Do you like or dislike the SOS Blinky mode? Just wondering how most people feel about it.

Same here! I love it! I’ve never used it, hopefully never have to. But I like it to know it’s there just in case. Of course you can sos manually, but for how long if you’re bleeding badly.
Yes, all these disco modes must be well hidden. I also like fast and slow beacon…

Hate blinky modes of all kinds but I hate tactical most, then SOS, then beacon.

I’d reconsider some sort of medium blink if I were to commute by bicycle. I can see its value in that case.

Please allow them to be hidden or non-existent if any manufacturers are reading.

Well hidden blinkies, locator beacon etc, good, could be useful sometime.
Blinkies in the main menu & accessed by double clicking or long press, crap.

If you're lost, tired of walking and hungry try to use that hand morse code. We talk things that no first hand experience.

QUOTE
Can anyone fond any situation where the S-O-S blinky mode actually was useful
ENDQUOTE

yes. unfortunately, lol… i once posted a couple years ago? that i finally found a legitimate use for blinkies mode… as a delivery driver after dark for years? some customers insist on placing an order then “hiding” in thebasement with headphones or loud movies…

i “blinkied” the house windows with my little zoomie, and it brought them out. they said they thought the “police were there” and “had forgot they ordered”

===

if i were a COP or security guard? i would defiunitely make myself a small light with “disco” mode always first mode on power on… i demonstrated it once at work, as several of us carried daily for work. guy was making fun of my flashlights, he had a gun, etc etc…

i held the light up at him (off) and he looked right at it, and laughed. having suckered him into looking at it? i clicked it on in disco (had cycled the next mode to do it…lol) and he screamed and held his face. i KNEW what he was seeing, a gigantic green blob covering his vision. this was in daytime, in a well lit room to boot… i calmly walked around him, and took his .380 out of his exposes holster and tossed it onto the counter and backed off laughing as he flailed around like a blind man holding his arms in front of himself for a couple minutes.

=

but… bringing customers out of “hiding” was the only use i ever found for disco mode… used it about once every couple months after discovering that trick…

and like i said if i were a cop or security guard? i would definitely want a light that always powered up in disco mode for blinding and disorientation.

i can see where if you practiced with disco mode on the right light? it would be as useful as the gun itself…

I don’t mind the SOS mode if it’s hidden.

What I really want is a signaling strobe, about the frequency of a car’s flashing hazard lights. That’s more useful in getting someone’s attention without causing seizures or other annoyances, especially if I’m trying to catch the attention of a driver.

Also, I want a “ramping” signaling strobe. Instead of instantly blinking between on and off, ramp up to max then ramp down to off.

The only blinky modes I find useful is Strobe and a locator beacon with a very short pulse full power

SOS is worthless to me. Strobe, however, has proved to be very helpful to scare off suspicious intruders and mean dogs.

When I used to commute by public jeepneys I carry my nitecore p12 in memory mode of strobe. So whenever it comes useful I am ready. Robbery on public vehicles are rampant at night. So a dedicated tactical light with strobe function is good but I don’t want strobos on my plain edc light.

I prefer it hidden. Eventhough I don’t like it but still used to it already.

That is a fair point :slight_smile:

Like blinky modes (e.g beacon, dual freq strobe) but not SOS.

I voted yes, but I wish the poll had been set up differently. I would have voted no for just a hi frequency strobe, I don’t have a use for that ever, even hidden. I just don’t find myself in those situations, but it sounds like other folks do. I voted yes because I think either a SOS or beacon is useful as a hidden mode.

I like beacon more than the other 2, it can be easily noticed(imo),and use less power
Not anyone knows morse code

I guess that these special modes should be directed to different types of flashlights. And always hidden to avoid the extra button presses on normal modes.

Yeah, this thread was actually about flashlights having a SOS (or blinky) mode built right into the cycle that you cannot avoid.

Like HIGH….LOW….SOS……OFF……HIGH….LOW….SOS….OFF

It’s not really covering emergency lights. strobe lights and all the other variants that have been brought up.

Sorry if I didn’t make that clear enough.

If I am going to be out on the seas or in the forest, believe me…I’m not counting on my $20 light……I’m going to have a dedicated REAL EMERGENCY signal…ie flares or a light that was made specifically for emergency survival situations. how many of the less expensive common flashlights with SOS mode would survive a dunking anyway? Much less in SALT water.

Here, I’m referring to the less expensive, everyday flashlight you would use around the house or casually carry with you.

Is SOS mode on a $10.00 flashlight that uses one cell REALLY that helpful or more of an annoyance? I say annoyance.

Annoyance for sure

Thinking about it……
Lets say I’m riding my bike on a rural highway and accidentally veer off the road and down into a ditch and can’t get up….(broken bone or impaled on a fence post) ……but I can see traffic 50 feet away.

Am I going to sit there with my blinking flashlight hoping someone will stop….or call 911 on my cell phone that I’m carrying with me?
Anywhere there’s cellular service (and it’s almost everywhere), the flashlight is going to be a distant after thought. The cell phone is where I’ll be.

Sure, we could play the “but what if your phone got damaged” game……but remember…the flashlight could get damaged too.

National Parks. Venture far enough from the gift shop, and there’s no cell signal. I bring this up only because I see people on forums saying they would never need a dedicated GPS because they can use their cell phone. I go to a lot of National Parks and I lose cell signal quicker than I like.

That just sounds like a crappy cell phone provider…
:confused: