You can see the archived poll results on the Wayback Machine:
https://web.archive.org/web/20221220093741/https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/72518
I grab my Dry (CW) when i want a lot of light.......mine is H-M-L-S which suits my purposes. I'd much rather not have to cycle through other modes before I get to full power.
Now that the heck?
So we have:
H(DD)-L-S
L-M-H-S
H-M-L-S
L-M-H-S-Turbo(DD)
Other drivers exist too?
Yours is HLS you mean? or did you install an other driver than available from CnQ?
No..It came with a H_M_L_S driver from CnQG after Ric asked if that was OK.
Is it DD on H? or it's supposed to be just like the L-M-H-S?
LMHTS with memory could be the most versatile driver: you can crank it up from low to turbo, but if you desire so you can keep it on high/turbo if you want it to be highest output when putting it on. Added this option to the poll, if you have other suggestions please feel free to let me know!
I would prefer to have a ultra low mode that would change to turbo after. 10 seconds. Should be good for a laugh when someone is checking out your light.
But realistically, LMH NO memory makes the most sense for me.
so without a turbo?
By Turbo we all think of Direct Drive? That's what I think of. However some may consider it as a 4th mode and that's all.
Would you apply same mode system to a single LED flashlight with the use of turbo if it was capable of 2000+ lumen? No I'm not referring to SST90.
I have no idea! Maybe the only safe option would be having low medium high modes and a turbo which gets activated by pushing a second button when in high... LMHT could indeed look as if Turbo is just another 'safe-to-use' mode.
Don't you guys who prefer a driver with memory find that it's annoying not knowing which mode your light is going to come on in, if you haven't used the light for a few days?
I like no-memory lights because I can select the mode I want really fast: click on, then half-press as many times as I need to select the mode I want. Anyone can do that in about a second, whereas if you have memory, you have to wait a second or two after you turn on the light, to see which mode you're on, and then do the half-presses to get to the mode you want.
I have a light with memory, and I find I have to cycle through all the modes about a third of the time I use the light, because I turn it on, I think it's on M so I half-press to get to H, but darn I was actually already on H and now I'm on strobe, so I half-press a few more times to get back to H.
I voted LMHTurbo with memory, that is how my TK41 is set up and it works quite well.
THML without memory or LMHT with memory
For the high power lights, my personal choice is high first as that's what I probably want - which is why I grabbed that light. If I wanted less light, I'd have grabbed something else. the other modes on the silly power lights are largely irrelevant. My current brightest which beats the Varapower 200 (Which cost a lot) is a $50 triple XM-L which will run for ages on a pair of 18650s unlike the Varapower which has 20 minutes' runtime and about 200 lumens less. For around a sixth times as much as I paid for the FandyFire V2 triple XM-L! The numbers for the FandyFire are already on the spreadsheet linked in my sig. Headline number - the FandyFire gives me 1770 lumens at switch-on. It claims 1000. DX understating specs - this has to be a first.
Not yet managed to kill it, but from what I've seen here, that shouldn't take too long.
The PMs will get answered, just not tonight....
Ric told me it will be LMHT with memory and they should be available really really soon!
High, Strobe, High, Strobe, Strobe
Why would you want a powerful 2000 lumen light to start off in the lowest mode? I mean, are we talking about a 2000lumen EDC? Then I can understand. But if it's a 2000lumen larger light, then I want that thing to blast and to blast right away.
For me, yes it'll be one of my two EDCs. With something like a TK70, where it's so huge you have to make a special effort to bring it with you on an outing, yeah it makes sense for it to come on in High first, since that's probably why you're bringing it with you.
HIGH, Medium ,Low. I also want it to blast when I turn it on. If I want a low light I will use something smaller.