Some recent thoughts on LED flashlight evolution - re: EDC lights

After recently trying out some new designs in EDC lights to replace my venerable D10, I had some personal revelations on EDC lights... (keep in mind, in addition to the D10 EDC, I've used and have a drawer full of various EDC size/oriented flashlights from the last four years of flashlight acquisitions and experimenting - waaaay too many lights, actually.)

OUTPUT LEVELS
In the last couple of years, for EDC lights, emitter output has long since met my needs for maximum output. I'm not talking about major-use outdoor lights, but more EDC-purpose lights. I am no longer motivated by gaining greater output in my EDC lights. (Different story on throwers and other specialty lights!)

USER INTERFACE
I have long thought that a UI which offered continuous ramping (e.g. Nitecore D10) or continuous variable output adjustment (SWM Vxx series) offered important adjustments in light output. It sounded good on paper... fine tune and adjust output very precisely to your needs. But in practice, I've found that if a light offers three (or four) well-placed output levels, that are very fast and very easy to choose from, that design actually offers me much greater utility and operational convenience. I found that the continuous/variable output models simply demanded more time (especially with ramping up or down) and more attention than I felt returned additional "benefit" vs. a quick click or two to another level.

The D10 is a magnificent design, but over the years, I found that I hardly ever ramped up or ramped down (a relatively slow process). I did jump to low on some occasions, but more often than not left the light on high and just used it there. If it would have been exceptionally quick and easy to change levels, I would have done that more. But ramping just felt a little too tedious and required a change of hand position - not ideal.

The V11R is also a magnificent design and beautifully crafted. But I haven't taken to the rotary level control nearly as much as I thought I probably would. It's just a bit more cumbersome than I imagined it would be. I generally prefer to leave the light set close to or at high and only occasionally would want to dial it down and when I did, it was a little cumbersome making sure I had my fingers on the narrow ring properly and then dialed it. Required a little more user involvement and attention to fine finger positioning than just holding a button down until the desired level was reached, as Zebralights operate.

I'm truly a bit surprised that I find myself, today, less desiring the continuous/variable output lights (D10, Vxx, etc.) and more impressed with the simplest of UI's and just three or so well-chosen output levels... with great tint and beam. After years of using the Nitecore D10 for EDC and recently buying and using a SWM V11R, I'm finding that I prefer a simpler, quicker interface... much like Zebralight offers. So simple, so fast. Three pre-defined levels that you can choose from incredibly quickly and easily. No waiting to ramp, no twisting a ring back and forth and evaluating when the best time might be to stop twisting. No having to change hand position or use the off hand to make a user input to the light. Just press with your thumb (without changing holding position) and hold until a good level is reached and stop. TO change, press some more. Instant low or high, from off, depending on how quickly you press. I do believe that ZL probably offers the most successful, ergonomic UI available on a light today, especially with their positioning of the button.. the entire time you're holding the light, your thumb is positioned just above the switch for instant control changes. For me, rear switches have become a distant second, most of the time, for ergonomic flashlight control, compared to side switches as ZL uses.

TINT & BEAM
Now that maximum output is no longer quite the "holy grail" (for me) that it once was (for my EDC lights, anyway), and we can choose from wide/soft (X-ML) and more centrally-oriented (X-PG) beam characteristics, then emitter improvements for EDC lights mostly come down to tint, tint, and tint. And when it comes to tint, my preference is for a "slightly-warm neutral". I find this renders colors quite naturally and pleasingly - to the eyes. Moving forward, manufacturer attention to precisely tuned tints has to be the new "holy grail" of emitter technology. Certainly, creating higher and higher output emitters will be a good thing for larger, heavier-duty lights. But emitters in EDC lights for general personal use need great tint more than they need more output these days.


ULTIMATE DESIGN
For me, flashlight output levels are exceptionally useful at three or four pre-defined levels, a very low low, bright mid, and intense high. Add a fourth level, somewhere in the middle, just for good measure, perhaps. I see little to no true utility in the fine-tuned increments offered by ramping or continuous variable controls vs. three or four well-placed, fixed-output levels. With this realization (for me, anyway) I've come to feel that having continuous variable output levels no longer matters! If a light gives me three or four well-placed output levels that I can quickly and easily choose from, without having to reposition my hand, nor having to use my off-hand.... that's ideal. Offer two beam characteristics, wide/smooth and more centrally-oriented. Offer a slightly-warm-neutral tint. And I will be happy as a clam! I think the brand that is closest to this today, that I'm aware of anyway, is Zebralight!

I recognize that others may well feel entirely differently about their personal needs in an EDC light. These are only my personal thoughts and needs as I survey the EDC lighting landscape, after years of trying and carrying a variety of lights.

I agree with a lot of your observations and they are of course based on your own needs too.

Have you owned an HDS light yet?

The Clicky does what you ask and the Rotary takes it a step further really offering the best of both ideas with no real downsides (once you actually get one!) either.

They are the only interface I know of that really offers just the kind of interface you are talking about?

The Armytec Predator that I have also is close to this but way more difficult to program to me.

Check them out.

Ed

Good write-up. I appreciate the deisng and engineering in having a light that ramps well but for me I to prefer instant access to a couple programmed modes. For me a 3-mode (or often 2-mode) light is usually ideal. My most common used lights are the SC52 (with of course the standard ZL UI), Quark AA Tactical (which I programed to either Max/Med or Low/High) and a Solarforce L2T with forward switch using a 2-mode vinh 2A XP-E2 (which I'd estimate at 270 lumen high and 25 lumen low).

Once you get in tune with the ZL interface it's so natural to get the light level you want, with one hand. I also prefer preset modes because you get much more certainty in regards to runtimes. For example, 20 lumens is 20 lumens on a fixed light. If you try to get that visually, you may come in anywhere between 10 and 40 depending on quick you are and how accurate you are with your vision, you now how no idea what your runtime is. Not that runtime is critical to all users but for an EDC I like to be able to mentally track the usage (or even better if your EDC has a battery checker like the SC52 does).

One factor that tends to sway me is a battery level check, and automatic step down so I'm not left in the dark.

I find that in my EDC lights, the modes I use the most are min and max. I rarely use in-between modes. Having a light that has instant shortcuts to both min and max is very handy.

I like having a pocket rocket capable of massive output as my EDC light. As such, I tend to gravitate towards very high output and short battery life at max. But with the ability to go minimum or moonlight for finding the bathroom at night plus medium modes for when more battery life is needed.

The best interface I've tried yet is probably the RRT-01. It allows a handshake grip with instant access to minimum, maximum and anything in between. It feels extremely natural to use, and unlike the V11R, it's not necessary to flip the light around in the hand to adjust brightness after turning it on.

A big trend over the last several years in small EDC lights has been the change to larger and larger emitters (XPG and then XML). The result is most EDC lights today have little throw, but very good short-range flood. This is fine with me. I don't really expect a tiny EDC to illuminate something hundreds of feet away.

I do have some lights with electronic ramping interfaces. I find that for that kind of light, fixed modes probably works better. It's nice to be able to ramp up and down, but when you have to wait for it, it's not so good. For that kind of light several fixed modes that can be accessed faster is helpful.

What makes the RRT-01's interface so nice is that it's an infinitely variable light which allows instant access to any brightness setting... as fast or faster than the lights with a few fixed brightness modes.

I do wish more lights had zoom lenses though. My favorite light is Sipik 58 1xAA sized aspheric zoomable light. I heavily modded it, adding in an electronic switch, 2.8 amp driver with shortcuts to min and max, 2-way ramping with 19 steps, a small reflector, and an XML2 5000k neutral emitter on a copper sinkpad. I also modded the external body of the light to allow the bezel to retract further for a much wider flood while still maintaining some throw. I run it on an IMR 14500. It's throwier than any of my fixed non-zoomable EDC lights, while still having excellent flood and a nice form factor. I also like being able to tune the beam as needed to the job at hand.