E.D.C. Upgrade

For as long as I can remember I’ve been wearing carpenter pants with a side pocket (for a while my favorite jeans from Bailey’s had them on both sides!), into which fit perfectly the best little flashlights I ever used.  These were machined aluminum case Ozark Trails flashlights, one of the proprietary brands from WalMart.  The first crack in this edifice was when WM discontinued this particular line of flashlights in favor of lesser but presumably more profitable models.   (I can only imagine Sam Walton spinning in his grave at the thought of what a malevolent entity his empire has become) The old ones were robust almost to the point of indestructability, a determination at which I arrived when I drove over one in my truck and it emerged functionally unscathed, although a little scratched.  It took a lickin’ and kept on tickin’.

But then came the inexorable tyranny of, to quote the inestimable David Bowie, “F-f-f-fashion.”  With the emergent ubiquity of “smart” phones (I think they have uses but on balance make the populace stoopider) the narrow confines of side pockets, originally configured for a folding carpenter’s rule, grew in size to accommodate these surveillance devices most American now carry.  What, you thought their purpose was communication?  Now, that’s funny!

Anyway, the newer larger side pockets were ill suited for my small flashlight as the flashlight just sorta wallowed around inside the bigger pockets, falling out whenever the opportunity arose.  Like whenever I sat down in my recliner or in a car.  I cannot recount the number of times I had to retrieve my flashlight from one of these locations.

This frustration led me to search for a new flashlight that fit the larger side pocket a little more better.  There are lots of options on-line but I generally like to purchase items after I can examine them in person.  Durning a recent trip to the hardware store I found a DieHard brand flashlight whose configuration fit the requirements perfectly.  It was a bit more expensive than its predecessor, maybe, ($35 2023 dollars vs. $15 2005 dollars) but fit the new side pocket size perfectly and was touted as a better, brighter tool.  I plunked down my money and started carrying it a couple months ago.

The real bolt-of-lightning occurred shortly thereafter, when I remembered just before bedtime that I maybe left the glue cooking on the coffee cup warmer and rather than fuss about it all night long I walked up to the barn to check it out (I had turned it off but had no clear memory of the event, a phenomenon that rears its ugly head periodically as I approach 70).  As I headed up, then back down, I turned on the new flashlight and WOW I was accompanied by a wall of light in the rural darkness.  My old flashlight was 150 lumens and the new one is 1000.  Just wow.

The new flashlight also appears to be a solid aluminum case, but I’ll only be able to confirm its robustness when/if I drive over it and it keeps on tickin’.

My Every Day Carry inventory has now been upgraded.