Let there be (have)light
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Opry Mills Mall lost power and had to resort to backup generators Tuesday night.
Security with the mall told News 2 that due to the outage, backup generators have kicked in. However, parking lots surrounding the mall are still “pitch black.” Though the cause of the outage is under investigation, as of publication, it’s believed to be due to high winds and rain.
Power out at Opry Mills Mall in Nashville, TN
Having an independent source of light is something that must be part of your EDC. And just to get it out of the way, using your phone as flashlight is possibly one of the dumbest things people do. Save the damned battery and the smartphone attached for communication.
I still carry my Nitrolon G3 upgraded with LED as part of my EDC. But for around the house, I carry a single double A light from Coast, the HP1 unfortunately now discontinued. In fact, I believe I have 5 of them placed all over the house and in the car and have been the perfect light to have in case of need because they were there when needed. The key word is portability, and they are indeed portable (around 4 inches long) and unintrusive, you barely know you have it in your pocket
The prices for the small Coast lights start around $10 for 100 lumens and it goes up as the intensity increases. I had a quick glance to other brands including Energizer and the more “tactical” and they start about the same or more expensive, but quite affordable. We are talking lights that are durable and with an output superior to the ultar super duper tactical lights of barely 15 years ago.
And the other great advantage is that they use plain jane alkaline batteries found pretty much everywhere and not expensive to acquire in bulk. Simply put, there is no excuse for you not to have a reliable light with you all the time.
A powerful flashlight is part of my EDC kit and used way more than my OC or handgun.
I carry an older Nitrolon G3 (incandescent), have LED backups, abd and LED in each vehicle. If you find the "tactical" lights too big, the LED Mini-Mag Solitare is a great option. Inexpensive and punches above it's weight class. Also works great as a borelight.
I recently discussed flashlights on my blog (https://musingsofastretcherape.wordpress.com/2025/02/07/flashlights/). I have had a flashlight on my person (except, when I have 5...) for something approaching 30 years. Starting off as a night shift medic in Da City, moving on to night shift ED (and later ICU) RN, once the lights go out, things get very icky,. very rapidly.
And, there is the fact that 500 lumens of "May I Help YOU?" just might avoid louder conversational gambits, to make illumination attractive.
and (do I run on? No, not MEEE?!!) there is the dozen times a day I fire up a light simply so that my geezerly eyes can read (the credit card number)(the thermostat setting)(where that damned little widget rolled off to).