Do you really use 0.2 lumen?

[Search]

Alright, let's see here. You have a choice of whatever output at full blast for a couple of hours or something you KNOW will let you have usable light for maybe 100-200 hours and you choose to blast the night?

So, what do you do after you've given the first three zombies a sun tan?

😗

When people put together BOB (Myself included) they always throw out there that one reason is if they are stuck in the woods for a long period of time.

Unless you live in the remote nothingness and for some reason your house and vehicle is unlivable, your probably not going to be in the middle of no where.

Unless "Resident Evil" because reality I can say there is a 95 - 99 percent chance of me never doing this. (I don't take helicopter rides over the middle of no where, so no worries of crashes).

In this situation, if I only had a light with .2 lumens, I wouldn't expect to survive very long.

I mean, even if you were just hiking, there are other things out in the woods that would enjoy eating you.

It's why I keep a couple of lights and a lot of batteries ready to grab ASAP. If my house was destroyed and I had no way of getting those, I would probably be dead. If I leave, I grab. I leave really quick, I still grab.

In a few months I'll have two extra handguns to add to this.

.2 lumens can only do so much. For the rest you need a real light source.

 

[Dude Dudeson]

I don't currently own anything with a setting that low, but when I did the most common use for me was looking around inside my black backpack.

Even ten lumens can be a bit much for something like that.

Second most common was probably lighting up a pile of crap on the passenger seat of the car while driving at night - unless I'm on streets with lights I really hate driving with the interior car lights on.

Third most common was probably while digging through boxes inside a closet (that had no light).

When I was much younger I often hung out outside with friends - extremely low lumens came in handy a lot of times then (we'd be places where being discovered wouldn't be a good thing).

This is all just off the top of my head, but bottom line is there's way more situations that "being stranded in the woods" where low light levels can come in handy.

Matter of fact I need to get something like that again - probably just some super cheap keychain light like I used to have...

 

[jhc37013]

The only times I use low I will grab the Jet3 Pro St on its lowest to go into bedroom when wife and kid are sleeping, looking in car for something and I use a ZL H501 on low while reading.

 

[kaichu dento]

.2 lumens can only do so much. For the rest you need a real light source.

I have yet to see a single post suggesting that a .2 lumen light was the be all, end all light, but it is an extremely valuable setting to have available on a multi-level light for those of us who find it to be highly desirable.

For me my .08 - 10 lumen range is what I use most at night, primarily using higher settings much more rarely, making it most certainly a real light source.

I kind of wonder if back in the days before High Powered LEDs were available, the super low low phenomenon was as popular.

Back in the day, people were hoping to get enough light out of an led to make it into a real flashlight. Although it's much higher output than the .2 lumens being discussed here, the Arc AAA's still have many supporters/users here, myself included.

The only two lights I have that have a low too dim for me to end up finding useful on a regular basis are my Titan and my tritium map reading lights; all others, 120P, LF2XT, Quarks and D10 included could definitely benefit from an even lower setting availability.

 

[BigBluefish]

I received my neutral tint Quark 123 (no clip, Tactical, thank you) expecting to find the .2 or .3 lumen moonlight mode waaaaay too dim to be of any use. WRONG. It is just right for navigating around a dark house at night. If you go up to the "low" 3.5 lumens, it lights up the whole room, if your eyes are dark adapted. It should be a great setting for camping, if there's cloud cover at night, and perfect for walking logging roads this fall on the way to my deer stand.

 

[Search]

I have yet to see a single post suggesting that a .2 lumen light was the be all, end all light

Nor did I imply that.

I said that was how I personally felt. Given the thread is called "Do you really use 0.2 lumens?" My answer is no because I don't feel like it has much of a use.

I think 100% of CPF can agree that .2 lumens can only do so much.

 

[kaichu dento]

... .2 lumens can only do so much.

Yes, I definitely agree with that, but to continue further, what .2 lumens is generally used for it accomplishes much more gracefully than 10, 100 or 1,000 lumens can do, regardless of how desirable they are for times when they are perfectly applicable. :thumbsup:

 

[AbnInfantry]

it is an extremely valuable setting to have available on a multi-level light for those of us who find it to be highly desirable.

I wholeheartedly concur. The two flashlight settings I find most useful are maximum brightness and an extremely dim low. The lowest setting on many flashlights simply isn't low enough in my experience.

 

[defloyd77]

I think 100% of CPF can agree that .2 lumens can only do so much.

And I think CPF will agree that 200 lumens can only do so much. It's useless for seeing 5 miles down the road 😗

 

[Saint_Dogbert]

I use .2 lumens a lotmore than 200 lumens. I agree with those who say that sometimes even .2 isn't quite low enough.

 

[mossyoak]

the lower the output the better for me, i use the min and max levels the most. im either indoors and trying not to wake any body up or outside trying to stay low key, but when i really need light i want to make it damn near daylight outside.

 

[RWT1405]

I know that I use low (below 45 lumens), a WHOLE lot more then high. And yes, I think 0.2 lumens can be very useful (at times, depending on the level of darkness, etc.), when I need to not disturb others; need to retain my night vision; to not have more light then I need, reflected back at me, thus blinding me; etc..

In fact, I will say that I find 0.2 lumens a lot more useful then 200 lumens, most of the time.

My .02 FWIW YMMV

 

[HDS_Systems]

I do a fair amount to search and rescue (SAR) work. The majority of calls come after the sun has set so we spend a lot of time operating in the dark. If you have every spent any time in the southwest desert mountains of southern Arizona, you know how steep and rugged they are. I do most of my night hiking using the default low setting on my flashlight (0.3 lumens) and have no problem following difficult mountain trails.

If I need to see the bottom of the canyon or across the canyon or down a ridge or find a route down a steep hillside, shifting to full output (170 or 200 lumens) for a few moments allows me to see much further than if I had been using a higher output. The reason is that my eyes have adapted to the much lower output (0.3) lumens so the effective reach of the 170 to 200 lumens is between doubled and tripled compared to me using 12 lumens on the trail and then trying to see a long distance. This is a very practical use for lower output and maximizing the utility of a higher output.

Yes, it takes a bit of getting used to. However, once you realize how well it works, you will not go back to the old ways. I have trained many other SAR people in this technique and they now use it extensively.

We were the first LED flashlight manufacturer to provide multiple output levels - over 10 years ago. Power conservation (i.e., battery runtime) and distant vision (i.e., the ability to see further) are the two primary reasons. You may wish to read the various articles and the FAQ on our web site for additional information.

Other uses for 0.3 lumens? Reading a menu at a nice restaurant after they dim the lights without annoying the other patrons. Finding your seat after the house lights have dimmed in the theater without annoying the entire audience. Finding your way to the bathroom at night without waking the dead. Reading a map in the car without blinding the driver. Clandestine activities. There are many uses for low light levels.

Henry.

 

[Search]

Yes, I definitely agree with that, but to continue further, what .2 lumens is generally used for it accomplishes much more gracefully than 10, 100 or 1,000 lumens can do, regardless of how desirable they are for times when they are perfectly applicable. :thumbsup:

I fully agree 🙂 I reckon it will become more useful when I move in with my GF. She tends to get cranky when the lamp turns on at 3am.

And I think CPF will agree that 200 lumens can only do so much. It's useless for seeing 5 miles down the road 😗

I would have to agree with CPF. However, your getting a jump start on those zombie though

 

[Dude Dudeson]

If I need to see the bottom of the canyon or across the canyon or down a ridge or find a route down a steep hillside, shifting to full output (170 or 200 lumens) for a few moments allows me to see much further than if I had been using a higher output.

A very key point, one that I just this week had to re-educate myself on!

Your bright light is way more effective in the dark if you haven't been using it.

I took a night hike (a true hike, no street lights, no city, no moon) with my M60 a few weeks ago, ran it for 40 minutes straight because I wanted to test runtime and heat management. I got to the point where it didn't seem that bright, started thinking the batteries might be going.

Tonight I went for a 3 mile walk with a full moon and a few street lights here and there (still a pretty rural environment though). Same batteries.

I mostly walked with nothing but the moonlight, but flashed the M60 a few times just for the hell of it. It seemed insanely bright again.

 

[DHart]

Yeah... .2 lumen is fine for late night navigating when ambient light is very, very low. Perfect for not waking "sleeping others" while you are ambulating around in a dark room. I use my Quarks quite a bit at .2 lumens in the late hours, when I don't want to awaken my sleeping wife.

 

[Dude Dudeson]

I have to somewhat agree though, a light level that low in any flashlight big enough to hold in your "hand" does seem a bit ridiculous.

Sure, if you're in a tactical situation like military or whatever and can't be depending on multiple lights too much, yeah...

But me, when I'm looking for that kind of light output, I've always reached to my hip and grabbed the ultra small cheapie keychain light from my belt loop. Used to attach them with a little snap swivel.

I need to get another one. I miss those little things.

Even my smallest light, an old 30 lumen LED of unknown manufacture, is way overkill for a lot of things.

That said, I love my 6P/M60, and I'm going to get a MD4 Wildcat if Malkoff keeps producing them!

 

[passive101]

I have to somewhat agree though, a light level that low in any flashlight big enough to hold in your "hand" does seem a bit ridiculous.

At night I only keep one light on my nightstand next to my firearm so this makes it convenient. This light is 123x2 so I have no problems using the tiny bit of battery power to run at night even while at home. It's also more efficient at .2 lumens then any of my other lights.

A light big enough to hold in your hand is the only thing I'd want to try to hold onto when I am wearing gloves and trying to read paperwork.

If anyone has ever worked a construction site 3rd shift as security and only been able to use a port-a-poty you know what the low light is for


I guess it really depends on if you have a use for the light or not. There certainly is a lot of competition and most lights do not go down this far. For me this certainly beats the guys who carry a AA mag light for low light and some other type of light for brightness. My pants are heavy enough without the need for that 🙂

 

[jahxman]

Yeah... .2 lumen is fine for late night navigating when ambient light is very, very low. Perfect for not waking "sleeping others" while you are ambulating around in a dark room. I use my Quarks quite a bit at .2 lumens in the late hours, when I don't want to awaken my sleeping wife.

This is exactly the main use I put it to - that and managing to not step on my dog, who has a habit of picking a different spot to sleep on the floor each night, ignoring her perfectly good bed - and usually choosing a spot directly in my path to the bathroom.:huh:

And when she does get stepped on while sleeping - well, its all just the jumping and yelping and snapping and whimpering and then the apologies and sulky looks and everyone is up and awake at that point and feeling a bit frayed....

So a little .2 lumen light improves my life quite a bit actually...:thumbsup:

 

[Badbeams3]

I find .2 lumen perfect for a night light. Pointless for most anything else. My .2 lumen light has a preflash that lets me know it turned on...great feature :thumbsup: