The futility of the EDC (in the city)

I've been carrying a variety of LED flashlights for quite some time now (various Dorcys, Infinity Ultra, X5T, Mr Bulk's VIP & Lionheart, and an Ultra-Power 3), and have reached a conclusion about the day-to-day utility of the EDC in the city... it's not very useful.

There are literally megawatts going into outdoor area lighting in the city - most of it high-pressure sodium lamps casting hazy yellow everywhere. Even 100 meters away is no good with line-of-sight.

Thankfully, my night vision seems to be good enough that I don't really need a light most of the time - I got by just fine before coming across this hobby.

Thoughts?

I'll keep carrying just for emergencies, but the EDC simply isn't a very useful tool for routine outside tasks in the city.

Idle, I can relate to that observation. There are very few,small lights that can compete with ambient wash in a urban environment. I've resigned myself to carrying a large Pelican M6 or Asp Taclite and spares carriers when working nights in large cities. Of course backed up by fav led-Arc 4, Aleph, KL1, etc. The M6 just isn't something I favor carrying in casual attire.

A boosted THOR makes a nice carry around for walks in the city.

It's been said here before that LED lights do poorly in high ambient light areas. (Yea I know that sounds like an oxymoron why do you need a light in a brightly lit area?)

Incandescents rule in these situations

I use it daily, there are so many spots not covered with light. Something behind the desk, a tiny connector. And it is every second day that I have to light up something for somebody else.
And not seeing tiny details due to not enough light (= getting old).
A small but bright light is very useful for me.

I find most any decent 5mm LED to be quite helpful for close up tasks in the city. I carry a PT Eclipse on my keychain and use it regularly. When I have to unlock a door in a dark corner, when I drop something in my car, to read a map, etc. Anything farther than a few feet and I find myself wishing I had a bigger incan though.

Ken

Most of the side streets around here aren't particularly well lit. While there's enough light to walk by, there's not always enough light for pedestrians to be visible to oncoming traffic. As such, I mostly use my EDC as an attention getter to remind drivers and cyclists that pedestrians aren't to be run over. There's not much other use for an EDC save for lighting up the racoons and other urban wildlife hiding in the bushes.

If I take a walk on the (unlit) seawall after dark, however, then my lights get a much more use. I generally use my NICD-loaded SL 4AA Lux for this, however, as it costs essentially nothing to operate.

I have a UK2AAA eled in my pocket and it does the job when I need a little extra light under a table or something, if not hopefully I am at home or near my car where I have other lights available.

I have a Legend LX that I've carried during my walks through suburbia, and it's also overwhelmed by streetlights. My understanding is that the bulb is rated at ~120 lm, so it's not like I'm comparing a Solitaire to a U2. The textured reflector introduces some inefficiencies, but it's easily as bright as my TL-3 LED.

The "200W" Vector spotlight I tested did relatively well, but that was pure brute force. It also does not fit in a pocket, nor does it hang off the belt conveniently.

Small LED lights are invaluable for close-up detail work even in a parking lot with a light standard every 50' or so. 3W LEDs are useful to about 50' in ambient light conditions.

All lights I've tested are susceptable to the haze in my area. Dallas is fairly humid, and I usually take my walks between the hours of 23:00 and 02:00, so I'm catching a great deal of humidity condensing into dew.

My XM-3 goes well with me in tne city, great when there is a power outage.

How do you think I feel? I live in Las Vegas. The whole damn town is lit up. I work in a casino with backup generators that kick in within a couple of seconds if there is a power outage.

Yeah, I EDC a TW4. Why? Because I can. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Jeff

Now Now Now... quite complaining about too much light. Here in Norway we are stuck with light until somewhere in the neigborhood of Midnight and 1am (during sunniest time)

And then the street lights kick in. but I seem to find all sorts of *excuses* to need my little EDC lights. Like at home when the lights are on and I dont want to wake the kids. or if I"m working around or in computers or dark cubby holes gonna need da light. So I'm with Jeff here I carry a TnC Proto Ncell and a TW4 cuz I can. BTW thanks alot for putting at McE2S tail on yours Jeff and bragging about it now I had to get one for my TW4 to see what all the fuss is about it.. argh..!!

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Ambient light screws up my night vision, so I need strong light to see detail in lit up areas. My 6P with P91 LA and two RCR123's does the trick. VIP comes in handy with point on work.

Bill

That's why I like my T1. A LED with throw, works great under the city lights.



Blades

I think there is also some merit in carrying a capable edc light just for that one day out of a thousand when the city has a power outage.

I had friends in NYC during the last big outage and it got VERY dark!

Marc

I agree with Marc. The main reason I EDC is for the blackout or when the lights go out in the subway. Sometimes they evacuate Tube (subway) trains on the tracks here in London and people have to walk trough the tunnel to the next station. Would be handy to have a light then. When its really dark any light helps. I carry a L4 and some LuxIII light, usually Aleph 2 or Lionheart plus an ARC AAA.

I use my LED lights indoors a lot, too. In fact, I house-EDC (all thanks to these 'candlepowerforums' freaks /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif) nowadays, and the lights are wonderful for finding things - even in a brightly lit room, when there's a lot of clutter on a desk, somehow the light manages to make what I'm looking for suddenly jump out at me. Then there are always places where room light doesn't reach, drawers, cupboards, under tables, stuff like that.

And even outdoors there are some dark spots that could use illumination. But you guys have a good point about outdoors, which is why I specify that my 'large' EDC must be ~100 lumens. ('Huge' EDC (a contradiction in terms) will scale well beyond that)

LED is fine. The U2's focused beam cuts through the brilliant orange of sodium vapor lamps just as well as its Surefire P90 counterpart (mounted in a C2-HA with A19-HA). /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif must be the big reflector advantage.

I work in a city. I EDC an Eagle Creek belt pouch in which I carry a 2AA light, a 6X25 close-focus monocular, a 2X magnifier, powdered aspirin for heart attack, Advil and Band-Aids for injury, a contact lens case, a spare pair of reading glasses, a police whistle, a compass, and more. Not because I need these items regularly, but because when I DO need them, I'll have them.

I like the A2 for EDC in my city. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

E1L has a nice BIG hotspot that pieces through ambient light