Dorcy 1AAA Outdoors

I went to an outdoor event in the country side (no street lighting) where I camped overnight - because I knew it was going to be dark I packed a few (ha-ha!) LED lights for the occassion.

They all performed well - it was just because the Dorcy 1AAA was in my pocket on me at all times (it's my EDC) that it got used the most - like visiting the port-a-john - which are basically pitch dark inside and one can easily splash one's shoes....

I found the Dorcy 1AAA was great for holding in the mouth - I prefer to use the lips over teeth bite and the rubber inserts made this very comfortable and confidence inspiring.

I also walked a number of times across unlit fields (it was a 3/4 moon). Again the Dorcy 1AAA's larger hot-spot and good wide side-spill made this easy, even when sharing with a friend - we spotted and avoided an ankle-breaker hole, that my friend knew about - but the flashlight picked out on the walk in both directions.

Even if it may not be the brightest flashlight (I brought at least 3 other significantly brighter LED lights) - the Dorcy 1AAA gave adequate light coverage for me to use with confidence outdoors in unlit countryside.

Dorcy 1AAA #2 (vs ArcAAA vs Ultra-G vs Dorcy #1)

Light Coverage - spill-diameter Pics

I was just about to post about the Dorcy.
Amazing little light. I just picked it up tonight at Wally World for $5.94
As bright if not a smidge brighter than my CMG Ultra. For the price it can't be beat. This one is going in my pocket as my EDC.
UnknownVT. I also noticed it is very comfortable to carry in my mouth as I often find myself doing.
I'm glad to see someone release a cheap Led light. Now we have a light that you can buy several and give them out to friends and relatives to replace those crappy solitares.
Anyway....as you can tell I love this light.. $5.94!!!!!!!!!!
Finally an affordable light for the masses.

Hmmm, haven't seen any in Canada yet, but I'm looking....

I stretched a short (about 1" long) piece of clear plastic tubing (it was the next size larger than 1/2" ID, maybe 9/16" ID) over the tail of the Dorcy. It covers the tail cap and maybe 1/2" of the body and provides a firm friction fit so the tail does NOT screw or unscrew on its own. That way, I can set it so the button works and it stays that way. It also makes it a lot nicer to hold between your teeth. I must have bought enough of them by now to pay for an Arc LS. Love it.

havent seen any in AU, but im looking...

I bought my second one yesterday because I gave my first away. A great little light, and they run well on a rechargeable battery. I love that broad beam. This thing has relegated my NewBeam to the drawer.

Yes this is a winning light for 2004. I feel bad for having to exclude Nichia LED's from our FL Reviews Project. I love my Dorcy and mouth it often. Shall we call it the Dorcy AAA Mouthlight ? My only gripe is that because I use it a lot in 'bounce' mode, it usually ends up on its side im my bathroom. This light really deserves a lip or even a simple little plastic 'ceiling bounce' stand for appropriate uses.
My girlfreind asked me to remind you guys that when using the DorcyAAAMouthlight in the bathroom...to err...wash your hands thoroughly /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ohgeez.gif

I was thinking the same thing about using it for ceiling bounce lighting. Maybe if the button were ground flat it would stand on it's tail. Or maybe a small O-ring could be glued to the button to help it stand up.

here's a thought that I'd like to bounce off you guys.

Among the other lights I had with me were the Xnova AA (5LED), and the Bowling Pin (9LED 1x CR123A).

Now for whatever reason despite both the Chinese lights being significantly/noticably brighter than the Dorcy 1AAA (Bowling Pin > Xnova AA > Dorcy 1AAA) - I think I saw better with the Dorcy 1AAA(!)

Yes, of course the brighter lights had better throw for further distance illumination - however none of the lights really throw that well, so it's almost kind of a moot point....

However despite being brighter - at closer distances - like the ground in front when walking at a normal pace - I actually seemed to see better with the Dorcy 1AAA.

I can't explain exactly why but could it be something as subtle as the shade/tint of white on the Dorcy 1AAA?

Both the Chinese Xnova AA and Bowling Pin have very "intense" white beams - almost a dazzling shade - kind of like HID compared to Halogen - this is probably more blue content - but the beams don't actually look that "blue" - the Dorcy 1AAA almost looks more warm/sunlight like - in comparison.

Can such a minor tint/shade difference make that much difference in one's ability to see well?

For example I do recognize that HID headlights on cars are noticably/significantly brighter - but I'm not sure if I really see that much better with HID - other than being dazzled more - than with good high intensity halogen lights.

Could it just be "wishful thinking" on my part?
is there really something to this?
or is there something else I haven't considered?

Your thoughts please.......

Comparisons (beamshots)
Xnova AA vs Ultra-G, ArcAAA, Dorcy 1AAA

Bowling Pin 9LED (vs Xnova AA, ArcAAA)

I think it is just a case of more light not being better than the "right" amount of light for the circumstance. When you have just the right amount, you are not blinded or dazzled by the beam and you are still able to see things outside of the beam. Also, the beam is pretty smooth with a wide corona, so that helps give you a good overview of what is in front of you, not just what is in the hot-spot of the beam.

On a moonlit night, you were probably using the moonlight to suppliment the Dorcy. When you used the bowling pin your pupils would have contracted somewhat, making the ambient light less usable.

I also find that tint makes a big difference when looking at foliage. The blue tints seem to lose contrast where the yellows don't. That could just be my eyes.

Daniel

I've seen them at Marks Work Wearhouse stores in Ontario.

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Lurker said:
I think it is just a case of more light not being better than the "right" amount of light for the circumstance. When you have just the right amount, you are not blinded or dazzled by the beam and you are still able to see things outside of the beam.

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gadget_lover said:
On a moonlit night, you were probably using the moonlight to suppliment the Dorcy. When you used the bowling pin your pupils would have contracted somewhat, making the ambient light less usable.

I also find that tint makes a big difference when looking at foliage. The blue tints seem to lose contrast where the yellows don't. That could just be my eyes.

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Thanks to both Lurker and gadget_lover for the suggestion that brighter lights may cause dazzle and the pupils to contract more, therefore one sees less well outside of the hot-spot. This makes sense - and a case of more is not necessarily always better.

As for the tint - gadget_lover's and my eyes are probably similar - as I also seem to see better (in terms of contrast and definition) with yellow light - especially in dimmer conditions.

Thanks for the suggestions.

A lot of flashaholics seems to think brighter the better - my experience above and two replies seem to think that there is just "the right amount of light".

I thought about this a little more and wanted to know why I seemed to see better with the tiny Dorcy 1AAA which is significantly/noticably less bright than two other multi-LED lights.

Just as a casual ad-hoc experiement I tried to see how bright the Dorcy 1AAA was compared to my normal indoors lighting.

Putting a sheet of white paper on the floor under a household 60 watt frosted bulb in a frosted globe (8ft high ceiling) I then shone the Dorcy 1AAA held normally at about waist level at that sheet of paper - at about 6ft in front of me - I estimate it was about equal brightness.

So for my normal outdoors walking I would shine the center of the hotspot about 4-6 feet in front of me - that means the intensity of that hotspot would be about or even slightly brighter than the equivalent of being directly under a 60watt household bulb on an 8ft ceiling.

more thoughts?

That's an interesting observation and maybe that is a good rule of thumb for what the correct amount of light is. Certainly if you were shining the light at a distant target, you would have needed a much more powerful light to get that level of illumination, but at your feet, a weaker light is plenty.

I would have thought that using lighting that is dimmer than typical indoor lighting would be ideal as that would allow you to develop some dark adaptation in your eyes. But maybe indoor lighting levels represents some sort of minimum threshhold for good visibility.

[ QUOTE ]
Lurker said:I would have thought that using lighting that is dimmer than typical indoor lighting would be ideal as that would allow you to develop some dark adaptation in your eyes. But maybe indoor lighting levels represents some sort of minimum threshhold for good visibility.

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A ceilng mounted single 60 watt frosted bulb in a frosted globe - is relatively speaking considered "low" for most households - walk to about 10-12 feet away from directly under the bulb and that part of the room is pretty "dark" and starting to be difficult to read easily.

Of course directly underneath the light is "bright" - and to examine something or to read small print I'd do it directly under the light - which would be about 3-4 feet from the bulb. (to check I have a reading light - a 60 watt "soft white" bulb that's approx 4.5ft from the reading surface)

The floor is about 7-8 feet from the bulb about double the distance so about 1/4 that intensity....... that's the level of lighting - not too bright but not dark either.

Well, any way you look at it, the Dorcy AAA is a handy little light. It has to be the best "cheap" light going right now.

RE " Can such a minor tint/shade difference make that much difference in one's ability to see well? "
Absolutely! Here's the short take:
1) Every 100ºK towards or away from the Blue end of the spectrum that a 'white beam' diverges can make a noticable difference to perception and comfort in night vision
2) Because the Dorcy AAA Mouthlight is a low level of light, color variances have an even more dramatic effect of perception of 'brightness' as well as comfort . That's because at that level, Blue becomes even more problematic.
The Dorcy as a remarkably less blue bias than most AAA's that I've seen.
Look at Test#2 on this page > http://www.imagometrics.com/FLReviews/FLR_BS_2.htm
The Photon 3 really shoots a brighter/tighter beam than the DAAA Mouthlight but it's also bluer. Not an 'everynight' carry for me. I use the Dorcy AAA for my evening washup and navigating around the house with all lights out but haven't used it much outside. Next time I go camping I see. BTW- if anyone (new customers only please) wants a sample of the LEE Hampshire 1/8 frost material to try on the Dorcy- shoot me your address in a PM. It really smoothes the Dorcy beam out very nicely!
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

[ QUOTE ]
Aten_Imago said:
The Dorcy as a remarkably less blue bias than most AAA's that I've seen.
Look at Test#2 on this page > http://www.imagometrics.com/FLReviews/FLR_BS_2.htm

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Many thanks for that input - I didn't realize that I could be that sensitive to a slight shift in white tint.

The 2 Dorcy 1AAA's I have were both bought from Wal-Mart in November/2003 but from two different deliveries they have a nice "sunlight" like tint of white, but there is some blue in the hot-spot. Any -2 stops UNDERexposure beamshot will still show quite a lot of blue even in the Dorcy 1AAA (as the -2stop beamshot of the Bowling Pin 9LED vs. the Dorcy 1AAA I posted above shows)

As mentioned elsewhere I tried another Dorcy 1AAA about February of this year and it had a noticably bluer tinted beam - so I returned the light.

There has to be variations in beam tint for such a cheap flashlight - I consider myself lucky in the two that I have - especially since I was able to "adjust"/correct the the the first one to get a more even centered beam (and all I did was to rotate the LED/circuit board to the only other orientation!):

Dorcy 1AAA Beam adjustment

Vincent- one thing youmay also notice is that the coloration across the beam profile is uneven- with some 'rings' being blueish and others quite neutral. I found that by using the diffusion over the lens, a color blending occurs that reduces the effect of bluish regions, while generally bringing the whole beam into a more useful color balance. Shall we call it Chromatic Blending?
One another Dorcy related topic...see my new post- Dorcy AAA gains stand-up status
Cheers!
AI