4 Lightlevels perfect for EDC ?! What do YOU say?

lumenlover2 · May 19, 2008

After alot of thinking and owning quite a few lights I`ve come to the conclusion that 4 modes (lightlevels , without strobe or sos) are a must and perfect for EDC (every day carry). Not mor not less

.
The reason for me to think so is this.

1. Most everyone want`s a low low for preserving nightvision so that is one mode.

2. Second I want a low mode that still has unbelievable runtime but is more usable for more tasks. That would be the 15-20 lumen range.

3. Third you would want a nice bright mode for a lot of light and decent runtime like maybe 60 lumens for 4 hours or something like that .

4. And last but not least you want to have blinding light to light up the whole forest path maybe in an emergency or you just walk your dog near your house using rechargables and say hey " I want to get as much guilt free lumens out of the latest and greatest Led technology that is possible.

So that is why I really hope the comming HDS clicky will be my ultimate EDC light.

What do you guys think? How many and which levels would you want in an "any possible situation could appear" capable EDC light?

LED-holic · May 19, 2008

Re: 4 Lightlevels perfect for EDC ?! What o YOU say?

Sounds good to me. But you can't please everyone all the time, so some will prefer simple on/off, some will want SOS/Strobe, and some will want only Hi/Lo.

As long as there are lots of choices for all I think it's all good.

gadgetnerd · May 19, 2008

Sounds like you just described a Novatac 120P

lumenlover2 · May 19, 2008

gadgetnerd said:
Sounds like you just described a Novatac 120P

Nope , I wanted a realiable light

!

paulr · May 19, 2008

lumenlover2 said:
After alot of thinking and owning quite a few lights I`ve come to the conclusion that 4 modes (lightlevels , without strobe or sos) are a must and perfect for EDC (every day carry). Not mor not less .
The reason for me to think so is this.

1. Most everyone want`s a low low for preserving nightvision so that is one mode.

That's what a red led is for

2. Second I want a low mode that still has unbelievable runtime but is more usable for more tasks. That would be the 15-20 lumen range.

OK, I'd make it less, like 10 lm

3. Third you would want a nice bright mode for a lot of light and decent runtime like maybe 60 lumens for 4 hours or something like that .

I'd just use full power, 1 hour runtime for this. Use the low mode most of the time.

4. And last but not least you want to have blinding light to light up the whole forest path maybe in an emergency or you just walk your dog near your house using rechargables and say hey " I want to get as much guilt free lumens out of the latest and greatest Led technology that is possible.

This takes a bigger light with a p7 or multiple leds or something, and bigger/more batteries. I think of an edc as a 1x123 or 1xaa light at the largest.

So that is why I really hope the comming HDS clicky will be my ultimate EDC light.

What do you guys think? How many and which levels would you want in an "any possible situation could appear" capable EDC light?

I don't believe in that concept. "Any situation" includes total failure of the light (such as by dropping it down a cliff) so if you really want to be prepared for any situation, you need multiple lights. At that point you might as well specialize their functions somewhat.

Finally you have not said anything a flood beam, handsfree operation, etc.

I'd rather have something like a lunasol (wide low level flood, plus high level with some throw) than a multi level light that just had one beam at different intensity levels. So I'd go for a 3 light system: 1) lunasol; 2) 5mm white led backup (arc aaa or similar); 3) red led photon ii. This is basically what I carry now, except with an aleph mule instead of the lunasol. Then there is a red and a white photon ii on my keys.

lumenlover2 · May 19, 2008

Ok I did not state it but i was thinking about 1 light without any backups in mind. The HDS clicky will probably have the low red option with different beam angle (more flood)

.

half-watt · May 19, 2008

personally, i would prefer five levels (a preference NOT an absolute need).

using two of my 120P's (for me after one year of EDC and multiple daily use - no failures; in my experience, that's reliable - but i'm NOT a LEO or engaged in similar LE/military activities) as an example:

currently my primary 120P and b/u 120P (both EDC'd are, respectively programmed as follows:

0.33 or 0.47 lumen (a low LOW is very nice - amazing what one can see with low-light adapted eyes using only 0.33 to 0.47 lumens)

10 or 15 lumen (when i need to see more, but still have plenty of burntime)

30 or 42 lumen (can easily navigate a leaf covered trail and spot low contrast faded blazes on rocks or tree 30' away).

85 or 120 lumen (when i absolutely, positively must be able to see as far as possible with the 120P)

so, what's missing?

60 lumen for those RARE times when 42 lumen is NOT enough and 120 lumen is overkill

-OR-

85 lumen (this would be my personally preferred fourth of five programmed settings if the 120P had five such directly accessible pre-programmed settings). why? sometimes 120 lumen is just overkill even when needing a lot of light to see clearly and 85 lumen would do just fine. the 120P has so much better burntime on level 21 (85 lumen) vs. the max level, level 22 (120 lumen) that i would probably use it a bit more (but i still want 120 lumen - just in case).

YMMV, but this would be ideal for me. in order to get the 85 lumen setting (plus some extra burntime on the other settings), i EDC two 120P's with one programmed down ONE level on each of the four directly accessible pre-programmed settings, and would probably still do so even if a fifth pre-programmed setting was directly accessible with a button click "gesture"/sequence.

so, if i had a fifth directly/easily accessible pre-programmed setting, the primary and b/u 120P's would be respectively pre-programmed as follow:

0.33 lumen ----- 0.47 lumen
10 lumen ----- 15 lumen
30 lumen ----- 42 lumen
60 lumen ----- 85 lumen
85 lumen ----- 120 lumen

-OR-

0.33 lumen ----- 0.47 lumen
10 lumen ----- 15 lumen
30 lumen ----- 42 lumen
85 lumen ----- 85 lumen
120 lumen ----- 120 lumen

as y'all can easily see, there is a madness to my method!!

lumenlover2 · May 19, 2008

paulr said:
I don't believe in that concept. "Any situation" includes total failure of the light (such as by dropping it down a cliff) quote]

Paint it GID if you think so :nana:

lctorana · May 19, 2008

What do I say?

That's 3 levels too many.

lumenlover2 · May 19, 2008

Now that`s constructive ictorana :devil:

Have you understood what any possible situation means?

LED-holic · May 19, 2008

This thread proves "perfect" is a subjective term, and it's impossible to please everyone with any single type of UI.

lumenlover2 · May 19, 2008

LED-holic said:
This thread proves "perfect" is a subjective term, and it's impossible to please everyone with any single type of UI.

Noted* so let`s take the majority after everyone has made their claim and that will be the best solution like in a good democracy:kiss:

LED-holic · May 19, 2008

lumenlover2 said:
Noted* so let`s take the majority after everyone has made their claim and that will be the best solution like in a good democracy:kiss:

I think that's what the manufacturers have done so far. Fenix, SureFire, Novatac, etc all obviously have developed what they think their consumer base considers most desirable and sell these lights.

Of course in the quest for constant improvement there will always be adjustments and tweaks. As consumers we can enjoy the constant new products and UIs. :popcorn:

lumenlover2 · May 19, 2008

LED-holic said:
I think that's what the manufacturers have done so far. Fenix, SureFire, Novatac, etc all obviously have developed what they think their consumer base considers most desirable and sell these lights.

Of course in the quest for constant improvement there will always be adjustments and tweaks. As consumers we can enjoy the constant new products and UIs.

+1

gadgetnerd · May 19, 2008

lumenlover2 said:
Nope , I wanted a realiable light !

You were talking about light levels, not reliability levels... But I have to agree, a Ra clicky built as tough as the twisty, but with a Novatac-like UI, will be pretty hard to beat.

tebore · May 19, 2008

Sounds like the Original HDS EDC to me. My SSC updated B42 is programmed for ~0.2 lm low which I tested to run for 17 days (with a non-fully charged MP Cell).
Secondary is set to ~5lm(~10 hour runtime), Primary ~42lm(~1 hour), max ~120lm(20mins).

I haven't actually measured this light but comparing it to a NT 120P the HDS is brighter. But to keep it simple I just say max is 120lm and re-rated the lower levels using the old HDS formula.

I say the nice thing about the HDS EDC is if you need SOS and strobe it's there but you won't run in to it switching levels.

lumenlover2 · May 19, 2008

gadgetnerd said:
You were talking about light levels, not reliability levels... But I have to agree, a Ra clicky built as tough as the twisty, but with a Novatac-like UI, will be pretty hard to beat.

Yes to everything you said sir.

chaoss · May 19, 2008

lumenlover2 said:
Nope , I wanted a realiable light !

BOTH of my 120's are reliable and one is carried/used daily. That said, the RA with a clicky and carry clip will be hard to pass up.

Rossymeister · May 19, 2008

I could go with just 3 levels in my lights:

1st-Around .08 lumens for navigation around the house at night.

2nd-Around 30 lumens for general household use

3rd-120 lumens for outdoor use

And i have found this flexibility in my NovaTac 120P.

Oddjob · May 19, 2008

I personally like three levels. The Ra Twisty is actually how I had my 85p programmed to before it was released.

4 Lightlevels perfect for EDC ?! What do YOU say?

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