Rule of thumb to protect the eye?

Hi everybody,
I have read up on battery safety thanks to this site. Li-ions, etc, were pretty new to me outside of phones, laptop, etc. Alkylines begone!... Kind of (I am looking at you, Maus). Now we have very bright LEDs as opposed to incandescents. Any general guidelines for vision safety? Is there a safe lumen level or exposure time, lux, etc? I don't plan on setting my 18650 torch to max and then trying to use it like a monocle or anything, but it would be nice to know something to tell the uninitiated, kids, etc.
I must now retreat to my golden city beneath Mt Shasta, even though I am invisible,
Lemurian

Not as far as i am aware, in the middle of night, adapted eyes a hand full of lumens can be painful. Best advice for kids is simple...............dont look down the business end unless sure they are not going to power it up. Also its good to get kids into the habit of locking lights out where possible. Usually a little turn of the tail cap prevents any accidental activation .

I think spending a little time(no matter how boring it may be for them) explaining about the tool in question can go a long way. Not necessarily great detail, but the basics around how they operate, do's and dont's(not shining or strobing your face is a good start! :laughing: ) can give some understanding and appreciation of possibly one of the most useful tools on the planet. Also an important part with kids is simple, make it fun..................

I prefer lights that turn on in low mode instead of the high mode that some people prefer, low is a lot easier on the eyes.

John.

The rule of thumb is: if it's uncomfortable to look at, don't do it.

I also would not give young children high power lights, since they don't know better, and would supervise them with medium or low power lights.

I wouldn't give kids any higher than 10-30 lumen lights. When i was fumbling around with my new Coast HP7 light i ended up flashing my eyes with it, holy cow did that sting.

As soon as my sons were mature enough to understand cause & effect, they were taught safety of knives, guns & lights. I firmly believe if a child is mature enough to "truly understand the rules", that by being exposed to, and able to use, under supervision, equipment that can be dangerous, it takes said items from "forbidden fruit" to a "tool to be used". When I was 6 years old, I was given a case of .22 shells and a semi auto pistol. I knew the shells were capable of traveling a mile, and before I pulled the trigger I needed to be sure of my target, aware of my surroundings and where the shell could go after traveling through the target. I did not give my sons the opportunity to carry unsupervised until they were much older but they were raised in a much different environment than I had been.
A light can cause damage if direct exposure is too high for too long. Even though my youngest son was very mature & had lights from around 8 years of age, my granddaughter at age 6 does not show the signs of being mature enough to handle high power lights for a few more years(based on her handling of my small lights)...

Rule of thumb: Eliminate or minimize UV exposure, and don't look at lasers.

If you let your kids outdoors when the sun is shining, you should be fine

I aim them at my dogs at 2am. So far they don't walk into walls....

But I don't have ones that when turned on the sun pulls out shades like Ven and those fellows.

bykfixer said:

I aim them at my dogs at 2am. So far they don't walk into walls....

But I don't have ones that when turned on the sun pulls out shades like Ven and those fellows.

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That's funny, and reminds me...

For Christmas I got my father in law a Manker U21 after he was impressed with some of my lights.

I asked him what uses he had found for it more recently... his first answer: "Dog finding light. Turn it on and she knows it's time to come in." (They have a multi acre yard; dog will go out to potty then decide to roam around for a while. He just shines the yard and she knows to come in.)

Then he mentioned using it on the boat too... but main use = dog call!

PolarLi said:

If you let your kids outdoors when the sun is shining, you should be fine

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You'd think, but they definitely behave differently with the gadget in hand that they can manipulate than with the more static object high in the sky.

Also, their own eyes aren't the only ones they might shine them in. There's no discomfort to shining it in their baby brother's or sister's eyes.