Ms. Yeti works in a cancer clinic. The power went down today. Photon Freedom to the rescue...apparently there were patients trapped in restrooms and restrooms are not on emergency backup. Additionally, for a good number of hours it was used by folks needing...er...relief. It got lots of oohs and ahhs. It pays to be prepared.

You would think that clinics and hospitals would REQUIRE their employees to be carrying a tiny weightless flashlight for purpose just like the one you described.

I asked my sister who works at a hospital if she's ever seen a flashlight around there.

She said, "Yes, once. A nurse was using as a hammer."

Sue

I work in a busy trauma center, no one here ever carried a light either until my manager saw mine. He ordered one for everyone in the department. Problem solved. By the way I carry a cheap light similar to the photon, check lighthound.com they are about $1 each. I have a number of them and they work very well.

At my primary job, there are no windows and our emergency lighting is substandard at best (got to love government buildings) I am just waiting for the day when we have a power failure and I get to use my trusty light that most everyone looks at me like I am crazy for carrying.

Toilets are those places that get really dark if the power fails...

It is no fun being in a bathroom when the lights go out.

You would think that would be the first thing to be put on emergency backup!

Hope you sanitized it afterwards!

A Photon on your keys is worth its weight in more than gold.

Every nurse and doctor used to carry one of those little throw-away penlites for checking pupil reaction, you would think that there would have been little weak beams of light all over the place...

Great story, but jeez, I thought people were unprepared in general, but I didn't think it was *this* bad. Even if you're the type who can't stand to be around knives for whatever reason, if anything, you would think someone would carry at very least a flashlight, instead of it being a luxury. Considering how cheap and small even a decent LED one is now, there's really no excuse. At least I've convinced by fiancee and mother to carry a small multi-tool and flashlight.

Businesses with total lack of sense...

I work in a very secure area. We aren't supposed to bring anything into our solid, windowless, skylightless, locked room. After a good 7.something local earthquake a couple of years ago, everyone forgot to check our room to see if the inmates were still alive.

The power has gone out a couple of times in the last year, and it took a few seconds for the automatic switch to the generator. I was shocked at the NON-illumination of the 'emergency' lights. I have 4-watt nightlights that are brighter than those things! We are under camera and audio surveillance every moment; if they're thinking that they can see what we're doing under those conditions, I hope they're using infrared, because we can't even see each other except as faint shadows!

Anyway, I can't even carry my little pocket PSK in there, but I do sneak my little Photon in. So far.

Sue

Theres nothing like being stuck in a dark place with no windows and lots of stuff to bust your shins on thats why I carry 3 diffrent lights, gerber infinity on a neck lanyard, a princeton tec blast in my watch pocket and an inova x1 new style in my left front pocket. I've noticed that people are always needing a knife or scissors or a flashlight but never carry them when a victorinox classic and a photon or inova microlight costs less than most people spend on coffee from starbucks in a day. I've noticed that I'm always the strange guy that carries all that junk until someone needs it or the lights go out then I'm a hero then when everythings back working and the emergencys over I'm the strange guy again. Its always a case of we few having to save the many from themselves.