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-   -   Why are torches always held underhand by the police? (https://www.cableforum.uk/board/showthread.php?t=15202)

Theodoric 21-07-2004 21:27
Why are torches always held underhand by the police?
 
First a confession. I have just finished watching The Bill. There, I've admitted it!

In tonight's episode, DS Nixon was seen holding a torch in an underhand fashion, that is with the fist under the horizontally held torch. I'm sure that most TV shows and films show police holding the torch this way. Now, I (and I suspect most people) hold a torch overhand, that is with the fist on top of the horizontal torch. Why is this? The only reason that I can think of is that it prevents the police from automatically using the torch as a bludgeon and perhaps harming someone.

dilli-theclaw 21-07-2004 21:29
Re: Why are torches always held underhand by the police?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Theodoric
First a confession. I have just finished watching The Bill. There, I've admitted it!

In tonight's episode, DS Nixon was seen holding a torch in an underhand fashion, that is with the fist under the horizontally held torch. I'm sure that most TV shows and films show police holding the torch this way. Now, I (and I suspect most people) hold a torch overhand, that is with the fist on top of the horizontal torch. Why is this? The only reason that I can think of is that it prevents the police from automatically using the torch as a bludgeon and perhaps harming someone.
MMMmmm - I hold my maglite in a position to get ANYONE who tries to jump me while I'm at work patrolling in the early hours....

Chimaera 21-07-2004 21:30
Re: Why are torches always held underhand by the police?
 
They're lucky it worked!
I can guarantee that any torch I use in this house is miraculously knackered by the time I get to use it! :(

dilli-theclaw 21-07-2004 21:31
Re: Why are torches always held underhand by the police?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chimaera
They're lucky it worked!
I can guarantee that any torch I use in this house is miraculously knackered by the time I get to use it! :(
My maglite has been through some abuse :) - Get one of those... they also have a spare bulb in the end too.

Chimaera 21-07-2004 21:33
Re: Why are torches always held underhand by the police?
 
Do they come with an everlasting battery too? No one here seems to understand they have to be replaced when they die!! :eek:

dilli-theclaw 21-07-2004 21:35
Re: Why are torches always held underhand by the police?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chimaera
Do they come with an everlasting battery too? No one here seems to understand they have to be replaced when they die!! :eek:
I also have a torch that you shake to charge it up :) It's very good for blokes with strong right arms ;):D

http://www.gadgets.co.uk/faraday-star-torch.html

Chimaera 21-07-2004 21:37
Re: Why are torches always held underhand by the police?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by dilligaf1701
I also have a torch that you shake to charge it up :) It's very good for blokes with strong right arms ;):D
Ah - I'll have to make enquiries if that applies to the man of the house! :D
Think i'll just give the kiddies a lesson in changing batteries!

danielf 21-07-2004 21:38
Re: Why are torches always held underhand by the police?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Theodoric
First a confession. I have just finished watching The Bill. There, I've admitted it!

In tonight's episode, DS Nixon was seen holding a torch in an underhand fashion, that is with the fist under the horizontally held torch. I'm sure that most TV shows and films show police holding the torch this way. Now, I (and I suspect most people) hold a torch overhand, that is with the fist on top of the horizontal torch. Why is this? The only reason that I can think of is that it prevents the police from automatically using the torch as a bludgeon and perhaps harming someone.
Perhaps it is because you will automatically hold your torch at face height, thereby making it easier to blind a person that suddenly leaps out of the dark.

Russ 21-07-2004 21:39
Re: Why are torches always held underhand by the police?
 
They hold it like that to help stop it being easily knocked out of their hands if someone jumps out on them and actually that position allows them to use it as a weapon should they need to, in a downward motion (striking with the less heavy end).

Maggy 21-07-2004 21:45
Re: Why are torches always held underhand by the police?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chimaera
Ah - I'll have to make enquiries if that applies to the man of the house! :D
Think i'll just give the kiddies a lesson in changing batteries!
After constantly losing torch after torch and running out of batteries at the wrong time I gave up and bought a rechargable brute of a monster torch.Now no one can steal it to read under the covers because it's got a beam like a lighthouse(they might as well use the main light) and it never runs out of juice at the wrong time.

Incog :)

dilli-theclaw 21-07-2004 21:50
Re: Why are torches always held underhand by the police?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Incognitas
After constantly losing torch after torch and running out of batteries at the wrong time I gave up and bought a rechargable brute of a monster torch.Now no one can steal it to read under the covers because it's got a beam like a lighthouse(they might as well use the main light) and it never runs out of juice at the wrong time.

Incog :)
My dad got me a 3million candle power torch at christmas - which you could fry an egg if you shined the beam on it.

But it's too bulky to make an effective knobbiling torch - which - to be honest - is why i love my maglite :)

Ramrod 21-07-2004 22:41
Re: Why are torches always held underhand by the police?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Incognitas
and it never runs out of juice at the wrong time.

Incog :)
I bet you wish: 'If only all battery powered gizmos were the same as that' eh? :D




.........I'll get me coat :D

Maggy 21-07-2004 22:43
Re: Why are torches always held underhand by the police?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ramrod
I bet you wish: 'If only all battery powered gizmos were the same as that' eh? :D




.........I'll get me coat :D
[img]Download Failed (1)[/img]

Ramrod 21-07-2004 22:45
Re: Why are torches always held underhand by the police?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Incognitas
[img]Download Failed (1)[/img]
....Nobody likes hearing the truth ;) :D



:shocked: :Sprint:

Maggy 21-07-2004 22:51
Re: Why are torches always held underhand by the police?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ramrod
....Nobody likes hearing the truth :D



:shocked: :Sprint:
KINK,OH KINK,KINK,RAMMY'S PICKING ON ME.........

Ramrod 21-07-2004 22:55
Re: Why are torches always held underhand by the police?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Incognitas
KINK,OH KINK,KINK,RAMMY'S PICKING ON ME.........
Oh cr*p.....I'm for it now :Yikes: :Sprint:







Wassamater......can't handle the truth? Eh? :D

Stuart 21-07-2004 23:19
Re: Why are torches always held underhand by the police?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ramrod
Oh cr*p.....I'm for it now :Yikes: :Sprint:







Wassamater......can't handle the truth? Eh? :D
Kink's a pussycat...







OK, A lion, but a cat none the less..

MovedGoalPosts 21-07-2004 23:22
Re: Why are torches always held underhand by the police?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Theodoric
The only reason that I can think of is that it prevents the police from automatically using the torch as a bludgeon and perhaps harming someone.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dilligaf1701
MMMmmm - I hold my maglite in a position to get ANYONE who tries to jump me while I'm at work patrolling in the early hours....
Which is why a number of police forces, when maglites first came out and officers started buying them before the type of torch became part of equipement issue, banned the torches longer than 2 or 3 cells (you could get 4 or even 6 cell versions). At that time, many police forces still used truncheons, none of these modern battons, so the maglite was far more effective. It was the dual purpose use of the maglite, good lighting and the potential defensive use that made them so universally popular.

Stuart 21-07-2004 23:31
Re: Why are torches always held underhand by the police?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chimaera
Do they come with an everlasting battery too? No one here seems to understand they have to be replaced when they die!! :eek:
As well as Dilli's faraday torch, there is a company called freeplay that markets a range of wind-up products such as torches, radios and mobile phone chargers. I don't know about the other products, but the radios are good..

http://www.freeplay.net/

homealone 21-07-2004 23:33
Re: Why are torches always held underhand by the police?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by MovedGoalPosts
Which is why a number of police forces, when maglites first came out and officers started buying them before the type of torch became part of equipement issue, banned the torches longer than 2 or 3 cells (you could get 4 or even 6 cell versions). At that time, many police forces still used truncheons, none of these modern battons, so the maglite was far more effective. It was the dual purpose use of the maglite, good lighting and the potential defensive use that made them so universally popular.
there are defensive & offensive, techniques, possible with even a mini maglite, knowledge of anatomy, 'pressure points', etc , will help - Ramrod could be a very dangerous man, we should show respect :D

danielf 21-07-2004 23:43
Re: Why are torches always held underhand by the police?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by scastle
As well as Dilli's faraday torch, there is a company called freeplay that markets a range of wind-up products such as torches, radios and mobile phone chargers. I don't know about the other products, but the radios are good..

http://www.freeplay.net/
I heard about those. They are being put to good use in developing nations (where lack of power is more than just a nuisance).

Quote:
The Freeplay Foundation recognised a need for alternative energy sources amongst the worldââ‚ƚ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s poorest communities. As a result of this need, the Freeplay Foundation was founded in 1998 by the Freeplay Energy Group (FEG) as an extension of the groupââ‚ƚ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s commitment to development and empowerment.

The Freeplay Foundation is committed to providing innovative, affordable and practical energy solutions to ensure sustained access to information via radio. The Freeplay Foundation seeks new applications for Freeplay's unique wind-up and solar powered technology and makes those applications real and tangible, as evidenced in the Lifeline radio. After extensive fieldwork, the Freeplay Foundation believed there was an urgent need for a radio designed specifically for the humanitarian sector. The idea for the Lifeline radio was born - a robust radio that can be operated easily by adults and children alike, heard by groups of up to 40 and powered by either wind-up or solar-powered energy. Just 24 months after the concept paper for the Lifeline radio was written, the first radios were delivered to Burundian refugees living in refugee camps in Tanzania.
from: http://www.freeplay.net/website/corp...foundation.php

Maggy 21-07-2004 23:52
Re: Why are torches always held underhand by the police?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ramrod
Oh cr*p.....I'm for it now :Yikes: :Sprint:







Wassamater......can't handle the truth? Eh? :D
You think your so sneaky writing in yellow on white.UNTIL someone quotes you.

Maggy 21-07-2004 23:54
Re: Why are torches always held underhand by the police?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by scastle
Kink's a pussycat...







OK, A lion, but a cat none the less..
Carry on! :dig:You are doing just fine.

Maggy 21-07-2004 23:59
Re: Why are torches always held underhand by the police?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by danielf
I heard about those. They are being put to good use in developing nations (where lack of power is more than just a nuisance).



from: http://www.freeplay.net/website/corp...foundation.php
I'm beginning to think that they might be a good idea for those of us who want to conserve energy in the developed countries (waits for the usual cheap comments from Ramrod) and that one day they may even a necessity when we have to learn to find cheaper sources of power because resources have diminished too far.

Incog. :)

Flubflow 24-07-2004 10:34
Re: Why are torches always held underhand by the police?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Theodoric
First a confession. I have just finished watching The Bill. There, I've admitted it!

In tonight's episode, DS Nixon was seen holding a torch in an underhand fashion, that is with the fist under the horizontally held torch. I'm sure that most TV shows and films show police holding the torch this way. Now, I (and I suspect most people) hold a torch overhand, that is with the fist on top of the horizontal torch. Why is this? The only reason that I can think of is that it prevents the police from automatically using the torch as a bludgeon and perhaps harming someone.
You see better with a torch if it is held nearer to your eyeline rather than down near your waistline. The most comfortable way to hold a torch up this way would be underhand. Try it and see. That's my theory anyway.
Of course, it would be even better if they fitted lights into the front of their helmets (fnar fnar ooerr missus!) ;)

Electrolyte01 24-07-2004 10:48
Re: Why are torches always held underhand by the police?
 
I always hold my maglite in the underhand position. And dilligaf is right, there strong things :p:

And mine is water proof, so that's a bonus :D

budwieser 25-07-2004 12:40
Re: Why are torches always held underhand by the police?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Flubflow
"Of course, it would be even better if they fitted lights into the front of their helmets (fnar fnar ooerr missus!) ;)
"
Lol!:D


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