Adjustable brightness vs. Multiple lights

I know most of us here carry AT LEAST 2 lights most of the time, but recently I've had hankering for a be all, end all light with easily manipulated multiple brightness levels. That way, you don't buy more lights, looking for the perfect one for this or that (yeah right /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif), you just buy more of one type of battery (or use rechargables). I'm not sure this ideal light exists yet- most are too big for me (Streamlight 3W 2L, U2) or have fancy UI (HDS) and in practical terms, maybe its better to have, for example, one bigger momma and one little guy- you have totally seperate systems in case one fails. Also, with multiple lights, you are more easily able to cheaply find lights that excel at the one thing they do (ex. T1 for bright throw/Arc AAA or Ultra-G for close-up and spill). However, there is a certain appeal to having one go-to unit that can do everything- less to keep track of in your pockets, etc...opinions?

The "ideal" light for multiple uses would need to have a good spot to flood adjustment as well. That would be the hard part, as it would really need a reflector that could change it's shape, since moving the source (aka Mag) just makes for a messy donut hole. I think it was McGizmo who was once trying out a telescopic style double reflector - one small reflector for flood, and an extension to create more throw. I think he also had a nice throwing reflector with a little can that could move up around the light source to shade the reflector, giving pure flood.

Let me know if you find the "perfect light!" Right now I reckon the LionHeart fits that description very nicely, except for the fixed focus.

Yup, I went to the adjustable SL TL 2-L, but it's not an EDC light. As you say it's alway good to have a little light as a backup.

What bindibadgi said.

An end-all flashlight? Hmmm...that's an interesting irony in which our motto is 'Buy em' both...' /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Seriously, on top of being able to make it a good spot to flood light, I would say variable runtime/brightness would be important for an end-all light. There are probably several ways of doing it--by lighting up different sets/number of lights(1, 2, 3...LEDs, or LED+bulb combo) or by electronics. Not to mention the ability of using common alkaline battery is important to me as well.


Back to topic, I do not use flashlight in some stressful life-threatening situation(firefighters, police/military work, disaster rescuer...) but I can understand why in some situation, multiple lights instead of one end-all light.

Even if such flashlight exist, I think I might just end up carry two of this perfect light. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I had the SL tasklight Luxeon 2L on my wish list exactly because of its dual output modes, but I have decided on the very similar but slightly cheaper Nuwai TM115 instead. I think it will be more useful with dual modes but nevertheless if I am camping (which is what I really want the light for) I will probably carry other lights as well, maybe a Gerber Infinity for use in my tent and a Streamlight TL-3 Xenon if I need more throw.

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Solstice said:
However, there is a certain appeal to having one go-to unit that can do everything- less to keep track of in your pockets, etc...opinions?

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I will always carry at least two different lights in situations where it really matters. It's usually a combination of the UK 2AAA eLED and another light, depending on what I do.

However, I'd really like to have one light that covers most of my needs, and that would definitely have to have adjustable brightness. From all I've read so far I believe the HDS is very close to being the perfect light for my purposes. Sure, the Ultimate has a complex interface, but the HDS Basic doesn't. The only thing I don't really like about it is that it uses 123 batteries, I'd much prefer AA batteries. But then that's a small price to pay for all the other advantages it offers, like small size and so on.

Even so I'm probably too paranoid to carry only one light, so even if I get a HDS I'll continue carrying a UK 2AAA eLED as a backup. I really like that small UK ... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Hans

Thanks for the feedback guys. I agree about the fixed focus issue as well but I think that easy adjustable brightness is the most important versatility factor as long as the beam is a decent throw/spill compromise. Lionheart does come close, after handling one at PF3. Wish I could afford it /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/broke.gif