Strobe

[wuyeah]

is strobe function important to you on decision making before you purchase a light? What do you use it for?

 

[Flint&Steel]

Just my opinion: strobe is useless, and the only time it influences my decision on a light is if it's very well hidden or non-existent

 

[Gaobij]

Personally, I think it's nice to have as long as it (or SOS) aren't in the way of standard functions like high/low. It's nice for signalling to others or when walking or riding bikes at night. It let's drivers know that i'm a person and not just a light post.

 

[TooManyGizmos]

~

I use strobe to wake up the Goldfish in my fishtank

~

 

[RI Chevy]

I personally don't care for strobe or flashing SOS. I prefer the 3 mode H-M-L. versions.

 

[antikythera]

I can't stand disco modes being in the open. I'm sure they have their uses, but I prefer either a plain LMH setup, or a *very* well hidden strobe/SOS (like the Ra/HDS Clicky).

 

[Napalm]

I believe that for civilian lights it's as useful as **** on a hen.

However a well designed "beacon" with long run time might have some uses.

Nap.

 

[scottyhazzard]

I use strobe all the time. Tonight just before dusk at an outside party, my wife and daughter were looking for me, they couldn't see me in the crowd until I stobed them. To get attention of other nurses in the ER- everybody knows by now that when the room vibrates with light, Scotty wants their attention.(Yelling adds to stress levels and can set off some patients to violence but the light doesn't) I'm torn as to which works better to shut down an assault, the strobe or just super bright. I have had success with both. I'm leaning toward the insanely bright. If the light is so bright they have to cover their eyes with their hands they can't choke or punch me. A strobe has its uses, most people would not need it. I like for it to be an option that I can choose to enable or disable.

 

[Napalm]

A registered nurse should know that strobe light can trigger an epileptic seizure and would not use them in the ER or in any other room where patients are present.

Nap.

 

[scottyhazzard]

I knew that would be a knee jerk post! :clap:
Potential to cause seizures and causes seizure are not the same. I never have read a decent study that validated that theory. Never seen it or met someone in the medical profession that has seen it or met a patient that has experienced a seizure from a strobe in 10 years, 4 hospitals and 5 states. I'm sure it's possible, like a 50 year old pregnant woman. Highly improbable. Like cold air causing a person to get ill.
If I cause seizures to someone that is choking me, I can treat that too. Panic button brings the cops to the door in five to ten minutes. A long time to hold your breath. Plus you have to drag the patient out of their room and drag them to the nurses station to push the panic button and it's hard when they are choking you. So if you suffer from reactive seizures, please tell me before you initiate the nurse choking maneuver.
If you are right I'll disable the strobe mode I promise. It is something we at work have debated many times with nurses and physicians. Seriously though, you find a study to back up your point of view then we'll talk. Question what you know, words to live by.
Edit-
It is difficult to control for all the variables and do a good study of photo sensitive seizures obviously, but the inclusion of pseudo seizures and not controlling for other variables makes the very very rare really rare. If people are susceptible to photo seizures, they are not affected from 3 to 15htz, my strobe is set at 10htz ( to account for questionable data ) and I use it for defense when body language, verbal tones, location in the room and a plethora of other preventative measures have failed and I am in mortal danger. You would have to see the ER and how it is set up to understand how light can go from one room to another without lighting the hall. -No unnecessary exposure to random individuals (possibly 1 out of 4000 teenagers) There is a time and place for all things. I was foolhardy to think I could just drop such a "bombshell" and it would not stir confusion and reactions. I'm glad that you responded. It irritated me at first. "You are not from the medical field how dare you" was my basic and egocentric response. Yours is a common response based on a common understanding of a very complex topic. Should someone have a seizure after I have used my light at work I could imagine having to convince a jury of people that have a common understanding of such a complex topic that I did not cause the seizure. I can just hear myself saying, "But your honor it's only 10htz!" Arguably, a jury acquitted OJ not because of science but a better team of lawyers. I have disabled my strobe tonight because I don't want to hope my lawyer is better than someone else's lawyer. (Also after reading about pulse width modulation I estimate that a light that is constantly bright is more dissuasive than a light that is bright for only 10htz :) ) I am struggling, really struggling against a pathological habit of sarcasm so bear with me.

and remember class, the air goes in and out, the blood goes round and round and all bleeding stops always. (there's a joke there... at the end)

 

[leon2245]

A registered nurse should know that strobe light can trigger an epileptic seizure and would not use them in the ER or in any other room where patients are present.

Nap.

LOL I think he's just kidding us Napalm. There's no way any competent facility is letting their medical professionals run around strobing the ER! That would be crazy though.

~

I use strobe to wake up the Goldfish in my fishtank

~
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Reported. Please send me your contact info via PM so that I may forward it to PETA.
​

 

[scottyhazzard]

I had to stop strobing my Koi, I grew tired of refilling the pond to make up for the water lost by their seizures. :crackup:

 

[GaAslamp]

I'm torn as to which works better to shut down an assault, the strobe or just super bright. I have had success with both. I'm leaning toward the insanely bright.

At least from what I've seen, for a given level of brightness, a strobe of about 10-15 Hz or so can add to the effectiveness of "dazzling" an assailant. It may have a great effect on some and none on others, but either way high brightness sure helps. The experience I'm most familiar with is my own, of course, and after testing myself I find that a strobe at the above rates can make it significantly more difficult for my eyes and visual system to cope with a bright light--it makes me squint and want to close my eyes, whereas I may be able to see around a constant light of the same brightness. I don't think that using a strobe for defensive purposes has much of a downside unless you're so sensitive to it that the reflection off interior walls bothers you (this doesn't bother me, but people are all different).

I like for it to be an option that I can choose to enable or disable.

In general, for "tactical" or defensive purposes I prefer very simple operations and limited options, because things can happen awfully fast, leaving little or no time to decide between and fiddle with different modes and things like that. Having more than one mode is fine, though, as long as I don't have to cycle through them in an emergency. :eek::sick2: My weapon light, for example, has a single level, a momentary-only switching method, a constant-on switching method, and a strobe mode, all of which are quickly accessible without having to wait for a UI to cycle or making me use more than a single physical switch. Likewise I can always get to the highest-output mode on my backup defensive flashlight rapidly, in a single step. If I potentially have to twist a bezel in addition to pressing a clicky, and/or click the flashlight on and half-press a bunch of times to get to the maximum level, then forget it (at least for defensive purposes). Another thing to keep in mind is that fine motor skills can become compromised while under extreme stress, so it's best to be able to rely on gross motor skills during life-threatening situations.

 

[peteybaby]

A lot of people, myself included, rarely use strobe, but wouldn't mind having it on a light (I actually want it on my lights) as long as it's difficult to get to the strobe mode. This is why I like lights without mode memory. If a light is H-M-L-strobe as many lights are, and has no memory, then you can always bypass the strobe mode. If you're on L and want to get to M or H, simply push in the clicky halfway, wait 1-2 seconds, and release. You're back at H. Of course, this only applies to electromechanical-switch lights. I do this all the time with my 8-mode light. I never see modes 5-8. My light goes M-H-strobe1-L-strobe2-sos-somethingelse1-somethingelse2.

If I have the choice between a 3-mode H-M-L and a 4-mode H-M-L-strobe, I'd pick the 4-mode if it has no memory. Strobe mode is useful on a bike or bike helmet. It's neat if you use a really bright light, to see all the license plates and road signs in front of you strobing along with your light.

 

[shao.fu.tzer]

I like strobe, but I like instant access to it - IE, I don't want to have to cycle through 3 other modes to get to it. I like the Novatac/HDS strobe interface... The Thrunite Neutron interface... I generally like my lights to always come on in high first, with the ability to ramp down if needed. I've found legitimate uses for the strobe function and believe that if properly implemented, is a very useful option. If a crazy wild dog were to attack you while on a midnight stroll, a fast, blinding strobe, aggressive posturing and yelling would probably be enough to deter the misbegotten mutt without having to football punt it.

 

[jh333233]

Mostly i dont want strobe in my clickie-light as it takes 1 more click to return to high
I use strobe only in a party

 

[shao.fu.tzer]

Mostly i dont want strobe in my clickie-light as it takes 1 more click to return to high
I use strobe only in a party

Depends on the interface... Not all interfaces are the same...

 

[jh333233]

Memory: I hate unnecessary mode
Non-memory: Fine for me

My SST-50 has a special UI
Normal lights switch mode when the lights were off and on quickly

Mine: It switchs mode whenever the light was turned off in shorter than 5 second
I cant even do a "short-duration shine" and forced to turn it on for 5+ second

 

[Roger999]

If there is a strobe I'm not buying it. The only use I've ever found for it has been making a mini disco.

 

[jh333233]

If there is a strobe I'm not buying it. The only use I've ever found for it has been making a mini disco.

Its ok to have strobe as long as it dont affects, like the final option in mag ring/ special mode in tk40