Poll - flashlight useage?

Average daily flashlight usage

  • Less than 10 minutes

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Over 10 min but less than an hour

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • In excess of two hours, please explain

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    1

FlashlightOCD

Enlightened
Joined
Apr 7, 2003
Messages
931
Location
Central FL, USA
I'm curious amongst all the flashaholics here, what is your average daily use of a flashlight. Uh ... Please do not include battery run down tests.

Some people have expressed concern at the 1,000 hour life expectancy of the L4 LED, I do not see it as an issue.



Warning: Results may make you or your spouse question why you have so much money invested in flashlights.
 

Flow

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Mar 23, 2003
Messages
104
Location
Florida, usa.
Excess of two hours. Why I went ahead and got an 8ax as opposed to a C3 or such. That and the KL7 will look quite sexy on it...
I'm a security guard (rent-a-cop), and I almost always work graveyard. Wether I'm driving around in a truck or walking on foot, I need to see what the hell's around me.
A spotlight is generally too narrow, too heavy (especially on foot), and a 20 min runtime won't do. With the 8ax's 40-50 min runtime, spare battery kept charging, and still enough light to show me trees in detail quite a ways off, it works wonderfully.
And it keeps me warm on cold nights ^_^
 

paulr

Flashaholic
Joined
Mar 29, 2003
Messages
10,832
If the L4 LED lasts 1000 hours that means it will burn about $2500 worth of batteries before the LED wears out. At that point, spending even $89.95 for a whole KL4 replacement head isn't that big a deal.
 

cratz2

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Apr 6, 2003
Messages
3,947
Location
Central IN
I'd say I'm in the '10 min to an hour' category. We just moved out to the middle of nowhere and things go bump in the night ALL THE TIME!

The Surge/Impact combo works wonderfully for my needs though the 3C TwinTask is neary as good replacing them both and the Legend LX's beam is great too (except for the reduced runtime).
 

B@rt

Flashaholic
Joined
Nov 21, 2001
Messages
10,467
Location
Land of Tulips and Philips
I use them as desktop lamps when I'm at the computer at night... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ohgeez.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thinking.gif
 

FlashlightOCD

Enlightened
Joined
Apr 7, 2003
Messages
931
Location
Central FL, USA
[ QUOTE ]
Size15s said:
Have SureFire stated that the L4 (KL4) has a 1000 hours life?

[/ QUOTE ]

Al,

I did not get that number from Surefire, but it is supposedly a number that came from a luxeon fact sheet [I read it on another post], and it depends on thermal conditions, etc... YMMV.

I think my point here is that 98% of the persons polled use their light less than an hour a day [average]. That makes 1,000 hours equal to about three years [and that is assuming the only light they use is the L4]. At the rate that LED technology is moving, I'm sure the L4/KL4 will be considered old technology three years from now. Don't you agree?
 

Size15's

Flashaholic
Joined
Aug 29, 2000
Messages
18,415
Location
Kettering, England
PK told me that even if I continue to put 2-3 pairs of batteries through the L4, I will never need to worry about it growing old (not his exact words) because the numbers involved are much higher than 1000 hours

The fact is that I will not be using the L4 this time next year. I may not even be using a Luxeon this time next year.

If the rated life was 100 hours, that would be something CPF could discuss I'm sure because some of us are likely to see that usage. If it was 500 hours, I would consider that excellent return on my investment. 1000 hours is extremely heavy use. My opinion is that it's not worth worrying about the lifespan of SureFire's Luxeons (I do not know how others are dealing with Luxeons so I will assume the team at Arc and other brands also know what they are doing)

Al
 

Ginseng

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Feb 27, 2003
Messages
3,734
10 minutes to an hour.

I use it in the middle of the night for feedings, navigating around in the evening when we have most of the lights turned off and the inevitable dozen or so flashes just to see how bright the lights are /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Wilkey
 

PlayboyJoeShmoe

Flashaholic
Joined
Sep 4, 2002
Messages
11,041
Location
Shepherd, TX (where dat?)
I don't actually dig into the dark guts of my profession (pressure washer repair) more than say 2-3 times a month. I repair them too well for that!

So much of my use is play. Shining them on walls, reflective highway signs etc. And often activating my Madmax just so I can say WOW one more time!!!

So I used to 10m to 1h choice.
 

PaulW

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Mar 23, 2003
Messages
2,060
Location
Laurel, Maryland
I use my lights for practical purposes an average of about 10 minutes per day. However, for testing purposes, I use double or triple that amount (not including "battery run-down tests").

I've used about 90 SF 123 batteries in the 4 months since I discovered CPF, and the useage rate is on the increase. I guess I'm consuming them now at a rate of one to two per day now that I'm into high-intensity lights.

Paul
 

tattoou2

Enlightened
Joined
Jun 4, 2003
Messages
217
Location
Near Lake Ontario, NY
I'm in the 10min category too. I play with my newest lights a lot more over the first few days until I decide if they enter my 'rotation.' I usually rotate among four or five lights and use each exclusively for maybe three or four nights. Most of my use is confined to walking at night, taking the dogs out, and checking out those things that go bump in the night. Perhaps the light I use most is my bedside light, an Eternalight Derringer.
 

ksbman

Flashaholic*
Joined
Dec 15, 2002
Messages
624
Location
Michigander in SeaTac
My three flashlights at work (8" TigerLight, BB400/Brinkmann 2AA, Streamlight Septor) I use for about two hours a night.

The flashlights at home I mostly just play with, so less that 10 minutes a day.

When I walk at night I prefer not to ruin my night vision so I keep my flashlight off.
 

Screehopper

Enlightened
Joined
Jun 19, 2003
Messages
247
Location
SoCal
The time ranges depending on what I'm doing.

- I started climbing Mt Shasta at 1am so my headlamp was on from 1am until sunrise. But that's not "daily usage"
- Days when I'm working on cars, flashlight usage can vary from 10min+
- When I'm out and about being a nightowl on the weekends such as hiking on a moonless night....but that's not "daily usage" either.

So averaging it out over a long period probably ends up being in the 10min to 1hr category. Or maybe I should of chosen 1-2hrs. Hmmmm.
 

Ray_of_Light

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
May 11, 2003
Messages
1,147
Location
West Midlands, U.K.
Excess of two hours. I Use Opalec and 1 W Luxeon on rechargeables as night light. This time adds to inspective daily tasks ( + 1 hr.)

Lumileds has released a special binned white 5 Watt to OEM. It is rated for 50.000 hrs. I have a strong feeling that it is the one in L4 lumamax.

Anthony
 

Ross

Enlightened
Joined
Dec 21, 2002
Messages
329
Location
Edinburgh, Scotland
[ QUOTE ]
The fact is that I will not be using the L4 this time next year. I may not even be using a Luxeon this time next year.


[/ QUOTE ]
Al - could you explaim this? Very interested in what you mean by this!

My useage varies but I'm a police officer, i work various shifts but I use a flashlight every day (either inside or out). There are people on my shift who dont even carry a flashlight. I try & make them 'see the light' (pun intended)

Ross
 

Blikbok

Enlightened
Joined
Apr 10, 2002
Messages
898
most nights, less than 30 sec. But sometimes, I have three or four burning, headlamps, area lights, handhelds, and they run for hours.
 

BentHeadTX

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Sep 29, 2002
Messages
3,892
Location
A very strange dark place
Depends,
Depends on the season (winter 30min to 2 hours, summer 10min to 30 min), where I happen to be (Iraq use is 1-2 hours per day, US much, much less) Of this time, 90% of it is split between 2 or 3 flashlights. I am not concerned with the LED, just those tailswitches on the Brinkmann and Kroll/Minimag.
 

Size15's

Flashaholic
Joined
Aug 29, 2000
Messages
18,415
Location
Kettering, England
Ross,
Lumileds may not be calling all their products "Luxeon"...
On the otherhand, there are other ways to make light.
A year is a long time.

Al
 
Top