Blinking, strobe, and SOS modes, have they ever been useful to anyone?

[LED_Thrift]

I have four or five lights with SOS/strobe and wish I could remove it from their UI's. I had one light, a twisty with med/low/high/strobe/SOS and mode memory - I had to sell it because I couldn't stand having to go through the blinky modes so frequently.

 

[TwitchALot]

I've used strobe to attract drivers' attention and SOS mode to signal my landing point when out swimming in a lake at night (backstop was a waterfall, so no one else could ever really see it an interpret it as a signal for help. Plus, we were the only ones there swimming at night ). I'd use the beacon mode on the Quark, but 10 seconds is way too long. It really should be five, and in that case, I would have used the beacon mode instead for increased runtime.

 

[msmemt]

I'm a medic so when the police arrive onscene I use the strobe for "Over here!" messaging. I DO keep it in mind if someone were to charge at me.

 

[kaichu dento]

I have four or five lights with SOS/strobe and wish I could remove it from their UI's. I had one light, a twisty with med/low/high/strobe/SOS and mode memory - I had to sell it because I couldn't stand having to go through the blinky modes so frequently.

There it is again! I don't know what lights you guys have/had that only have the light settings accessible on the other side of the evil blinking modes but I suspect you guys are to a man twisting too fast and going past the regular modes in an uncontrolled fashion.

On the L0D which I carried forever I was able to make two quick twists and land on low. If I wanted high it was three twists. Don't overshoot and you won't see the blinking modes.

 

[hyperloop]

i have some uses for the strobe mode (only on my Jetbeam lights and Akoray K106 3 mode as i can program the frequency of the strobe):

1. Slow strobe for cycling

2. Beacon (1 blink every few seconds) when night fishing on the shoreline, the light is clipped to my pack so we can locate where we put our stuff as we move up and down the beach to cast.

3. Faster strobe to signal our location to friends looking for us on the beach (of course i could just use the forward clicky on my G2 with R5 but where's the fun in that?)

4. Fastest strobe just for fun

That being said, strobe should be hidden and only used when i want it and the frequency of it being programmable would be a good touch, cannot imagine cycling with a 14-15 hZ strobe causing fits and accidents as i move down the road / track.

 

[DonX_Fi]

I 've noticed as a pedestrian, strobe is the attention catcher.
In work 'n casual.
Man vs Vehicle: Strobe !
If U get lost to wilderness or sea, IMHO any light will trigger the rescue personell attention, no need to use SOS...

 

[riccardo]

I do like the strobe feature as added insurance on a busy, dark interstate wreck scene and will continue to use it for such purposes.

I 've noticed as a pedestrian, strobe is the attention catcher.
In work 'n casual.
Man vs Vehicle: Strobe !

That's it! If you need to catch the attention of drivers strobe is far better than any constant light. Whatever is the situation, pedestrian crossing dark road or car accident or a simple engine fault, in a busy & dark interstate or in a semi desert twisty hill road as well as in urban area, strobe is catching the attention of drivers much faster than anything else.

 

[alightinthedark]

I see a need for lights that Strobe or flash S.O.S. uses would be to let someone know where you are, there's better equipment made for that. I think that if you want to not go down with your ship now's the time for that strobe yet I think that they have much better equipment for that as well. Yes there is a market place for a flashlight that strobes. Right the blinding effect of the light in someones eye's well you better learn that you don't bring a flashlight to a gun fight.

My point is that only a small number of us will ever have a need for this type of light but for the people who really need it they should be able to buy one made to strobe or S.O.S. There would be a lot of people looking to sell the best outdoor survival LED made.

Why do they have to sell it to the rest of us.

Please excuse me but I want a flashlight one you turn on and off okay I can see one with up to 4 control modes light Low,Medium,Bright and Crest Ultra White and yes off is good too. Something basic for the wife and kids yet bright enough to see into the darkest corners.

All without the strobe that you do not need which always comes and scares the crap out of you. Last time you used it you turned it off at low thinking thinking the program would work and it would turn back on, on low that does not happen often.

I know how useless if is for me, please tell me.

YES = I want to have a strobe.

NO = I do not need the strobe.

 

[tandem]

That's it! If you need to catch the attention of drivers ...

+1 I find I use the strobe mode on my EDC light far more often than I expected to, mostly for cycling but also as a pedestrian and for signalling in various situations.

What I do wish is that more lights had a less "tactical" strobe in favour of something with a pulse rate less nauseating such as a 2 or 3 cycle per second pulse rate, perhaps at an output level somewhat less than max. That would be fast enough for cyclists to use but not be too fast to prohibit using it in the dark.

 

[Xacto]

After an initial interest in the strobe setting for defense purposes, I someday realized that a quick strobe could be usefull to mark an object (car etc) during daytime e.g. on a shady road. Constant on or slow breacon could be mistaken for reflexion from the sun coming through the foliage.



Cheers
Thorsten

 

[M@elstrom]

Please excuse me but I want a flashlight one you turn on and off okay I can see one with up to 4 control modes light Low,Medium,Bright and Crest Ultra White and yes off is good too. Something basic for the wife and kids yet bright enough to see into the darkest corners.

My Jetbeam Jet3M is exactly like that a simple on/off/momentary UI, twist the head (and it becomes a different beast altogether) to instantly access whatever mode you've configured be that strobe, SOS, low 2Lm output OR whatever it's just too easy, hand the light to someone who isn't used to a multi-mode light and there's still no issue :thumbsup:

 

[flasherByNight]

I live in urban areas. A solid light will not get anyones attention like a blinky type of light would.

Yes, I use it all the time as a pedestrian,bicyclist, hazard warning etc.

I wouldn't EDC a light w/out them

 

[Bierkameel]

I used the beacon mode on my RA Clicky when I was in the hospital for 2 weeks, very nice at night.
I use the strobe mode weekly to blind my co-workers for fun.

 

[EXO1000]

For cycling I have a Minimag with IQ switch set on fast strobe and a 1watt Red TerraLux drop in. It's mounted on my rear seat bag. I always get alot of complaint that it's to bright. That means it's working!:thumbsup:

 

[alightinthedark]

You proved my point, the strobe is just a gimmick on most flashlights really nothing more than a toy to shine in someones face just to **** them off.

Take this point as an example your on a battlefield, under cover, you want to check your maps with your squad and you flashlight was set to low but it came on in a strobe mode your cover has been blown and your standing there with a flashlight in you hand as your team is dieing off in an ambushed.

A strobe is a special type of tactical emergency flashlight the equipment should be made and sold as a stand alone items as then there would have better selection and types. Military and Police strobes

If you are going to put out a strobe in a flashlight have it controlled by a independent second switch so you do have some type of control.

I'm betting that flashlights with out strobes will out sell flashlight with strobes 10 to 1.

Just because you can build one into a flashlight doe's not make it a better flashlight Nor will making a military grade strobe into a flashlight

 

[kaichu dento]

You proved my point, the strobe is just a gimmick on most flashlights really nothing more than a toy to shine in someones face just to **** them off.

Take this point as an example your on a battlefield, under cover, you want to check your maps with your squad and you flashlight was set to low but it came on in a strobe mode your cover has been blown and your standing there with a flashlight in you hand as your team is dieing off in an ambushed.

That's a weird scenario you've just depicted and not only that, ridiculous too. It's about as logical as pointing out how poorly a Porsche would be on a battlefield when it was never designed for that purpose.

I'm always confused as to how people can own a light and have it still surprise them by coming on in a mode other than the one they want. Learn your lights and they'll come on in a predictable fashion. One of my favorite lights with blinking modes is the Quark MiNi lineup and you actually have to try pretty hard to find the blinking modes.

Besides, if you're out on the battlefield what are you doing out there without the right equipment anyway?

I don't care whether anyone else likes/dislikes blinking modes but some of the arguments for/against are pretty incredible. Live and let live, or more to the point, choose and let choose.

 

[chanjyj]

Strobe, once or twice for attracting attention.

More often than not it's the beacon (slower strobe) that gets used for signaling.

SOS? Never.

 

[palembee]

red blinky on the back of the bicycle is the best- white blinky on the front in urban areas stands out in the visual clutter. that said, the switching thru strobe modes can be annoying. as i frequently do on the cheap lights. other than that, i don't use flashing modes very much. oh yeah, walking at nite for crossing streets.

 

[tandem]

Fortunately there are plenty of choices available out there, and we can vote with our wallets.

Despite my preference for very bright lights driven by 1 or 2 AA cells, I will not be buying the current output leader, when it starts shipping in a couple of weeks, the Zebralight SC51.

Why? A few reasons but most importantly -- it has no strobe of any sort.

For me that's a deal killer, so I'm voting with my wallet and won't be buying either the H51 headlamp nor the SC51 flashlight. Until I learned Zebralight dropped the strobe output mode from both I'd been planning on buying three of them (one model or the other) for my wife and kids. Actually to fully equip them I'd be in the market for 3 or 4 H51's and 3 SC51's.

edit: So I'll either wait for Zebralight to reintroduce a strobe output or wait for someone like Fenix to play output-runtime leapfrog with their next revision to the LD10 or equivalent.

 

[alightinthedark]

Besides, if you're out on the battlefield what are you doing out there without the right equipment anyway?

.

My point why would you want to buy an item that really would give you problems when you think you'll need it the most. It's really not a true strobe all it comes down to is a fast blinking light that will burn up your battery fast.
A Strobe would flash 2 or 3 times a second in sharp burst of light that could last for days.... If it were the right equipment.