Tips for effective flashlight use?

[Justin Case]

Eye shine for spotting critters:

I was taught this one by a field naturalist. Hold the light at the level of your eyes, and track the center of the beam as you scan a night scene. Because of the angle, you will catch "eye shine" reflections off the retinas of any critter with eyes (who happens to be looking at you, of course).

Eyeshine is also known as retroreflection. Same phenomenon as in street signs. In animals, it is reflected light off of the tapetum lucidum, not the retina. Otherwise, humans would also show eyeshine, but they don't because they don't have a tapetum lucidum.

 

[Justin Case]

When navigating in the dark, brief flashes from your light will not only reveal details and otherwise invisible obstacles in the terrain (or interior) in front of you, but will also preserve your night vision, especially if you close one eye while the light is on. Also, this makes it hard for someone to locate you with any precision, if that is a concern (let's say for instance you're playing tag), and will greatly extend your battery life.

Pointing a flashlight at the ceiling indoors has a great room lighting effect as opposed to pointing the flashlight around the room.Indoor environments vary but this works very well in most homes and allows a light with a tightly focused beam to be more effective for indoor use.I realize this is well known on CPF but for the casual users and newcomers it may not be as obvious.Modern high output LED lights make this technique very effective.

The combination of brief flashes with angled, bounced lighting can make it harder for someone to figure out where you are as you move through a structure. And by angling the central beam away from your direct gaze, you prevent dazzling your own vision with bounce-back from the bright hot spot. And, the ceiling or wall bounce can provide lots of relatively uniform illumination over a large room volume.

However, if you know what to look for, you can still determine fairly easily the forward progress of the person who is moving/searching through the structure.

 

[Nicrod]

I recently posted on here saying you should put a slip of paper with your contact details on it inside your lights, ironically, i got lazy and did not do this for my Preon II which I just bought.
I lost that very light today
My new tip: Don't procrastinate things, secure your light NOW, not soon or later, prevention is always the best cure.

Man I'm sorry for ur loss!! But u gave me a wonderful idea that I'm going to use. That is providing the person who finds the light doesn't fall In love so much as to not want to return the light!! And wouldn't it be funny if the person who finds one of our high-tech lights turns into a total flashaholic from finding it!' lol

 

[CheepSteal]

Man I'm sorry for ur loss!! But u gave me a wonderful idea that I'm going to use. That is providing the person who finds the light doesn't fall In love so much as to not want to return the light!! And wouldn't it be funny if the person who finds one of our high-tech lights turns into a total flashaholic from finding it!' lol

Thank you for the condolences! I'm glad this thread is helping you, it sure is helping me and giving great advice. I hope whoever finds my Preon becomes a flashaholic, it would actually make it worthwhile!

 

[Ninja]

After all these years , I lost my 1st torch - Fenix L0D 4 edc ... Thinking (now hoping) they will start a collection as well 8>)

 

[Glock27]

Use rechargeable batteries and never leave home with <90% charge. You don't have to run cells all the way down before popping them in the charger. I've found I use my lights orders of magnitude more after I ditched primaries.

G27

 

[Nicrod]

After all these years , I lost my 1st torch - Fenix L0D 4 edc ... Thinking (now hoping) they will start a collection as well 8>)

Or if not start a collection at least use the thing and love and if they didn't edc a light before maybe they would now. I know I would:thumbsup: I havnt lost a light
Yet. But I did leave my chrome fisher space pen bullet in an olive garden booth.
Lucky for whoever sat there after me.

 

[oronocova]

I might steal the idea about putting your contact details inside the light.

With all the different battery combinations and different levels of output lights offer I have often thought it would be a good idea to keep a piece of paper with this information inside the light as well. You know... expected runtimes on each supported battery type for that light. That way in an emergency situation you could decide how best to use your battery supply and light output for a maximum illumination/runtime ratio. Plus it could save you from forgetting what voltage the light will accept etc...

 

[CheepSteal]

I might steal the idea about putting your contact details inside the light.

With all the different battery combinations and different levels of output lights offer I have often thought it would be a good idea to keep a piece of paper with this information inside the light as well. You know... expected runtimes on each supported battery type for that light. That way in an emergency situation you could decide how best to use your battery supply and light output for a maximum illumination/runtime ratio. Plus it could save you from forgetting what voltage the light will accept etc...

That's a great idea too, to put the expected runtimes and voltage/battery types on the piece of paper. Would be great considering the amount of lights some guys on CPF have...
I just wanna give credit to the guy who I borrowed the paper idea from. Sorry I don't know your name!
Oh, and I'm not sure if this has been mentioned; If you use a CR123 light as your primary, stock up on batteries in case of an emergency. You never know when the power might go out and you can't recharge those 18650's!

 

[angelofwar]

^^^DITTO^^^ I have at least 82 unused (3.25 volt) SF CR123's, and about 72 semi-used (between 3.24-2.85 volts)...not to mention my 48'ish Surefires are all loaded with cells.

For a "spill killer" (like the Lazer Brite tubes), place a small bit a electrical tape over the lip of the light, stopping the spill from getting out the side of the light. A piece of black tubing that's has a dull finish on the inside that can slip over the front end of the light will also work better than electrical, but may take a little longer to get having to buy and search for the right size tubing. The electrical tape is an ad hoc version and can work in a jif. This makes a nice stealth light even better by reducing the spill, there by reducing your light signature.

 

[cowboydelux]

i use the ceiling bounce a lot as well as the floor shadow to find dropped parts. The most useful thing i use my light for is to use it as a "pad" for my hands to push roll pins in useing the body of my light to push with. What ive learned over the years is lights arnt just for seeing, we use them to signal each other while hunting, two flashes means "something is headed your way" ect... i have also used my surefire e2d led defender to prop a window open. LOL,, my point is, a well built flash light is the best "multitool" anyone can have. At work ppl always joke with me about my light clipped to my back pocket that i must be planning for power outages ect, But i also bet my light gets loaned tp someone at work at least everyday because im the only one to have one. The same applies to my pocket knife, space pen, and multitool also

 

[Darvis]

Heavy rain and fog often reflect bright light right back into your eyes.

If you're a frequent camper like me and are annoyed by this effect, I've found that a lower level light held low does the trick. I hold the light in the classic overhand style grip except I make sure the business end is by the thumb side instead of by the pinky. Then, just hold your arm straight down by your side (almost classic security guard/maglight style, but I like to get that light LOW, hence I hold it straight down next to my pocket) and shine the light BELOW eye level, you should avoid the shine back and actually get some quality distance in the rain and fog.

 

[selfbuilt]

Eyeshine is also known as retroreflection. Same phenomenon as in street signs. In animals, it is reflected light off of the tapetum lucidum, not the retina. Otherwise, humans would also show eyeshine, but they don't because they don't have a tapetum lucidum.

Yes, good point, it is not the retina itself, but this additional layer (located at the back of the retina). I've clarified that sentence.

 

[kelmo]

As a general rule, CPFers have a lot of lights...Think about the activities you will be doing and then choose the right light for that day...You'll get more pleasure out of your flashlight hobby when you have the right light for the job. :thumbsup:

It's just the opposite for me PSM. I have so many cool lights and many with redundant features that I suffer from the "Paralysis of Analysis."

I simply cannot quickly decide what light(s) I will go forth and conquer with...

 

[Tomcat!]

When vacuuming the house, I strap a Zerbralight H60 to the metal tool pipe below the flexible hose with a Twofish Lockblock to illuminate the floor I'm cleaning. The Lockblock allows the right angled H60 to face forward, and that all-flood beam lights up the floor really nicely. It's also very easy to change the angle of the beam by twisting the H60 up or down to see further ahead when cleaning under furniture. I used to use an H30 but found the run time too short. The H60 with an AW18650 is a much better combo, allowing you to keep the light on medium or high settings for longer.

 

[Cataract]

A good strong headlamp with diffuser can help cleaning the walls and ceiling, if not available, I personally used a Fenix HP10 combined with the fenix Headband for a total of 3 powerful lights on my head and didn't need diffusion and I think this setup might actually have been more helpful, although I did not bother testing both options. I could see a very distinct line between clean and dirty walls and especially on the ceiling (well, after 7 years in the same appartment, it showed allright).

 

[SaturnNyne]

This is a great thread, and one I'd considered making myself.

Heavy rain and fog often reflect bright light right back into your eyes.

If you're a frequent camper like me and are annoyed by this effect, I've found that a lower level light held low does the trick.

I'm surprised I didn't see this one mentioned earlier. This is a good tip, and one that applies not just in rain and fog but in any atmosphere with a little moisture in it, to some degree. A few years ago I did some experiments in a large field on the coast, comparing what I can see through the slightly misty air with a light held in different positions. What I found was that with a light held up around my eyes, in a standard "tacticalish" position, I could see eyes reflecting and a vague form around them, but I couldn't make out detail due to the backscatter. With the light held at arm's length, I was suddenly able to identify the creature as a deer. This has become a standard part of checking my surroundings when out in a wildernessy area: I hold the light by my eyes, scan for the eyes watching me, then hold the light out to try to determine what's observing me. Perhaps the effect is less dramatic in places with totally dry air... but I don't have any of that near where I live.

Light positioning is an important part of using a light effectively, and many of the tips in this thread reflect that. You want it horizontal and close to the surface when you're trying to cast large shadows, close to your eyes when looking for reflections, and far from the eyes when trying to minimize reflection.

 

[selfbuilt]

Light positioning is an important part of using a light effectively, and many of the tips in this thread reflect that. You want it horizontal and close to the surface when you're trying to cast large shadows, close to your eyes when looking for reflections, and far from the eyes when trying to minimize reflection.

Agreed. In fact, it's what I was thinking of when I started the thread (i.e. my original post presented two examples of light positioning for specific purposes). All the other issues of appropriate output level, beam pattern, etc. are at least as important. But those tend to get discussed a lot here, whereas hand-holding and positioning seem to get less attention.

I'm planning to develop background material on my www.flashlightreviews.ca website over the summer months, and will definitely use some of the excellent suggestions and ideas on positioning presented here. :thumbsup:

 

[TyJo]

I recently posted on here saying you should put a slip of paper with your contact details on it inside your lights, ironically, i got lazy and did not do this for my Preon II which I just bought.
I lost that very light today
My new tip: Don't procrastinate things, secure your light NOW, not soon or later, prevention is always the best cure.

I lost my first light today.... luckily it was a Fenix E05, and not my HDS rotary. After I stopped retracing my steps I put paper with contact details in almost all of my lights, at least now they have a fighting chance to get back to me. I will also never rely on any type of mini carabiner again, everything is on mini split rings and attached to my cable ring.

 

[selfbuilt]

I lost my first light today.... luckily it was a Fenix E05, and not my HDS rotary. After I stopped retracing my steps I put paper with contact details in almost all of my lights, at least now they have a fighting chance to get back to me.

The only problem is that these lights are so efficient, someone could use it for a couple of years before opening it to change the battery (and spot the note)! But I agree it's a good idea in principle - hope you get your light back.