I’ve remarked on this before, but consider how most people use small EDC lights: in between lit areas. Stepping out of a store (lit) to get to the car (light inside). Taking out the trash (light in the house). In fact, the vast majority of uses for a carry light are when your eyes are not adjusted for night vision, because humans in modern times tend to live in lit areas.
There were quite a few people in the retrospective thread about the first BLF light who bemoaned that it was basically useless because you had to cycle it nearly every damn time you turn it on. It’ll be even worse in a twist vs clickie light. Xenos had this right in the E03: Med-Low-High. That’s probably part of why it’s the most popular EDC around here.
Also, consider if you buy this as a present (which I think would make a fine one), starting on a really dim low and having to muck with it to make it bright makes it seem little better than a $0.50 5mm led light.
Here’s a photo I took with my iPhone — unfortunately no comparison shots and this is on high using a Yetzl 3.7v although I would love a smooth reflector, this thing would throw and give some good spill too.
Thanks, mag, already have seen your pic in other thread
I was talking about white wall beam shots actually, just to see if the hot spot/spill is bigger, smaller, etc.
If the majority of the people here prefers a light to start on low mid, there probably isn’t much I can do (all my lights start on low and it never annoyed me…)
If it starts on mid, I’d prefer mid/high/low, because otherwise it is rather stupid to me. You start with a decent amount of light (mid), want the full blast and have to pass the low mode, so it gets dark at first.
I think mid/high/low with memory would be a good compromise, then I can just turn it off the way it starts in low
It has odd modes with a 14500, because it becomes High-Med-Turbo. It’s reasonably low with a lower voltage cell.
It’s not a matter of using a light during the day or night. Even at night the vast majority of people spend their time under some sort of lighting. A small carry light is therefore most useful in the periods of intermittent darkness between lit areas. A low is used when you’re sitting in the dark the whole time.
I mean, if low is the most useful mode instead, why not just get/carry a 50cent 5mm light? It’s much lighter/smaller and more convenient in comparison.
Well.. That's exactly how I use my DQG III (L->H, 5/60lm). The 5lm low is good for watching my step on a dark alley after walking under street lights. And if I need more light, I can always switch it to next mode. [I don't know if you are too lazy to do this, but I'm a flashaholic and like to turn my lights on and off, all the time.. :)]
I kind of understand your reasoning if you are talking about a general purpose EDC light, like Xeno E03. But the Mini-01 is a keychain light. Such light should never surprise you with brightness when you turn it on. For example 30% is up to 150lm and is way too bright to be turned on in a movie theater. On the other hand, 2% low works fine in that situation.
And I see this little pocket rocket as a good light for turning more people into flashaholism.. Just think about a situation where you turn you r ligh on (low) and your friends say: "good amount of light in such a small package" (they have seen mostly fauxtons or similar) Then you step up to next mode and they are: "Wow!!" And you still have the opportunity to get: "Holy cow!!!!!" with turbo mode. :)
All that being said, I'm not interested in M-L-H at all. [I may take one though, just for my collection]
IF the PWM is high (undetectable for sensitive people like me)…
… I am in for at least one!
And my vote goes to 2–30–100% without memory.
But I would take a M-L-H as well.
Most streetlights in the US are bright enough (>100W) that 5lm is a drastic step down. As in, barely visible without taking time for the eyes to re-adjust. The point of keeping a light in your pocket is that you should be able to walk around freely from home to street to car to restaurant while keeping a similar level of illumination.
A keychain light that can operate like a real flashlight (4D maglite +, or surefire) is exactly what LED lighting promises. If we were content with minimags, there’d no point to this hobby or forum.
How much time does anyone spend in a movie theater vs. under proper illumination? The whole point of choosing modes is to put the one that’s used the vast majority of the time first. A light that’s kept on the person all the time shouldn’t surprise anyone, espcially a flashoholic who knows the press against hand and switch to low trick (which is used on all the H-M-L-seizure lights from china).
Or “Why is this thing as dim as my dollar store light even with a pricey lithium battery?”. “Oh you mean I have to keep twisting it for it to work. Well, that’s dumb.”
That’s the whole point of the discussion! It really depends on the user and his habbits of using the light, so for one person LMH is the way to go, for the other it might be MLH or MHL …(I still prefer LMH btw. ;))
Actually that’s quiet dumb ;). If someone is to stupid/lazy whatsoever to figure out how to switch the modes, he/she should just stick to a general 1 mode light. Besides I don’t really care what other people think about my flashlights, in first place it should fit my likings!
It’s not so much habit as habitat. IMO most users who are buying shiny stainless lithium pocket lights are not out in pitch darkness at night. And if they are at times, the low is still there provided they’re not lazy.
I think that about sums up the German attitude towards design. :bigsmile:
