What flashlight feature are you most surprised to care about?

[Kestrel]

Flood, as others have stated above. Highly underrated.

Also, a single output mode. When I started here, I thought that multiple outputs were the ticket, but have come to prefer lights with only a single output for the most part. A different output can be best handled by another light.

 

[think2x]

Flood, as others have stated above. Highly underrated.

Also, a single output mode. When I started here, I thought that multiple outputs were the ticket, but have come to prefer lights with only a single output for the most part. A different output can be best handled by another light.

I would have to agree with this also. One of my favorite lights has a Single mode High CRI "Linger Special" module in it from Nailbender

 

[Echo63]

When I first started as a flashaholic I cared about brightness, then runtime.

Now I love well made, quality lights, with good smooth beam profiles.
After buying one "neutral" tint light I now prefer lights in that neutral to warmish range, with a simple easy to use UI (no strobe modes, or cycling through a menu for the right mode - the hds/novatac lights work great, an easy to navigate menu, that can go from low to high without having to go through medium first)

 

[angelofwar]

My most used lights are Surefire/Malkoff combo's. One mode, simple UI. I even prefer the Z41 over the L1 UI...I just like having one well determined amount of light...nothing to mess with. And +1 for flood!

 

[fixitman]

I have been surprised mostly by what a tint snob I have become. Neutral or high CRI for me. Second would be interface/ease of use. I find myself using a modded (neutral tint) AKOray K106 (3 programmable modes) as my desk/goto light. Modded with a nice 4b tint, and programmed to come on at 50 or so lumens, it suits nearly all my indoor needs on first click.

 

[kelmo]

I really like incandescent lights with simple twisty switches! When I don't need a runtime workhorse I carry an incan in my jacket pocket or strapped to my hip!

 

[Lynx_Arc]

I used to think for a work light having a low mode isn't needed either you need light or not but after having a low on one light I realize I use the light more often and also use it for area lighting even when I have a headlamp because on low it runs for half a day easily vs 4-6 hours on high. I do however think more than two modes on a work light can be detrimental to getting the job done having to step through an extra mode to get to low or turn off or get back to high consumes time.

 

[Flint&Steel]

To the OP: Nice thread topic :twothumbs

To answer your question: Flood and tail-standability

Flood: When I first found CPF, I wanted a light that could reach out and touch something. Now that I've gone on dozens of camping trips with my lights, flood is a much more usable feature. I camp in heavily forested areas with dense vegetation. Throwers don't help when you can't see beyond 100 feet under the best circumstances. I'd rather have a wall of light rather than a pencil beam in this case. If I camped in a desert or in the plains, my opinion might be different, but for my use, flood > throw.

Tail-standing: I used to wonder why people "had" to have a light that tail-stands. The other night, my bathroom light bulb died (no spares), and I have one light with a reverse-clicky and the ability to tail-stand. Very useful in that situation.

 

[mwb01]

Moonlight mode. I know it seems like a useless gimmick and isn't greatly loved around here, but I've actually used .1 lumens quite a few times on my Predator. Suppose you're in a room with several sleeping people and want to find something next to you. Kinda like a flashlight with a red mode.

Also, one-handed UI. I don't have too much of a problem with the two-handed head-twisting UI's of some of my lights, but my PD31's soft clicky method is much more handy.

 

[Numb]

Carryability, dropability , and simple UI in that order I think.

But ofc I still love great output and massive throw...

/N

 

[bel_riose]

This is really an interesting thread.

From what I read, the most of us does have the same feeling.
We passend from a "WTF" phase, when started to be a CPFer, searching for high lumens, high throw and lots of modes.

Then our quest switched (obviously) to higher quality standars: preferred tint, simple UI, flood, details.

We became intelligent users and the time (and money!) spent earlier served as a rite for today choices.

I do prefer:
simple UI (max 2 modes, no blinky, or more modes but a REALLY smart UI, like Surefire's)
good beam pattern with moderate lumen (not blinding)
tailstanding
good construction

 

[orbital]

+

The switch :thumbsup:

It must have good action and reliability,
if the switch is good, the light is usable to me.

 

[shao.fu.tzer]

I used to be obsessed with pocket rockets - The most light I could get out of the smallest package, even if the light had purple and blue artifacts. I also used to be a throw junkie. Cree rings never bothered me. Now I'm more of a floody, 6P sized and bigger, smooth beam kinda guy. I still don't understand the warm tint thing... Neutral is nice though...

 

[Potato42]

Interesting, because I've been surprised in the opposite direction. I thought I wanted neutrals, but in fact my favorite lights are cool white. I suspect, though, that we all have different ideas of what these terms mean. Cooler means bluer, warmer means redder, so 'more neutral' necessarily means greener. Not GREEN, but greener than cool or warm. If you put a 'neutral' and a 'cool' side by side, I'll bet half of us would declare the neutral to be green, and the other half would declare the cool to be blue.

Worst of all, I don't know how to communicate about tint. Beamshots are great for showing relative brightness and beam pattern, but they really don't capture tint well. The emitter is FAR from blackbody radiation, with just a few strong emission bands from the LED and phosphor mix; there are variations in the Bayer filters on the digital camera's CCD or CMOS sensor; variations in image post-processing and white-balance algorithms; variations in the LCD screens we use to view them; and variations in our highly nonlinear eyes.

So perhaps I should say that I think I like cool white, but don't truly know!

In photographic terms Color temperature represents a shift from "warm" to "cool" with warm being orange/yellow and cool being blue/purple. In addition it is common for a light of a given color temperature to have a distinct "tint" either more green, or more magenta. Think of them as two separate scales, rather than having green in the middle as in your example. Here's a screenshot from Adobe photoshop's RAW editor that gives you a good idea what I mean

You can still get a neutral LED without obvious greenish tint. I have a quark mini 123 R5 that is a good example of this.




Back on topic, I guess I started out knowing what I wanted to an extent, so I got floody lights. I was very surprised to find a good thrower with a tight hotspot was very welcome in my collection. The throw is nice when you need it, but the bright spillbeam is the bread and butter. I guess I can appreciate throw + good spill too:thumbsup:

 

[Hogokansatsukan]

Started years ago with SF and was a lumen junky. Then came the LED lights and was still a lumen junky. Changed to being a flood junky.
Now, I just want a simple UI, and I don't want the light to change modes with every click. Grown to hate reverse clicky's and twisty's.

But the all time most important feature for me now is... how well does blue FunTac stick to it. Well, that, a nice floody beam, decent lumens, and a long run time. Needs to be indestrucable as well. No wish for any "cheap" or "budget" lights that can't take a good beating. Also don't like multi-battery lights. 1 cr123 or 1 AA. I want it small.

 

[dbtrethewey]

Small footprint started me out on Surefires. . . wolfeyes for the low option and value . . . . then Fenix for the UI and efficiency . . . and now Led Lenser P5R for the variable picture , crazy output and output options ( not as good as Fenix LD10 or PD20 ) and the handy magnetic charger. I always know where it is at night above the bed. I have adapted a pocket clip off an LD10 to fit body , lens down so it is a treat to EDC.

 

[MWClint]

My "feature" is ramping ability from low to high.
fell in love with it on my mag mods utilizing a D2DIM, then with Peak's adjustable law enforcement lineup(first responder and nite patrol), then with the nitecore EX10 and now with
all my single level peaks converted to full ramp with a QTC pill. I count the Spy 007 and the Mini Chimera here too with their 6 level ramps, each level programmable.

doesnt seem like much, but it's awesome to have that mega low to full bore choice with any light. I feel like i can grab any light each day and not have to make compromises.

also, i care about tint very much, gotta have a high cri seoul(warm 3000-neutral 4500) in the "0" range SL0, ST0, SR0, SS0, right on the blackbody line..tints off that line, i notice the hotspots become yellow or greenish. ew. I'd prefer to take a hit in max lumens than use a light with a poor(to me) tint.
with these seouls, i am in love with the red/amberness of the spill and the coolness of the hotspot. the cooler hotspot really makes whites pop, and the red/amber spill makes colors come alive.

 

[licht55]

A very low mode (ca. < 0.3 lm, "Moonlight Mode"), this can be very handy when looking at close range while trying to preserve nightvision or not to disturb others.
And then I think it is useful to have some further modes between that and maximum.

 

[RobertM]

When I first joined CPF, by concerns were brightness and durability/reliability.

Since then, I've found other things that are of concern:
- ultra low modes (<0.10 lumens)
- if LED, color rendition and temperature
- user interface with instance access to all levels

I now believe that my perfect light would have three modes (0.05 lumens, 25 lumens, and 500+), 90+ CRI, and 5000k temperature. I believe that SF currently has the best 2-mode UI available with its 2-stage switch (A2/L1/LX2 etc.). I've yet to be able to figure out how a switch would allow instant access to all three levels though. My HDS EDC High CRI is currently as close as I've came to my perfect light (0.07 lumens, 25 lumens, 100 lumens / 93 CRI / 4000k temp / pretty good UI, but not instant access to all levels).

-Robert

 

[Gene43]

Dependability and simple UI. Back before I had even heard of CPF, I started modding MagLites because I simply wanted something bright enough to spot the predators (after my chickens) and hold up well in daily use in the sticks. I never even considered what I was setting myself up for.