Tag rlsh

Greetings,
I want to take this opportunity to introduce myself to those who do not know me. I am The Watchman. I am a husband, father, brother, and son. I am a man who cares about humanity and the world around him. For years, I have been what is commonly called a Real Life Superhero (RLSH), and now, I have become the administrator of this website. With this change, there will be other changes made over time, though the spirit in which this site was created will remain.
The man formerly known as Zetaman, after retiring as a RLSH, passed this site on to me. More recently, he completely removed himself from this site. He believes there are too many bad feelings between him and others to remain, feeling that it would hinder the growth of this site and the RLSH sub-culture as a whole.
The RLSH sub-culture is fluid. It is always changing. It is always in motion, even when it seems to be standing still. There are many people who feel we have not gotten anywhere. However, in many ways, we are much different than we were just a few short years ago. Some of these changes have been for the better, while others have been for the worse. Still, we continue on, searching for a better world and a brighter tomorrow.
2011 was predicted by some to be “The Year of the Superheroes”. I do not believe that, and frankly, would have been disappointed had that been the case. The phrase implies the reaching of the peak, and typically,  peaks are followed by decline. I do not believe we have yet reached the peak. No, I believe we are still far from it. We have a great deal of potential yet to be uncovered. What we lack is unity.
There are many different kinds of RLSHs. There are crime-fighters, social activists, charity warriors, environmentalists, social commentators, and those who try it all. Some embrace the superhero terms and imagery, while others are less than pleased with them. Regardless of personal missions, opinions, methods, and motives, we are all a part of something BIG. Yet, too many of us cannot seem to get over ourselves as individuals or small groups.
I can remember a time when squabbles and differences between us were handled quietly, out of the public eye, in order to allow us a chance at the heroic and inspirational images we wished to project. Now, there is no secret that this “community” of ours is full of fighting and drama. Online comment sections and forums are bursting with ridicule, arguing, and flame wars from within. Many of us try to avoid this behavior, but it seems to follow us around. The feuding and hatred has driven too many of us away from what could become a great movement, and it has proven to onlookers that we are no better than much of what we claim to fight against. Even as some of us fight to prove to people we are serious when we are accused of being ridiculous, more of us seem to go out of their way to prove them right.
I realize a large number of people feel we cannot be organized or united, and there are too many differences between us to unite. I believed that for a time. However, I am no longer content to worry only about local matters. The world does not end at my back door. What affects the world affects me. What happens with one of us can affect us all. We are creative individuals who tend not to conform, but I’m not being unrealistic. We do not need to agree with everything everybody else says or does, and there are many more ways to get things done than what we do ourselves. We do not necessarily have to change our own missions and methods, and we do not need to lose ourselves to be a part of something bigger. We can still disagree, but it is time to turn to healthy debates that maintain respect rather than being hostile.  It’s not that we need to become some giant organization filled with rules and regulations, but we do need to put aside petty differences and focus on what we have in common. All this unity requires is that we lay down our egos, open our minds to new ideas, and have respect for each other, as well as for ourselves.
I don’t think this has been the year of superheroes at all, and I am not looking for that year to come. Instead, I am looking to the future; I am looking toward a new era. I believe that era can begin now. Therefore, I am using this opportunity to do what I can to bring RLSHs together to grow this sub-culture into the great movement it has the potential to be.
However we may each go about it, we are all trying to make this world a better place, and that will only happen together. I am extending a hand to each and every one of you. I hope that each of you can get past the egos and differences, and learn to work side by side, even if our own mission is not quite the same. I am asking that we try a new way, and hopefully each of you will extend your hands as well. Let’s look to the future and welcome a new era for Real Life Superheroes. If we want the world to be better, we must be better.  Let it begin now…

Attention ‘RLSH’
Need I remind you all, we are on reallifesuperheroes.org? We need the organization! A RLSH is about serving the community, not the number of convictions or notches on your belt!
Why are you doing this?
Why are you going around in costume? Is it to attract attention to yourself, or your deeds?
Why are you helping those who can’t help themselves? If you are doing it for the Kudos, take off the costume and volunteer for a charity!
Why are you ‘defending’ the weak?  If you are doing it for the admiration take off the costume and do something beneficial!
Why are you ‘joining in’ a fight? To prove your ‘Martial prowess’ or to separate the sides involved?
These are the questions I want each one of you to answer. I will most likely get the banhammer for stepping on The Watchman’s toes by saying this, but if I don’t say this, there will be no-more need for this site:
If you want to go gung-ho “Beat’em up” and act as judge, jury, executioner and PR show-pony, please leave and join the Rain City Superheroes (RCS). No hard feelings, just please clarify the difference between RCS and RLSH when you get into trouble.
Thank you very much;
Grey Guardian.
PS: To the reporters, the headline makers are hopefully heading off to the RCS forums, so for the front page scoop, you’d be better to head there… If you are just after a gap-filling Human Interest Story, feel free to lurk here, just please have your press-pass on you visible at all times. My PC’s mic is down ATM, so skype is not really viable, but I am willing to do email interviews;
[email][email protected][/email]
 

Originally posted: origin.avclub.com/milwaukee/articles/milwaukee-gets-involved-in-seattles-real-life-supe,63183/

By Matt Wild
Say what you will about so-called “real life superheroes”—that they’re faintly ridiculous; that they’re nothing more than deluded goofballs in lousy Halloween Express costumes—but they sure know how to get some press. They do that even when it’s not quite the press they hope to get.
Take Seattle’s RLSH, “Phoenix Jones.” Early Sunday morning, Jones was arrested after allegedly attacking several people with pepper spray. Jones claims he was only trying to break up a street brawl, and that he used the spray only after being attacked himself. Accompanying Jones on his ill-fated “patrol” was Milwaukee’s Tea Krulos, a proponent of the local RLSH movement, and the author of an upcoming book on the subject. Krulos was interviewed by msnbc.com about this incident, and claimed in that interview that Jones was only protecting his fellow citizens:

“Six or seven guys were beating up two other guys,” Krulos said, adding he heard “loud, aggressive noises.” One victim was thrown to the ground and kicked in the ribs. “Two other guys were wrestling with each other but not in a playful way—and people were screaming.”
“Nobody was dancing, it was not ambiguous, there was definitely fighting,” he said.

On his Heroes In The Night blog, Krulos had this to add:

Well, it’s been a crazy weekend in Seattle. The media is blowing up with the story of Phoenix Jones being detained after intervening in a brawl. I was there. I witnessed the whole thing. I even got punched a couple times myself.
I will be giving a full account on the blog tomorrow. For now I want to dispute one thing—the people Phoenix disrupted WERE NOT DANCING/ “FROLICKING,” or “having a good time.”
They were beating the crap out of two people.

UPDATE: Krulos had this to say to The A.V. Club:

I don’t really condone or condemn Phoenix Jones’ tactics. However, the reports circulating about him are completely untrue. The police report was based on the word of the people attacking two people who fled the scene. The media, in turn, began to report this as fact and began reporting that Jones had snuck up on a group of people “dancing.”
Trust me, Tea Krulos knows a dance party when he sees one, and that was not a dance party. As we were approaching the group we saw one guy slam another guy on the ground and begin to kick him and two other guys were grappling each other. Phoenix Jones ran into the group and told the guys to back up. When they didn’t, he sprayed them with a high octane pepper spray. Things got pretty chaotic from there. Someone hit another person with a car, one of the girlfriends of the attackers began to hit Jones with her high heel shoe—I even got punched in the face by a Russian dude while I was calling 911, Ryan also got thrown into a wall. The Russian dudes also got in their escalade and tried to run Jones down at one point.
When the cops showed up, one of them was pretty pissed off and not at all happy to see Mr. Jones. An officer read me, Phoenix and Ryan our Miranda rights, but after he found out me and Ryan were media he told us to get out of there—didn’t take statements. They detained Jones and kept him over night, released him but confiscated his “super suit” as he calls it. He will appear in court later in the week.

A video of the incident can be found here. Dancing/frolicking, or beating/assaulting? And has the RLSH thing finally gone too far?
Phoenix Jones Stops Assault from Ryan McNamee on Vimeo.

 
If you’ve never studied the concept of concentric circles of influence then you probably had to stop and scratch your head for a moment when you read the title of this blog.  This concept has been used to teach everything from door-to-door sales to church ministry to college planning.  And, aside from its overly extended name, its a pretty simple concept that we could all benefit from if we learned how to apply it.
 
Basically, the circles represent the areas in which we have influence, and place them in order based on the amount of influence we have in a given area.  Understanding these areas in our lives allows us to focus our efforts in the areas most likely to have the greatest impact.
 
Thats right…I said IMPACT! 
 
(I love that word)
 

 
I first learned of this when I was an insurance agent.  We studied something called “target marketing” and the concentric circles was used to show how we could TARGET our marketing better.
 
Notice how it looks like a target? 
 
Well, the idea – just like shooting a target – is to get as close to center as possible.  The closer you are to center, the higher your score or the greater your impact will be.
 
As an RLSH, our concentric circles are not that different than anyone else.  We may dress weird, do things that others consider crazy, and live in a world one step from complete fantasy, but we still seek to impact the world around.  It doesnt matter if you choose to be a charity hero or a crimefighter, this is a way you can focus your efforts in the areas they will do the most good.
 
So lets talk about the circles.
 
CENTER CIRCLE
 
In the bullseye of our target is a mirror.  The center of the concentric circles is always ME.  Not me, as in Crossfire, but ME as in the person you see in the mirror everyday.
 
The one area you will have the most ability to affect is yourself…and thats one area you should never neglect.  Before you can impact the world around you, you have to be sure that YOU are well taken care of. 
 
You can’t feed the homeless if you are unable to feed yourself.
 
You can’t fight crime if you are unable to protect yourself.
 
You cant be effective at anything if you let your own self fall to pieces.
 
In other words…charity starts at home.
 
This is one of the things I’ve personally had to face recently and one of the reasons for the current happenings in THE DROP ZONE.  The ONE YEAR FITNESS CHALLENGE is one step in my own effort to IMPACT the center circle of my concentric circles. 
 
You need to consider your physical fitness and health before you begin looking for ways to serve others.  Make sure you are eating enough…Exercise daily…Get plenty of rest…take time to relax also…An hour or two every week devoted to a hobby can help you more than you will ever know.
 
And aside from just doing the things necessary to maintain your good health, you need to do things to improve yourself…read a book…take a college course…take martial arts classes…Invest some time in making YOU more prepared for the world around you.
 
It is very important to make sure YOU are taken care of…because if you neglect yourself, then eventually you will be unable to help anyone else.
 
And don’t put your RLSH activities ahead of your job or career.  You need that career to support your activities and your life.  You don’t have to set at your desk and ignore a crime going on outside your window – you aren’t Bob Parr and this isn’t The Incredibles – but you don’t want to walk away from a good job just to patrol. 
 
Remember – you can’t help anyone else if you can’t help yourself.
 
The next thing you need to consider in the center circle is being prepared.
 
Make sure you have the proper equipment for what you are planning to do when you step into that next circle.  If you are going to be doing something dangerous, then have the appropriate body armor or equipment.  Make sure your vehicle is running.  Make sure your equipment is maintained properly.
 
And part of being prepared is planning things out. 
 
If you are going into an area to patrol at night, walk that area in the daylight first.  Ask yourself where criminals might hide to ambush their victims.  Look for ways to escape if things get out of control.  Make note of terrain features that might cause problems at night.
When you return that night, you will find it much easier to patrol if you know the area already.
 
Let me give an example of WHY this is a good idea.
 
Several years ago I was working security at a hospital.  One of the posts I worked was a building that was under construction.  The building had no lights and I would have to navigate through a maze of tools, supplies, and half finished projects every night using just my mini mag light to make sure the building was secure. 
 
One night I was making my rounds with the flashlight on the ground watcing for trip hazards when I walked into a piece of duct work that was hanging low in the center of the room.  The workers left it dangling about 5 feet off the ground at the end of the day which put it right at face level for me.  I was moving at a pretty good pace when I smashed into this duct with my face.  My feet kept going and my back met the hard concrete floor before I realized what had happened. 
 
After regaining my senses, I finished my rounds and went back to the security office.  My partner then informed me that I had blood on my face.  They checked me out and found no major injury, just a minor scrape that bled a little.  I did a report about the accident/injury and wrote it in the pass-down log. 
 
Later that night my partner was making rounds in the same building and almost ran into the same duct.  The only reason he missed was because he KNEW to watch for it.  He knew what had happened to me and still almost ran into it. 
 
Had I known to watch for it, I might not have crashed into it that night.
 
Now imagine if you were trying to run away from or after someone in the dark and you didnt know about a particular obstacle…You don’t want to run face first into a low hanging duct during a life or death situation.
 
Research crime rates in the areas you are partolling.  Know the bar schedules.  Keep a list of emergency numbers in your cell phone.
 
And most of all…let someone know where you are.  If something bad happens then someone needs to know where to start looking for you.
 
SECOND CIRCLE
 
The next circle is your FAMILY.  This includes people you are related to by blood and those friends who are close enough to be blood.  These are the people who if they were any closer you would have to share the same skin.  Not all relatives are found in the second circle, nor are all friends. 
 
These are the people who know all your deepest secrets.
 
When you are trying to save the world, these are the people you think of first:  Your parents, your spouse, your children, your siblings, & your closest friends
 
The decision between helping your second circle and someone else should be simple.  This might mean cancelling a patrol because your child is sick.  It might mean taking a few weeks off from RLSh activities because a parent is in the hospital.  I might mean postponing something for an hour so you can go help your best friend when his junky old car leaves him stranded somewhere.
 
When you put these people first in your priorities, they will return the favor…And that helps YOU to be better able to do what it is that you do.
 
THIRD CIRCLE
 
The third circle is two parts:  1) – your extended freinds and family & 2) Your neighborhood
 
These are people you have a bond with in some way.  Distant relative, old friends, acquantances, former co-workers, and neighbors are people with whom you have a mild familiarity if not a strong relationship.  However, this minor connection gives you an opening to be helpful to them. 
 
Imagine an elderly person falls down in front of you.  You rush to their aid, but they refuse and possibly become combattive because they don’t know you.  I’ve had it happen to me.
 
Now imagine that same person falls, but someone else rushes up to them and offers to help…only this time its someone they know.  “You’re Bob’s son?”  The elderly person says as they are helped back to their feet.
 
The connection here allows you a little more freedom than a complete stranger.
 
The neighborhood is included in this because the connection between you and where you live is just as important.  You live there and as a result you become familiar with things there.  You know which cars belong and which ones do not.  You know the people who live there.  Its the easiest area to learn because you are always there.
 
It was this familiarity that led to my stopping a murder attempt last year…Hows that for IMPACT.
 
FOURTH CIRCLE AND BEYOND
 
The fourth circle would be the city and county in which you live.  This is where you reach random people, but still have a familiarity with the area.
 
The fifth circle would be the counties surrounding you.  These are areas you are less familiar with, but still close enough to make a difference occasionally
 
The sixth circle is your state…or a states sized area around where you reside.  For example – a RLSH in Texarkana Arkansas  would count parts of Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma in his sixth circle.  When you start spreading out into these areas you are going to be in areas that are sometimes familiar but often times not.  This is an area where you will face more problems and have less ability to make a difference.
 
the seventh circle would be your nation – You still have some freedom to operate in your own country…Your influence here is probably not that great…and your efforts here are not going to gather results nearly as fast. 
 
And the final circle – is the rest of the world.  Extending yourself beyond the borders of your nation will stretch you to amazing lengths.  Your impact on these areas will most likely not be very great.  It will take a great deal of difficulty to make a difference at this level.
 
And there you have it…my thoughts on the Concentric Circles of Influence for an RLSH
 

CFtC
 

When I first started doing SUPERHERO ACADEMY ON BLOG TALK RADIO we had a weekly feature called THE DROP ZONE  where each week I would share my weight loss (or gain) and thereby hold myself accountable to my listeners to actually keep on my diet.
Then life went a little crazy (mixed up schedules/moving/family issues) and we lost half our show time (forcing the streamlining of the program) and the DROP ZONE
got…well…dropped.
As of October 1st, that has all changed.
I am embarking on a one year fitness experiment designed to take me from couch potato to spud muffin (pun intended) and I wont be doing it alone.
Joining me on this adventure thus far are Midnight Detective, Skyman, Levionne Clay,  and Silver Sentinel…Valerie Finnegan of Heroes Fallen Studios, and a few others have also joined in to show support for the rest of us…there are a some who have been invited but have not officially signed on yet…AND I am issuing an open invitation to anyone else who wants lose weight and get into shape to join us.
This program is based loosely on military basic training.  We have a thirteen week pre-basic schedule, a thirteen week intense shape up, and a 26 week advanced training to reach our ultimate fitness goals.
The plan is set up using weekly benchmarks.  Each week we have a set of goals that we are working toward being able to achieve by the end of the week.  For example if your Benchmark on Sunday is 10 push ups then you have to be able to do 10 push ups by Saturday of that week in order to pass the benchmark for that week.  If you dont make it, you dont stop there…you just work toward the next week’s goal.  Everything progresses in small steps so it shouldn’t be that difficult.
The reason for using this system instead of a daily “do this” kind of workout is because we are all different.  We have different strengths and weaknesses and we will have different challenges to overcome as we go through this.  I already know that
chin ups are a problem for me, so I will have to tailor my training to compensate for that or I will not be able to make the grade in that area.
I’ll be keeping a food and training log and sharing the highlights of it on the CROSSFIRE ACADEMY FOR SUPERHEROES blog…and encouraging the others to share their victories there as we progress.  We will also be sharing training tips, new exercises, and much more on the blog as we move forward with this.
And I will be keeping a group weight lost tally there as well…I might even do some sort of funky pie chart or bar graph to show our success.
I have even enlisted the aid of our resident personal trainers Flora V Arbor and Amazonia to assist us with any problem areas we may encounter along the way…and we couldn’t ask for better coaches.
SO…if you are one of the RLSH communities “heavy hitters” and you want to give this a try then please feel free to join us…we launched October 1st.   You’ll need your list of weekly goals so message me and I’ll send you the full one year list of benchmarks.
In the meantime, here is the first quarter (pre-basic) training schedule for anyone that wants to get started right away.

Transportation is vital to an RLSH. Many of us cover a large area while on patrol and for handouts. As a result the most vital piece of gear that we use is the car. Of course some of us don’t use a car at all, patrolling on foot, or using a bike or skateboard. There’s nothing wrong with that. Which ever transportation is best suited to your locale is the way you should travel.
But I am going to tell you about cars first. Anyone who owns any type of car should have it on a regular maintenance schedule. All too often I see people who have a limited budget, purchase a vehicle that is right at the edge of what they can afford. They don’t include maintenance as part of the operating costs of the car. As a result the car degrades and you wind up with a really large paperweight that you are making payments on. Not an effective use of funding. Also you will look real silly in your gimmick trying to fix a leaky radiator by the side of the road.
Get a car that is well under your budget levels. A running used Camry is going to be a lot more super than mustang that is up on blocks in your back yard.
My team-mate Superhero has The Supermobile. A tricked out custom built Corvette Stingray. It’s mean, fast, scary fun to ride in, and spends a lot of time (and money) in the shop. Is it worth it? If you can afford it, yes. But take a realistic look at what you are doing as an RLSH, before purchasing something like this. As with everything else about the community, try to not be all starry eyed when investing in transport.

 Now that I have said the preachy part, I will tell you about some cool little transportation gadgets that are available.
 
A new arrival on the scene is a sort of cross between a skate board and a motorcycle. Called The Shocker.
 

Motocross Board

 
It’s available for pre-order now. The price is between $1700 and $3000 Depending on which model you want.
 
The Roamboard is an electric powered motorized skateboard.
 

Roam Board

 
The Roamboard starts at $2500 for a basic model and run to $3000 for a custom.
 
And since we are checking out cool skateboard evolutions and crossovers, what if you crossed a skateboard with a tank? The DTV Shredder
 

 The Shredder

 
This little monster will cost you about $4000.  It is still in the pre-order phase but should be available by spring of 2012.
 
 

* * * *

Capt Black
(504) 214-3082
In real life superhero ( RLSH ) terms I’ve literally fought folks Phoenix Jones style; did crime prevention speeches like the retired Citizen Prime and made coalitions the way Silver Sentinel does.
Toss in regular food giveaways in the tradition of Life and my Good Citizens Supporting Good Cops effort and you pretty much have my RLSH menu.
The topic of what makes RLSH “real” rears its pointy head periodically, usually in the wake of national publicity.
I address this topic periodically so here’s the latest opinion:
There’s no pecking order among RLSH and extreme altruists ( X ALTS ). Those imposing them are limiting a limitless concept. Free people can express their vision of creative activism without bias.
It’s not a zero sum choice between crime fighting verses unconventional philanthropy.
The only choice is what kind of creative activism you select.
My choices to date include:
* Regularly buying food for the homeless at a Canal St. fast food restaurant off its dollar menu- remember, I’m saving my part of the world on a sneaker-string budget ( lol  ).
* Giving cold bottles of water to New Orleans Downtown Development District ( DDD ) street custodians and public safety rangers; police and hotel valets on scorching days.
* ( Along with two other concerned citizens ) pulling an abusive boyfriend off the woman and child in a stroller he’d struck until officers arrived.
* I’ve also stopped wto separate suicide attempts this year.
Which actions are more “real” than others?
None.
NADRA ENZI AKA CAPT BLACK promotes finding your ” super” through creative crime prevention; homeless outreach and political advocacy. ( 504) 214-3082
 

I get requests for gadgetry all the time. 90% of those requests are for some kind of weaponry. I understand this. The heroes in the comics are loaded to the gills with advanced artillery. Villains are as well. They even have whole armies of henchmen packing all sorts of lethal armament.
As a result, our young impressionable members feel that they need a flame thrower or micro grenade launcher or some sort of anti personnel tactical nuclear device. Of course you need that. The heroes in the comics have them.
“Why not me?” you ask.
As I said before, many of our members are young and impressionable. In fact, a vast majority of people asking for top rated fire power are teenagers. Yes that’s right. Children not old enough to buy beer or vote are asking me to build a flame thrower.
I am all for the right to bear arms. My father taught me to shoot a revolver when I was 11 years old. I can bulls-eye a dime with a 22 rifle at 20yards. And I can knock a squirrel out of oak tree with nothing more than a sling shot and a small pebble.
I can use these weapons because I understand them. I respect them. I, however, do not advocate carrying any of them in the field.
I know that some RLSH carry lethal weapons on patrol. I am not telling them not to. One of my team mates carries a lethal weapon in the field. He has training in how to use it. He has years of experience with fire arms. And he has a licensed permit to carry it.  Also, he is old enough to vote.
Anyone wishing to carry a weapon of any kind in the field should have a healthy respect and understanding for what it can do. They should be trained, licensed if necessary, and permitted to carry and use it by the local laws and regulations. If you are asking me to build something that cannot be bought at a specialty weapons shop or a traveling weapons show, then I must assume that it is probably not legal and you have little understanding of that weapon and its proper use.
My new policy for any type of lethal weapons will be “You’ll shoot you eye out kid.”
*Addendum* I wrote this blog on Saturday night just before patrol. Sunday morning I had an email from a person asking for me to build a flame thrower. Yep.
I won’t say who it was that asked so if he wants to keep his reputation he can just pretend it never happened and no one will know.

By the most basic definition, evolution is a change in response to the surrounding environment.
Superheroes are no different.
As society further degrades, as we witness people developing further disdain for their fellow man, we respond, in an attempt to make society survive. We are a response to the conditions surrounding us. This sort of change always starts out small. Like any successful mutation, it spreads.
This change is in response to mainly apathy. Apathy is a social disorder. It is rampant all across the world.
The concept of RLSH/X-Alt is spreading. We as a community are growing every day, new people are popping up every day and acting in their communities, in their neighborhoods. They are instigating change in their local environments. They are inciting a societal evolution.
If we see someone in need, we help. If we see someone suffering on the street, we bring them hope. If we see someone in danger, we save them. These are not social norms. Society has told us “it’s not our problem”. That it’s “their fault” whatever happened to that person, whether it being homeless, or just being mugged walking down the street.
This type of attitude, this social indoctrination has brought us to where we are now. It seems social degradation is at an all time high, whether it be homeless statistics or crime statistics. Everything seems to be at its worse possible.
But there is a response to that, a change to protect society, to save it, and humanity as a whole. It’s those few people, men, women and yes, children, who are instigating this change in response to what is going on around them.
This is how evolution works.
The creative activism of the “RLSH/X-Alt subculture” has exploded in recent years. A few years ago, there was maybe fifty heroes, all across the world. Now, there’s well over 300 in America alone. Groups and organizations are growing. Existing teams are expanding, new ones are being formed. More people are responding to this much needed change and acting. In turn they are encouraging others to act. In turn, those people are encouraging OTHERS to act. So on and so forth.
We are inspiring others to go out there and do something. This “superhero phenotype” is spreading. Society is slowly evolving, slowly changing for the better. It will take time, but it will happen.
Evolution is coming. We are the forefront of it.
 

An Interview with Captain Illumination
Some people think that I am the only gadgeteer in the RLSH community. Nothing could be further from the truth. I am not the first, nor even the best. Maybe I am just the most vocal. Whatever that counts for.
There are many Gadgeteers with varying degrees of expertise and specialties. Some are on the street crime fighters, bringing their gadgets to the field with them for testing and fine tuning. Some host builder’s workshops for the improvisation of tools weapons and armour. And some are highly specialized technicians.

 One such highly specialized member is Captain Illumination. The good Captain is a street level crime fighter with an arsenal of home built light based equipment. Seeing his assortment of lights, and talking to him about his abilities it is easy to be overwhelmed by the amount of knowledge Captain Illumination has about battery powered light output.

 I wanted to bring some of that knowledge to light. Hehe. So I put together some interview questions for him. If you are looking for a good patrol light or just want to understand the nomenclature better, read on as I pick the brain of Captain Illumination!
1. First off, if you don’t mind,.. Please tell us where you have acquired your background in all things lighting.
Ever since I was very young I have been deeply fascinated by light, my parents kept a journal as I grew up, they said as soon as I could walk I would run around the house turing lights on and off for hours at a time.
I have never been able to leave things good enough alone, If they could be modified or improved upon I would do so. Flashlights were no exception. It all started with my first 4-D Maglite, ever since then I knew I needed more power.
As far as options for lighting goes, there are just so many routs one can take. Someone could just buy the biggest Maglite they can find put a Xenon bulb in it and be done. They could also buy any one of the thousands of cheap “but effective” Chinese made LED flashlights from eBay etc. For the true professional, company’s such as SureFire and Streamlight offer the performance and reliability out of the box that no other brand can match. The last rout of course is total custom built lights. Either based on a production flashlight or made entirely from scratch, these lights allow the end user to have the most control over just what they want their light to do.
What ever your choice start off small and work your way up. The experience you gain from working your way up will later allow you to build your own lights form scratch.
2. You seem to prefer incandescent lights as opposed to the more modern LED lights. Why is that?
Simply put, LED’s ARE the future. The truth is as simple as that. Soon all standard lighting sources will be LED. Just as car headlights are transiting over too LEDs, street lamps, movie projectors, searchlights, everything will be LED I estimate in the next 20 years or so.
That being said while LEDs do offer the ability to make custom lighting projects, nothing today can surpass the utter simplicity and cost effectiveness of incandescent lighting for home made lights. One simply can not match a home made Incan for the same price of a LED modded light. $15 will pick up a Par36- 50 watt bulb which will make over 1,200 lumens easily. In order to make that many lumens in LEDs (regardless of what anyone has seen for sale on eBay, etc) would cost hundreds of dollars invested in driver boards, heat sinks, Multiple LEDs, optics, Li-ion batteries, and even more.
Also Incan’s offer full color rendition. Meaning, everything you see with a incandescent light would look the same as if it was viewed during the day under sun-light. Even while using the purest white LED, one might expect to loose massive amounts of depth perception and the ability to discern one object from another at longer ranges. Lastly, it is MUCH harder for an LED to really throw it’s light down range for spotting objects in the distance. It can be done, but it all comes down to surface brightness when one wants to make a spot-light and Incans have that area covered.
 
3. What is the difference between Lumens and LUX? Which is better for seeing? Which is better for a weapon?
LUX, the forgotten sibling of Lumens, is overlooked by so many who need it. Today Lumens have almost became a house hold name, anyone who knows anything about flashlights, knows this magic word describes “just” how bright the light is, the higher the number, the better right? Well sort of.
First off I’d say at least 90% of flashlight companies who put lumens on packages are over exaggerating to say the least. Most imported Chinese made lights “while cheap” demonstrate massive amounts of over exaggeration. In fact a lot of them advertise an amount of lumens that it’s LED could never even physically produce.
Next time you read lumens on a flashlight try cutting the number in half. That would make it much more realistic. That being said don’t feel bad if you bought one of those “900” lumen flashlights, you still should have at least 300 “hopefully” that is a lot of light, once upon a time that would have been unheard of for even a large multi hundred dollar light.
Lux, however, is in fact even more important then lumens and there isn’t even over exaggerated claims made on packaging for it. It is as if it didn’t even exist! Lux describes the intensity of light at one meter. So Lumens = how much light, Lux = how intense. Think, Lumens is like how many gallons a second a hose or stream would discharge, Lux would be the pressure or speed at which it was moving. That being said one can now hopefully understand just how important Lux truly is if one is going for a “weapon” type light.
“First I must point out that like the proverbial grapple gun, a light which can be used by it’s self to stop an attacker is simply unrealistic, and near impossible to make, that being said lights can be used offensively and defensively to give a major upper hand in a fight” Anyway, if you think of a flashlight like water, which would you rather be hit by? 10 gallons dumped over your head from a bucket, or half a gallon focused into a water jet that could cut through steel? I think we all know the answer!
Thus if you want to disorientate an attacker by shinning light in his eyes you want the light hitting him in the face to be as powerful as possible. It doesn’t matter if you are only using 50 lumens if all 50 lumens go into his eyes. VS a 300 lumens light and only 15 lumens goes into his eyes and all the rest of the light goes around him.
The best comparison is a laser. A laser is light just like a flashlight, that being said a 10 lumen laser can reach out 2 miles easily, because it has super high Lux “over a million”. How does one get tons of Lux? Well you can either use very high power LED lights form some of the more high end companies or a cheaper incandescent with a large reflector.
A good comparison is that a typical 2-D flashlight makes 20 lumens and 3,500 Lux, and one of those $3, 7 LED lights that take 3x AAA cells makes more lumens “24” but only offer a dismal 800 Lux. A 900 lumen “true 350” Chinese tactical light, will make about 5,500 Lux, but a big old 4-D Maglite will make 18,000 LUX! With only 48 Lumens. The ultimate debunk of flashlights blinding people is that even the most powerful SureFire M6 $400+ flashlight will only make around 28,000 Lux when sunlight it’s self makes between 75,000 and 100,000 Lux.
Don’t belive me? Get your brightest flashlight then go outside during noon time stand in a patch of sunlights hold your flashlight next to your head and see if you can see the beam on the ground. Chances are you won’t. Is it possible to beat out the Sun? Yes, but it will cost quite a bit of money. If you’ve got the money, try a Polarion.
 
4. If we were looking for a good RLSH patrol flashlight, what price range should we be looking at? Can you recommend a light that would work well for us right out of the box?
Really the price range is up to the user, if one is willing to bet their life on their light I wouldn’t want the cheapest light I could find. Most RLSH’s are on a budget though, and $45 should easily be enough for almost any scenario.
An excellent starting light is the Maglite XL50. It’s cheap $30 and very strong and bright. Unlike most companies Maglite shows true lumens and at around 100 this lights is very bright for it’s small size. The best part is it’s reliability unlike most no name brands this light will last for years of use.
Want something a bit more unique? Get a $16 Streamlight ProPolymer 4AA flashlight from a dive shop, replace the bulb with a HPR 53 Halogen bulb, use 4x high quality rechargeable batteries and you’ve got a super bright almost indestructible low budget flashlight. Even if you don’t want to mod this light is works great for the price.
If you can still find one at your local hardware store, the Dorcy rechargeable 190 lumen flashlight has a super high LUX beam for it’s price and it’s standard rechargeability is very practical.
The Lowes 2-C Task Force flashlight was one of my first every day carry [EDC] lights for over a year. It’s cheap “under $30” and has 150 lumens with a very high lux beam “around 7,500”. The current generation uses a different LED then my original. I have no experience with it, but I assume it is even better then the original.
There are many other flashlights I could have suggested, however all of the above flashlights can be bought in local stores, free form shipping and have a good trade off between reliability, brightness, and run-time.
That’s all from Captain Illumination. I Hope this added to your knowledge of lighting for patrols and general usage. RLSH can use your new knowledge of lights to try to make the world a brighter place.
Groan, .. That was a horrible pun…