Ease of use and useable light - From a newbie to a newbie

Last night I needed to go into the closet in my bedroom after my wife and son had gone to sleep. First thought - pick out a flashlight. Choices are my new L2D I got for Christmas, or my trusty Brinkman 3W I've had for years. I have to say, regardless of the facts that it's fairly bulky by today's standards, it's not the brightest, and it's direct drive, that has been a great trusty friend. I digress.

I was going to be walking into the dark room, into the walkin closet, closing the door behind me so I did not wake them up by making noise, and then firing up the flashlight of choice. My instinct was I needed about a medium or high on the L2D. My next thought was I would have to loosen it, turn it on, then click my heels twice to reach my goal. I picked up the Brinkman and went on my way.

I love the L2D, I really do. But the point of my story is to share with others what I feel is a real life example of having a light with a UI that fits your needs, and reasonable lumens. I knew turbo would blind me when I turned it on in the dark closet, and I just wasn't in the mood to twist, click, half click, half click again, and hope I don't overshoot the half clicks and end up on the sorry SOS only to have to go through the sequence again.

For my personal preferences, my next ideal light would be a two mode only, first to low (maybe about 60-100 lumens) and then high (max of 200-300 lumens). This would really fit a lot of my needs very well.

Thanks for reading.
Mike

I usual keep my fenix light stored with the head loose, i.e. a single click will turn them on on low. If I can see I need more light, I just do a half-press to step up a level or fasten the head on my TK models.

For me this UI is very useable and dependable.

Ahhh, the troubles of us flasaholics. A mortal man would reach for the closet light switch...but not us. We have to think...how can I do this closet thing :thinking:

It sounds like the upcoming Surefire LX2 would be a good fit for you. Or for that matter, the L1 or A2 or L2 or LX1 or LX2 or A2L or A2Z or M3L or M3LT. Or even the current generation E1L or E2L. Surefire does the two-level interface brilliantly.

See "two stage twisty" a little further down the page: http://cpf.carrot.googlepages.com/flashlight_guide#twisty

HKJ said:

I usual keep my fenix light stored with the head loose, i.e. a single click will turn them on on low. If I can see I need more light, I just do a half-press to step up a level or fasten the head on my TK models.

For me this UI is very useable and dependable.

Click to expand...

You're absolutely right, just as the manual tranny in my Maxima is very useable and dependable. Sometimes though you just want to get in and press the gas. I have no qualms with the L2D.

You could also go down the route of getting a programmable light such as a LiteFlux, Novatac or JetBeam I.B.S. (to name a few examples) and program it so that it comes on in low by default.

Personally, for those late night bathroom or kitchen runs where I just need a low level of light so I do not kill my dark adapted eyes or disturb others around the house I keep a D10 or EX10 on the headboard and I just remember to set it to low before I go to sleep. Some people criticize the NiteCore SmartPD series for not having a user-defined level but I love the simplicity of it just remembering what was the last level it was at. Whenever I want it to come on in low mode I just turn the light on, double-tap to set it to low and then turn it off secure in the knowledge that when I next turn it on it will be at low. And the low on the D10 / EX10 is a "real" low mode. I love my Fenix lights but the low just does not go as low as I want it to go.

A simple two mode light in the output range that you suggested would be the EagleTac lights. I have the EagleTac T10C and on low it is advertised at ~60 lumens and on high it is advertised at ~220 lumens. IIRC their two-cell lights (P10C2, T10C2) have the same low but the high is advertised at ~295 lumens.

I also keep a Nitecore D10 (with a water bottle cap diffuser) next to my bed. I usually remember to set it to low when I go to bed, but if in doubt, it's easy to cover the bezel, turn it on and double-click to low. Then, if you need more light, just ramp it up to what you need or click-hold for high.

But, since your wish list for you next light is two modes and 60-300 lumens, +1 on the EagleTac T10C2. It has two modes and a simple UI - loosen for low, tighten for high. Low is 60 lumens and high is 295. It's a great light - especially for the price.

my 2 cents...

for a general around the house light... i think one of the best UI's (if not the best...) is the Jet I IBS... can use a wide range of batteries... alkys... to lithiums... to 14500....

3 programmable modes... PLUS... the bonus is ... it always turns on on the setting #1... and cycles thru... no surprises... my usual settings for my IBS is:

setting 1: lowest (for those bathrooms trips at night)
setting 2: 20~25% (enough light for most things... and decent runtimes...)
setting 3: max (when you want to wow someone....)

(i must confess tho... i don't have Jet 1 IBS at the moment... but i do have a Jet 3 Pro ST... and a Jet 2 IBS Pro.. and it's the same UI)

KraZy

If I think a light will be to bright, I just cover it with my hand and let a little light through my fingers. Not fancy but effective! lol:laughing:

kicken_bright said:

If I think a light will be to bright, I just cover it with my hand and let a little light through my fingers. Not fancy but effective! lol:laughing:

Click to expand...

Hey! I've got of those manual diffuser kits too. I should use it more. :nana:

was.lost.but.now.found said:

But the point of my story is to share with others what I feel is a real life example of having a light with a UI that fits your needs, and reasonable lumens.

Click to expand...

+1

i'm a newbie too, i use a Streamlight Sidewinder as my bedside light. 4 levels: starts @ 5% - 20% - 50% - 100% = 20 lumens maximum ---> Woo-Hoo! more than enough in a pitch black room!

what you call 'reasonable lumens' is what the military calls 'light discipline' :green:

and thanks to CPF i deciphered the acronym KISS, keep it simple stoopid :laughing:

i'm dreaming about a 2x18650 with a Malkoff warm tint, low output, flood module for the perfect outdoors walking light. if only i had the dough... i would get the programmable ArcLS too - 3 levels of user definable modes!

*sigh

Even though I have numerous multi-level lights I still often have my old Gerber Infinity Ultra on my night stand. Even though it has a blue tint, it is low and floody enough to navigate the house at night, it is a simple twist on, and it is small and light enough to mouth hold the odd time. Just because something is old or "outdated" it doesn't mean it is still not useful.