Back in my mid-20s I sometimes camped on an island in the middle of Michigan's AuSable River's Cooke Dam Pond.
Once we had a straggler and I was tasked with running the canoe upstream to the launching point and collecting the straggler and his gear. Lucky for me I had a 1.2 hp outboard fitted to the stern of the square-sterned canoe. Unlucky for me the sun was setting.
Quite by chance there was an abundance of freshly emptied beverage cans. It took but a second to cut an "I" into the side of one to make a reflector. I added a votive candle and placed it on the east bank of the island.
It has been my experience that all land looks the same after dark.
The pick-up and loading of the canoe when well. The motor ran find. Rounding the bend I saw a small prick of light on the horizon.
I was able to bee-line back to the island with no wasted time.
The memorable thing, for me, is that the light of one candle easily carried across a mile of open water. Yes, it had a little bit of help from a primitive reflector but I think the reflector had more value as protection from breezes than as a reflector.
It is a sad fact that any light you use for illumination can be seen from a much, much greater distance than it will provide useful illumination to the person holding the light.
Interesting. I've adopted a modern version of this for night kayak fishing lake pueblo. A simple battery powered solar charged yard light with glass reflector sits a top a broom handle above the bed of my truck near launch point. I can only recover kayak at narrow 30' area. Now instead of missing and following shoreline, I simply aim for light. I keep light in truck bed during day so I know it will be charged for several hours.
ReplyDeleteNever light two cigarettes off the same match at night. A good marksman will get at least one of you.
ReplyDelete... and you would deserve it.
DeleteThank you for that bit of instruction. I never navigated water at night. Now I have another tool in my bag of trics.
ReplyDeleteI remember reading that a PBY at altitude could see something like 50,000 square miles of ocean. And a single cigarette on that ocean at night stood out like a beacon. And a life raft during the day was as invisible on top as it was on the bottom.
And if your match flares out, wait or move before striking another.
ReplyDeleteAfter a short while in low/no light situations, the human eye becomes extremely sensitive in the black, white and shades of gray spectrum. Hence the difficulty in ascribing colors by eyewitnesses to nighttime events.
This is what I have against the current flashlights: they all try to get as many Lumens as possible when what is the most useful is 3 or 4 Lumens so you won't destroy your night vision. A 1000 Lumen flashlight that illuminates 40 acres is quite useless for most outdoor purposes. As a bonus, a low output light would last weeks on one charge.
ReplyDeleteBest light I have for doing small things in the dark is a nurses penlight...3 lumens. It is LOTS of light if your eye are adapted to the dark, it is easy to conceal the light if you need to, and it doesn't damage your night vision as badly as the 3 basillion candlepower LED that will light an acre like noontime sunshine.
DeleteI keep one in the plane just in case I lose lighting, and have tested it. It doesn't kill my ability to see runway lighting.
https://www.amazon.com/RISEMART-Medical-Penlight-Students-Batteries/dp/B0753YDLLH?pd_rd_w=EaI2A&pf_rd_p=5bc65336-a8b0-4888-9e70-4d4ce2f6bd59&pf_rd_r=C744NB084S5G1AWGTCMM&pd_rd_r=709ac0bd-6262-4abc-b5c6-4c44794df31f&pd_rd_wg=hKYUH&pd_rd_i=B0753YDLLH&psc=1&ref_=pd_bap_d_rp_1_t
Been using old chemlights like this for decades, ever since my first time sleeping in a hammock. Nice to be able to find my bed after answering nature's call.
ReplyDeleteStuart, That is why I a very small flashlight in my pocket for those times when the larger one is overkill. Often, I will partially block the light from the smaller one with my other hand to allow just enough light to see what I need without blinding myself.
ReplyDeleteERJ, the Grand Canyon Hike reminded me of this. In a world of dark, any "abnormal" light is clearly visible.
ReplyDeleteI used to send out a signal for miles with a flashlight from the side of a mountain while extended camping to let folks know I was fine in the "pre cell" days.
ReplyDelete