Can someone explain to me the use of a light that makes <10 lumens?

I bought an Arc-AAA back when they first came out (like, before the anodizing was any good), and it output 3-5 lumens if I remember correctly. It was nice, but too dim to be of much use. Then I got an Arc-P with a Nichia DS LED, which output ~9 lumens, and I used that to work on my car's engine for years (at night) before I lost it. Now, obviously, I have much brighter lights -- and yet, there are plenty of people on here clamoring for "low" settings on multi-mode lights that go as low as 1-2 lumens! What on earth could that possibly be useful for?

Once your eyes are adjusted to the dark, a VERY LOW low can be all that is needed.

Some people use it to not ruining theit night vision. Other people just like the fact they can run the flashlight for many days.

Personally I wont mind if a light doesnt have a low low, a good low for me is about 60 lumens. I'd rather have a higher high :twothumbs

Well for one how about your in a movie theater, Bus. airplane, and you drop something, the wife needs something from her purse, and don't want to blind and **** every one off or checking on your kids at night and you don't want to wake them..........

Sometimes less is more. Use a light that is too bright, and you are night blind for the next 20 minutes. It also saves blinding yourself on a late night bathroom run.

Outdoors at night, if you use >10 lumens, you can see only what your light illuminates. If you use <3 lumens or nothing, your eyes can see EVERYTHING.

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong runtimes.

I guess I just have really good night vision then. I can walk around the house in pitch-dark and be fine. (someone told me it has something to do with having unusually-dark brown irises, but I have no idea if that's accurate.)

I also sleep with an eye mask, so when I get up in the middle of the night the ambient light that soaks through the blinds might as well be a bright nightlight.

I guess I can see how it could be of use while hunting or something, but isn't that what they make red filters for?

carbine15 said:

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong runtimes.

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Which is useful how, unless you live in a cave, where you could use a tiny amount of light for a long stretch of time?

I use the lowest setting on my novatac for getting to bedroom/bathroom when my wife is sleeping. It's not bright enough to wake her. It's also great for camping, spend a few hours around a campfire and 10 lumens is blinding. Other than that I use higher settings for everything else.

deusexaethera said:

I guess I just have really good night vision then. I can walk around the house in pitch-dark and be fine. (someone told me it has something to do with having unusually-dark brown irises, but I have no idea if that's accurate.)

I also sleep with an eye mask, so when I get up in the middle of the night the ambient light that soaks through the blinds might as well be a bright nightlight.

I guess I can see how it could be of use while hunting or something, but isn't that what they make red filters for?

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Must have never slept in a house with young children. No matter how good your night vision, it only takes tripping once on toys and smacking your shin to realize it's good to use a dim light to navigate through the house at night.

I use the lowest level (.08 lumens) on my Novatac every night when I'm checking around the house before I go to bed and everyone else is sleeping. Sometimes I wish it could go even lower. If that were it's only level then it would be useless for other things. I use it at 15 to 20 lumens the most.

Loooooooooooong runtimes can come in handy after a Hurricane when you don't have power for a loooooooooooooooooooong time. I've found that out!

Looking at the program during your daughter's dance recital to see when she comes on. Absolutely when I want to go in my son's room in the dark without stepping on something painful. I was just reading the thread about how bright lights are useless for camping and that's usually true also.

deusexaethera said:

I guess I just have really good night vision then. I can walk around the house in pitch-dark and be fine. (someone told me it has something to do with having unusually-dark brown irises, but I have no idea if that's accurate.)

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If you live near an urban area, there's enough light scattering at night that it really isn't "pitch dark".

I didn't fully understand the need for a .3 lumen setting on my HDS B 42 XR GT either until I needed to use a light in VERY dark conditions when I didn't want to call attention to myself or disturb others.

I only wish my Connexion, Angel A and Nitecore Extreme had such a low setting.

I could tell you, but I'd have to kill you

Seriously, I would guess that having an LED lamp with extensive runtime, and high reliablity, whilst dim, could be very useful for some military types. They use those trasers which are dim as fook.

Oh yeah, and when they've snuck up on the enemy, they can engage high powered strobe mode, and lol.

I could use a light that lasts forever with minimal brightness for emergency purposes when other lights have failed.

If you don't understand the usefulness of a low-low, then you only use your flashlight in a very small spectrum of its possible use. What do I mean?

Having a low low means has all these advantages:
- Long Runtime. This is good in an emergency situation or when you don't have tons of batteries (power outage, natural disaster, camping/hiking)
- Use your light without drawing attention to yourself or disturbing others
- In true darkness (such as navigating inside a tent), <10 lumens is plenty to illuminate short distances while not ruining your night adapted vision. Your house or bedroom is not pitch dark. Heck, my digital alarm clock lights up the room enough that I can see at 0:dark 30 in the morning.
- It's hard to read (book or map) with a light pushing out even 10-15 lumens ... much less 60.

So, if the above isn't important for to you - you're just using your flashlights in specific situations (like working on engines) and not thinking about or using them for OTHER things like reading a map at night.

Remember - "brightness" to the eyes is all relative. The closer you get to pitch darkness, the more useful 1 lumen becomes. Example - 1 lumen under a street light at night isn't even noticeable, while 1 lumen in a cave is a life saver.

I tend to use red leds for night trips to the can.

But I put on my H30 on low when I go into my room and read a while on medium.

I just found out my new P7 Mag with an 8 level driver has a mighty low low!

greenLED said:

If you live near an urban area, there's enough light scattering at night that it really isn't "pitch dark".

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Not to mention the number of gadgets around the average house that have led's on them.

Bottom line is some people have a need or find a use for low lows. Whatever works.

I still keep an old ARC aaa light on my keychain. Sometimes one of my kids will want to read in the car at night and I don't want to hand them my Sure-fire. Just to bright for that type of situation. They'd shine it all over the car and blind all of us.

The low level of light is perfect for reading in the dark without distracting other drivers or me while I'm driving.

I have other very low output lights I use for walking around the house at night for snack runs and trips to the bathroom.

Also keep a Fenix L0D in my pocket at all times. Long run times are great if the power goes out. I can tailstand the Fenix in low mode.


Brad

Yeah, people have a lot of reasons but I have never needed any extra light to get to the toilet so far. Remember, you are on a flashlight forum and it's kind of like the 10th dimension.