largely depend upon who is stronger and more vicious. If you feel the need to carry a weapon, then I suggest making it one that can level the playing field with violent, hopped up criminals. Pretty much the only folks who actually justify the need to carry a weapon.
I was taught (either in my security guard training or in my volunteer fire fighter training) to hold flashlights away from my body when approaching the scene of an incident. This is because when people shoot at another person in the dark, the shooter tends to shoot at the light. It is best they shoot at your hand, extended away from your body, rather than along your torso or your head. Albuquerque Fire Department also warned us in training that some people set fires or call the fire department so they can shoot the people who respond.
Avoid leaving compressed gas containers (such as butane lighters) inside your vehicle, especially in Summer. The container could leak or burst, releasing flammable gas and perhaps triggering either a fire or even an explosion. Some people who left a lighter in their glove box found their car demolished. I’ve heard that an ordinary lighter contains the energy equivalent of 1/3 stick of dynomite.
Actually before anyone starts flinging poo, your point is valid and still stands that encindiaries should be kept out of ovens. Says so right on the package. And that is your car in Texas in the summer. Fluid filled lighters still suffer thermal expansion, possible leakage, and possible consequences. But they are better lighters, and many of us still carry them in trunks and tool boxes, etc. Not me, I started carrying my welder striker everywhere my toolbox goes, but some people…
Edit: and PS sad deal on needing training that folk will set fires to shoot first responders, but if ya recall that happened recently somwhere in the metroplex. Hanging’s too good for someone like that…
My emergency fire starter is a stick of magnesium, and my pocket knife. That will start nearly anything on fire. It goes into my car any time I venture from civilization. Also, it used to be recommended that people keep a couple of road flares in their car toolkit along with jumper cables and such.
Well… flares are a special kind of incendiary in that they are built to handle the extremes of their environment. I prefer reflective triangles of plastic, but wont think you foolish for including actual flares. It’d be good to keep them in a stout weather tight box, thus limiting their their opportunity to cause damage through the various means of such containment. On the plus side,
If I am in my car, I have a battery that can start a fire, even if it can’t still start the car.
As to flares, they not only serve as location beacons, but as fire starters as well (since that is what we were discussing). And frankly they are effective weapons when dealing with unruly animals such as bears, large cats, the odd moose, etc…
To quote Alton Brown, they are excellent multitaskers.
BTW, unlike reflectors they don’t require someone else to have their headlights on to see you. Something that is more important if you spend any time in El Paso.
@wandrson I find what you state in your post very interesting… Very, very interesting. And I would like you to know, I LOVE and appreciate the fact that you are giving(have given) this a lot of thought and serious consideration… You are amongst the rare top 10% of CHL holders. Which is Great! The opposite end of that spectrum is populated by goofs with guns.
Police training treats their high power flash lights as a non-lethal weapon much like their taser. As to my statement about intentionally shining a 1000 lumen flash light in someone’s eyes. There are existing cases, which I can’t look up right now, that relate to kids and others doing so in drivers eyes, temporarily blinding them. Also there is no doubt from your scenario that your intent is to use your flash light as a weapon, albeit a non-lethal one. That means your intent can be use to make a claim of assault.
All of the above would require a strange sequence of circumstances and an overzelous prosecutor. But we have seen both in recent years in the news. Just saying, that if you feel the need to use any weapon, you can expect contact with the police. So consider this scenario. You shine you light in some one’s eyes that is making you nervous. They fall and break a bone because they can’t see. You could easily be charged with assault in that scenario and even easier be sued for financial damages. It is the nature of our current legal system.
My point is that the potential liability is only worth it when you have sufficient fear to justify the use of lethal force. Hence a gun is a better weapon then a flash light. Another example, you have a perpetrator intent on harming you. At 20 feet from you you shine your light in his eyes temporarily blinding him. However, he still closes with you and once he lays hands on you he has no need to see to beat the living crap out of you. And after a minute or so he can see well enough again to steal whatever he wants. If he were say 50 feet from you, you could easily ‘provoke’ a confrontation by blinding him with your flash light. My point is that we are only justified in our self defence when the potential aggressor is close enough to actually harm us. That usually means that a defence that can actually stop them is all that should be relied upon.
The idea that a weapon, any weapon, should be used as a deterrent is counter to our current legal stance. Which you hi lighted with the reference to brandishing a gun.
P.S. My opinions and statements aren’t unique to me as a CHL holder. Nearly all of this is covered in the classes I have taken to obtain and renew my license. I am sure that there are some classes where the instructors don’t cover material adequately, but I believe they would be a minority.
Enterprise Rental truck in the middle of nowhere, with a some road trash(busted hose, Car antenna, etc) and a Gerber Multi-tool…
Enterprise said they would send help in a couple of hours, and I had to be somewhere fast. When I successfully repaired and inflated the tire, I felt like…
So my Gerber multi-tool will always be with me, for this and other reasons.
NO, Jast. I meant what I stated. As per your post, 4th picture down at present Coin Pocket. I have never seen it used for a “pocket watch” and I have never heard it called a Zippo/Lighter Pocket, but that is what I kept in it when I got burned.
