Moon light mode and old age

glg20 · Aug 7, 2014

At 58, my eyes are not as adept in low light situations as they were when I was younger. My SF Titan T1a on the lowest setting suits me fine at 2 in the morning. I believe SF rates it at one lumen. I have read on these forums about much lower levels of light. Any older folks using lower than one lumen and find it useful? I ask because I would like a cheaper light with moon light for the travel trailer and motel rooms.

THE_dAY · Aug 7, 2014

The lowest setting on the T1A is sub lumen, much lower than 1 lumen.
Actually the first quarter turn/ramping on the T1A is all below 1 lumen.

So if you've been using the lowest level on the titan comfortably then you should be fine with other sub lumen lights.

Derek Dean · Aug 7, 2014

Howdy glg20,
My Zebralight SC52w goes down to .01 lumen, which isn't much use for my 59 year old eyes, but I find the next level up, .06 lumens, to be perfect for those late night wanderings, and that's bounced off the ceiling. By the way, I grew up your neck of the woods (Bartlesville). Good to see another Okie here.

BobG · Aug 7, 2014

I have a Thrunite Ti with a .04 firefly mode and it works well.. I am 65.

TEEJ · Aug 7, 2014

The freebie squeeze lights (Fauxtons, etc...) are pretty good in that role (Cheap and dim), and are handy enough to clip on about anywhere.

I use tritium lanterns in that role myself typically, as there's no on/off, and, you wake up at 3 am or whatever, and, there's a soft pool of light to guide the way...like a night light. As it glows for ~ 30 years without needing exposure to other light or cells, etc...its maintenance free and dead reliable. I bring a few, arrange them as appropriate for the evening...and stash one in the bathroom or other potential night-time destination to act as a beacon for example.

Works like a charm.

reppans · Aug 7, 2014

I'm a sub-lumen snob

. Here's a sample of sub-lumen modes from various manufacturers, and what I meter them at vs their spec (note: Malkoff has since fixed his output, subject to "custom" sample variation).

If all you want is something for a middle-of-the-night pee, then the dimmer ones on the right might be more suitable. I personally like the brighter ones on the left which I find perfect for reading, most close task with my hands, and even ceiling bouncing. I love efficient sub-lumen modes for the insane runtime (200-300 hrs per AA), but if they're too dim, I'm constantly bumping up to a higher mode and therefore lose the runtime benefit - the "bright" moonlights are my most often used modes by runtime. 0.3 lumens can be too bright for middle-of-the-night bathroom runs, even for our aging eyes, but I'll just bury the bezel in fist and use my pinky as an aperture adjustment for those times

.

Note: that manufacturer spec accuracy, and even sample variation, can be quite volatile at this level.

mcnair55 · Aug 7, 2014

As a member of the old club (60) shortly,i would never buy another torch again without a moon/menu mode.My after work edc is an Eagletac D25A clicky with a sub 1 lumen moon mode which is ideal for nightly visits to the bathroom in the wee(means small in Scottish) hours.

I find the mode very useful for reading a menu without looking a complete spanner with something to bright .

pineapple · Aug 7, 2014

I only recently discovered how great a sub-lumen setting can be. A couple weeks ago I got a Malkoff MDC HA 1AA that has a .3 lumen low-low setting - perfect for these 65 year old eyes in the middle of the night.

Treeguy · Aug 7, 2014

I`m 50, and I love the .2 lumen moon mode on my Quark R5 Pro 1XAA. It`s the default setting I use for that light. Just enough for finding stuff on the nightstand and making sure I don`t step on the cat if I half to walk around in the middle of the night. Haven`t tried it for reading yet. Maybe later tonight.

I wouldn`t want less than .2 lumens for moon mode, but not much more either.

StarHalo · Aug 7, 2014

Derek Dean said:
.01 lumen, which isn't much use for my 59 year old eyes

What about when reading in total darkness?

KITROBASKIN · Aug 7, 2014

StarHalo said:
What about when reading in total darkness?

Here in New Mexico, we can read by the light of the moon, but I can't read comfortably at the lowest setting of my nightly user. And both lenses in my eyes have been replaced, so...

ZebraLight is the way I go. Low light is smart and practical. Second lowest setting is the most convenient to me. The lowest setting is useful in a more limited way: One option would be as a locator light for the flashlight.

One of the beautiful things about ZL is that full on can be quickly accessed from a low light setting. And then it is just as easy to get back to a low light level. Certainly there must be other brands that can do that, but the SC62d does it for me, less than a hundred dollars.

Norm · Aug 7, 2014

glg20 said:
At 58,

Let's wait until you reach old age first before passing comment

Norm

Supernatural · Aug 7, 2014

I'm not nearly that old yet, but I find it hard to do anything with the firefly mode of my Thrunite Ti other than navigate a familiar path. How are people reading with it? I think my eyes would hurt from straining after awhile.

StarHalo · Aug 8, 2014

KITROBASKIN said:
I can't read comfortably at the lowest setting of my nightly user. And both lenses in my eyes have been replaced, so...

ZebraLight is the way I go. Low light is smart and practical. Second lowest setting is the most convenient to me.

That's interesting; I was asking Derek specifically since he was the only one who wasn't getting use from his moonlight mode, but he also is comfortable at the second lowest setting..

Derek Dean · Aug 8, 2014

StarHalo, I consider .06 lumens a moonlight mode. That's the 2nd lowest setting on my ZL SC52w, and certainly much lower than many other manufacturer's "moonlight" mode. I hadn't considered using the lowest setting, .01 lumen, as a locator beacon, but I might just have to try that.

TEEJ · Aug 8, 2014

One thing to consider with "moonlight modes" etc, is that, so far, everyone is talking about lumens/sub-lumen modes, etc.

I have a LOT of lights with different beam patterns, and its a DRAMATICALLY different experience to use a tighter beam's 0.1 lumen vs a floody beam's 0.1 lumens.

The REASON is that you can't SEE lumens, you are really seeing the lux.

The lux you get from 0.1 lumens and a tight beam will be very different from the lux you see from a floody beam's 0.1 lumens.

So if comparing the resultant abilities to say, read a sign or a book or follow a path, etc....the DISTANCE from your eyes to what you are trying to see will change the lux you see dramatically (Inverse square law), and the tightness of the beam/beam angle will also dramatically change the lux you see...as that fraction of a lumen is spread out differently, and so forth.

IE: I might see my target more brightly with 0.1 lumen than with 1.0 lumen, if the 0.1 lumen's beam angle is smaller, or 1 lumen can produce dimmer lighting than 0.1 lumen....etc. So a discussion of sub/low-lumen level is without context typically...and, I just wanted to point this out.

ShineOnYouCrazyDiamond · Aug 8, 2014

glg20 said:
At 58, my eyes are not as adept in low light situations as they were when I was younger. My SF Titan T1a on the lowest setting suits me fine at 2 in the morning. I believe SF rates it at one lumen. I have read on these forums about much lower levels of light. Any older folks using lower than one lumen and find it useful? I ask because I would like a cheaper light with moon light for the travel trailer and motel rooms.

As a lover of low level lights I have probably tried almost any light that claims to have a low-low. Let me tell you that 0.08 lumens in the middle of the night is blindingly bright.

The SF Titan T1a is still one of the few lights that can go so low you can barely see the LED. I don't even know what value it would have but it would be in the 3 to 4 digits past the decimal point range. I have a feeling that you will actually be quite disappointed that there are pretty much no lights out there that can go that low. The 0.02 lumens of the new HDS lights is bright in comparison but still quite nice. Any of the ~0.05 lumen firefly modes is bright in comparison. The sunwayman V10/V11R lights can get down there, but they are hit or miss and some need to me modded a bit to get a really low low out of them.

That's about it for reasonable priced lights. The Spy007 series of lights can really get down there in the sub-lumens range but they come at a higher price point.

I also feel if you get a newer light you will really miss the infinite twisty UI of the T1a.

You will see modded V10R Ti and Ti+ lights pop up on the marketplace every once in a while so that may be a good chance to grab one.

glg20 · Aug 8, 2014

Norm said:
Let's wait until you reach old age first before passing comment

Norm

Its not the age, its the mileage.

glg20 · Aug 8, 2014

ShineOnYouCrazyDiamond said:
As a lover of low level lights I have probably tried almost any light that claims to have a low-low. Let me tell you that 0.08 lumens in the middle of the night is blindingly bright.

The SF Titan T1a is still one of the few lights that can go so low you can barely see the LED. I don't even know what value it would have but it would be in the 3 to 4 digits past the decimal point range. I have a feeling that you will actually be quite disappointed that there are pretty much no lights out there that can go that low. The 0.02 lumens of the new HDS lights is bright in comparison but still quite nice. Any of the ~0.05 lumen firefly modes is bright in comparison. The sunwayman V10/V11R lights can get down there, but they are hit or miss and some need to me modded a bit to get a really low low out of them.

That's about it for reasonable priced lights. The Spy007 series of lights can really get down there in the sub-lumens range but they come at a higher price point.

I also feel if you get a newer light you will really miss the infinite twisty UI of the T1a.

You will see modded V10R Ti and Ti+ lights pop up on the marketplace every once in a while so that may be a good chance to grab one.

Great info from all, I should have purchased a backup SF Titan T1a when they were just a bill. Mine is a user, just hate to lose it.

reppans · Aug 8, 2014

KITROBASKIN said:
One of the beautiful things about ZL is that full on can be quickly accessed from a low light setting. And then it is just as easy to get back to a low light level.

Interesting.... ZLs ability to go directly to L or H from OFF is really nice and quite unique, but I always thought this UI was about the slowest to access H from L - ie, not very good for a bump-in-the-dark UI, esp. with adrenaline. You have press/hold/wait or do a slow double click (and with good timing or you might end up in a lower mode). A LMH reverse clicky gets to H in a fraction of the time, and some loose/tight bezel UIs have a momentary max feature (work-around) from any lower mode in use (fine for signaling a fast morse code).

Moon light mode and old age

Newly Enlightened

Flashlight Enthusiast

Flashlight Enthusiast

Newly Enlightened

Flashaholic

Flashlight Enthusiast

Flashlight Enthusiast

Newly Enlightened

Enlightened

Flashaholic

Flashlight Enthusiast

Retired Administrator

Newly Enlightened

Flashaholic

Flashlight Enthusiast

Flashaholic

Flashlight Enthusiast

Newly Enlightened

Newly Enlightened

Flashlight Enthusiast

Similar threads