A weeks worth of flashlight use

[Lee1959]

A week ago, just for the heck of it, I think some Candleforum post got me to thinking about it, I decided to keep track of what light(s) I actually used most. I tried to tick off on a list every time I did so, occasionally I had to do it when i got home and hopefully remembered. But, I think the results was fairly representative to what I actually did.

Streamlight Stylus Pro - 20+ times, I carry it in my sweat pants pocket all night long and in actuality I kind of lost count on this one. It seems to be the first light I grab when I need a light lately. I use it for everything from finding something in the cupboard, to the light I use when running outside at night for anything. It also gets used a lot every night because I generally leave all the lights out in the house except in the living room when I am home alone at night (5 nights a week) so when I walk anywhere in the house I usually use it rather than flip on lights. It is also the light I generally slip into my rear pocket at night when I go get my wife form work as a brighter addition to my EDC. Last night I used it to show her the frog that was hopping up our ramp to the back deck when we got home at midnight.

Inova X5 - 7 times, once each night for my wife to see her way to bed after I am already in and she has finished removing makeup etc.

Fenix L0PSE - 5 times, it is handy as it is my EDC

Photon Microlight II (red and white lumped together) - 3 various times when I had my keys out.

Inova T1 - 2 times, once when I looked through the house after hearing a huge crash, turnedout to be a mug tree being knocked over, one time when I heard a crash outside that I could not identify.

I was surprised that it was not more, or more lights used actually.

 

[smopoim86]

Hmm, interesting. I'll see what i've use off the top of my head.
Liteflux LF2X -15-30 times, because of the excellent low, i use it to go to the bathroom at night and any other things around the house since i'm generally up after everyone else is asleep. I also keep it around my neck as part of the EDC.

novatac 120p - 10-15 times, i carry it in a holster on my right side and if i need a light while working on anything and my right hand is the free hand, it's the light i grab

RaTwisty120 - 5-10 times, It's clipped in my left pocket and i will use it when the left hand or both hands are free (yes, i can turn it on with one hand)

e01 on my keychain doesn't really see much use.
wa1111 mag- 2 times, mainly for bump in the night, or seeing somethign outside.
mag 623- 2 times, just for fun

I think that's about it I might should at the moon at 4 times on that list.

This could ba an interesting thread if everyone lists their usage. I'd like to see what kind of light is gennerally the most used. I'm willing to be it's a low output(less that 20 lumens) type of light for seeing around the house at night.

Daniel

 

[mwaldron]

I use my Fenix P2D about 10 times a week during the day (crawling under a desk or trying to find a cable in the back of a rack of servers). I use it on it's low setting almost exclusively.

Next would be my red A2, I use it at least once a night for wandering around the house after I go to bed. It lives on my nightstand.

I used to use my white A2 (Strion/GS) for taking the dog out (10ish) times a week, she likes to run around after dark and I can put a nice spot on her so if someone is barreling down they street at an usafe speed they can see her.

Last month I bought a Kroma K2MS and I've been using that to take the dog out, it's the first LED I've seen that produces an actual throwing hotspot. It's not as nice as my white A2 for the job, I mostly have been using it because it's a new toy.

The Kroma has recently been replaced with my new M6. Nothing puts out a spot like that, my dog things she's on stage now. My 3x17670 holder arrived today, 17670's and 1185's are in the mail. I will be needing to put SPF50 on my dog if I continue to use my M6 as a take-the-dog-out light after those parts arrive.

I use a random flashlight to take the dog out at night. That's playtime for me mostly, put spots on nearby trees, clouds, the ISS (still working on the power requirements for that one).

 

[Blindasabat]

Hmm, let me try from memory for a week:

1) Photon Rex (my EDC) 20-22 times
2) L1 Milky SSC - 3 times in the living room at night. It has been hiding behind a picture frame as my "just walked into the dark living room and I need a light"
3) E1L Cree - 5 times in the basement working on things like removing a doorknob.
4) HDS EDC 2X123 - 4 times looking into closet. Has been in the bedroom for a couple of months now.
the UNusual (have not been using these much until recently:
5) Nitecore DI - 6 times in basement and living room. It has been in my kitchen "junk drawer" lately where it is convenient to grab before heading into the basement or livingroom. My "junk drawer" actually has around $400 worth of flashlights in it, so not really an accurate description.
6) Zebralight H30 - 3 times in Flashlight cabinet. Yes, I have an entire cabinet in the kitchen-diningroom area (away from the food area) entirely dedicated to flashlights and their accessories and batteries. A two door cabinet below the counter. My Fiancee Rocks.
7) Jil Lite CR2 DD 4-5 times in dark kitchen at night.
8) Fenix P1 - twice going into the basement

 

[Chrontius]

hm. Can't tell you how many times I've used it this week, but I can tell you what.

A2-white, mostly on low, walking around at night. Incandescent beam turned on in two quick bursts to see what it looked like.
6P-Malkoff-diffuser-combatring, taking out the trash, parking at night.
ROP-Fivemega 2D, turned on once for my own amusement.
Mini-Mag with Terralux Cree, turned on to see what 120 lumens looked like.
Inova X0 1.4 watt, turned on to compare my gold standard for beam quality to the Terralux (ugly) beam.
Brinkmann Maxefire LX with Surefire P60, turned on to compare with Malkoff side-by-side. I was rather impressed with it, honestly. Also evaluating it as a car light to go under the seat.

Really, the only two that I recall seeing any real use this week were the Malkoff 6p and Aviator's low beam (which has replaced my old white X5t)

 

[zipplet]

I can't tell you how many times I've used each light either, but I can give a rough guess at how much each has been used.

Fenix L2D-RB100: Most days, it has been my usual walk-around-at-night-outside light. 4 hours minimum per week.
Fenix E0: When I'm peering into dark places in my room. Usually daily. Few minutes per day.
Civictor V1: Checking the ceiling to make sure there are no spiders before going to bed >_< - couple of minutes per day.
Surefire L1: I love this one for spotting things outside at a distance without alerting everyone. Only did that once this week though.
Photon Freedom: Always used if I need to get up in the night because I can start it off on a veeeery dim low setting to avoid blinding myself. Most nights.

Aaaand in the last day I've been heavily using my new Raw NS + Wee NS. I took the Raw NS for a nightwalk and I was very impressed at the runtime and brightness

 

[2xTrinity]

Here's my ranking of usage (don't know number of times used):

1) LF2 (0.2%) -- modded with 5A neutral white LED -- I use this for maneuvering at home at night without waking others up, or outdoors in dark environments to light footpaths to half-moon intensity.
2) LF2 (100%) -- I use this for back-lighting traces on printed circuit boards, reading resistor codes or numbers on electronics chips, or generally working inside cases/confined spaces. Also used for finding dropped items outdoors
3) 2C Mag ROP -- Used when the LF2 isnt enough to find what I'm looking for outdoors. Also used in de-focused setting as a portable work-light for larger spaces, like inside engine bays
4) Amondotech N30 -- used with a makeshift diffuser as a portable worklight. Also used to spot glass shards for cleanup during daytime.