Ever had a moment you wish you had used your light but didn't?

Have any of you ever had a moment you wish you had used your light but didn't?

The other day I was walking back from work (it's dark out, I work at a grocery store that closes late) and I saw someone trying to find something they had dropped in tall grass using what appeared to be a very dim minimag (like, as bright as a solitaire.. maybe it WAS a solitaire). He looked pretty stressed.

Since I was carrying a lot of stuff with me (I'd done some shopping) and felt really tired I just passed by... I could have whipped out my P1D-CE and helped but I didn't...

zipplet said:

He looked pretty stressed.

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yea he dropped his drugs good job not helpin :twothumbs

I've had times i wished i HAD a flashlight on me, but now i edc and it gets used a LOT.

I was at a theater and the movie was ending. Someone further down my row started to look down at the floor for something. I hesitated for a moment. I had my WE Sniper with 170-lumen Cree on me, but that sucker's hotspot is really intense and has a bright spillbeam, too. I was thinking I'd feel sort of self-concious lighting up his feet with such bright light. Well, the guy quickly found what he was looking for before I had much time to think, but it was an interesting experience.

Actually, I often walk out to my front lawn in the evenings and just observe the neighborhood for a few minutes. Not looking for anything particular, but just to see what's going on. I use my Milky M360 with nFlex, but mostly on the lowest setting. I'll briefly crank it up to full power to do things like look for dog poop on the far edges of my lawn (actually, LED isn't the best to see dog droppings, especially at distance). When I got my Sniper and fired it up outside, I remember feeling that it was too bright in my neighborhood of closely spaced houses. I just feel like it really attracts attention. So I'm back to using my M360 on low for my nightly constitutional.

SubUmbra a while ago brought up the topic of "light culture". I've come to realize that I lean towards less or just enough amounts of light, rather than overpowering amounts of light. Being able to set paper on fire or be seen by the Space Shuttle from orbit doesn't really interest me. In fact, I guess I'd feel rather self-concious ever using lights like that. Maybe I should get into NVG? Noooo, not another money-pit of a hobby!!! :laughing:

OceanView said:

SubUmbra a while ago brought up the topic of "light culture". I've come to realize that I lean towards less or just enough amounts of light, rather than overpowering amounts of light. Being able to set paper on fire or be seen by the Space Shuttle from orbit doesn't really interest me. In fact, I guess I'd feel rather self-concious ever using lights like that.

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This is a strange world. Not long ago I was longing for really bright lights, and nowadays I find it more difficult to find a good *dim* light than a good bright light. For many purposes even the low settings on some popular lights like the Fenix L1D or the LOD CE isn't really low enough. Try using the low setting of the Fenix in a theatre or when going to the bathroom at night and you'll see what I mean.

That's why I like the HDS so much - I can set the levels low enough to meet my needs.

Hans

We might be veering off topic here, but I agree that too much light can make you feel a little self conscious. It's like you light up an entire dark area with anything over 30 lumens, and people are like "WTF?!" It's already strange enough trying to justify carrying a flashlight in your pocket to the unenlightened let alone flicking on 100+ lumens in a situation that doesn't warrant such output levels. I draw no strange looks when I use my Fauxton as it is quite familiar to the general public.

Yes, When we were young the police were chasing us and spotted a flashlight

Supernam said:

We might be veering off topic here, but I agree that too much light can make you feel a little self conscious. It's like you light up an entire dark area with anything over 30 lumens, and people are like "WTF?!" It's already strange enough trying to justify carrying a flashlight in your pocket to the unenlightened let alone flicking on 100+ lumens in a situation that doesn't warrant such output levels. I draw no strange looks when I use my Fauxton as it is quite familiar to the general public.

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I agree - I have had odd looks before for firing up my L2D-CE on turbo outside - I think people are just amazed by how bright the thing is and assume you are either a police officer or are plain crazy!

These days I use medium mode most of the time outside and I will bump up to high or turbo later at night especially if I want to see further ahead.

Supernam said:

We might be veering off topic here, but I agree that too much light can make you feel a little self conscious. It's like you light up an entire dark area with anything over 30 lumens, and people are like "WTF?!" It's already strange enough trying to justify carrying a flashlight in your pocket to the unenlightened let alone flicking on 100+ lumens in a situation that doesn't warrant such output levels. I draw no strange looks when I use my Fauxton as it is quite familiar to the general public.

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Heheh....yea, +1. Every once in a while, I, in an over-zealous attempt to exploit the capabilities of my flashlight, fire it up, only to find out that my reaction is a bit socially unacceptable. I.e. "I can't seen to find my keys in the dark." Next thing that person knows, their room is being flooded by 320 lumens :naughty: Oh well...helps find the keys :laughing: