How often do you really use high or turbo with any of your LED flashlights?

[kj2]

Use it al lot. And specially with my big lights.

 

[M@elstrom]

If I'm turning on a light it's because I want to see something beyond the range of my natural night vision... make it turbo!

 

[ILIKEFLASHLIGHTS]

I typically use the highest setting possible. Not much on low or medium modes.

 

[bodhran]

Not that often but when I need it, the brighter the better.

 

[eh4]

I use "high" (60-120 lumens) for a minute or, two at a time, mostly when looking for something in the mid day, with bright adjusted eyes.

 

[Burgess]

For me . . . .

Hardly EVER !


Although, i fully admit, it's quite comforting to HAVE this capability,
should the need arise.

 

[LGT]

While at work for the electric co. I'm employed at, high is pretty much the only mode I'll use while trying to spot a problem that either causes an outage or low voltage call. Other than that, not very often.

 

[jmpaul320]

for practical use i mostly find myself using moonlight (navigating my bedroom in early am when its still dark as to not wake the mrs) and low/medium

but, for showcasing lights and just for sheer fun, i use turbo just as much

 

[reppans]

I'm toying with Li-ions and run a 14500 in a Quark AAX which puts out 280 lumens. But 90%+ of the time I use 0.3, 3 and 24 lumens as my LMH. I prefer letting my eyes dark adapt, it gives me better awareness of my surroundings when I use lumen levels more closely matched to ambient light - too bright creates tunnel vision and leaves me completely blind when the light goes out. Also don't particularly like changing or charging batts. I use max to show off and to spot deer eyes in the woods.

 

[lwknight]

For the floodies , full power on the trail for the better to see a snake.
100-200 lumens for indoor and up close work.
For the throwers , full power to see whats out there then low power to keep the perimeter.
Throwers are not much good for up close business anyway.
Everything stays on high default. That way if I need the tactical element its at hand.
Its easy enough to drop to a lower mode when all is cool.

 

[AIRASSAULT18B]

I use the high or turbo setting so I can make out what is behind those eyes that stare at me in the very remote area I inhabit. The Olight SR 51 is the minimum I use then the TK70 or SR90. I may buy the new model if anyone can convince me it is a significant increase of flood & throw compared to what I have. I have heard reports about the new Surefire 2200 lumen (Dominator) being on par or exceeding HID territory. Will have to see the price on that one.

 

[HighlanderNorth]

I use the high or turbo setting so I can make out what is behind those eyes that stare at me in the very remote area I inhabit. The Olight SR 51 is the minimum I use then the TK70 or SR90. I may buy the new model if anyone can convince me it is a significant increase of flood & throw compared to what I have. I have heard reports about the new Surefire 2200 lumen (Dominator) being on par or exceeding HID territory. Will have to see the price on that one.

Well, if you go by Surefire's usual cost-per -lumen index, for instance the Lawman, 750L for $400, then the new 2200 Lumen Surfire model should cost around $1200 or so!


For me, I'd say that I use whatever brightness setting will allow me to see well enough, and not wipe out my natural night vision at the same time. I dont see any point in using 700-2200 Lumens when 30-50-100L is all I need to see very well for whatever task I'm involved in at the time. All that extra brightness just makes it harder for me to get my night vision back easily and quickly when I turn the light off. Plus, it causes the light to get hot, and unnecessarily runs the battery dead MUCH quicker. Its just a waste.

If I had some scumbag breaking into my house, or onto my property late at night, then I'd use high or turbo to spot that person, but aside from that, it just isnt necessary...

 

[Fird]

I must admit I use my LF2XT on a rather low-medium setting (I would guess mayyyyyyybe 10 lumens?) more often than any other light, I carry 3. The Dereelight is almost always set on max in its holster (SSC LED, ~450 lumens?) and I do use it, but not every day. The little liteflux can do max just by holding down the button so I use that quite a bit for short 5-10 second bursts as needed... really depends on the ambient lighting wherever I am. Also use it on its lowest setting for nighttime navigation.. I never thought my AAA light would be the most used, but it is! I was out all night last night at the Amateur Radio Field Day event our local club held and the Dereelight definitely got a workout there walking around the grounds watching out for antenna and guy wires, oh and blasting the dumbstick that kept blinking his "powerful" showerhead led lamp at me *smirk* could I get away with a lower output light? most likely, but with the wide warm beam coming from the module I have in it I just light up EVERYTHING in front of me and keep walking :-D

 

[henry1960]

I use medium to high most of the time depending where iam and what light im using. i do not like my lights running hot so turbo if and when used is for very miminal time..Around the house usally i run my sc600 on 200lm and outside i like using my olight sr90 on low...

 

[GordoJones88]

I only need Hi, Max, and Turbo.

 

[HighlanderNorth]

I only need Hi, Max, and Turbo.

^Do you have a degenerative eye disease that prevents you from seeing things in the dark while using your lights on low or medium? If its dark in your bedroom, and you just need to grab your remote control from the nightstand, and you have an SR90 in your hand, do you really need turbo to find the remote just 2 feet away?

That seems reasonable!

 

[GordoJones88]

^Do you have a degenerative eye disease that prevents you from seeing things in the dark while using your lights on low or medium? If its dark in your bedroom, and you just need to grab your remote control from the nightstand, and you have an SR90 in your hand, do you really need turbo to find the remote just 2 feet away? That seems reasonable!

None of my lights have ever been on my nightstand,
used to find the remote in a dark bedroom,
or to find the bathroom in the middle of the night.
I have a $1 Walmart AA keychain light for that.


I live in the Great Smokey Mountains Tennessee.
We have deer and wild turkey in the fields around the house.
Out on the trails with the dog at dusk,
it's good to have a very small super bright EDC pocket light
that can light up absolutely everything around me if need be.
Otherwise, I use no light at all and keep my hands free.

 

[bushmattster]

I rarely use turbo unless showing off to friends. The main reason I like the modern lights is the low output/long runtime settings although I do use the high settings sometimes when camping. It is nice to have the turbo if needed.

 

[moldyoldy]

I use max or near max output most of the time because I am often not sure of what I am looking for - so I light up the whole area.

Besides, wait until all of the young flashaholics age sufficiently and discover that they simply do not see as well in the dark. They will be forced to change their opinion about sub 1 lumen light levels. For me, 10 lumens is still meaningless. Only at about 30 lumens does the artificial lighting on small objects become useful.

No, I do not have any degenerative eye disease. As my opthamologist said, with age ALL eyes will suffer some loss of vision simply because the lens ages and progressively takes on a yellow hue which blocks more and more of the incoming photons.

 

[allyourblood]

I have my Quark 123 set to Hi and Moonlight. Hi for most tasks, including early morning survey setups finding stuff in my shed or garage; it doesn't overheat and I still get decent runtime. Moonlight for finding my way 'round the house in the middle of the night without waking up my wife or causing my neighbors to think I'm a burglar (hehe). I would use Turbo or Max but I don't like the accompanying heat issues, so going forward I'll be paying most attention to the Hi mode when looking at a new light.