Flashlight SOS rescue in the news

http://www.wbaltv.com/news/16316054/detail.html

Ever since I ended up in one of the many heated debates of the merits of SOS, I've had automatic news searches set up. I got a hit today with that article above.

The flares failed and the people were rescued by signaling SOS with their flashlight. The article didn't mention the type of light but that doesn't really matter because the flashlight doing it by itself will always be better than doing it manually . . . . of course, sitting in a boat waiting to be rescued gives you a lot of time with nothing else to do!:naughty:

Very cool. Maritime travelers should always carry lights with SOS modes.

People who go outdoors should also have this mode. Never know when it comes in handy in signaling a helicopter or someone traveling by.

My problem with all SOS modes that i have seen yet is that they are TOO SLOW.

Somebody who doesnt know morse wont notice it fast or slow.
But a faster morse is so much easier to recognize. With a fenix, a cycle takes what? 15 seconds? Everybody staring so long at a point of light already knows what to look for, and wouldnt need the signal. With the slow morse, on phases are long enough that if you just spot it, it might seem like a normal light. Same for the brakes inbetween: several seconds without any light.

IMSabbel - a valid observation. If they do speed it up it would be nicer.

But having a SOS mode is better than none.

I agree that faster would be better. But I'd think better to have it than not have it - imagine if you were stranded or severely injured at night, the SOS could keep going in the event your hands were too tired/cold to signal, or if you lost consciousness. If you're in the wilderness or on the water I'd see it as a big plus (and maybe a diffuser?).

They could possibly be using rescue strobe lights. ACR is popular among them: http://www.landfallnavigation.com/personallights.html. I have the ACR firefly plus in my car

Wattnot said:

http://www.wbaltv.com/news/16316054/detail.html

Ever since I ended up in one of the many heated debates of the merits of SOS, I've had automatic news searches set up. I got a hit today with that article above...

Click to expand...

Talk about being desperate to win an argument..

But anyway, I personally don't mind an SOS and/or Strobe feature on my flashlight, as long as I don't stumble upon it while switching my regular modes. It shouldn't be too hard to access in an emergency, but it shouldn't get in the way of normal usage either. I don't know which flashlights work how with their strobes and SOS's, but the sequence of regular modes and the SOS mode is considered greatly when I would be buying a flashlight.

Funny this thread came up. I just went across the Chesapeake Bridge (twice) today, and packed a 6P Led and my Fenix 2PD, solely for it's SOS/Strobe functions. Just on the off chance the bridge fell into the bay, or more likely, my car died on it.

But, yeah, Fenix REALLY needs to pick it up with the strobe function. Flicker.....flicker......flicker......flash......flash....flash......etc is just too blazing slow. I'd fall asleep waiting for the message to finish if I was on the receiving end

There must be some sort of standard set up by the Coast guard.
Here is the offical requirement for SOS from the 46 CFR 161.013.
So if you want it to be certified then ...



PART 161--ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT--Table of Contents

Subpart 161.013--Electric Distress Light for Boats

Sec. 161.013-7 Signal requirements.

(a) An electric light must have a flash characteristic of the
International Morse Code for S-O-S and, under design conditions,
(1) Each short flash must have a duration of \1/3\ second;
(2) Each long flash must have a duration of 1 second;
(3) The dark period between each short flash must have a duration of
\1/3\ second;
(4) The dark period between each long flash must have a duration of
\1/3\ second;
(5) The dark period between each letter must have a duration of 2
seconds;
(6) The dark period between each

S-O-S signal must have a duration of 3 seconds.
(b) The flash characteristics described in paragraph (a) must be
produced automatically when the signal is activated.


There isn't anything in this spec about intensity.
Yaesumofo

IMSabbel said:

My problem with all SOS modes that i have seen yet is that they are TOO SLOW.

Somebody who doesnt know morse wont notice it fast or slow.
But a faster morse is so much easier to recognize. With a fenix, a cycle takes what? 15 seconds? Everybody staring so long at a point of light already knows what to look for, and wouldnt need the signal. With the slow morse, on phases are long enough that if you just spot it, it might seem like a normal light. Same for the brakes inbetween: several seconds without any light.

Click to expand...

Just so happens I was participating in a flare shoot off yesterday with West Marine and my Power Squadron. We were 1 1/2 miles off shore shooting flares to show people on the shore what different flares looked like. Some work great, some not so. The cheap flares claim a 700 lumin output but they couldn't be seen on shore.If you are a boater, don't go for cheap just to satisfy the rules, spend a few more bucks and get a 1200 lumin.

As a test, I pulled out my P2D and set it to strobe and pointed it towards shore and it was easily visible. When the SOS mode was set, the flashes weren't as easy to pick up.

Being a ham, the slow morse code drives me nuts, but anything is better than nothing.

Keep in mind that over a long distance, a quickly flashing light will appear steady...the slow speed of the S-O-S may be needed so the flashes can be distinguished over a long distance? :shrug: My guess.

DonS2346 said:

Being a ham, the slow morse code drives me nuts, but anything is better than nothing.

Click to expand...

Same here. As a Ham myself, the first thing I thought of when I first tried out the SOS on my L2D-Q5 was how agonizingly slow it was, however on reflection, we Hams think of Morse timing in terms of keyed (aural) dots and dashes which can be really fast (although my personal speed is only 12wpm).

But when using Morse visually, I think the brain needs a little longer to process it.
So yea, I guess I'm good with the speed of the typical Fenix and other lights for SOS.

e2x2e said:

Keep in mind that over a long distance, a quickly flashing light will appear steady...the slow speed of the S-O-S may be needed so the flashes can be distinguished over a long distance? :shrug: My guess.

Click to expand...

:shakehead time does not get distorted over distance.. 1/3 of a second is always 1/3 of a second. :nana:

My Bushnell has a fast SOS :thumbsup:

Thujone said:

:shakehead time does not get distorted over distance.. 1/3 of a second is always 1/3 of a second. :nana:

Click to expand...

It's a visual trick, I think...ever see those police cars with strobes that flash very fast from far away? It almost looks steady. A slow flash, on the other hand is very noticeable from far away.

I'm just basing this on my observations with strobes...once again--:shrug:

pbs357 said:

...I'd think better to have it than not have it - imagine if you were stranded or severely injured at night, the SOS could keep going in the event your hands were too tired/cold to signal, or if you lost consciousness...

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Yes and in addition to those advantages a light with with an SOS mode may also allow you to get some sleep in an emergency and know that your distress signal is still going out. It might also be handy in some extreme situations to be able to start your light in the SOS mode and secure it in a location near you where it will have the very highest visibility -- allowing you to retire to a warmer, dryer, (or whatever) more sheltered position to cook, tend to injured or do any number of other important things that absolutely cannot be accomplished while sitting in a tall tree (or wherever) manually flashing an emergency signal.

Survival is often about how many options one has.

IMSabbel said:

With a fenix, a cycle takes what? 15 seconds?

Click to expand...

For what its worth:

My P3D and P1D take 12 or 13 seconds from start of the first 's' to the end of the second 's'.

My Liteflux LF2(old model) does the same in just 5 seconds.

pbs357 said:

...imagine if you were stranded or severely injured at night, the SOS could keep going in the event your hands were too tired/cold to signal, or if you lost consciousness...

Click to expand...

However that wasn't a factor in this case.

The distance was over four miles, which requires pointing the light in toward the rescue party. That in turn requires consciousness, which in turn means it could have been manually signaled.

We also don't know whether it was even a flashlight. It could have easily been a spotlight or dedicated signal light.

The likelihood of being in such a situation and needing a dedicated SOS function on a general-purpose flashlight is incredibly small. It's so small that nobody on CPF has ever posted an experience where they actually used this for a real rescue situation.

I'm impressed, this is the first time in history I've heard of someone actually using an SOS light in a real situation. But they were right in Chesapeake Bay just 4 miles from shore. Did they have a cellular phone and did they try it?

After reading the article, I'm fairly sure that they didn't use a strobe mode on the flashlight. Sounds like they just mashed the tailcap at the coast guard.

I would actually prefer a slow SOS. To me, the SOS should have a runtime of at least 8 hours, so I could go to sleep while the light is trying to save my life.

Maybe a little harsh, but anyone who doesn't know how to do an SOS with momentary presses doesn't deserve to be rescued. Plus as joema said, you would have a much better chance directing the light at the coast guard if you were working it yourself.