Only you. And, obviously, you’re too young to care. Yet.
Funny thing, though, about being interested in flashlights — we get to learn what experience is like for other people who use them. Experiences differ.
There have been a few requests for a moon mode in this light and personally I’m a big user of moon modes.
But I have intentionally left a really low mode out because in the way this light operates this would be the first mode when switched on. First, non-flashoholics I expect are not fanatic moon-users and nevertheless it will always be the first mode they get. Second, literally everyone who ever tried my flashlights (they all start with a sub1lm mode) did not notice that it was on and thought the flashlight did not work. I like to avoid that in this light.
And moon is not going to be a hidden mode either because this light will not have hidden modes.
10 lumen to start with is recognisable and a nice low useful for everyone, for close-up tasks like reading, I’d like to stick to that.
Only in case infinitely variable output makes it into the final light, then that automatically will include the sublumen modes.
Glad you’re sticking to your guns. My mom, who is 75, only uses 1 mode of the 2 mode light I gave her. It’s probably 20 lumens or so. My 47 year old ex never uses more than 1 mode because she forgets it has more. She “gifted me back” a light I gave her because she thought the light was dead despite putting in fresh batteries.
(it has both a tail switch and a control ring, she kept forgetting to turn on the tail switch.) Funny thing is, she’s not a dumb lady. They just dont care or think about gadgets the way we do.
I recently gave a thrunite cat v6 to a 57 year old lady who lives next to me, for checking her animals and scaring off coyotes. I showed her the u/i a couple times but I’ll bet she never finds turbo on it unless I show her a few more times. Luckily, high doesnt throw that much less than turbo in the big picture and the light will serve fine.
Honestly she acts older than she is- she’s only 10 years older than me but came from a different generation I guess. I grew up with the first handheld electronics.
Slightly older people came from a time when things just had on/ off.
Edited to say, I’d be in for 3 for sure if it has a nicely detented ‘off’ position in the ring, and no tail switch, and substantial knurling or other grippy features on both the ring and body, and big print delineating the positions, and a high contrast ring, and a lanyard hole on the tail. My mom uses a neck lanyard on her ‘going outside’ light to keep easy track of it.
Please can I request that it fits long protected cells, like the ones sold by the big brands that are often 70mm or more, this means that a reliable well known cell can be recommended, rather than stuck with unprotected cells.
Some lights, like the D80v2 cannot fit a 70mm cell despite the two springs.
I like this idea. Reason being, that if it does have parasitic drain, even slight, it could potentially drain below 2.5 volts if left unattended for a while if it was put away with a low battery. Muggles would not know, and just recharge it potentially causing an unsafe condition. So I would most definitely want protected cells for my moms light.
Glad someone gets it. Bone is my shorthand for what Jerommel kindly delineates. Not and heavens forbid the light would be sculpted as some thermoplastic moulded or 3D printed assisted-living aid. I hope that’s clear.
I agree with Jerommel usually these lights look mean. perhaps on a subconscious level our sense is telling us when the going gets rough they won’t slip out. N.B. Especially useful when wearing gloves or holding it for extended periods.
So the head and tailcap diameter larger than the battery tube would be my ideal choice unless we specifically aim to for as slim-as possible design akin for a blazer pocket penlight -also a valid use case. In practice I reckon that one shall find the integration of a viable twist-ring with its magnets and sensors in the available space to be a challenging task, and it’ll be made easier if it can be accommodated behind a larger diameter head. Larger diameter tailcap then protects the mode ring against unintended rotation.
In either case, it may be useful to have a raised line on both the ring and the light body that aligns when the light is off, to help with tactile operation. Kind of like the little bumps on the J and F keys. Just an idea that would be cool for flashaholics and make no difference either way for someone who doesn’t care.
This i.m.o. still looks like the most natural interface, ergonomically speaking:
The travel of these sliders is usually very short though, probably for technical reasons or to keep it simple and cheap to produce.
But the shape is good too, but more ‘manly’ than the previous one.
Not sure about the blue stuff, but this body color also looks nice.
Add a clip and it won’t roll off the table.
It shouldn’t be, though, because it too works with a magnet in the slider outside and a hall sensor inside.
But i also read here and there that these lights, which are usually quite cheaply made, have some waterproof problems.
They all have visible PWM dimming too, which is why i never bought one.
Would like to propose a practical fix to the min lumens controversy; geared to hopefully satisfy everyone; and I mean everyone.
On/Off plus Momentary On/ Momentary Off; via tactile push switch.
Twist-ring brightness control with 4 or more detent steps.
PCB has grid of marked pads to set jumper option(s).
Light ships in its stock configuration with brightness levels and range which are those deemed as best suited for the needs or abilities of original target audience.
BLF Nuts so disposed can open and mod to their preferred pro-configuration easily by soldering in a well-defined marked jumper link. Thus access sub-lumen/lumen moon and/or enhanced high lumens range.
The above scheme has the advantages that:
Versatility generates extra interest/buzz around the light.
Markets it to a wider population.
Good for BLF as it serves as a very gentle intro into modding.
Personally; I’d like to have levels spanning between eicca’s stated 1 lumen or less —-> blast grandma into orbit /what’s safe thermally. Two or more in-between steps such as low and high with all modes spaced on log basis.
I have a nitecore hc60 (I think that’s the model) with a slider for it’s only control. Works wonderfully, but it has 2 problems:
high parasitic drain which means you have to manually lock it out by loosening the tailcap any time its unsupervised in a bag or pocket because:
it is very easy to move it from off to on and I always find it in some position other than off. It has a detent, but no lock. It needs a feature that requires you to push down to move from off.
It’d probably be more cost effective to load it with a scaled-down Anduril UI if it were to be built with a config switching system. Twist the ring off to on five times or something to toggle between 10-300ish range and 0.1-9,000 range or whatever.
I understand the objection to a sub-lumen moonlight where there are a small number of fixed modes, even though it’s a feature I like to see on most lights (I do not care about it on dedicated throwers or large multicell lights). If, on the other hand it’s possible to have continuous dimming then I favor going as low as the hardware can do reliably. If it’s not bright enough, just twist the ring farther.
Is there a reason why it might be cheaper? I confess not to know about these types of firmware. Seems to go against the original OP ruling on not having hidden modes… Murphy’s law means at some point in the field modes get scrambled inadvertently. Let’s say by bored fidgeting play or grandma handing it to occupy a highly energetic grandchild as a plaything… Plus I rather like the idea of getting out a soldering iron smelling the flux to do something a little creative. Too much of our world is software driven with hidden menus and software driven software buttons that change. It slowly sends people mad. I hope this light to become a welcome antidote to this madness.
