photography
finding tiny things on floor [lay light down, shine across floor]
illuminating magnifiers
avoiding finding unfamiliar light switches in rooms i will not be in long
inspecting under a car in daylight [need lots of lumens]
reading close up things in the dark [need very few lumens]
also if the light is too bright, i will point it away from the actual subject
[like kids trying to sleep]
or tailstand it to light the room but not go bright in a face
or close my hand around it to block some of the light
Basics, mainly. Lighting up things when dark, tailstanding as a small nightlight when leaving a room vs turning on a light, lighting up a room vs turning on a light (eg, haven’t turned on the basement lights in years).
I work in telephony (among other hats I wear). While I’ve considered high/ultra CRI for working with 25- to 100-pair cable, I haven’t had issues yet with my 70CRI Luxeons. I’m carrying my D25C more and more these days, especially since swapping in a Luxeon V2.
Everything else seems to fall under EDC. I guess my L6 serves “MagLite” duty as a dual-purpose illuminator and club in my home. Haven’t had to use it as a club, and hope to never. Kind of a last resort thing there.
You have got to stop showing me that incredible purple knife! It’s well established by my post history that purple is my favorite color, and other than the steel type you chose (and that’s not far off) it ticks every mark on my folder wish list.
That pair of lights is pretty cool. I think it’s awesome that you’re also carrying something unique - a sentimentality that’s sometimes lost on lumen-chasers. And it ties right in with modding, and what I love about it too: Taking a light and making it yours. If I could build a light from scratch, I absolutely would, and I’d never carry anything else (well, I would, but in addition to rather than instead of). My wife and I are both clear on that about light modding: I’m not doing it to save money vs. buying a different light, I’m doing it to make something I want (kind of like art) and for the enjoyment of the process.
P.S. You don’t talk too much Dale, this place is better for your blabbering
I’m legally blind, so streetlights aren’t enough for me when I’m walking around at night. My 5000K Convoy L4 does nicely in medium mode, though, with high in reserve.
I wear impact gloves because I’m always bashing my hands on things, so I use the L4 in 2-cell configuration to make it bigger and harder to fumble. I’m not complaining about the extra runtime, either!
I also like the L4’s forward-clicky tail switch and the very prominent side switch for mode selection, which makes the light easy to operate by touch in the dark with the gloves on.
I carry a Convoy S2+ with a 4000K 95CRI SST20 LED on my belt for general purpose EDC. High CRI helps me get the most from my remaining eyesight, and the tight beam works well with my tunnel vision.
I always have a BLF-348 with me when I’m awake, even when I’m just wearing pyjamas. That’s the light I use when I’m trying to find things I’ve dropped on the floor. I’ve also placed the clip for head-up carry, which lets me use the light as a headlamp on my baseball cap. Conventional headlamp straps foul my hearing aids, so the BLF-348 sees a lot of headlamp duty.
Finally, I have a Nitecore MT06MD on my desk for general use in the house. I use that one for wandering about at night with the lights off (to avoid disturbing people who are sleeping), finding things I’ve dropped (again) and examining things like electronic components close up. That last is a combination of extra light to read tiny print and high CRI to read colour codes, depending on the part.
I have a few Zebralights, a few D4’s, a Olight M18, a armytek partner C1, and a DQG tiny 18650 in my normal EDC rotation. I don’t have a favorite or anything. They all serve the purpose I carry them for. Light when I need it. It’s a tool to me, nothing more, nothing less.
I have a bunch more lights but they are mostly a bunch of S2+’s, they are simple for the wife and kids. They are in camping boxes, near every door, and just laying about. Got 3 with extra cells in a small bag for electricity outages. Have a few soda can lights that get zero use. Just had to have them, you know how that goes. I use a few Jetbeam RRT-01 and the Sunwayman V11R around the house, all with proper emitters in them. Got a gaggle of C8’s in all kinds of emitter varieties. Nice for searching the property at night. I make rounds everytime I grab a smoke at night.
The wife use to look at me funny when I would wear a headlamp around when I was doing something. I told her it frees up a hand and puts light right where I am looking. She asked to use it in the garden at night since it was cooler. Now she’s hooked and only gardens at night now. Now I have to buy a new H03 for me again. Friend gave me a Acebeam AA/14500 headlamp, forget the model number. I use it now that she stole the H03.
EDC lights if ya care to see em. They surely aren’t shelf queens.
I won’t kid, M390 is a super steel and I’d be happy to have it Last I looked, CPM 110V or 90V were above it on my “if I had someone make a custom knife for me” list
On my more realistic list, it’s and all the others are out of reach, although lately M390 seems to be coming down in price. Seems to be popular in Chinese knives as the top end steel
I’ve got all three steels in different knives (a Big Chris in S90V, Spyderco Mule in S110V and a Survive knives in 20CV whihc is nearly identical to M390) but I haven’t used them in any large capacity or to their potential, which from what I’ve seen and understand is quite impressive. Besides the excellent edge retention, each is stainless which gives me peace of mind when using them.
From my research, I believe that M390 is the toughest and that S110V holds an edge the longest but is hardest to sharpen. I use diamond stones so I can tackle pretty much anything with enough time and effort.
I use lights in pretty much four different situations:
Camping—Headlamps for sure (Zebralight, Eagle Eye or Sofirn). So handy I can’t imagine not having one at hand.
Basement or garage workshop—Headlamps once again. I keep them in different spots so they’re handy.
After dark outside—I often take on supervising shifts for my local school district sporting events and often have to go to my car after dark. It’s helpful spotting kids who want to sneak certain substances under the bleachers too! I’m just glad that the security guys from my high school days didn’t own 1000+ lumen lights way back then! I usually use a smallish 18650 light (Emisar, Convoy S2+ quad, Zebralight, FW3A this fall)
Yard—I live surrounded by woods with lots of animal life that loves to poke around on their nocturnal rounds. Fox, coyotes, raccoons, possum, wild turkeys, deer, pileated woodpeckers, various raptors and owls too. It’s nice to be able to spot them when they’re messing with the garbage can or my meager garden. I often grab a Q8 or Sofirn SP36 or maybe a 26650 light (Haikelite or Sofirn) for these tasks but the not super exciting Sofirn C8A with its nice throw with good spill works perfectly and is being used more and more.
For the house, I simply know the layout and use my spider sense without a flashlight. After busting up a toe on the beast of a bed I made (solid walnut in beefy dimensions) I know to steer clear of the painful spots!
Although i own a couple 10k+ lumen ones, my most useful lights are the ones i always have with me, in the sub 200 lumen range. I EDC a 14500 Jetbeam Jet I MK and a AAA BLF Copper A01 as a backup and that’s pretty much all i really need in most situations. On top, in winter when i wear a coat or jacket, i have a 18650 Emisar D4 in the left pocket and another AA or AAA light somewhere inside. More then enough.
At home i also tend to use low output lights except i’d rather have a Q8 on the bed-night table. If i really need to go out check whatever, i’m happy to use a multi emitter, multi cell and multi K lumen light that can repeal anything with a retina, just in case.
In the car i have a L6 a S2 and a few cob lights… but never really got to use them - thankfully.
That said and to answer the op question, i mainly use my lights for day to day things whenever more light can be helpful - and that appears to happen quite often.
I checked out my security light activation this morning before dawn. I used my FT03 to investigate. No one hiding under the vehicles in the driveway. On the far side of my Dodge Ram a mobile venison was munching on the wife’s flowerbed. Nonchalant until I double-clicked and tried to reason with him that I’d better not see him again in October. (Actually my wife would choose him over me in that situation)
I’m pretty happy with this new SANSI “Ceramic LED Security Light” model C2440-JW from Amazun. Very wide coverage and illuminates to the street about 80’ Doesn’t quite reach claimed 50’ sensory reach, butt I am still adjusting it.
NGL, I don’t get much use out of my torches at the moment. Not even in EDC. They just keep burning a hole in my pocket, and I hate it. Is that strange for a guy that wakes up before 5AM to get ready for work at 6? That’s for you to decide…
To elaborate: The most I actually use is the Lumintop Tool CRI I keep on the collar of my pajamas to wake myself up and turn on the overhead lamps – no shenanigans early in a weekday morning or I’ll inevitably end up late for work. The latest I’m out at is 5PM to fetch my nephew from school, and now that days are getting longer, there’s plenty of light by then; at the same time, dawn’s already breaking by the time I get out of the house, so I don’t have to use a light on the bike. Everything else is just playing around.
Is that strange for a guy that wakes up before 5AM to get ready for work at 6? That’s for you to decide…