flashlight tasks and the lights that fill them

chriscoobs

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Feb 2, 2008
Messages
37
Forgive me if this has been posted before but i am curious to know what roles other users have for their flashlights and what flashlights they use to fill those roles. I will start


Bedside light right now is a surefire AZ2-S . i like the low output for night and the AZ2-S does both low and high....also have a pistol with an x300 attached to it near my bed :xyxgun:

car light is a surefire back-up i also have a AA outdoorsman in my car but i don't use it too often

dog walking light is a 6p with an m61wll drop-in inside. sometimes i use my good old SF L4 as well but not too often

the rest of my lights (10+) hang out in pelican cases and don't see much use, just wondering what other tasks you all use your lights for and what lights you have chosen for those tasks
 

Robin24k

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Sep 8, 2009
Messages
2,029
Location
Washington, USA
Day EDC: Maglite XL200 (small, and motion control is a good for demonstrating)
Night EDC: Streamlight Stinger DS LED or SureFire R1 (I usually carry a mid-sized light in a belt holster at night)
Bedside: Maglite ML125 (used with mounting brackets on wall)
Home Desk: Streamlight Stinger DS LED HP (40,000cd for inspecting perimeter)
Work: Streamlight Knucklehead (floody light and convenient magnet for hands-free operation)
Work Bag: Pelican 7060 and/or Streamlight Strion LED (got dedicated pockets for these, so I always keep them there)
Car: Mini Maglite 2AA LED
 

zenbeam

Enlightened
Joined
Apr 3, 2012
Messages
281
Location
Houston, Texas
Periodic Nighttime, Backyard Reminders (as to just how amazing modern flashlights really are!):
All of them!

Periodic Armchair Reminders (in mancave, between streaming Netflix shows, blu-ray movies or xbox 360 games - same reason as above):
All of them!

Getting around house at night - especially up and down the stairs (of course I have house lights, but why use them?):
EagleTac D25C (clicky-verted), Fenix E05 and any one that is headed outside for task #1 above.

Bedside Quick Need -
Romisen RC-G2 II NW 1xAA 140lm

Bedside Reading -
EagleTac P20A2 MKII with included diffuser attached (used for ceiling bounce on Hi - not for handheld Lo light directed reading)

Work EDC (High Rise Security Supervisor) -
Rotation of: 4Sevens Quark Tactical 123x2 R5 Edition / EagleTac D25C / Zebralight SC600 (all holstered)

On my time EDC:
Depending on mood: EagelTac D25C (pocket clip or holster) / Zebralight SC600 (pocket with lanyard to pull out) /
JETBeam BC10 (pocket clip or cheap ultrafire holster)

Always EDC - work, play, virtually always:
Fenix LD01 R4 (what a really great 1xAAA light for EDC!) - stuck in pants pocket with clip.
 
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TEEJ

Flashaholic
Joined
Jan 12, 2012
Messages
7,490
Location
NJ
Its after 7 pm...and I need to go to bed by 9:30....so there's no way I have time to reply to this.

:D
 

Jash

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 4, 2009
Messages
1,649
Location
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Bedside light is a Quark AA2 regular (turns on moonlight mode first time everytime) neutral tint. There's also a 3D Maglite with a Malkoff XP-G drop-in that guarantees high lux every push of the button. No stupid modes to worry about when you absolutely need a bright, focused light immediately (think bumps in the night).

Dog walking light is either TK12, TK40, TK41 or Maglite with Mac's Customs SST-50 drop-in.

Car light is a TK60 because it is bright and long.

EDC is made up of an EO5 in pants pocket and a PD20 in my EDC bag.

Fenix E20 resides in the workshop. It's been XP-G modded for more flood.

Malkoff MD2 sits on the handlebars of my road bike. Electrolumens XP-G EDC sits on top of my mtn bike bars.

Quark AA2 Tactical (XP-E) is in my GHB, with a bunch of lithiums to power it.

There's a bunch of other lights around the house and in drawers for general use or lend lights.

That's about it.
 

Echo63

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Apr 26, 2004
Messages
1,777
Location
Perth - West Australia
Almost 24/7 edc - and backup to daily edc - muyshondt TI neutral Aeon (on a lanyard around my neck except for when im swimmin or in the shower)

"wearing pants" edc - sunwayman V10R TI with AW cell

Night time edc - in addition to both above, either a bored 6P with nailbender warm dropin or oveready bored/anodised 9P with a moddoo neutral triple

"big guns" that i take to work and leave in the car till i need them - Gen2 Maxabeam with ushio uxl-75xe bulb mod or ryobi one+ xenon spotlight.

Car lights - mine has a 6P/Kl3 and an Inova T3 I also have a little silva headlamp - not super bright but enough to change a tyre - the wifes has an SF G2

Bedside lights - 9P, 6P and SWM mentioned above plus SF M6, M4, M3, A2, L2, U2, 5mega 2x18650 tube and L4 P7 head and an ultrastinger
under the bed is 2 magchargers, a T4 and the previously mentioned maxabeam
 
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TEEJ

Flashaholic
Joined
Jan 12, 2012
Messages
7,490
Location
NJ
Not too much mention of tasks here per se, more about where X is carried/left in case its needed, etc.

For me, its like the beam profile is a key that fits into a particular lock.

The locks are also in subsets, as other factors such as UI and form factor of the light itself, also control the selection of a light.

So, I might have two lights with similar beam shapes and sizes, but with different UI and/or form factors. Run time and robustness would be additional factors that might further the selection process.

For example, for an inspection of a site for forensic evidence, say a long dark crawlspace where something might be hidden, or for damage, etc...I might want a tight beam if I have to shine it through a tight line of sight to see to the end clearly, as glare from obstructions on the way to the end, etc, might impair my ability to make out distant details, so an aspheric beam pattern might be ideal to put a small patch of light on a distant target obscured by plumbing and electric, insulation, HVAC, etc. A DEFT edc LR+ for example might be a good choice, given the warm tint and color rendition, and pocket sized form factor which is easier to use in a tight crawlspace, etc.

The need to target a distant object with enough lux to make out details can also require context in some cases, as a bright spot on a target surrounded by dark can lead to only being able to SEE the light, and no details about what the light is ON. A larger beam pattern, that covers a larger surface area with light, is typically more useful in that regard.

If I use a light that throws a large wall of light, so that the scene is closer to day light than to dark, that is typically best to scan an entire field, warehouse, or other large area at once. If the RANGE of the lux I get from that wall of light on the desired surfaces is telling me what I need to know about what's out there, that's great....but, if the act of spreading all those lumens out over such a large area has reduced the lux to the point where I can't see the needed level of detail....then I either need a larger flood light, or, I have to bite the bullet, and concentrate my available lumens into a smaller area to raise the lux there.

HOW much smaller an area I have to concentrate them into depends on the range, and the lux level needed. The further away the area of concern is, the harder it is to generate enough lux on target, and the larger the area of target needed, the harder it is to light it adequately.

Add to the above that the light will need to be aimed at that area, and, probably carried to that point its aimed from, and so forth.

I might need to sidelight a surface texture, and want a diffuse beam that would gently illuminate a broad area of material perpendicularly to highlight the material's texture, if there is dust on it, and if the dust has tracks or other disturbances...a tight beam sucks for that, and it takes enough lumens to spread out broadly, yet project across the surface far enough to see the patterns.


So, as an example, lets say I need to see if there might be victims/survivors on the other side of a ravine, and that means seeing human sized targets potentially laying in weeds or a wooded environment, at perhaps 400 meters. If they are wearing white shirts, lots of options, if they are wearing dark clothing, very hard to resolve. If I have a Fenix TK70, I can probably just make them out at that range, and search a decent amount of area at a time. If I have a Deerelight Aspheric, I can reach that range, but only see a few yards at a time. I am looking at a nice, brightly lit square patch of LED shaped light, a few yards at a time...and might have a field of view with just part of a leg in it, and not recognize it as a person...as there's no context. If I had a larger beam, I might see that same part of a leg, plus part of a head about where a head would be if that were a leg, and mentally be able to recognize that that it might be a person, etc.

If the ravine was a bit wider, so I might need to see 600 meters, the TK70 is now too dimly lighting that area to resolve that level of detail...and I might switch to a dedomed Olight SR90, or HID, or aspheric, which still had the range to resolve targets....but which does require me to look at a smaller area at a time.

If the search is too long, the HID might use up its charge, and/or I am unable to get through the terrain carrying too many lights/too much equipment, etc.

So, if I tried to use one light to do all the above, with the above being a teeny cross section of what I might USE a light for (Tasks), I would find that NO light can do all of the above, and that's just for THOSE tasks.
 

subwoofer

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
May 5, 2010
Messages
2,501
Location
Hove, UK
This is not a fixed list as items get moved on and off, but these are the current regular users

EDC 24/7 - Photon Freedom Micro

Bedside - Quark P0, Zebralight SC51, Quark AA Regular

Taking out the rubbish(trash) - Fenix HL30, Zebralight H51

Car - 5.11 tactical L2

Hunting Search light - Fenix TK41, Xtar S1

Gun light - Armytek Predator, Quark Maelstrom X7

Bicycle Light - Lupine Piko TL, Xeccon S12/S14, Fenix TK21-U2 plus a Fenix LD10 or LD12 helmet mounted.

Just 'because' - everything else :)
 

deklan

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Nov 29, 2011
Messages
48
I separate my lights into a few categories - floody (for general purpose), throw (for distance), Hi CRI (for better colour rendition) and moonlight (for extreme runtime). Some lights may fit into 2 or more of these categories, but I usually end up carrying one of each anyway :D

Floody - usually XML or XPG (e.g. Zebralight SC600)
Throw - usually XRE or XPG (e.g. Armytek Predator, SF L1 with RCR123)
HiCRI - Nichia 119s and 219s are my favourite, but the Zebralight H51C is very good IMHO
Moonlight - 5mm LED types, like Sunwayman R01A

While I have quite a few flashlights to choose from, I always seem to reach for a Zebralight more than my SFs. Not sure why, but I think their wide range of outputs and small form factor (AA for the H51C) puts them near the top of my "Go-To" list. If I needed no-nonsense reliability, I'd probably reach for a SF light though.
 
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