Well, here I am back again.

After the last thread, I went and ordered myself a Fenix P36D that was recommended to my by a member of the Forum. It fit every criteria. Bright, true memory, and easy to use when you ain't thinking straight. It also has a 21700 battery, so it can run for like 3 hours on Turbo. All for $119.00 for a package with the light and 2 batteries. I thought about the Surefire, but just couldn't justify the cost.

The light showed up on Tuesday I believe and I carry it everywhere.

So, fast forward to tonight. My wife wanted to pre cook some of our Christmas food, so we decided to go out to eat at the Michelin 5 Star local Wendy's and then drive around to admire the Christmas lights. It's our family Christmas tradition. The kids always get a kick out of it. So here I am rocking my nifty new light, my ZT knife, and my trusty VP9 driving down the road after my gourmet spicy chicken sandwich and, what the fuck is that big black lump in the road, better swerve. Swerve around and, holy fuck, that looked like a person laying face down in the middle of the fucking road not moving. Holy shit.

Drove about 20 more feet after the fastest U-Turn ever and go back, whip out the trust new toy, shine it out and sure enough. There's an elderly gentleman laying face down in the middle of the road in a small by obvious pool of blood. Oh. My. God.

So I stopped the car in the middle of the road in order to block the road and jumped out fully expecting this poor bastard to be dead or, as Miracle Max would say, mostly dead. Of course, I'm in the middle of a fairly busy country road with traffic oncoming and I really don't want to get hit.

So, I checked the dude out. I wouldn't exactly call him conscious, but he was breathing and moaning. Shining 1600 lumens into his face revealed a pretty decent sized gash above his eye, so it was immediately obvious that he'd fallen and smashed his head into the pavement and not been hit by a car. Thank god.

Oh, yeah, the oncoming traffic. Well, that was another handy use for the light. I managed to stop traffic in both directions so nobody came along and really DID run this poor dude and myself over.

My wife called 911 and another nice person got out of his car to help me out and we stuck around with this poor dude until the EMTs showed up. I'm not medical expert, but in my opinion the poor guy had a pretty nasty concussion. Once the EMTs showed up I told them what I found and then left to get out of their way.

So, long story short, thanks for the light recommendations, it probably saved this dude's life since I found him and managed to use it to get everyone stopped before we really did get hit by a car.

Oh, and if you don't carry a light, you should.

Man, good on you and yes, having quality tools at hand makes a difference. A light needs to be one of them. Hope the poor fella recovers ok.

I just want to say, I don't want to toot my horn. I just want to sincerely thank the people that gave me recommendations, because without that light this situation would have been almost impossible instead of just really shitty.

hmmmm, Good for you. But my spiddy sense would have been in ultra high mode. Country rd. No vehicle, dude in the middle of the road and severely injured. Does not seem to be an accident. Did the police show up. I would of thought since first on the scene they would of wanted to interview you. Seems like a very odd occurrence. I do not think leaving the scene before law enforcement arrived was a good move though. Most likely some kind of a crime I would guess.

quote:

Originally posted by old rugged cross:
hmmmm, Good for you. But my spiddy sense would have been in ultra high mode. Country rd. No vehicle, dude in the middle of the road and severely injured. Does not seem to be an accident. Did the police show up. I would of thought since first on the scene they would of wanted to interview you. Seems like a very odd occurrence. I do not think leaving the scene before law enforcement arrived was a good move though. Most likely some kind of a crime I would guess.

After he became more coherent, the guy told us that he had Parkinsons and that he lost his footing and fell.

Edit:

Also, the 911 dispatcher has my wife's info, so if they want to contact me, they know where to find us.

Glad to hear everything turned out well.

Merry Christmas!

Well that is good to hear. Glad you were there first with all the tools necessary to help and keep you and your family safe while rendering aid.

Thankfully it was you driving, and not some kid studying facebook on his cell phone. Old guy would be hamburger.

^^^
Yep.

Glad you saw him in time, and that you went back. Some folks would have driven on and not given a second thought.

So, yeah, this one is a big deal.

You have my respect.

sm

Wow! what a story. For folks stepping into Lithium ion batteries. Buy only high quality batteries from trustworthy sources and charge them with reliable chargers. The batteries are much like little bombs and not to be trifled with. Don't cheap out cause some jackass in China is selling a "brand new" name brand one cheap. Don't do it. Search on "li-ion safety" at places like Budget Light Forum and learn the intricacies first.

Great story!

Thanks for helping the old dude! A good quality flashlight is priceless!

ARman

I take my Fenix UC 30 and PD36R when I go out and have another Fenix in my pocket all time.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: charlie12,

Great Christmas story! In a related note, I just got a Streamlight Stinger 2020. Love it.

You did good, after you got done fucking.

Bob

Great user name ... but Ralph The Wonder Llama still has you beat.

quote:

Originally posted by Woodman:
Great user name ... but Ralph The Wonder Llama still has you beat.

It's always been my life dream to win the silver in user names.

Also, I don't know the end of the story, but he was able to talk to the EMTs when they showed up.

Awesome story! We were out last night in the snowing and sleet, playing and sliding around and I had my TM9k from Nitecore. Also from a fellow SF members recommendation.

Congratulations on an excellent selection, IMO.

WOW, Glad you were there.

Love the PD36R. My Son just ordered one as well.

Nice job...did have have a ifak to stop the bleeding? thats the next purchase !

Everyone should always have a light and a knife with them. I'm not even talking about for defensive use. They are both incredibly useful tools that don't take up much space and when you need them you tend to really need them. I know people who will carry a full sized handgun EVERYWHERE but think that a light the size of a roll of breath mints "would get in the way."

I don't know about you, but I find myself in dark places a lot more often than I find myself in shoot outs. With the amazing advancements in light and battery tech in the last decade there really isn't any reason not to have a light in one's vehicle at the very least.

Fenix is a great option for folks who don't insist on Surefire. Honestly, I like their lights a lot more than most of the Streamlights I've owned over the years.