Great question,
It's the reason I use a Quark Turbo X by the bed, I have two modes, low and high, with head tight or loose, usually it stays on moonlight/loose
and high on tight, I also have a Quark Turbo with the old emitter, it stays in my bag as an extra carry. I like the XM-L b/c the moonlight doesn't have near the tight hot spot the other Turbo Quark does, it's a nice wide moonlight mode,
If I am going to be running around and take that particular light with me the modes are changed by myself to low or med, and then Turbo
with the head tight.
I also love my Streamlight Protac HL, because in general use I have removed the Strobe function and use low/high, But if I am riding along
with an officer and need a "Tactical" light I can change the programming to High only, but honestly when looking for things or checking a property at night
of course, I love a low mode, and then a double tap on the switch for get to high, Sometimes your other hand is fee, usually it's not as you have your
NON-Dominant hand on the torch and your dominant hand on your firearm. You want a low enough mode to shine on your feet and see what your walking on or near but never enough light to shadow and reveal another officer. That be bad!
But this light doesn't like one 17670, so I am not going to waste my money on trying to get it bored for an 18650, Now the SF Fury however is my next purchase,
because the light loves a Li-Ion and can be bored for a greater capacity cell.
I guess for me a Tactical light is a high mode only, I think some might be too bright, My idea of a "Tactical" light is a lot of things, I want a dedicated two mode, A very bright high output for "Tactical" Daily use and a lower "Tactical" king of high mode for nighttime operations, However I also want the ability to easily change reflectors.
I guess though there is the mindset that some situations can and are resolved and calmed down by an enormous amount of light on hand, make sense?
I think this is why the SF Lawmen has the dual stage switch it does, It's a genius switch change if you ask me.
If I know I am going indoors and checking rooms and such, I want as much flood as possible. With the Hotspot just awesome,
if I am not indoors I want more of a thrower type "smooth" reflector,
One reason I may be getting another 4Sevens light the Maelstrom X7,
Although I can say, if you slightly open a door and have a Malkoff M91A, you will light up the room!!!!!!
Sorry for the length,
You have a great question and I look forward to others thoughts on this....