Anyone else here find more lumens better, always?

I seem to have a trait few CPFers share: I like lummens, at all times. My new 470 OTF lummen SST 50\L2p is amazing. I bought a 3 level, figuring I would use low around the house, medium around the yard, and high for hiking\looking for my cat.

Well, I was wrong. I use high EVERYWHERE. And yes, I mean everywhere - not just using the bathroom at night, but looking for stuff in my closet, exainiming things close up, etc. etc. I don't worry about night vision; I just light up everything. I find myself wishing I had gone for a 1 mode 2.8A instead of a 3 mode 2.5A.

The only possible reason I would use mid or low is somewhere where I'll have to use it a few hours without a source of power (i.e. camping); but since I use it around the home a lot, I don't see that happening very often.

Anyone else out there like having a LOT of light ALL of the time?

Re: Anyone else here find more lummens better, always?

Affirmative.

The older I get, the more light I need to see by.

Re: Anyone else here find more lummens better, always?

Nope. I use the lowest possible level I can get by with and only occasionaly use high.

Re: Anyone else here find more lummens better, always?

I'm not gonna lie, I've searched my basement closet with an M4 before... I think it was overkill, like shooting a squirrel with a .308.
I do like very low lows though, and medium brightness, they serve their purpose.

Re: Anyone else here find more lummens better, always?

I'm young, with good eyesite. And I still like to light up every shadow. I could easily see myself using double or even quadruple the light around the house. It's just handy - no beaming a dim hotspot the size of a quarter around the room (I hate when TV shows do that) - just hit the button, and even the largest room is bright as can be thanks to reflection.

Re: Anyone else here find more lummens better, always?

JaguarDave-in-Oz said:

Affirmative. The older I get, the more light I need to see by.

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+1 Exactly!

Why have 'not enough light" when you can easily have enough? For most of my uses, a penlight in a shirt pocket or a little light on a keychain is adequate. But there's no reason not to have more close at hand. Just a few hours ago, my wife grabbed a 400 lumen Peak Night Patrol to hunt for a lost TV remote. I'm sure the thought that less light might have sufficed never crossed her mind.

This thread is a good reminder that there's a whole new world in the HID subforum for old, blind geezers like me.

Re: Anyone else here find more lummens better, always?

As far as I can tell, there are 2 reasons for a dimmer light vs. a brighter one: runtime, and blinding yourself at close distances. Around the house runtime is moot, and from what I can tell it takes a whole lot more then 470 lummens to blind yourself at anything over 1 foot.

Re: Anyone else here find more lummens better, always?

i completely agree with posts #3 and #4.

try waking up in the middle of the night when your eyes are completely adjusted to the dark and flip on 200 lumens; not such a great idea. a nightstand light needs a level that's less than 1 lumen. also in a movie theater or similar situation, it's good to use a lower mode to not disturb others and to not be an annoying jerk.

i use only what i need and my batteries last quite a while.

multi levels are a must for me.

Re: Anyone else here find more lummens better, always?

470 OTF lumens for looking at stuff up close? No, can't say I like doing that.

Re: Anyone else here find more lummens better, always?

dirtech said:

Nope. I use the lowest possible level I can get by with and only occasionaly use high.

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+1

Re: Anyone else here find more lummens better, always?

Agreed about waking up in the night, I hadn't thought of that - then again, I haven't woken up to go the bathroom in years. As for batteries, that's why rechargeables were invented - I usually drain my 18650s to around 4.1v and pop them in the charger every night.

Re: Anyone else here find more lummens better, always?

OfficerCamp said:

I think it was overkill, like shooting a squirrel with a .308.

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It's not overkill unless the diameter of the rounds are half the size of the squirrel! Then its just "over".

When I had my P7 mag, I used that for searching through drawers, and under the couch, when my mini-mag would have sufficed.

~Brian

Re: Anyone else here find more lummens better, always?

I guess my point is, why not? Except for a few specific uses and when batteries are at a premium, more light = better.

Re: Anyone else here find more lummens better, always?

Usually i need a flashlight during geocaching.
Espacially nightcaching, lostplaces or undergrounds. 10-40lumen are enough for walking around in absolutly darkness.

But sometimes... P7 on 3A are fine :twothumbs

Re: Anyone else here find more lummens better, always?

Personally I use as low a setting as I can comfortably see with in order to make the most efficient use of batteries. That's why I like multi-level lights.

Also when checking on my 2 year old son in the night it's nice to use a low mode so as not to disturb him.

Re: Anyone else here find more lummens better, always?

You need that much light, perhaps it isn't 470 OTF...?

Re: Anyone else here find more lummens better, always?

Egsise said:

You need that much light, perhaps it isn't 470 OTF...?

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https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/3224393&postcount=254

It's not a need, it's a want. Story of CPF

Re: Anyone else here find more lummens better, always?

It seems rather self-defeating. All that's going to happen is that your eyes will adapt (i.e. reduce their sensitivity), so that you will end up seeing the same with 400 lumens indoors as you would with 10 lumens and properly dark-adapted eyes.

Why would you deliberately reduce the sensitivity of your eyes ? It's a bit like shoving cotton wool in your ears and turning up the volume !

Keep the flamethrowers for outdoors.

Re: Anyone else here find more lummens better, always?

With 500 lummens, shadows are gone - even without nightvision, I can point the flashlight slightly away from what I'm looking at, flooding the room with light and eliminating dark spots that you wouldn't be able to see with a dim light + nightvision. Your eyes only dim partially to light; stare at a bare light bulb and you'll still be able to see what's on either side of it (albeit with painful eyes - it's a bit of an extreme example).

It really helps in a cluttered closit as well; a dim light has the hotspot absorbed quickly by the various items and there isn't enough reflected to see, forcing me to shine the flashlight wherever I want to look instead of flicking it on and glancing around.

Re: Anyone else here find more lummens better, always?

Oh sorry. :twothumbs
It's nice to know that the output drops so fast, "only" 405 lumens after 4 minutes.
My MG PLI MC-E warm white puts out something like 350 OTF, but it drops to around 300 OTF in 5 minutes.
Normally I use only the medium mode, which is around 110 OTF lumens and the light gets only warm.
Full output sure is nice but it heats the light really fast.