S.O.S. and Strobe? Are you kidding me? They annoyingly get in the way.

[Marduke]

Disco is dead - or it should be.

Look, your car headlights manage just fine without cycling through SOS, beacon, strobe. Why should a hand held light be any different?

Oddly enough, just about every car made in the world has several strobe modes (turn signals, hazard lights), of which no one ever complains about because they are not in the way during normal operation, plus they sure are handy when the need arises...

There's enough of the high quality flashlights that make you cycle through them routinely. The Olight T25-T is an example of how even some of the best quality companies don't understand the user part of the U.I. And that's just one example of how a simple overlook can flaw an otherwise great light. I've done a lot of searching and you'd be surprised how limited your choices can be due to things like this.

Luckily, there are a few great series of lights out there for those who never want to stumble into those functions when they don't need them. You just have to do a lot of searching for them before making your choice amongst the ones that fit your needs.

Olight is a great example of how to get a UI wrong (memory forcing strobe every cycle rotation). There are plenty of other companies (most of them) that get it 100% correct, by placing strobe in the UI separated from the general modes, never forcing you to ever use or even see it unless you intend to.

Great examples are Fenix, Quark (4sevens brand), NiteCore, LRI (Photon), Dosun, etc.

 

[travelinman]

Tonight, about an hour ago, I had to walk up to my son's place on a road that has a couple of blocks with no sidewalk, very limited shoulder and lots of traffic.

Normally I have to dodge pick-up mirrors like Maple leaves on a windy autumn day but tonight, since it was dark I whipped out the little ITP C9 and one and a half clicks later it started flashing like a summer convention of ADHD fireflies.

The traffic immediately slowed down, and drove carefully around me just like they do on the stretch of road our local constabulary likes to set up their radar trap.

Priceless! :twothumbs

I won't buy a light for myself that doesn't have an easily available strobe. :shakehead

 

[headophile]

i've never had a problem with the strobe on my LD20, nor has it bothered me in the regular use i put my light through, and i use all modes.

as someone suggested in this thread, i also think strobe would be pretty useful getting someone's attention in situations where not having it would make that task hard to do.

 

[Jason_Tx]

That's fair enough, Jason Tx, I don't need a single point sling (or any for that matter) on my personal defensive AR either (although I did attach my AR to a flashlight).

That must be one big *** flashlight that you were able to attach an AR to it.
LOL couldn't resist

 

[OutGunned321]

lol, I was wondering when someone would point that out. It's a play on words intended as a flashaholic inside joke.

But can we please let this thread die now? This is my last post within this thread. I fully agree with both sides of the issue and it's a simple matter of U.I. configuration that can make everyone happy.

 

[Casper507]

Well as long as it's a free market that means you're helping keep the price down on a couple flashlights I've purchased. Thanks.

 

[bullrydr85]

First off I am new to the world of high powered and multi functional flashlights. That said I am a LEO and I carry many many items in my duty bag because I am a "what if" kind of guy. I can't tell you how many times I have gotten "why the heck do you have that" only to need it shortly after. Yes I carry two multi tools (don't care for the swiss army stuff you mentioned) for more then 30 tasks I am sure, yes I have a first aid kit with me at all times, para cord, and many other things in my duty bag. These items and "over preparedness" has saved my can or someone else's at least once and I am no longer the butt of jokes around other officers, in fact I have helped several put their duty bags together. I am such a believer in my duty bag I have a second one that is in my vehicle at all times on or off duty. I had lights just for strobe and SOS signaling, the reason I bought a "high power, multi function light" is simple I have run out of room in my duty bag and discovered multi function lights. That means I carry fewer lights and spare batteries and have more room for whatever else my mind can conceive a need for. So IMO these lights and functions do serve a purpose at the very least in my industry. Perhaps as you said there may be a better way to access these functions but I stand by the companies that have added them.
:twothumbs

 

[mpteach]

Whats the point of disorienting the person with strobe light when you can knock them down with a taser? Police taser little mouthy old grandmas now before handcuffing them...

 

[DimeRazorback]

 

[Crenshaw]

Whats the point of a taser when you can just shoot them and THEN cuff them?

Crenshaw

 

[Sgt. LED]

LOL I loved when the grandma got tasered! The scream was priceless.
She needed a good dose of STFU.

Take that grandma!

 

[yellow]

Consider the Quark AA2 (non-tactical) UI -- not what I think is a cheap light. Two sets of functions depending on bezel twist:
A) low, med, high, SOS,
B) turbo, strobe.
Better would be
A) low, med, high, turbo
B) sos, strobe

You must have missed all the zillions of threads dealing with that, but in short:

the normal users like: low-->med-->high ... and for them thats a must,
the tactical crew like: turbo on 1st click of button ... and for them thats a must

with that UI - imho the best is the fenix one with level switching by moving the head - both these ppl can be adressed with just one light

the UI You advertised were - for me - a reason not to get this light, and I am sure its number in sales data were so small, that it does not make sense for the enterprises to offer one. If it did, there were such lights.

Sorry

 

[mpteach]

Most grandmas arent photosensitive epileptics so buy a taser..



They should have a little teeny weeny switch inside lights to disable strobing for the majority of us. Seriously.

 

[lightplay22]

A taser with a strobing weapon light!

 

[travelinman]

Most grandmas arent photosensitive epileptics so buy a taser..



They should have a little teeny weeny switch inside lights to disable strobing for the majority of us. Seriously.

So are you really in the majority or are you just the loudest and spend the most time sitting on this forum?

 

[DM51]

Welcome to CPF, OutGunned321. I've been away for 2 weeks, and you joined during that time.

You weren't to know when you started this thread that you chose a well-worn and somewhat contentious topic. It resurfaces from time to time, and usually degenerates pretty quickly due to over-dogmatic and ill-tempered responses.

This time it has lasted longer than on previous occasions, as discussion has mostly remained civil; however some posts, notably a few of the more recent ones, indicate the thread is now deteriorating and may have run its course.

We'll leave it open for a while longer, but members are advised to keep their contributions civil.

 

[Crenshaw]

Welcome to CPF, OutGunned321. I've been away for 2 weeks, and you joined during that time.

Welcome back DM51, your presence has been much missed in the form of the old flame war favourites springing up...
:laughing:

Crenshaw

 

[pee10755]

I have posted earlier in this thread from a law enforcement perspective. I have a question and this forum of flashaholics is a good sample pool.

Regarding the strobe, has anyone ever heard of or experienced a person that had a serious medical reaction to a strobing light source? I am not talking about disorientation, I am talking about a seizure or something similar that requried medical intervention. As I stated before, I have been around every type of strobing light source possible in crowds for over ten years and nothing. People like to throw it out about the risk, but I had never heard of it actually happening. Thanks, I thought this would be a group that might have had the experience or researched it due to their "flashlight" tendencies.

I certainly didn't want to start a new strobe thread so I thought I would post on this one. I don't think that would be popular.

 

[mpteach]

Im sure there have been previous polls on this sight regarding this subject. Do they confirm my belief that the majority of flashoholics dont use or arent interested in strobe? Even if we werent the majority its still big minority. For the lights that dont have programable UI it would be nice if they had a tiny switch inside to get rid of strobe modes and the absolutely useless sos. It could even be one of those tiny switches you need a pen or screwdriver to flip. Pennies of cost.

 

[Wattnot]

Im sure there have been previous polls on this sight regarding this subject. Do they confirm my belief that the majority of flashoholics dont use or arent interested in strobe? Even if we werent the majority its still big minority. For the lights that dont have programable UI it would be nice if they had a tiny switch inside to get rid of strobe modes and the absolutely useless sos. It could even be one of those tiny switches you need a pen or screwdriver to flip. Pennies of cost.

No, I believe the majority here on CPF favor strobe and SOS in some fashion (not meaning that every light they own has to have it, or that they'd even use it, but meaning they will defend its' existence in general). It's only a vocal minority that are against these functions even being available, hence what DM51 said above.

As you've pointed out, we are not a majority when it comes to flashlight sales, but as I've said in these threads before, lack of a feature cannot be considered a feature. So if you were to poll outside of CPF, I'm sure you would find a majority there as well that approve of these functions being available. Even the OP in the first post of this thread unwittingly admitted out he would consider taking an extra SOS device with him at times, thereby proving the usefulness of having it built into the size and type of light he would take anyway.