DO you find the P1D CE's SOS mode too slllooowwww!

Boy! I don't like the tempo of the SOS mode. I am skeptical about its usefulness when you are in a state of extreme distress. My SOS mode in my Inova 24/7 is much effective.

From what I hear it's very slow, but I bet it will flash for days on 1 battery because of it.

I see it as a useless gimmick.

c_c

Hey, if you are ever stranded someplace......any aircraft pilot knows what the SOS signal means and you will get help if you use this feature. For an EDC light, I think it is very cool to have. If the poor fellow who just perished in Oregon because he was lost had this light with the SOS feature, I bet he would be alive right now. BTW, the official SOS signal is not a fast blink at all, it is pretty darn slow. I will take this gimmick on my light any day!!!!!!

It's unfortunate that Fenix did not follow the international standards for the SOS signal. That's one of the nice things about my old Arc 4+. Peter Gransee made the effort to get the SOS signal just right.

If someone was looking for you, you would be much better off using the Strobe mode, because the 10-seconds-of-dark pause between repeats of the SOS mode would make it very easy to miss you...

I also question how long it would run, as the "dashes" are lengthy, and presumably full brightness. My guess is less than a dozen hours or so of SOS run-time, not days.

I have the same SOS mode in my L0-Ti, and it seriously sux.

hivoltage said:

Hey, if you are ever stranded someplace......any aircraft pilot knows what the SOS signal means and you will get help if you use this feature. For an EDC light, I think it is very cool to have. If the poor fellow who just perished in Oregon because he was lost had this light with the SOS feature, I bet he would be alive right now. BTW, the official SOS signal is not a fast blink at all, it is pretty darn slow. I will take this gimmick on my light any day!!!!!!

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I think you rely way too much on your flashlight if you think that would have saved you in James Kims (RIP)situation. A flashlight is a tool that have to be used accordingly, it's not a miracle life saver. A compass or heavier clothing would have been much more usefull than a flashlight.

And even then the strobe would have been better as an attention getter in that case, since people we're out looking for them, and already knew that they were in distress.

Well, not everyone can read Morse code at 100 wpm!



Toshi

hivoltage said:

BTW, the official SOS signal is not a fast blink at all, it is pretty darn slow. ......

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Are you sure about this? Any reference would be appreciated.

IIRC it should be around 3 seconds long.

.
To answer your thread title question ................................ YES

BTW ... it speeds up when a 3.7v rechargeable is used .
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Lobo said:

I think you rely way too much on your flashlight if you think that would have saved you in James Kims (RIP)situation. A flashlight is a tool that have to be used accordingly, it's not a miracle life saver. A compass or heavier clothing would have been much more usefull than a flashlight.

And even then the strobe would have been better as an attention getter in that case, since people we're out looking for them, and already knew that they were in distress.

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Exactly.

Proper clothing, food, water and a GPS is the way to go in that situation. A pilot flying at cruise speeds in a fixed wind aircraft must have the eyes of an eagle to see a signal from a flashlight on the ground.

FsTop said:

If someone was looking for you, you would be much better off using the Strobe mode.

I have the same SOS mode in my L0-Ti, and it seriously sux.

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Darn right!

Anyone tested the runtime in strobe mode?

Otherwise, I find that its a great little light!

Federal Code

Apparently, the Coast Guard has specific guidelines for an automatic SOS on boats. In order for a light to meet this requirement, it must behave as follows:

Federal Code 46CFR161.013-7 said:

Subpart 161.013_Electric Distress Light for Boats

Sec. 161.013-7 Signal requirements.

(a) An electric light must have a flash characteristic of the International Morse Code for S-O-S and, under design conditions,

(1) Each short flash must have a duration of 1/3 second;
(2) Each long flash must have a duration of 1 second;
(3) The dark period between each short flash must have a duration of 1/3 second;
(4) The dark period between each long flash must have a duration of 1/3 second;
(5) The dark period between each letter must have a duration of 2 seconds;
(6) The dark period between each S-O-S signal must have a duration of 3 seconds.
​

(b) The flash characteristics described in paragraph (a) must be produced automatically when the signal is activated.

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Does the P1D CE meet these requirements?

(I'm sure you are allowed to carry lights that don't meet these requirements. But, I'll bet that certain types of boats must have at least one light on board that does meet these requirements, or possibly one or more signalling devices chosen from a list that includes such a light.)

Skyline said:

It's unfortunate that Fenix did not follow the international standards for the SOS signal. That's one of the nice things about my old Arc 4+. Peter Gransee made the effort to get the SOS signal just right.

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Exactly. Ignorance by Fenix is no excuse.

Outdoors Fanatic said:

Exactly.

. A pilot flying at cruise speeds in a fixed wind aircraft must have the eyes of an eagle to see a signal from a flashlight on the ground.

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I disagree, If its dark and clear and you are in the middle of no-where with no other lights around then a pilot would be able to see a decent strobe. The human eye can see a candle at a mile.

The SOS mode is too slow. Speed it up by a factor of 2 and it will resemble the coast Guard spec. The time between signals is definitely too long.
I don't think that Fenix would have a tough time setting this in future lights.
Yaesumofo

Hey...I didnt say I would lay my life on the strobe function of the light....all I was saying is if I had the choice to have it or nor I would take it. It's better than turning on and off by hand. If you buy this light and ever get stranded.....DO NOT use the strobe....whatever floats your boat!!!! LOL

I have not seen a P1D CE in person. Even if its SOS did meet the signal requirements US Coast Guard, it would still not meet all the standards for Electric Distress Light for Boats.

These are some of the requirements. To be approved, the device must float with the lens above the water. If the device doubles as a flashlight it must automatically return to the SOS when the switch/button is released. The SOS must be repeated at a rate of between 3 and 5 times per minute even after six hours of continuous runtime.

They have a bunch more requirements. For the most part, Night Visual Distress Signal devices are single purpose items.

http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&sid=93b02627c5029d866731a07c1adb259c&rgn=div6&view=text&node=46:6.0.1.2.3.8&idno=46

Yes. I actually thought the light broke and then I was blinded. Won't do that again. There was a looooong pause between the SOS signal.


rob