I've been a flashaholic for years and I still don't get the obsession with ultra low modes.

Wondering why people don’t adapt pen lights as moon light?

I’m photosensitive and nocturnal, so most of the time I only want moon or a single-digit low mode. Anything else is usually too bright.

I’m a camper and wouldn’t do without ML. In fact I like the 2 ML modes in the Tiara Pro. ML1 I leave on all the time like a night light hanging from the tent ceiling (or a motel room nightstand) and ML2 is for navigating in the middle of the night. In the evening after sitting around a fire these modes are useless but at 3am they work great.

I bet I use moonlight mode three or four times as much as the highest modes on my lights. Lots of tasks require a small amount of light, like bathroom trips, finding my sleeping pills or getting something out of my pack at night. The times I actually NEED 1000 lumens are rare. Sure it’s fun to light up a whole yard or a tree at the end of the block but most of the time it’s not something I really needed to do.

If you are in a location with any artificial Street lighting, you probably won’t appreciate nor ever use a sub-lumen light. In the mountains and on the ocean, moonlight mode is all you need to see clearly for 30 or more feet. Comes in handy for reading, fishing, eating, and prepping up close at night, also.

And although I keychain carry a Fenix AAA light, an multi mode light loaded with an 18650 gives you a lot to work with. I carry two multimode lights when I am out rather than bother with a AAA. You can always just cup your hand over the front of the bright light, also

I am not sure if anyone else has brought this up before.

I find that 0.1 lumens in a big SMO reflector (like Acebeam K50 or T08) can be quite useful, as the big reflector can turn the little lumens into a ‘more useful’ hotspot which can still illuminate things in many situations. While I don’t know exactly how much lumens does my former K50 put out on ML mode, it can still ‘throw’ about 1 meter in a completely dark room and my eyes weren’t adjusted to darkness yet.

Lumens indicates the ‘brightness’ of a particular light source, and the way you direct the light is important. If a large reflector/lens is used to focus it then it is a different story to me.

If you are in a tent with someone else who is sleeping but you want to read, what is better than a headlamp with moonlight mode?

What I find amazing is how short sighted some people are. When something is of no use to them they simply cannot grasp the concept of it being useful for someone else.

I think high powered flash lights are fun, my brightest is a K40M. But several thousands of lumens is seldom useful, just fun. At the most a few hundred lumens is enough, along with good runtime. Or very low output to preserve my night vision.

I think very high output often makes you see less. You see what you shine the light at fine, but you can't see anything else around you. Unless you use a diffuser or bounce the light in the ceiling.

Best post ever. Hehe

I can see the use of these ultra low mode but I don’t use them enough to justify a dedicated mode on my main light. I’m sure if I daily needed a ML mode, I would look for a light that had one but that seems like a very specialized task and shouldn’t be a main mode. Hidden mode like most strobes are? Fine.

So what I propose is all strobes and firefly modes be forever banished to hidden mode territory. Bury them all deep where we don’t have to cycle through them to get to our real light. No normal person carries a 18650 flashlight to have .003 lumen that he could get from the smallest, cheapest, crappyiest light ever. I didn’t become a flashaholic to have weak wimpy light that nobody can see anything with.

+1

AFAIK, no GB flashlights bragged about having a moonlight. But some even bragged about “Wow” like this GB A6 with “OVER 5A!” in the subject line.

You are quite right. For that I carry a small trit light source. It is enough to avoid bumping in to furniture and walls in otherwise complete darkness.

However, I carry an 18650 Olight S20L2 baton with 600 hours runtime on 0.5 lumens.

And the coming A6 GB seems to have a nice moonlight. Very nice...

See, that’s just not true! I don’t know what the real numbers are, but here’s an example to get close. Let’s say you have a 20mA LED light. I can’t think of any LED’s rated lower than that, but maybe I’m wrong. If you say it uses 3.0V, then you have 3.0 X 0.02 = 0.06 watt. At a low rating (cheapie remember?) of 80 lumens per watt, you would have 4.8 lumens coming out of that flashlight! I think most of us agree that doesn’t qualify as “moonlight” mode. And, it is definitely a lot more than 0.003 lumen by a long shot!

Now, I’m not one to use a 0.003 lumen moonlight. But, as others have said, moonlight mode of just under a lumen is plenty of light for seeing in the dark without ruining your night vision, while also taking care not to disturb others who don’t want to be awake at that time. I use my moonlight mode every morning when I get up, so I don’t disturb my wife who is not ready for bright lights yet. I actually very rarely have any use for a very bright flashlight. I just like bright lights, so I have them.

I’ll give you this: I don’t have a problem with making moonlight mode semi-hidden. In my Olight S20-L2, you can always get to moonlight from off. But, if you happen to be cycling through modes, moonlight isn’t part of the normal cycle. I think that’s a decent way to do it. In fact, the Olight UI seems to me to be almost perfect. The only thing I would change is the return from lock-out. The Olight always unlocks into moon mode. I’d rather it unlock into the last used mode instead.

I think your posts on this topic are bordering on divisive. You have a right to your preference for more light, but why are you being so abrasive about other people wanting a lower mode? Why do you feel like you have to insult people for wanting a moonlight mode, and insist that it isn’t really useful, even after being told by so many that it is very useful? Did someone abuse you with a moonlight mode in your youth? :_(

> the BLF X6 group

moon was an option for a while, before it wasn’t: Search results for '' - BudgetLightForum.com

Sorry but is total and utter nonsense.

Sorry, but is total and utter nonsense. :stuck_out_tongue: I don’t see anything ryansoh3 said that is nonsense, so therefore your post is nonsense. :wink:

You do realise that there are many light outputs between 1000 lumens and moonlight

Seriously, why must these conversations always end up being polarised comparisons.

> Sorry but is …

I recall a color-blind man who believed “red” and “green” pigments are wasted, because both of them look brown to him.

You can’t see it, therefore it doesn’t exist?

Well, I usually applaud the empirical “show me” approach.

But it has its limitations.

I used to be able to hear 20,000 cycles per second in music.
Now, after retirement age, I’ve lost the upper end of that.

And I can’t see nearly as well in the dark as i used to.
I can’t get around by starlight alone, I need some moon in the sky, or a little help.

When I get older, I’ll be able to see (and hear) less.

That doesn’t change the value of high frequency sound, or low level light, for young people with better perceptions.

I’m not the measure of all things for all people.

What I can’t see — says what my limitations are.

Have you heard of camp fires? Is that too bright for you?

This is ANOTHER post that is a perfect example of what Mike C said in post #41………What I find amazing is how short sighted some people are. When something is of no use to them they simply cannot grasp the concept of it being useful for someone else.
_

This is coming from a guy who has 15 modded throwers staring with one that fits in the palm of my hand[75Kcd] to the TK75vn KT[3300 LUMENS/341Kcd and the TK61vn V4- 750Kcd!!!

Just because you do not like ML or strobe,doesn’t mean it isn’t useful to others! I already posted how important STROBE is to someone walking a Dog on Hilly and curvy roads,I am one of them! :wink: