The Everyday Carry (EDC) lifestyle has certainly grown in popularity the last few years, but it’s largely been focused on pocket knives and similar sharp edged tools. Other items usually included are multi-tools, tactical pens, and where law allows, a concealed carry firearm. While, these are all certainly handy they often take precedent over a more useful tool, a flashlight. Before we get into too far, I mean a legitimate standalone flashlight, your smartphone is not a flashlight. Yes I said it and no I don’t care how fancy or high powered your smartphone flashlight is. Anyway, here is why you should always carry a standalone flashlight.
You’ll never know when you need emergency lighting
Obviously, a flashlight is designed to provide you light so this is probably the most important reason to carry one. A standalone flashlight can help you get light into a tight spot where you might have dropped something valuable and need to find it. More importantly, it’ll give you light in emergency situations where you have no other light sources. Sure, there are incidents where you might be outdoors, say travelling down a road that is poorly lit at night and need to pull over or have a vehicle emergency. A flashlight is an essential item in those incidents. But I am also talking about emergency indoor lighting. Think about power outages where you might be in a building where without light it’s literally pitch black.
It can be used as an impact tool
This of course depends on the flashlight and the overall design of it but generally most of them are good to some degree to be an impact tool. Especially more recent flashlights which are more marketed as “tactical” lights and are better designed. As a result you can use the opposite end of the flashlight lens as a impact weapon to strike surfaces. I have actually used a flashlight as a hammer in pinch but the possibilities are endless.
It can be a self defense weapon
This is especially true with more recently designed flashlights as they are more durable or even designed to be used as a weapon. You can use them as an impact tool (see above) or you can even use the light as a blinding effect. This can work on people or on animals that are maybe getting too close. In most cases, putting additional light in these situations is enough to deter any attack.
You can use it to send emergency signals
This sort of goes back to the first point about emergency lighting. Flashlights are extremely useful in emergency situations and one of the best ways to deploy them is to signal for help. For example if you are stuck in a building or an area where visibility is limited, you can use the flashlight to signal to first responders or rescuers where you are.
Carry a flashlight, you’ll be glad you did.
