I'm wondering if anyone really uses S.O.S. and strobe modes. I think a great light only needs maybe 4 brightness modes, why all the extra fluff?
why so many modes?
- Thread starter jabe1
- Start date
Help Support Candle Power Flashlight Forum
Gunner12
Flashaholic
Some people like them and some companies add them so the lights have more appeal to some people.
I think the modes can be useful, but they should be included in a way that is easily accessible but not in the way of the "normal" modes.
I think the modes can be useful, but they should be included in a way that is easily accessible but not in the way of the "normal" modes.
Sometimes, a light "changes modes" by clicking the tailcap switch.
Hence, it cannot be "blinked" by the user,
since that'll simply cause a change in mode.
Therefore, they often incorporate a "strobe mode",
which permits the flashlight to blink "automatically".
Same thing for the oft-mentioned S-O-S mode.
As for the different "brightness" levels . . . .
We tend to be like Goldilocks, of The Three Bears fame.
Our light must be:
Not too bright
Not too dim
but JUST RIGHT !
:kiss:
And, as i'm sure you've noticed,
we Flashaholics can sometimes be a bit "fussy".
_
Hence, it cannot be "blinked" by the user,
since that'll simply cause a change in mode.
Therefore, they often incorporate a "strobe mode",
which permits the flashlight to blink "automatically".
Same thing for the oft-mentioned S-O-S mode.
As for the different "brightness" levels . . . .
We tend to be like Goldilocks, of The Three Bears fame.
Our light must be:
Not too bright
Not too dim
but JUST RIGHT !
:kiss:
And, as i'm sure you've noticed,
we Flashaholics can sometimes be a bit "fussy".
_
Tekno_Cowboy
Flashlight Enthusiast
And, as i'm sure you've noticed,
we Flashaholics can sometimes be a bit "fussy".
Just a bit? :devil:
I'm so 'fussy', I'm working on my own light, because noone makes anything even close to like it, at least in 18650/18500 size.
Oh, and back OT, I hate the extra modes myself. Give me 2-3 brightness modes(lowest no lower that 25%, Mid at 50-75%, High at 100%) with a forward clicky, switching with a full press(time limited), and coming back on at the last level it was turned off at.
swxb12
Flashlight Enthusiast
strobe is great for bikers, and SOS because uh...not everyone knows how to signal SOS. Seriously. maybe your fingers don't work anymore in an accident or something. that could happen too. haha o well
HDS_Systems
Enlightened
Jabe1,
The reason why we added SOS and Emergency strobe (one flash per second) to our flashlight designs over the last 5 years (not accessible in the Ra Twisty) is that many customers find them useful and specifically requested the features be added. Although I have little use for SOS, I have used the Emergency strobe quite a few times to indicate my position and differentiate myself from other people in the area.
As Swxb12 points out, in a true emergency, you want an automatic signal. Start the signal and point it in the direction you think someone is looking. Or set it down pointing in that direction and attend to other things.
The primary thing is that the emergency modes can be accessed without getting in the way of everything else. They may be rarely used, but on the day you need one, they sure are nice to have.
Henry.
The reason why we added SOS and Emergency strobe (one flash per second) to our flashlight designs over the last 5 years (not accessible in the Ra Twisty) is that many customers find them useful and specifically requested the features be added. Although I have little use for SOS, I have used the Emergency strobe quite a few times to indicate my position and differentiate myself from other people in the area.
As Swxb12 points out, in a true emergency, you want an automatic signal. Start the signal and point it in the direction you think someone is looking. Or set it down pointing in that direction and attend to other things.
The primary thing is that the emergency modes can be accessed without getting in the way of everything else. They may be rarely used, but on the day you need one, they sure are nice to have.
Henry.
MrGman
Flashlight Enthusiast
- Joined
- Feb 6, 2007
- Messages
- 1,777
It would still be nice to offer the lights without these flashing modes as a separate model light or pill. I would prefer a light with High/Low/off, second choice would be high/med/low/off. If you can make it with 5 modes you can make it with 2 or 3 just as easily.
If it doesn't interferes with normal operations, then I'm all for it. If it does ... it's annoying, but I'll deal with it. I have at least one light with SOS mode. It's nice to have that as an option in case of emergencies.
Hm. Some people would now cry: 4 brigtness modes? are you _insane_? Hi and low is enough!
And others would THEN say: Hi-and low? I want only On and Off...
No way to do it right for everybody
My personal opinion: I like logarithmic light levels.
Something like 25-40-55 doesnt make sense to me.
1-3-10-30 does.
So if there is a way to quickly jump through modes (like the "tapping" with a p3d), i would like 2 brightness modes per order of magnitude. With the posssibility to start from the top or buttom or the list.
So my ideal LED-light would have about 9 modes:
1l 3l 10l 30l 100l 300l 1000l 3000l 10000l
LED-holic
Flashlight Enthusiast
On my Fenix L1D/L2D, the strobe and SOS are very much appreciated.
This is because at higher lumens, it's hard to tell what mode I'm in.
If I'm in turbo, a quick tap to switch to strobe helps me to confirm that I'm indeed in turbo mode.
In regular low/med/high mode, sometimes it's hard to tell if I'm in Med or High. The SOS mode is a quick indicator to let me know I've cycle through high, and can start at low again.
Both SOS and Turbo are very useful everyday for these purposes, and SOS will be really handy in an emergency situation.
Best of all, SOS / Strobe do not get in the way. :thumbsup:
This is because at higher lumens, it's hard to tell what mode I'm in.
If I'm in turbo, a quick tap to switch to strobe helps me to confirm that I'm indeed in turbo mode.
In regular low/med/high mode, sometimes it's hard to tell if I'm in Med or High. The SOS mode is a quick indicator to let me know I've cycle through high, and can start at low again.
Both SOS and Turbo are very useful everyday for these purposes, and SOS will be really handy in an emergency situation.
Best of all, SOS / Strobe do not get in the way. :thumbsup:
cat
Enlightened
Put them on the separate circuit - so you get low, medium, high, turbo, and strobe and SOS only if you loosen the head.
I don't mind the SOS, I'm using it that way now, but when I was using it on Turbo all the time, the strobe would irritate me.
I don't mind the SOS, I'm using it that way now, but when I was using it on Turbo all the time, the strobe would irritate me.
strobe and sos on a separate circuit sounds right. it's annoyng having to cycle rough them.
Last edited:
this_is_nascar
Flashaholic
I somewhat agree. Somewhere along the way, makers felt that adding all these "extra" gadgets to their lights would make them more appealing to a user. For me, I've nevered used SOS and don't believe I ever will. If I were in a rescue situation, rather than using the light to signal, I'd prefer to use it to get the hell out of the situation I'm in. As far a strobe, sure it's neat and fun to show the friends, but it's useless for me as well. In addition to that, once these makers came up with this type of circuit to perform one task (allow for multiple brightness settings, etc), they had the code space available on the chip, so they figured they might as well use it for something, so along comes these funky modes of operation.
abuhannibal
Newly Enlightened
I am a cop and also a bike rider, so for both purposes I do like to have strobe modes (albeit for different reasons. )
The SOS mode is kind of another matter. If I were lost in the wilderness, I suppose theoretically it could help, but that would depend on whether whomever saw it would recognize the SOS, which is probably highly doubtful. I have been in plenty of "situations" in life, and so far can't think of one where having a light with an SOS mode would have really helped save my butt... it could happen, but on the other hand, we have to cycle through all those modes when we use our lights. It is probably more likely that I would die because some SOB took me out while I was screwing around with my 75 different flashlight modes, which is why I generally like to keep things as simple as possible.
-- Bob
)The SOS mode is kind of another matter. If I were lost in the wilderness, I suppose theoretically it could help, but that would depend on whether whomever saw it would recognize the SOS, which is probably highly doubtful. I have been in plenty of "situations" in life, and so far can't think of one where having a light with an SOS mode would have really helped save my butt... it could happen, but on the other hand, we have to cycle through all those modes when we use our lights. It is probably more likely that I would die because some SOB took me out while I was screwing around with my 75 different flashlight modes, which is why I generally like to keep things as simple as possible.
-- Bob
shame on you for only having one light to use against the SOB..:nana:
you should throw a few 6PD knockoffs at him :duck:
Hit him with the combined output of a Malkoff M60 from your SF C2, and Tk10 (notice how well they work together),
then after sucessfully blinding him, clobber him on the head with a mag 6D,
only then do you take out you P1D, set it to SOS, :candle:
then continue bashing the guy with the 6D, although you may want to switch to a 6PD knockoff, cos the 6D gets tiring after awhile.
:tinfoil:
Crenshaw
Black Rose
Flashlight Enthusiast
I do, but it's solely to annoy my flashlight beam chasing cat :laughing:
Sub_Umbra
Flashlight Enthusiast
Different strokes for different folks...really different.
From the Photon Discussion Board Forum:
"...Among the typical uses you would imagine for the Photon lights, we've also sold quite a few IR P3's (to the military) to be used as IR markers with their strobe function-- to mark positions, etc..."
Bold phrase in parens added for clarity.
I don't think it's much of a stretch to assume that if the military is using IR strobes to mark LZs, etc instead of transporting, equipping and feeding at least one whole 'nother person just so he may sit and manually flash a signal -- that others will use the white models in the same way. This seems simple to me but then again I have to remember that there are some people who can not be convinced to carry a spare tire in their trunk or take their high blood pressure meds or any number of other things...that can't just be explained to them...
Last edited:
Oddjob
Flashlight Enthusiast
I've used strobe mode a couple of times. First was so my wife could find me in the dark at Disneyworld amonst all the other flashing LED's after she got off a ride. She said it was very easy to spot me from afar and I did not look too out of place since all the kids had flashing lights on toys, necklaces etc. The second time was when I was walking down a dark unlit country road at a friend's cottage. I know the cars headlights would have given me ample warning to get out of the way but being seen from afar makes it easier to avoid an accident. I have never uses SOS although I am sure it could come in handy, and as others have said the exta modes are fine as long as they are not part of the regular UI and are accessable through a menu like the HDS or Novatacs. I hate cylcing through modes.
Last edited:
Fallingwater
Flashlight Enthusiast
SOS is useless in lights not explicitly meant for rescue/emergency operation, IMO. Strobe can be occasionally useful.
