Do you really use 0.2 lumen?

[foxtrot29]

I use the lowest low on the D10 to check on my baby frequently at night. I'd prefer lower since it still sometimes annoys my wife.

 

[Bushman5]

there has just been a cave in in tunnel 7 at the local coal mine. 20 miners are trapped almost 500 feet down, they have relocated to an emergency muster point. There is over 9 tunnels collapsed, it will take heavy equipment working 24/7 for two weeks to remove the debris and reach the trapped miners.

one of the miners has a light that has .02 lumen setting. It will run for over 500 hours on that setting. The miners will be able to see, administer first aid to the injured form the Muster Point FAK, and assess their situation.

just a hypothetical scenario, where a loooooooooooong running .02 lumens would come in handy.

 

[Narcosynthesis]

Really it all depends on what you need of your lights...

If you normally use them for digging around in cupboards or lighting your way along a path, then a low low is not going to be much use when you are lighting up something for daylight adjusted eyes, or lighting a larger area.

On the other hand, if you are wanting a light for reading in the dark without ruining your night vision completely or a light for small tasks in complete darkness (not the normal city darkness where residual glow from streetlights leave everywhere with some degree of light) and night adjusted eyes a low low could be perfect and even the 10 lumen a fairly bright light for that situation/task

The example that brought it home for me was staying in a large open dorm with a lot of people, the 16 lumen low on my L1T used in that room is more than enough power to annoy people awake reflecting off a wall or annoy light sleepers if I shone it on them accidentally.
The **** poor output (measured conventionally ) of a Mag solitaire on the other hand was a perfect output to let me sort my sleeping gear and so on without bothering anyone (though battery life is still abysmal).

The other option is a red filter - used on a brighter light it will knock the output back a degree and also change the white light to a more night vision friendly red and allow something like the L1T to be used where the 16 lumen low would be too much - something that has been effective for me when sharing tents before.

 

[iTorch]

I am saying what others have said, my 120p novatac has .008 lumens (no flickering now that I use AW rcr), and whilst is is very low it works great, when I get up I can get dressed without waking my wife but see perfectly with it, once I get outside I flick to 2-3 lumns, becuase I have to go past a sensor light that blasts me and destroys night vision just before I descends a pebble strewn, slippry path.

Would I go even lower? maybe, never seen one lower, this works fine for night time. Plus when i need more light its ajust a press away.

 

[smflorkey]

I often use the lowest level of my Spartanian II (supposed to be .07 lumens) around the house at night. I sometimes use this level in theaters to read the program with minimal impact on others around me. It usually seems too bright in the theater. YMMV

To put this in context, I grew up on a farm so I know how to use available light. OHOH, I've spent the past 30+ years in urban environments. My current home is grossly over-lit at night (IMHO), but my wife and daughter find it quite dark. I celebrated my 58th birthday a few months ago so my eyes are not what they used to be (back on the farm).

Hope that helps,
Steve

 

[guiri]

How many of you guys/gals use the .2 lumen? I don't think I can walk around the room/house with .2 lumen, can you?

You would if you were stuck in the dark woods, ruins after an earthquake or something and you'll be glad you have it as it'll give you usable light for weeks.

George

 

[Search]

You would if you were stuck in the dark woods, ruins after an earthquake or something and you'll be glad you have it as it'll give you usable light for weeks.

George

If something happened so bad that I was stuck in the woods for two weeks i would want a LOT more light.

Time to hunt zombies :twothumbs

 

[Sub_Umbra]

If something happened so bad that I was stuck in the woods for two weeks i would want a LOT more light.

Time to hunt zombies :twothumbs

I'd go with the super dim light -- it's ten times easier to hide from zombies than it is to hunt them. Been there, done that, got the smelly t-shirt.

"Discretion is the better part of valor."

 

[brucec]

Didn't you guys' mothers ever tell you that reading in poor light is bad for your eyes?

Here is what Wiki, the de facto authority on internet information, has to say about the issue.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_reading_in_the_dark_bad_for_your_eyes

Maybe eye-strain is causing all of the insomnia...

 

[guiri]

If something happened so bad that I was stuck in the woods for two weeks i would want a LOT more light.

Time to hunt zombies :twothumbs

Alright, let's see here. You have a choice of whatever output at full blast for a couple of hours or something you KNOW will let you have usable light for maybe 100-200 hours and you choose to blast the night?

So, what do you do after you've given the first three zombies a sun tan?

 

[vali]

Didn't you guys' mothers ever tell you that reading in poor light is bad for your eyes?

Here is what Wiki, the de facto authority on internet information, has to say about the issue.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_reading_in_the_dark_bad_for_your_eyes

Maybe eye-strain is causing all of the insomnia...

So do you think is better burning the retina using a powerfull light agains white paper just a few inches from your eyes? :shakehead

 

[brucec]

So do you think is better burning the retina using a powerfull light agains white paper just a few inches from your eyes? :shakehead

Umm, I think the article was recommending reading in a properly lighted room or chair. You know, like normal people without high powered LED flashlights do. :tinfoil:

 

[kaichu dento]

I am more concerned with how low my lights go than with how high they go.

+1

All the leading companies lights have plenty of output for my needs, but what they more often lack is the ability to dial down to a the lower levels, which are what I mostly use at night. About the only time I use my high settings are during the daytime when I'm searching in shaded areas that are surrounded by light, but still hard to see into.

 

[Mike V]

How bright is the lowest setting on a Photon Freedom Micro?

I love the lowest setting on this light for getting around the house when everyone else has gone to bed.

I love a really low low for reading in bed too.
For example I find the low setting on the Zebralight H501 too bright.

The Photon REX I guess is 4 times brighter than this, since it uses 4 x LEDs ?

 

[DM51]

The battery indicator LEDs in the tailcap of my Polarion PH40 will give me ~ 0.01, 0.02, 0.03, 0.04 and 0.05 lumens, depending on how many of the 5 LEDs are lit to indicate the state of charge of the battery.

This is plenty of light for wandering furtively around some districts in Vladivostok after dark (it is sometimes advisable here not to be too conspicuous) but there can occasionally be a problem with the ~5,000 lm (and heat emissions) emerging from the front end of the PH40 if this is insufficiently shielded from view by a stout lens-cap.

 

[LightJaguar]

Umm, I think the article was recommending reading in a properly lighted room or chair. You know, like normal people without high powered LED flashlights do. :tinfoil:

:laughing::laughing:

That had me laughing a bit.
I kind of wonder if back in the days before High Powered LEDs were available, the super low low phenomenon was as popular. I also wonder if those .2 lumens from the Quark is out the front lumens or emitter lumens?
I myself find that my .002 lumens from my very discharged Streamlight stylus is a tad too bright for my force sensitive eyes.
Before my Jedi training I tried using a 1 lumen setting to walk around the house and ended up stepping on doggy poop.

 

[Yapo]

Heh when i was a kid i used to read books under the covers in bed by candle light!:candle:

...by candle light i mean a pack of "Glow in the dark" candles

 

[gbelleh]

Why not just use a light with a small tritium locator. You'd never even have to switch it on, and you'd have at least 12 years of runtime, with no loss of night vision.

 

[matrixshaman]

Blinded by 1 lumen? Man you guys are really afraid of a little light. Which I find weird seeing as we're all flashaholics. Yes, 1 lumen seems bright when you just wake up, but at least my eyes adjust pretty quickly. It's not an issue. Given no flashlight, I'll turn on the bathroom light. Yes it's bright and hurts for a second, but I'm tough enough to deal with it I guess. Seriously, how important is it to maintain your cave darkness vision when you're going back to bed in a minute anyway? Do you guys find it unreasonably bright to sleep in a tent under the moonlight? I suppose I understand why a really low low would be useful for the military, but personally, I find the idea of buying a flashlight based on the fact that it has the ability to put out nearly no light to be rather, um, amusing.

Well there are other people often in the same room at night for many of us and it's much kinder to use a very low level flashlight that goes unnoticed by any one with eyes closed than to flip on a 60 watt overhead light or a 140 lumen flashlight - guaranteed to cause some grumbling.

 

[Coop57]

I find the .02lm setting on my Quark AA to be perfect for picking up dog crap that my dog loves to deposit in my neighbors yards during our nightly walks.
Now that is TACTICAL.