UI Musings. And, a story.

Wasn't sure what to title this thread , here to reaffirm a superior UI for stressful situations. I'm not new to stress, or using tools under stressful situations. I fully understand muscle memory, and how it works. Stay with me here... I have an 11 year old Chihuahua mix who takes heart meds every day, and sometimes does not make it through the night without needing to pee. I am a very light sleeper, and we have hardwood floors in our bedroom. Most times I hear him walking around with his nails just ticking off the floor. I'll get up and take him for a quick walk outside rather than clean up after him inside.
Last night, 3am, I hear the familiar tapping of his nails, so I got up and threw on some shoes to walk him. I was using my HDS Rotary, since the low does not wake my Wife, and the beam pattern is great inside at night.
We went outside, rounding the corner of my house into the driveway where the cars are parked. I'm using maybe 5 lumens at this point, ready to crank it up a bit in a few steps as we reach the side yard and I need to see further. About 25 feet in front of me, it suddenly sounds like someone or something scrambling, trying to get away from the front of my Wife's Jeep. We're out in the country a bit, plenty of possums, raccoons, groundhogs, skunks, etc. This is bigger. A lot bigger. Adrenalin hits, and all I can think to do is mash down on the tailcap. Fine motor skills go out the window for a few seconds. Guess what? It worked. I had full output, illuminating the deer that had been snacking on some hosta plants in our front flower bed. Scared it about as much as it did me. Pup wasn't fazed, but I had a stark reminder of what happens under stress. All your confidence in being able to handle mode switching with a clicky UI, side switch, twisty, etc. goes up in smoke. The Surefire momentary/ dual stage L1, LX2, A2 type UI will rule the day, like it or not. Glad I have Momentary Max programmed into my HDS lights... Just some Flashaholic food for thought.

It is nice to have a user interface organization that matches your neuronal organization. Thanks for the informative info.

Thanks for the post! I think we've all had those moments of stress where you need max light and you don't want to have to think too hard about how to achieve it.

I thought for a second you had someone trying to steal your car!

James.......

Glad it was just a deer (not a klepto).

Now I want an HDS rotary.

Good story!

My creep around the house at night light is a HDS Hyper Red Rotary. It is a unusual light, but after getting one, I fell in love with them, and got another. I keep one by the bed now 100% of the time. The other is my go out light. I typically carry it clipped in my right rear pocket. IF you do a light like the Hyper Red, personally you have to have the Rotary feature. You need full control of the Osram! lol I have let the dogs out a few times with Hyper.

Having a few lights that have the feature of a momentary to high I agree that it's one of the best features for outdoors. My HDS and my EagleTac MX30L3 both have that feature. I've got it programmed into the UI on a few other clicky type lights with customizable drivers to work in a similar manner.

The worst thing when you need light in a hurry is that have to stop and think and click through multiple levels when you need light NOW.

To the other point of the OP - we have a family friend that has an older Chihuahua as well and because the dog is so small they don't really walk it. They use a pee-pee pad in their bathroom for the dog to use. Might be worth it for some extra sleep.

Yup, momentary max from ON (any lower mode in use) is also my favorite UI feature:

Any-UI-s-with-Momentary-Max-from-ON?

I much prefer mechanical momentary switching over electronic though - mechanicals are not time sensitive and so can be used for signaling as well (eg, manual strobing and Morse code).

Lots of deer, raccoons, foxes etc around here too. I walk my dog off leash every night on ~4 lms and scan around for the telltale pair of reflecting eyes in the distance. Then fire a momentary flash to confirm species, then call my dog over to go on leash. If my dog sees/hears them before I do, he'll tear after them through the woods collecting Lyme ticks, or worst yet, fall into a coyote lure and trap.