Yes, that is correct. The first 2 fast blinks are to just get your attention. Itās the slower blinks after those 2 that tell you what menu setting you are at. The 4th setting (in ramping mode) is for strobes/blinkies.
I try to explain using the menu settings here.
Here is a dedicated video just showing how to disable strobes.
Here is a dedicated video just showing how to set the thermal step down.
There is a review video of the Q8.
At 8Ā½ minutes switch the strobes off.
Vesture of Blood has a video about the user interface of the BLF GT with NarsilM v1.2 (Q8 has v1.0, but most of the UI is the same)
You can also download a newer cheat sheet from
You need the version:
NarsilM CS v10 Q8
v10 is for version v1.0
Yes my friend, I can relate to thatā¦. 
There are some days I too feel āon par with Lumpyā, in many areas! 
If, indeed, an owner can configure the Q8 to do what I suggested on the previous page in response to someone asking what I would consider the available functions should be, then the Q8 would be fine. Eventually I will follow up on that.
I have not gotten into much depth. Nor do I particularly want to. Back at the origins of the project there was significant discussion about using the Q8 with a light dispersing cover as emergency room illumination. That was where I got into this. There was a very promising project to do just that, but it went away. So I moved to the Q8. I wanted a light source for power outages or other general conditions (fire, quake, landslide, tornado, meteor strike, North Korea, etc.). There have been multiple occasions here of power lines down on the road or significant tree parts. No way a user responding to these problems will be trained or remember said training. And it is essentially impossible to presume who will need to use the flashlight under those sorts of problems. IT IS A FLASHLIGHT. My misunderstanding is my fault.
Responses keep being made about essentially āwell just train the usersā. No. Not useful. Any random person can be a user. None of them will be ātrainedā and or remember said training.
My wife will never get it. She has serious problems using the remote TV controller (including pressing all the damned buttons hoping something will change). I have not reliably gotten the Q8 right. This is an emergency light as far as I am concerned. I suspect there are others with this view. So we need a light once a year (or five years). No way we will remember the āinstructionsā. I will maintain the battery charge regularly. If it is an emergency, nobody is going to read the instructions first. Many posts are presented that āeveryone I have given it to have used it with no problemsā. OK. Good. You have some clever friends, or more simple friends that do not explore a bit. Four out of four people I have given a Q8 to try (including me) have failed the āclear and simple interfaceā test and gotten to modes you absolutely donāt want people to be using outside of very specific circumstances (e.g., blinding the bad guy [without blinding the good guy]). Really bad for moving vehicles, low flying aircraft, curious people looking at the light, interfering with police activity, etc. This thing is not a toy!
It is a natural response to an untrained human using a flashlight (or lots of other things) to keep pushing the button when something is not working like they expect. If it is not doing what I want; press the button some more. Personal observation of many lights, not just the Q8, but from really simple $5 lights on up; push the button some more.
I believed I would get a tool; I got a toy.
I love the light! With reservations.
The Q8 was designed by a flashlight hobby forum, believing that it would turn to be a 100% tool is naive, of course it is full of toy-features 
But I also think that, with the limitation that it is not idiot-proof, it does quite well as a tool too, and perhaps even more so than comparable flashlights of expensive brands.
As I noted, I thought I was moving from one light to another with similar goals. My error. The complexity grew over time. I went with it. I know it is a flashlight hobby forum. I really do. I have been a member for about 4.5 years.
There are no obvious reasons why this should be hard. And alternate version of the software would be fine. A version of the software that allows an owner to select dumb or cool. With sufficient protection so that dumb and hobby shall never see each other. Some participants have offered solutions to change the Q8 behavior to something closer to dumb. And that will be fine. The choice of simple and hard would be very useful. But one or the other could also work at a reduced level. I am not currently able to go through the various alternatives. I have other issues to deal with.
Offering an alternate ādummed downā version (or a switch) would be useful. And I think they exist. The manufacturer may also find an advantage with providing two versions. Dumb user and full blown hobbyist.
It is getting sort of old to be chastised for not understanding, and why did I participate. I did, and I did.
A flashlight of this power should never be able to go to a dangerous mode with a person simply wanting a flashlight. It does not currently meet that criteria. It is a disservice to people (random civilians) that just buy a Q8 and do not really understand what they are getting into. This light is dangerous in unskilled hands. And maybe some skilled hands, but that is a different discussion.
@ alternetyā¦ā¦ā¦ For the life of me I cannot understand what you find so difficult with this UI as it comes from the factory.
All you have to do is push the button & hold it till it is as bright as you want it & then quit holding the button down.
Thenā¦. when you want to turn it off, click the button & it is off.
To meā¦ this is not complicated at all. How much simplier could it possibly be?? Seriously??
Just how could that even be āādumbed downāā??
And as far as it being a ādisservice to people (random civilians)ā and ādangerous in unskilled handsāā¦ā¦ that may be your opinion, which is just fine. But I doubt it is shared by very many people. (which is my opinion)
And anyone should have enough sense not to look into the ābusiness endā of a flashlight when they are turning it on and/or using it. IF they do not, they have no business using any flashlight.
I guess different strokes for different folksā¦ā¦. but, as I said above; I fail to see how this could be made much simplier than how it came from the factory.
When you want it ONā¦. push switch button & holdā¦. releasing button when desired brightness level is reached.
When you want to turn it OFFā¦. click the switch button. It is then OFF.
Repeat when you want it ON again.
I donāt even stir the pot with Alternety. He knows he chose the wrong light for his particular needs. He admitted it.
Maybe his next light will be more suitable now that he knows what to look for and what to avoid. Same for me when looking for an ideal work light.
Peace be to him. :+1:
/\ Good point. :+1:
And try to take some closeup pictures
OK, I will be quiet!
Alternaty a solution to your problem is to buy another flashlight that meets your needs. Put the q8 in a cabinet somewhere else so you can have it as a reminder to research a product to see if it meets your personal needs and requirements before you buy it. By the way, a flashlight hobbiest website who teams up with manufacturers to make advanced flashlights that the members of said website can purchase cheaply is probably not the place to buy an emergency flashlight that any child can use. Good luck finding the light that actually meets your needs, maybe try the sporting goods section of your local Walmart. Cheers!
Iāve had good success handing the Q8 over to noobies. They figure it out quickly, itās a fantastic product. For easy access I still have my old Malkoff converted 2 D cell maglite, on/off - easy/peasy. It never seems to get used though. My daughter likes to go walkabout with the dog late at night. I have a 1000 lumin Nitecore MH20GT now which I leave out for her that has a mini-USB plug so she can charge it whenever it needs. She had once grabbed my Convoy C6 to shine on the guy she caught breaking into my truck at 3am. We both learned that in an emergency, having a tail on-off switch AND a side button for modes was not a good idea. She was unable to work the flashlight, but the good news was the guy wasnāt alerted and her phone call to the police resulted in his arrest.
I think Alternatyās main ābeefā with the Q8 is that while itās āintuitiveā to a certain point thereafter it rapidly can become nonintuitive. Itās an understandable complaint considering that the average public user of modern led flashlights have generally been pre-conditioned by the standard fare of on-off-high-click-medium-click-low-click-possible-strobe click.
The Q8 aināt one of those lights to say the least. You really only get āintuitiveā with it after you read the directions thoroughly and then practice with it a lot. It takes effort. It is NOT intuitively simple to use once you get much beyond the ramping up and down then just turn it off features. Again, I think thatās his point and heās taking a bit of umbrage at those that make him perhaps feel a bit stupid. All these videos explaining how to better clearly interpret the fine print directions is a testament to that deal.
That said, his point to consider from a potential increased sales standpoint that an intuitive version and a nonintuitive version being offered is a valid one. To sum it all up: KISS vs letās make it challenging. Whoās kidding who? The Q8 is ultimately challenging.
Clearly one may not know what theyāre getting into until one actually gets into it. Complex things tend to do that. The Q8 is NOT necessarily simple to understand unless you know what the creators of it intended it to be.
A typical led flashlight was obviously never the original intent here. This is an upper grad-level light, man. Iām not saying anything profound here that hasnāt already been said. Iām just kinda defending the guyās perspective.
@ nottawhackjobā¦ā¦. Well said and true. But as Throw me in to darkness said aboveā¦. āit is only complicated if you make it soā.
Forget all the bells & whistles completelyā¦ā¦ stick with the basic on & off and it is very simple.
Past that, I agree completely; it is definitely complicated to the newbie as well as some who are not a newbie.
Teacher,
Yup, the hard part of the Q8 is in not making it overly complicated on purpose.
Oh one other thing. If I had designed the Q8 UI in hindsight I probably wouldāve had TWO factory default optional settings.
One default is the one ya got now.
The second default wouldāve been the KISS option: Click-On get low, click again get Medium, click again get High, click 3 times anywhere in the cycle get Strobe click 4 times get moon. Or something to that effect.
That would be one extra helluva light IMO. 
Nottawhackjob,
Interesting thought. :+1:
Only problem there would be for some to figure out how to switch between each default. Unless it was light specefic that is.
If we had designed the Q8 as a light for dummies, I would change 2 things:
1)it would have internal charging, probably via a base, like your average electric kettle or tooth brush
2)it would have a turnable switch like the power/volume knob on old radioās, turn it to switch on, turn further to ramp up.
Still a nice variant to consider having built, but complicated to design.
I will say this:
I would like all my flashlights to be so ācomplicatedā
For me it is the best and very intuitive system.