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Monday, August 7, 2017

A Flashlight: The Most Important Piece of Outdoor Gear

I have two things I carry with me at all times, well five actually. My phone, wallet, and keys are always with me, but everyone has those! The other two "optional" things I always have with me is a good pocket knife (I personally carry a Swiss Army Champ) and a tactical flashlight.

If I had to choose between the pocket knife and the flashlight...... I don't know. Day to day, I'd probably choose the knife, I use it dozens or times a day at work. But if I am going out into the woods or on the water, it would be the flash light 100% of the time. It is without a doubt the most useful tool I own and the most critical safety device I carry.

Flashlights are not what they used to be when I was growing up. This is what I used for the first 15 years I spent outdoors:



I still keep it by my desk. Mostly for nostalgia. I have upgraded it with an LED bulb, but I never use it. It is simply inferior in every way to modern flashlights.

Like many things related to the outdoors, modern tactical flashlights were first designed for military use. Don't believe me? Check out this Wikipedia article. It is pretty fascinating.

Thankfully outdoorsmen can now greatly benefit from these advances in technology. Modern flashlights are tougher, more efficient, and much, much brighter than those common just ten years ago.

I have two main flashlights that I use often. My older one is a Mag-light LED.



I carried it everyday for several years. I liked it because it is small, light, and uses AA batteries. It is not the brightest light available, but it gets the job done.

About a year ago, I retired the Mag-light to my trucks center console in exchange for this bad boy:


It is a Slyde 6267. This thing is amazing! It is about 250 lumens, which is enough to blind something at night and illuminate shadows in the day and takes AAA batteries (I don't like buying special batteries for my flashlights). It is made super tough and is weather proof.

 The cool part is that it slides open to reveal a worklight!



 Its base has a super strong rare earth magnet, which is also extremely handy. The only down side is that it is quite heavy at 10.6 OZ with batteries (I just weighed it!)

 It stays on my hip in a Night-Eyez sheath. You can pick these up a Lowe's. They fit just about any flashlight out there.



 Everyone has different needs from their flashlight. I'm not going to go over all of them out there because I don't have to! Thankfully There is a great gear review website that did this for us. If you are looking for an outdoor flashlight check out Rangermade! That link will take you directly to their flashlight review page!

 Wow! I got off subject! Why do I think a flashlight is the most important tool for an outdoorsman?

 Simple.

 You have to see to do most things outdoors. You cannot see without light. Can you find your deer stand a 4:00 in the morning without a flashlight at least occasionally helping you? I can't. Can you find a blood trail at dusk without one? Me neither. Can you tie on a fly predawn without a flashlight? Unload a boat in the morning?  Find a dropped lure in the dark? Find your truck after the sun goes down? Make a fire at the campsite at night after a long day hiking? I need a flashlight to do these things and I bet you do too. 

The fact is, most of our prep work for a fun outdoors day is done in the dark. Almost everything we enjoy is done in the early morning or late evening. That requires getting up and ready before the sun does. Without a good flashlight we can't do these things.

There is also the safety side of things. Aside from your PFD, a flashlight is the most important safety device you own. It prevents accidents by lighting your way and gets you out of tight spots by showing you the way. Once the sun goes down and you are on the water or in the woods without a flashlight, you are in trouble. 

If for some reason you do get in trouble and cannot make it out, a flashlight is the perfect signalling tool. It can be seen for miles in the dark and, aside from a cell phone or radio, is your best best for getting help. 

The thought of being in the woods at night without a light terrifies me! So much that I always have at least three lights with me when I am hunting. My standard flashlight, a headlamp, and a tiny emergency flashlight in my kit.

What flashlight do you use? Why did you choose it? let me know in the comments!

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