Moonlight .2 lumens...

[TwinBlade]

I see a few flashlight companies are incorporating this into their flashlight output levels. Having never experienced such a low output, I was wondering if you folks could give me some opinions on it.

Can you read a map with it? Will it light up the ground in front of your feet? Do you have to squint so bad when you use it that you risk going blind?:nana:

TIA

 

[Tally-ho]

Related thread:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?p=3516464#post3516464

 

[Mr. Tone]

You can read a lot of good discussion about it in a previous thread that proved many of us find it very valuable. I personally use it every night at home. When your eyes are night adapted it can be enough to see things in a small room with a ceiling bounce. I absolutely love moonlight mode on my Quarks!:thumbsup:

 

[Th232]

+1.

With dark adapted eyes I can use the moonlight mode on my Quark to see around the whole room at night without disturbing anyone. Without dark adapted eyes, I can only see what the torch is pointing at, but it's still enough for me to not trip over anything or walk into walls.

 

[etc]

OT, but you should always write fractional numbers as 0.xx, such as 0.2.

Reason is, if you say print the page, then photocopy it, the "dot" might drop out, or someone who is not paying attention will miss the "dot" and think it's an order of magnitude bigger, or 2 instead of 0.2. It's just harder to read.

This can be particularly dangerous in medicine, where someone can miss the dot and instead of 0.5 grams of something, give you 5 grams of medicine.

Back to discussion, the min I like is about 5-10 lumens.

 

[calipsoii]

You'd be surprised how little light your eyes need to see once they're night-adjusted.

 

[AnAppleSnail]

When I'm walking around in dark - with no other light sources to fight - 0.2 lumens is sometimes far too bright, and I'll wind up covering most of the Quark's output with my hand.

As I recall, 'lux' is "1 lumen per square meter." If you shine my Quark on the ground a little ahead of me, its hot-spot will be a bit dimmer than most night's full moonlight (.25 lux, give or take - that's the number Petzl chose).

 

[dealgrabber2002]

Back to discussion, the min I like is about 5-10 lumens.

Is that OTF or emitter?

I started a thread awhile back regarding 0.2 lumen. If you are interest in reading it. Here it is:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=238505

 

[IlluminatedOne]

I would say you could read a map with moonlight mode if it was really dark.

I also regularly use my quark 2AA out in the woods which is completely dark, i find the moonlight (OTF 0.2 Lumens) mode is enough to navigate around pretty well in the woods or around the house.
Sometimes i would kick it up one to low (OTF 4 lumens) just to check a little way ahead out in the woods.
But when your eyes are adapted to the dark you would be suprised at how well such a low output works.

One thing i would like is a diffuser for the light to make the beam less intense and more even as sometimes even on moonlight or low the hotspot can blind you slightly if you were to bring the light up closer to your eyes like using it to check your backpack etc.

But Moonlight mode is a great feature which i use more often than the higher modes in general use.

 

[mrartillery]

Can you read a map with it? Will it light up the ground in front of your feet?
TIA

Think of a cell phone screen in a pitch black room, similar to that.

 

[Tally-ho]

Think of a cell phone screen in a pitch black room, similar to that.

Why bother to carry a flashlight ? :devil:

 

[John_Galt]

I find that my Ra clicky's 0.07lumens is too bright at times. And I live in a well lit urban environment.

I was camping for a solid week about a month and a half ago, and it was my most often used output. Plenty for night time trail navigation, if going at a slow pace.

 

[PCC]

Why bother to carry a flashlight ? :devil:

Because cell phone screens have a nasty habit of turning off after about 15-30 seconds to conserve the battery life.

I have a few lights that are in the 1 lumen range and they're too bright when I need them every day. I work a late shift and get home around midnight and I refuse to turn on any lights inside of the house so I don't wake anyone up. I've found that 3 lumens is way too much in this situation. 1 lumen is more than enough to navigate around a dark house and not trip on anything that the kids have left on the floor. Less than 1 lumen when I enter my bedroom and don't want to disturb my wife. I need to get a Quark and take advantage of the 0.2 lumen output.

 

[Tally-ho]

Because cell phone screens have a nasty habit of turning off after about 15-30 seconds to conserve the battery life.

I was kidding.
I like when an idea or something appears finally as the contrary than it is supposed to be, so it is really funny to realize that all those "poor guys using dim cellphone screenlight" are preserving their night adapted vision by using a concept more often than all those flashaholics without any moonlight-mode flashlight.

 

[TwinBlade]

Well I appreciate all the input here and other posted related links. I am honestly surprised to hear just how many of you find it useful.

I use a flashlight every night when I go to bed for many of the same reasons. I go to bed a couple hours later than my wife and do not want to wake her up with a bright beam. I have found the 1.6 lumen output on my iTP A3 to be just about perfect, but I always aim it at something on my dresser to diffuse the output just a little.

I would also be VERY interested in say a 0.2, 2, 10 lm flashlight, or some dedicated low light derivative there of.

 

[mrartillery]

Because cell phone screens have a nasty habit of turning off after about 15-30 seconds to conserve the battery life.

True. The flashlight app on my Blackberry allows you to use the phones LED that it uses for the cameras flash and doesn't cut off until you cut it off. It is also fairly bright for night adjusted eyes, consider it yet another back up light.

 

[AnAppleSnail]

I would also be VERY interested in say a 0.2, 2, 10 lm flashlight, or some dedicated low light derivative there of.

After the "Quark AA moonlight" thread we were poking 4sevens about a low-modes-only light...alas, it won't likely get the market share necessary to start production...

 

[RepProdigious]

Moonlight is the most used mode on my Quark..... Like everybody says its pretty darned bright if you're eyes are properly adjusted.

I tailstand it besides my bed (ceiling bounce) and after a minute or so i am able to see everything in the room without waking up my sleeping beauty..... And the best thing is that i never have to replace the battery

 

[scout24]

The lowest of low is the most used level on my Titan and T1A's, probably the best lights for this type of use. Dial up or down an additional smidgen as needed without adding or taking away a "level". WAY lower than my Quarks on moonlight or any of my Ra's or Novatacs. If you want a dedicated in-the-dark-without-waking-anyone light, and like the ability to have 70-80 lumens just a twist away, these are it. The Photon Freedom coincell lights also ramp up and down at these super low levels, but the PWM makes even me crazy, and they are not bright enough on top for a dedicated EDC, in my opinion. If I happen to leave the house and "only" have a T1A or my Titan, I'm good to go.

 

[Harry999]

Having seen the Quark AA 0.2 lumen runtime test I am so tempted to pick one up at the end of the month. I use the 0.3 lumen and less levels on my HDS lights the most around the house. Having the same level on a single AA light as well would be a real plus.

I find that inside 0.2 lumen or less can be all you need for navigation and basic tasks. I love having the ability to access this level. I will be interested to see what 4Sevens will provide for those flashaholics who have been asking for an Ultra low level light...