Let’s have a discuss why a flashlight need SOS mode.
Some one believe in it is annoying.
its an annoying add on, what are the chances youll need it.. and what are the chances some one who sees it will know what it is? (from other forum)
Other think it is useful. It will help us when I we lost or meet some other problem.
What do you think so?
Do you consider this problem when you choose the flashlight?
Best regards,
It is usefull when you are impaled and cant move
Your feet. Or you are stuck in a sinkhole in the middle
Of nowhere.
It’s not a bug, it’s a feature!
I find it of no use and more of an annoyance, particularly where I need to cycle through modes to get to the one I want. I really appreciate torches with a UI which only include low, medium and high.
I normally don’t like any “blinking” modes, but I have exceptions for certain situations. The light in my car has a type of strobe to make me more visible should I need to pull over at night, and the light I take hiking/camping has SOS in case I ever get lost and need to signal.
Other than that, I find them annoying to have to cycle through. However, It doesn’t affect whether or not I buy a particular flashlight because I always expect to swap the driver anyways.
i just hope manufacturers learn to hide this option. its frustrating.
IMHO it will be better if you can adjust the space between the blinks. let say 1 every sec or 2 every sec.
my 2 cent
This is very interesting. I like your answer.
But I think a car or a weapon is much better. :bigsmile: when we meet a lion.
Down with blinkies!
Its annoying and if I’m lucky I’ll never find a situation where I’ll need it ever…
“SOS” modes are for the less intelligent folks P.T. Barnum spoke of. If you’re mobile enough to place a “SOS light” where it will be seen you’re not in enough trouble to need it. If you really need it then you’re can tap out “… _ _ _ …” on a switch or by shading the light with your hand just as well.
I can see a tactical use for a fast-strobe light burst. It blinds your opponent and gives you a fast look at the situation, then you move so you aren’t targeted. Slower strobes do attract more attention that a continuous light but again the utility is questionable as it’s not useful to you as a flashlight while it’s ‘beacoing’. So now you need 2 light devices and you need a beacon there are better specific-use ones anyway so I see no real point in them.
Glitz and features look nice and sell things to newbies and yuppies. There’s an old hot-rodders saying: “Chrome don’t get you home” so those who are truly seeking performance won’t waste their money on the things that do not add to performance. Spend your money on “go”, not “show” for the real win. (Just my opinion, YOMV)
Phil
I wrote a post in some other thread but couldn’t find it, so sorry for the re-run…
Anyhow, a couple of fellow Swedish climbers got caught in an avalanche. One made it out of the way, the other got swept down about 300 meters. The guy that made it out of the way found is way down to his friend and found him with a totally trashed leg. He walked so he could see the lights of the hut they stayed before leaving for the climb, turned on his headlight in a blinkie mode (not sure if it actually was SOS), pointed it towards the hut and went back to attend his friend. The light was noticed and a rescue was initiated.
In your average everyday situation where you walk around with a light you probably will never use it, but there are environments (such as alpine climbing) where blinking lights are taken seriously, and actually can save lives. I’ve been coming down from mountains in the Italian alps after an all-nighter with frozen and stuck ropes, and was noticed by other climbers way down the valley. They signaled and yelled, if I had needed assistance I could signaled SOS and they would have immediately understood.
The Scandinavian boat culture is also aware of blinking lights, and SOS would certainly be taken seriously by anyone seeing it.
Sure, it’s annoying, and I would rather not have blinkies than have to cycle through them all the time, but I can tell you that you’ll never be able to convince those two Swedish climbers that they are useless.
I think SOS lighting pattern has an utility in itself, but not so much, or not obviously so, in flashlights: our lights usually project a cone of light that only goes towards the optic, but then the source is only visible when pointed at the eye or camera that is oriented in its axis in that precise moment, so there ain’t many chances for it to be seen unless it lights up upward a think fog or smoke. A 360° diffuser “beacon” can be seen by all potential lookers around it instead, so unless the flashlight is coupled with a diffuser the SOS pattern is not of much help.
A beacon instead can have its utility in the woods at night, when/if one or a group of people needs to move around camp for whatever reason and not loose camp location. I experienced this situation only once in my life.
All those blinking modes should be hidden, if ever implemented, as they make for a very, very (very) little percentage of flashlight’s use. Cycling through them for example is quite absurd.
honestly I find SOS mode starts a great tabletop conversation especially with the old folks I knew of.
It always leads to the old incan days stories and such but having SOS is a fun thing to talk about.
I don’t fancy blinkies but I liked a useful stobe handy to blind/signal people
Usually the blinkings I see are more of ...OSSOSSOSSO... or ...OSOSOSOSO... Hardly ever SOS SOS SOS.
I wonder what all those people want when they signal ...OSSOSSOSSO... and ...OSOSOSOSO...?
The SOS and strobe mode are there to say “hey come on my mode is anoying, come change my firmware!” so you change the firmware to get rid of it and get faster PWM with the process.
It is useful but not my first choice to buy a flashlight.
> pattern
Yeah, the correct length of the bright pulse, and the interval between the letters, and the interval between the ‘words’ — are all defined for Morse Code.
http://www.nu-ware.com/NuCode%20Help/morse_code_structure_and_timing\_.htm
The blinking is amateurish coding. I have one lamp that sends “SOSOSOSOSOSOSOS” — yeah, it’s a SO-SO light.
All the rest I see do what Adoby describes, they just mush together dots and dashes.
It would be truly remarkable if the people programming the ubiquitous Chinese driver could get it right.
As someone who flies and boats in remote parts of northern Canada, I don’t mind having an “SOS” mode in a light. At the same time, I want it so well hidden that it doesn’t annoy me in regular use. The chances of ever needing it are very slim (I hope).
A strobe, on the other hand, seems very effective in driving away bears. I’ve had a couple of them flee in terror when I hit them with 1000 lumen strobe. Much better than bear spray, in my opinion. At least nothing blows back in your face.
In the boat or the airplane I usually carry a Convoy L1 with an LD29 driver in it. Best of both worlds, in my opinion, and I like it a lot.
This thread reminds me of the considerations that I went through when designing the TheStar firmware. Not only did I choose to include SOS, but also tried program it in correct Morse code (according to my best knowledge), and decided to make it a hidden mode. :)
I think SOS should be incorporated into everything that has a light. In your home, in your fridge, in your car... Everywhere.
Just imagine how much electricity we would save, by not turning things on, because the initial turn on had a mandatory SOS ten times repeating. I can see it would save tons of electricity. People would go without instead of having to turn on the SOS. We would get thinner too. Who wants to open the fridge at night when it's going to SOS ten times while trying to get out something to eat?
It's a great idea!
Personally, I think if SOS is a hidden mode, then I have no problem having it. It could be useful some day.