Agreed: SOS is very useful, but very very rarely used mode => should be included, but kept well hidden.
+1 Hank is corrrect of course, but considering the total non value added funcanality and poor execution of the addition and inclusion of strobes I now fear we will get lights built in with a new PARIS stobe.
Plus these days its a needed commentary about your waistline when the fridge goes into SOS mode after it feels you open it 
And in “you” I include myself 
Can be a life saver out on a boat. I prefer the mode hidden, but I want it included in my lights.
Or being eaten by a bear.
SOS… OSO!
Mike C, - It is nt a question of should a few speciality flashlights have them but if all should have them. Habituation breeds indifference.
I am out n the water a lot and I get your point. And thoes who live in or are surounded by inhenently life threatening envrnments will likly be more current on survival tecniques. I am afraid that in an (americian cluture of a gps in every phone) the average americian will rush toward a blinking light about as much as car alarm going off.
The difffuser idea is excellent and instead of an actual SOS a simple max brightness very long spaced (read maximun battery life) would be your best bet (if actual search and rescue folks were actually looking for you) but dont hope an SOS blinky will bring help. I know we have at least one amature/professional S&R on the fourm and would like his .02 on the topic.
LightsCastle, I am concerned that this important topic if you dont take our (probibly hard to understand sarcasim and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_men_make_a_tiger men make a tiger” ) to the MFG’s in china will amount to more more then the choir preaching to its self. please tell us what you are going to do to change this nagging issue. (or was this thread just to have us go on a search for a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunting_of_the_Snark#The_Bellman.27s_rule-of-three)
OL, I agree with your intent that if we had to put up with this garbage evry time we started our car or logged on to our computers there would be blood in the streets demanding the “push marketing” of this feature to stop.
koyotee - It’s not a bug, it’s a feature! +1 how true.
How about a thought experement
your are out on the water (about the only place you can count on a blinking being widely seen) and your ship/boat has sunk. You are either in a life boat or only a life vest. The coasties have been dispatched.
It is getting dark and they see a blinking white light do you really think the conversation in the cockpit will be:
CREW #1 hey look I see a blinking light.
CREW#2 is it signialing SOS?
CREW#1 No or I dont think so?
CREW#2 then forget it, we are only looking for an SOS signal!
If SOS does not add signifant uniqe value then the only other criteria is *max run *time which means max pauses in between the short blink. often times the SOS mode only has 2x the high run time (not exactly a life saver).
Great, next we’ll have flashlights that yodel!
I can’t accept your viewpoint Phil. A flashlight can, and does have more than one intended purpose. From walking the family dog, clearing a room, changing a flat, self-defense or gaining the attention of someone. All are legitimate purposes, some will be used more than others. But a ‘low’ priority purpose can become the number one purpose in a hurry in the right/wrong situation.
Several here know I own/operate an emergency preparedness board, moderate a second and am a senior member or a third. Successful preparedness involves prevention or mitigation of emergency situations. And there is a common trend in the bulk of emergency situations i.e. the ability to make fire (warmth, protection, disinfect water, cooking, psychological comfort and signaling for rescue), disinfect water (if fire isn’t available and/or you don’t have a container and/or you don’t know how to make a seep and stone boil). These assist in thermoregulation of your core body temperature and help get you out of the situation. The ability to signal for third-party rescue is a crucial element, particularly if you’re unable to affect self-rescue due to illness, injury or other mitigating circumstance.
I look at ‘blinky’ functions on flashlights the same way I look at carrying a firearm or a spare tire. Using the spare tire as an analogy, I don’t want a flat tire. I don’t go looking for flat tires. But if I have a flat tire I want that spare available. The same way with blinky functions (be it strobe, beacon or SOS). I don’t need a blinky function….until I need a blinky function. And then I’m going to be glad I had it. I never go by the ‘it can’t happen to me’ philosophy. Too many people in this country rely on that hope.
Additionally, there are many situations that could arise where I’m unable to ‘tap’ out SOS or blink it out on the light itself or some other external method. It could be an injury. It could be an illness. It could be that you’re busy attending to someone else or completing another important task to insure your survival (or that of others). The ability to place a light in a blinky mode and set it up in an appropriate spot, thus freeing me up for other considerations is a huge plus.
Is it inconvenient? Well, I suppose I’ll suffer through the one or two clicks to get to a more commonly useful mode. But for me, I don’t leave home without several specific items. And having a blinky mode flashlight is among them.
To me, a good UI allows the user to pick the modes and sequences. Customize the tool to fit the job.
We were stranded out on water one time with 2 diabetic children and no insulin. We could see the lights of some houses. I think if we had a SOS (even if improperly executed), someone in one of the houses would have eventually called the authorities to investigate.
Dave, are you conversant with Morse code? Do you realize that every airliner in the sky has at least 2 people on board who are also conversation with Morse code? Do you know what radio frequency and mode to use to contact anyone up there? Can you do that if you need to? If not then you haven’t prepared as well as you think you have. Not to bash you- I also have an interest in survivability as well as sustainability going back decades, not years. Flashing “SOS” may draw attention but far better to be able to tell those responding exactly what your problem is from the start. Any flashing beacon will draw attention and darn near everyone knows how to phrase “SOS” on Morse- thus my position is and will remain solidly where it’s at even when you overlook or don’t understand where I wrote “YOMV” and then decided to make a point of posting against me instead of simply promoting your own viewpoints as most others have.
I may not know much about LED flashlights yet but that doesn’t render me stupid or shallow in thought in other things. Light has been used to signal distress and for communications long before LED’s and SOS beacons were conceived of and I probably know more about that than most folks do. Your Opinion May Vary and I can respect the opinions of others as being as valid for them as mine is for me without feeling a need to bash them or try to pick them apart. Don’t need it- unsub.
Phil
Also to consider:
Most led flashlights are multi-mode.
Most of those change modes using the same button used to turn the light on/off
It can be very difficult to communicate anything in Morse if your brightness level changes with every press.
You can always hide the emitter with your hand or something similar.
BUT doing that (or continuously clicking the switch for morse code) will affect your ability to do other important tasks (like CPR) => automated SOS would be more useful.
It doesn’t come as a surprise that many “tactical” flashlights often involve momentary activation for signalling.
The boat scenario got me thinking: if when stranded on land potential helpers could notice the light signal from any direction, and thus a 360° emittance would be preferred, on a boat not far from the coast an optic could deliver a stronger signal in the desired direction. Other than area lighting then, the value of a clip-on wand type of diffuser would provide the best of both usages, making it an even more worthy add-on in an emergency gear setup.
Q: Why does a flashlight need SOS mode?
A: So you can boogie on down. 
Leaving aside the merits of strobe and SOS modes just for a moment....
I think the original post was really more about the no-brainer layout of driver modes in the cheaper lights. The standard H-M-L-S-SOS or H-L-S modes thrown into every cheap offering because it's the most common arrangement found in the cheapest drivers.
It is pretty clear that most people (after the initial my-first-led-flashlight-novelty-aspect) don't want to have to cycle through useless modes to change levels when walking the dog or getting up to go to the bathroom.
Ideally, the manufacturers would exercise a little imagination and offer models appropriate to our desired use. Some with blinkies and some without. Keep a cheap blinky light in the car as a roadside beacon if changing a tyre at night or even to use as a backup strobe on a bicycle. But also give us simple regular modes for getting about in camp or checking farm animals at night - you know, the kinds of things we used to use flashlight for in them olden incan days.... But as I say, ideally! It'll probably never happen.
Strobe or SOS modes (with a good dome diffuser) have a place in some situations, but in those situation (alpine climbing, boating, etc) would you really be carrying a $10 Chinese flashlight? If you are prepared to shell out for a better quality light for those situations, it should be possible to choose from models with properly implemented emergency modes. And you will be OK that it will cost a bit more.
I guess that's why I love places like BLF. We get to learn the ins and outs of lots of different offerings and can choose something suited to our needs.
You seem to agree with Barrnum that sos mode is for the “less intelligent”(clearly not the superior class of human u are!lol) but then u go onto say how you could use a strobe to blind an opponent! If anything SOS mode would be a more useful feature. can u just imagine someone dehydrated,exhausted and pinned under a branch with one hand free typing out SOS for 10 hours! Makes much more sense to turn on SOS and leave it alone so someone “might” find him hours later passed out in bad shape but alive.
I think your labels may insult ppl especially yourself!
like my signature description said
they are only good in cheapo reverse clicky lights with multiple modes, on forward clicky lights you dont need that feature because you could just do it by your own thumb
SOS modes are of little use to most of us. Frankly if I was doing expedition work or working in dangerous locations then I would chose a torch with that mode. Otherwise I would actively look for a torch that did not have it.