How much light is TOO much light in a pocket EDC?

I plan on picking up either a M2 or Strion for my 3rd shift maintenance/light security job and something with 2 stages+, like the L2T or a mod of some type for my EDC that would also backup my 3rd shift light.

I plan to purchase a P1 or something similar to attach to my work key ring just to have another light on me.

I've picked up some good info here for what to get for my other lights but I'm wondering how much light is TO much light in a pocket/keychain EDC?

The lights I like are the AAA-P or the Fenix L0P, L1P, Civictor V1 and P1. For an enclosed or tight workspace, or even wriing up reports late at night, are the Fenix lights to bright to be useful? Would the AAA-P would perform better in these situations? Also, how does the real world Fenix battery run times compare to the AAA-P?

Re: How much light is TO much light in a pocket EDC?

you asking US what to much is why would you think that, we would ever think, there was ever to much ?
there is a time for everything though.
RUNTIME, your light runs to hot, if you run out of battery to quick, or if you run out of that ammobox of spares your draging behind you .

and in the dark, when its totally dark out, lights can be to much, blow out your dark adapation. that is where the superbright red light comes in handy or control of the light, levels or something. even if you have to put your finger in front of the light to slow it down a bit.

really though on the trail out in the woods, with no streetlights 1/2 a watt of white led light can be to much, you can see what your aiming at, but everything else (that could be just as important) kinda dissapears. adapting to the dark take a full 10 minutes.

Re: How much light is TO much light in a pocket EDC?

jernan001 said:

The lights I like are the AAA-P or the Fenix L0P, L1P, Civictor V1 and P1. For an enclosed or tight workspace, or even wriing up reports late at night, are the Fenix lights to bright to be useful? Would the AAA-P would perform better in these situations? Also, how does the real world Fenix battery run times compare to the AAA-P?

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In an enclosed workspace, the L1P, Civictor V1 and P1 would be too much light unless you stand it up on the table and bounce the light off the ceiling, or the like. The L0P I think would be the worst choice because of the short run-times and lower output. The other Fenix's are probably going to be too short on the run-times also if you're going to need them very much during the night. They all will be in the 2-3 hr. run-time range.

The Arc-P AAA runtime will be somewhere in the 6-8 hr. range, more if you use a Lithium batt. It'll put out plenty of light for paperwork, but there may be a problem directing it where you want it to go as you may need to have it shining directly at your work.. But that should be something you'd be able to remedy.

Re: How much light is TO much light in a pocket EDC?

The L1T will give you great runtimes on low and decent output on high. Since you will have a Strion with you, the L1T would be great as a less blinding light with two output levels. The L2T is about the same but almost twice as bright (and longer)

Re: How much light is TO much light in a pocket EDC?

An EDC 'produces too much light' when battery life is too short or when you worry about how often you have to change batteries or if you don't like the attention it draws to you when you put it on.

Re: How much light is TO much light in a pocket EDC?

I am starting to like variable brightness lights, they offer best of both worlds, from super bright to super long runtime and a whole range in between. There are several small variable brightness lights to choose, Fenix T series, Firefly, chamelion, Lionheart are some that come to mind.

AlexGT

Re: How much light is TO much light in a pocket EDC?

eebowler said:

An EDC 'produces too much light' when battery life is too short or when you worry about how often you have to change batteries or if you don't like the attention it draws to you when you put it on.

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Its also too much light when it fries your retinas and gives you a migraine headache because its way too bright for close-up work.

In darkness, a Fenix P1 for example is too bright for reading a book, looking at your watch, etc. JMO. I'm a fan of the Arc AAA for close-up work, but there are plenty of others.

Another good, but somewhat pricey, small variable output light is the Photon Proton.

cheers

Re: How much light is TO much light in a pocket EDC?

Not so much which specific flashlight you should get, but more a flashlight philosophy (which seems to change daily). I prefer to have too much light than not enough because one never knows when a little more light is needed. Even in small quarters, dark surfaces don't reflect particularly well so, again, more light is often needed. Also, I prefer multiple single level flashlights rather than one multi-level flashlight, but that's a personal preference and a discussion for another thread.

If runtime is a true concern, I don't think that an 1xAAA flashlight is the way to go when, for not that much increase in size, a 1xAA can offer three times the runtime at similar, if not increased, brightness. The Inova X1 produces about eight nominal lumens for a reviewed eight hours to 50% with a looong, slow discharge beyond that. If your eyes are completely dark adapted, those eight or so lumens will be a lot - you'll find yourself "cupping" the flashlight to reduce output to keep your eyes from being scorched and from loosing your night vision.

If you're in and out of light during your night shift, your eyes will not likely be fully dark adapted, if at all, so the modest output of the X1 will seem just that, modest. For those occasions, when more light is needed, the Inova X5 produces approximately 25 lumens in a very nice semi flood that does a heck of a job lighting up a task space for about five hours at near constant brightness and reviewed at over six hours to 50%. As a two CR123 flashlight, the X5 is very EDCable along with the X1 for a very good working combination.

73
dim

Re: How much light is TO much light in a pocket EDC?

There isnt an absolute rule of "too bright" simply because there is no limit to how bright EDC lights can be or what type of light to EDC, there is only "not bright enough"

Howver, your pic of EDC lights reflect your application and situation...

Re: How much light is TO much light in a pocket EDC?

Never too much light, just too little purpose for too much light Which is why I carry a dual brightness Nuwai TM-301X-3. I usually just need the low output most of the time but have used the high some too. I've had it for a few months and it's still on it's first set of batteries.

Re: How much light is TO much light in a pocket EDC?

Seriously, for close up work as you described above, yeah, the Fenix lights are a bit bright. If you need to maintain your night vision, a LP1 shon on a white page will more or less blind you for a bit. The Arc AAA (if that's what you choose) would be more appropriate. The Fenix lights are more of a medium range set of light when there's a lot of dark.

Modding the LP1's switch to have two brightness levels is a possability if you'd like. Check here

Yeah, the extra light output is appealing but I certainly don't want to blind myself. Looking into a mod of some type right now.

I fell into the ARC P trap after reading many stories from the ARC P fans. (Almost Cultist) I can see why people like them.... But I can't seem to get it to work for me.

What I don't like about it:

- Low power output. Seems like perfect output for only about 20% of my tasks.
- Light is very blue. I couldn't read with it for along time before getting a headache.

What I like about it:

- Size
- Build quality is excellent
- Anodizing is awesome.

Maybe the answer for me is the Miller Mod upgrade.

The ARC guys will always bring up the 5-6-8 hour runtime..... which is great if you use that output of light for that many hours at a time. I'm sure if I was a tent camper it would be great for that.

What I have found is that in my daily use I only really use an EDC type light for short bursts which maybe total 10 minutes a day or when working on location at night I might use up 30 minutes total.
That been said.... My answer has been rechargeable batteries. I just charge every few days and if I run out of charge, I just put in a Primary Cell.

I like the output level of the P1, L2P and JetBeam. The other lights I keep in my bag are the Surefire L2 ans E2E both on rechargeable. Primary Cells have become secondary cells for me.

Another reason the ARC doesn't work for me is that I HATE to carry my keys with me all the time. My keychain has about 30 keys on it and it just stays in my bag. I put a Photon light on every set of car/truck keys.

I guess my point is to the original poster who will use his lights nightly for a security job..... Rechargeables.


frisco

frisco said:

I fell into the ARC P trap after reading many stories from the ARC P fans. (Almost Cultist) I can see why people like them.... But I can't seem to get it to work for me.

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Unfortunately, lots of people judge a light on the emotions it gives them, rather than the objective measures of performance.

To me, it's too much light when the design severely limits the practical runtime due to heat buildup.

amanichen said:

Unfortunately, lots of people judge a light on the emotions it gives them, rather than the objective measures of performance.

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Do you judge a girl by the emotions she gives you, or by measuring the size of her. . . oh never mind. we all do that

Sgaterboy said:

Do you judge a girl by the emotions she gives you, or by measuring the size of her. . . oh never mind. we all do that

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Wow, nice trolling there buddy. :thumbsdow

amanichen said:

Unfortunately, lots of people judge a light on the emotions it gives them, rather than the objective measures of performance.

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Who the heck are you to characterize as emotional and unfortunate the criteria the rest of us use?

powernoodle said:

Who the heck are you to characterize as emotional and unfortunate the criteria the rest of us use?

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Don't turn this into a "Me vs the rest of you" issue, because it's not.

Look around CPF, I'm not characterizing anybody, they act they way they act. I see lots of lights purchased for way too much money (some lights are expensive by nature, but others are simply overpriced), with "features" like 39 different strobe modes, and a horrible form factor that's bloatedly bigger than the batteries it carries. I see mint condition lights from years past being sold at full price even when their performance has been superseded by newer, and cheaper models. But, for some reason, those people still get a satisfaction out of their purchases. If people want to use such a method for buying a light then it's quite their collective choice, and they're free to do it. I'm just saying that even with objective data available people still buy lights based on feelings. Nothing wrong with having an opinion, but I can't say I agree with it. I, and many other people, just prefer to use criteria such as battery type, runtime curve, form factor and price in deciding on lights.

This is as OT as I'll drag this thread...

Back on topic. jernan, did you check out the link for the mod? The great thing about it is that you can select whatever low mode you want.