Forever I have been mocked about my collection. People have always asked me: “Why do you carry a torch?” or, “Can’t you just use your phone?” I’ve never really had a very convincing answer other than; “I can’t rely on my phone,” or just simply, “because I like them.” I also struggle to find an excuse to tell my other half when she spots a new Olight sticker on my toolbox, knowing full well that she is going to tell me that I need to stop spending money on this and that I should get a “real” hobby. This all changed ten days ago on September 1st, when having a decent torch came in useful…
My friends were getting married, finally, after waiting so long due to Covid-19. Unfortunately, I could not attend the ceremony, but I rushed back from work to attend the evening event. The converted barn they had hired was beautiful and isolated, the perfect place to have a party, especially on a Wednesday night. Good as it was not to disturb any locals (as there were none), it was the worst place for a mental health crisis to occur.
Everything was going well up until about 11pm, there was dancing, laughing and lots of drinks. However, when the laughing and dancing died down, the alcohol did not, and one individual begun to get a little bit too drunk. As the only sober person there, because I was driving home and had to be up at 5am for work, I ended up babysitting everyone. I had just rescued one of my friends who had nodded off on the toilet when I heard that the individual had been getting aggressive and then had run off into the fields in the direction of the A10. From a conversation with his friend, it was explained to me that this is not the first time he has done this and that he has run into a motorway before.
Luckily (obviously), I had a torch with me. The M2R Pro in OD green had found its way into my pocket for this event, so off I went, down the single-track road trying to find this individual. Some way down the road I had come across another partygoer who had gone after the individual, attempting to stop him. Unfortunately, this person was unable to keep up and had collapsed in a drunken heap, softly whimpering. Now there was a dilemma, do I stay and help this person and just hope that the individual has not made it to a road, or do I continue and look for him. Suddenly as if sent from the gods, the friend that had informed me of what had happened appeared and I got him to take the other friend back.
About another 500 meters down the road, I heard something and froze. A couple of seconds later I heard it again, there was a stumbling noise coming from the other side of this hedge. I ran along now, desperately searching for a gap I could squeeze through. Eventually I crawled through a gap that was probably made by some kind of animal and I got covered in dirt, thorns and twigs. When I stood up, I was greeted by 6-foot crop in a field. I couldn’t see anything, even with torch I could only see what was immediately in front of me. I didn’t know this individual too well and he was being aggressive back at the barn, so there was no way I was going to go searching in there, especially now as the footsteps/stumbling noises had stopped. I felt like a gazelle in a David Attenborough program, about to get leaped on by a lion prowling in the dark.
I retreated, back onto the road, gaining more scratches and mud stains through the hedge. Again, out of the darkness like Houdini, the friend appeared having already taken the other back. He was on the phone to the police, and I told him that I thought the individual was in this field. After some help from a fantastic app called: What3words, the police got to us. The police were excellent. They were standing on top of their cars shining their torches over the hedge, trying to spot any movement in the field. They had cars surrounding the field making sure that he couldn’t escape if in there. I also heard from a friend, that they were searching all taxis leaving the area for him, which I would never have thought of doing!
However, the police quickly agreed that searching this field with humans was impossible and informed me and the friend that a dog unit was on the way, and we should make our way back to the barn to avoid confusing the dog. We slowly walked back, eyes stained blue from the bright flashing lights we had got used to when standing by the field. The M2R was still going strong and still showing a green light on the button, proving that it still has so much more to give.
I got a message from the friend the next day, thanking me and explaining that police had found him passed out in the field not far from where I had entered. If I didn’t put that M2R Pro in my pocket that day, I wouldn’t have been able to search the fields so efficiently and almost certainly would not have been able to find the field he was in. Now whenever anyone asks me why I carry a torch everywhere I can relay this incident, or whenever my partner complains about my collection, I will no longer feel guilty. What’s so funny about torches?
Thank you Olight.
