Are you heading back to campus, gearing up for a near semester? Sending a loved one off to college? Keep them or yourself safe with one easy tool: A reliable flashlight! Many campuses have (thankfully!) implemented incredible strategies, tools and proper lighting to help keep their students safe at night. However, evening classes or post-sunset meetings are simply unavoidable some semesters, and there is always a risk of danger walking around anywhere at night. Especially as daylight hours get shorter, campus safety and awareness becomes more and more essential. Whether the risk comes from tripping hazards, being unfamiliar with a new campus or unwarranted company, it’s always best to be prepared–and that’s where proper personal lighting comes in!

 

Here are 5 ways to use flashlights to minimize danger while on campus at night:

 

1. Use a Compact Flashlight Instead of Your Phone Light to Deter Robbers

If you don’t have a flashlight on hand, your first thought is probably to just you’re your phone as a flashlight. However, phones and tablets are among the most common items to be stolen on campus, making you an easy target for robbery. If you need a flashlight to get around a poorly lit part of campus, don’t use your phone–use a lightweight flashlight like the Fenix RC09. Not that a robber wouldn’t love to own your Fenix compact flashlight, but a simple flashlight is less attractive to a burglar than a brand new iPhone. Plus, the RC09 provides light for up to 377 feet–enough to attract the help you may need or to tell a burglar or attacker to back off.

 

2. Traveling Across Campus by Bike? Use Reliable Bike lights

Not only is a bike light essential for providing you with safety, lighting your way crash-free from one place to another, but it’s also an effective tool to ward off unwanted company. Just like with a keychain flashlight, you can use your bike light to scare off an animal, an attacker or to signal to others on campus of danger. Remember, bike lights not only protect you, but they also protect other bikers, pedestrians and drivers by preventing accidents. The newly upgraded BC30R has up to a 528-foot lighting range and even displays the amount of time left on your battery so you don’t find yourself stranded with no lighting!

The RC05 clips easily onto a backpack, pocket or purse pocket.

3. Use a Keychain or Pocket Flashlight as Self-Defense

If you have a flashlight handy on your keychain, you can use it to quickly signal danger when you can’t yell or make a phone call for help. Having a light that’s easy to access and has enough lumens could be essential for breaking away from an intruder or signaling for help. The Fenix UC02SS and RC05 are both only 1.7 inches long yet boast 130 lumens–extending 157 feet on his high mode­­! Plus, they have a sturdy clip that be attached to a pocket, backpack or purse for easy access. Both compact flashlights can also be used in the lower mode for basic nighttime illumination.

The LD12 is small enough to keep in your glove compartment and bright enough to keep you safe.

4. Always Keep a Flashlight in Your Car

A reliable flashlight is an essential that should be kept in your car at all times, especially at the beginning of the school year with a new schedule and a new route. Being unfamiliar with your driving route could increase the risk of not knowing how to get the proper help when stuck with car trouble at night. Whether it’s a flat tire on the way home from a night class, realizing you locked your keys in your car on the way out of an on-campus meeting or your vehicle getting stuck in a storm or mud, the flashlight on your phone may not be enough to help you. You’ll want proper lighting to light the area of your vehicle you need to inspect, to ensure you are completely visible to other cars on the road and to have clear visibility of anyone approaching you. At just 4.04 inches, the Fenix LD12 is small enough to keep in your glove compartment, and can run on it’s high mode for three and a half hours, meaning you don’t have to worry about recharging often.

 

5. Have a Flashlight Handy in your Purse or Backpack

You never know when you’ll need it. You may end up finding it handy every evening you walk through campus or it may just be your savior in an unexpected on-campus emergency. Fenix has created two exceptional options for lightweight, personal flashlights that are easy to fit in your purse, pocket or backpack: The Fenix PD25 and the aforementioned RC05 flashlights. These flashlights not only provide sufficient lighting, but they can also double as a self-defense tool. 

 

Having proper lighting won’t save you from all dangerous situations on campus. We encourage you to keep up with safety tips from your school or university, know their emergency numbers and become very familiar with the campus before those short fall days come around. And always, whenever possible, do not travel alone.

 

Stay safe, and have an incredible new school year!