How long are your actual runtimes?

Runtime is important to most of us, and the longer, the better. Many lights boast of days worth of runtime, but how many of us actually use it? I realize that for many of us, runtime is a cumulative amount of time. Five minutes here, ten minutes there, to add up to a total runtime that is hopefully near what is advertised.

But how long is your average time of each use with your lights? For me, it's usually no more than 5 minutes, probably 2 or 3 minutes actually, per each time I use one of my lights.

Also, what is the longest single amount of time you've used a light? *Not including runtime testing, just for actual use* I think my longest has been about 30 minutes or so.

10 hours in a single time.

Okay, I was using the NDI with a diffuser cap on low for a nightlight in an unfamiliar room. Is that cheating?

Real use (during which I was conscious the entire time and using it), about 6 hours for caving.

About like you, Ed. A few minutes here and there on average for normal use. Sometimes I'll set up a small light, like my old Fenix E0, with a diffuser as a table light while I'm listening to the radio for an hour or two. Lately I've been using a Photon Rex for reading in bed for maybe 30 min.

Geoff

Most times are only a few minutes but few last fall I used a modded SSC P4 Mag for 6-7 hours straight while replacing lightning damaged switchgear and transformers in a powerless room, our generator died about an hour into the job so our worklights where useless.

Any day I'm out riding after or near dark, some light sees duty for 10 minutes or more as a bike headlamp -- the longest nocturnal ride I can think of was about 30 to 40 minutes, but that's not horribly unusual. (It's always nice to get back on the same batteries, but I'm only counting one way.)

Growing up, certain female relatives would habitually go on long walks as "exercise", sometimes after-dark with flashlights, which would be in the half-hour to hour range, but I always found cycling (fast!) a more efficient and pleasant form of exercise, and Mom wouldn't let me ride after dark. These days, I just don't have time to ride for fun.

Longest I've ever continuously used a flashlight -- over an hour, I'd guess; several wintry occasions involving being snowed in, getting a truck unstuck, or some combination, seem like rivals for this, but I wasn't really timing any of them. Nothing over a half-hour since I moved out, though, and most day-to-day use is <30 seconds, here and there, with occasional 10-minute or so task-lighting use.

Since Earth Hour is coming up later this month, I just remembered that during last year's Earth Hour, I used a Mag 4D modded with 32 5mm LEDs for just over an hour to light up my living room.

Anybody here go for nighttime walks? I often go for a late evening walk for up to an hour and a half, and because of the ambient lighting here on the edge of town, I need my M60 on full brightness to make sure that motorists notice me. My first long walk with my M60 and I was suprised how much consideration that turning cars repeatedly showed to me, and I kept my flashlight shined down respectfully the whole time.

Thank goodness I haven't had to dress out a moose all night like my brother has. Wait. That would be a good experience, now that I think about it...:thinking:

Marduke said:

10 hours in a single time.

Okay, I was using the NDI with a diffuser cap on low for a nightlight in an unfamiliar room. Is that cheating?

Real use (during which I was conscious the entire time and using it), about 6 hours for caving.

Click to expand...

Lol. Does fooling around count? I think I spent 1hr just turning my light off/on (When i first got it).

Actual Use: About 10mins sneaking around the house at night .

I have been using a tailstanding Surefire for a nightlight 30 min to 3-4 hours every night for 3 years. Currently using a Malkoff M60LL, prior to that a long runing R2 dropin. It is powered by a 18650.
Plus this light ran for many hours only stopping for battery swaps during a 7 day power outage.
I regularly use tail standing lights in place of home lighting within my home...just to try out the lights and have fun.

Day to day I use my edc about 5-15 mins at a time, usually taking the dog out. I just recharge weekly or so, and never worry about a dead battery.

Longest ever was probably sometime working in my attic, i wore a headlamp for a few hours. Wouldn't want to hold a light that long.

When i go on my Night-time Walks,

i'm usually out for perhaps 2 hours.



Very dark, secluded, rural area.

Very little Light Pollution. :kiss:



Nice opportunities to use my flashlights.


_

Exactly as the title says - is there a program out there that can track how long my MBP is running when i run it off of battery power? As we all know the power usage varies depending on what you're doing on the computer, and I don't tend to do any one thing for hours on end. I know on my windows PC i used some program that charted on a graph power usage over time until the battery died.

Kestrel said:

Anybody here go for nighttime walks? ...

Click to expand...

I do -- 7 nights/week when weather permits. Not only is it good exercise, but a great opportunity to use flashlights. There are no street lights here, so my flashlight is powered on during the entire walk.

I use headlamps for 6 or 7 hours straight on a fairly regular basis. Handheld lights... rarely more than a half hour at a time.

invitation said:

Exactly as the title says - is there a program out there that can track how long my MBP is running when i run it off of battery power? As we all know the power usage varies depending on what you're doing on the computer, and I don't tend to do any one thing for hours on end. I know on my windows PC i used some program that charted on a graph power usage over time until the battery died.

Click to expand...

:welcome:
Maybe you didn't notice, but CPF is focused on flashlights and other lighting, and this thread was talking about the runtime on our flashlights, not laptops.

So, no offense, but your post seems a little... out-of-place here, and is not real likely to get a useful answer.

First of all,

Let me thank all of the reviewers for doing such great work on their reviews that I don't have to worry about conducting run time tests.lovecpfPersonally, I have never bothered to do a full run time test because of how I use my EDCs in short bursts so I am quite happy with all of the reviewers information on this site and the manufacturers runtimes as a guideline. The only time that I am overly concerned about runtimes is when I am backpacking and tests would do me very little good due to the fact that I change levels quite frequently and the runtime will vary on usage and no test will tell me exactly how long my light will last on a given trip. I guess that you could say that my trips backpacking are my runtime tests and each one is quite different and unique to the situation. As for spares, I carry at least two backups even on overnighters although I do cut out the ounces from time to time.

Gee, I actually took the time to fully read your post instead of a knee-jerk reaction to your title, I think I was rushing because I have a meeting to go to and I wanted to grab some lunch.

Basically 3-10 second bursts for my EDC with an occasional 3-minute runtime but my backpacking is anywhere from a few seconds to 6 hours almost exclusively with a headlamp.

3 hours continuous on tk11.
then 5minute break and 2 hours intermittant after that (about 20minutes at time).

didnt hold in hand all the time. sat on shelf aimed to the lathe.

normally i need it only for 2-30seconds burst.

90% of my lighting needs i use momentary button only.

its rather rare i need to click the light on. if i do, i already know the need will last more than few seconds.

6-8hrs is typical on the caving trips I do. Up to about 10 sometimes. The more hardcore cavers go longer. I know of one group who got trapped by rising water and had to wait it out for about 72 hrs.

2-3 hrs for bicycle rides.

I run four of my Fenix lights (L1D, LD10, 2X L0D) each night for about 3.5 hours. I use them on low and tailstanding with film canister diffusers to light my desk in the evening. They are on right now and I am using the light to see as I type this. :thumbsup: