Moonlight - Bringing the output down

[Tixx]

One thing I use often is moonlight. And when I say moonlight, I don't mean low. I mean something sub lumen and better yet, sub half-lumen preferred. I use this often around a dark house and to no wake up the wife or kids. All these programmable drivers say "ML" or something to that effect and often fall short. Many try, but don't come even close. I feel like this area is one that can use improvement.

Lights I like most due to their moonlight modes to name a few:

Photon Freedom Covert (Yuji High CRI mod especially nice, but not necessary)
HDS Rotary
Zebralight lights
Armytek
Veleno Designs Quantum
Astrolux A01
Charles Wiggins 4sevens Quark 123 triple mod with A6 driver

 

[LeanBurn]

All my Thrunite lights have firefly mode which is less than 0.5 lumens. Some firefly modes are in the 10ths of a lumen range. I love sub lumen mode and it is very useful for me.

My firefly champion is my TiS...at 0.04 lumens for 115 hrs on a single AAA cell.

 

[GrizzlyAdams]

I've never woken anyone up using my lights with a handful of lumens (say 5 or so). If I'm camping and need a few lumens to see in the tent I'll just wrap my hand around the bezel a bit. Its never been high on my list and posts like these make me think I might be missing something.

 

[WalkIntoTheLight]

You are missing something. Until I had my first light with a sub-lumen moonlight mode, I figured it was a dumb option that I'd never use. Now, I probably use it more than any other mode. Perfect for middle-of-the-night.

 

[blackbalsam]

Yeah, i like to have a very low moonlight also, like some of my old Milkyspit modded lights - the lowest of all.

 

[wacbzz]

I've never woken anyone up using my lights with a handful of lumens (say 5 or so). If I'm camping and need a few lumens to see in the tent I'll just wrap my hand around the bezel a bit. Its never been high on my list and posts like these make me think I might be missing something.

You're not.

When I was a connoisseur of a certain three lettered light, I thought its sub-lumen mode was the bees knees. I would check up on my newborn daughter and not "worry" that I would wake someone with the light. In theory, I would be able to find what I needed at night, in the dark.

Nine years later, I've reached a much different conclusion. Maybe TMI, but if I get up at night, it's probably because I need to use the bathroom. I've lived in my house for 14 years; if I need a sub-lumen light to navigate my house "in the dark," there's something wrong with me. We have a night light in a plug in the wall in the bathroom, and it certainly isn't sub-lumen.

I've yet to wake my wife when I have turned on my Fenix 01 while I'm in a completely different room and needed some light, and even if she did wake, it more than likely wouldn't be from the 13 lumens from the Fenix. Noise would wake her long before the light.

And BTW, who gets up in the middle of the night and points the light in their significant other ones face or direction anyway?!?!

 

[Tixx]

All my Thrunite lights have firefly mode which is less than 0.5 lumens. Some firefly modes are in the 10ths of a lumen range. I love sub lumen mode and it is very useful for me.

My firefly champion is my TiS...at 0.04 lumens for 115 hrs on a single AAA cell.

Good to know. I'll check them out.

 

[Tixx]

You are missing something. Until I had my first light with a sub-lumen moonlight mode, I figured it was a dumb option that I'd never use. Now, I probably use it more than any other mode. Perfect for middle-of-the-night.

Yeah, I felt the same when I first started along with "why would anyone want neutral with less lumens?". As I progressed, practical use became the emphasis for my needs.

 

[Tixx]

I've never woken anyone up using my lights with a handful of lumens (say 5 or so). If I'm camping and need a few lumens to see in the tent I'll just wrap my hand around the bezel a bit. Its never been high on my list and posts like these make me think I might be missing something.

Only advice I have would be to try something like a Zebralight. They have lots of love here and easy to sell in the market place if you don't like it. I end up selling a lot of nice lights because their moonlight claims are between 1-5 lumens which lights up an entire room from ceiling bounce.

 

[AndyF]

Would a red LED be an option?. I really like the Hyper Red from Osram.

 

[gurdygurds]

Gotta agree with Tixx. I've had a few zebras bought and sold only to receive another yesterday. Their sub lumen modes and programming are awesome. Last night I left my Sc53w ON all night at .01 lumens. Woke up, had to tinkle,easily spotted the light since it was glowing, picked it up and double clicked to a bit higher sub lumen output to get things done. An E01 will make me squint and hiss like a vampire if I turn it on from a deep sleep. Zebras are awesome for creeping around the house. QUOTE=Tixx;5246312]Only advice I have would be to try something like a Zebralight. They have lots of love here and easy to sell in the market place if you don't like it. I end up selling a lot of nice lights because their moonlight claims are between 1-5 lumens which lights up an entire room from ceiling bounce.[/QUOTE]

 

[iamlucky13]

0.1 to 0.5 lumens is generally what I like for dark adapted eyes. I had a Thrunite Ti5 for a while, but I thought the 0.04 lumen level was a bit too dim.

1-2 lumens is nice for eyes that still need to adapt, because it is enough to see by after a few seconds of pupil dilation, but not bright enough to prevent further dark adaptation, which takes significantly longer.

My Armytek Tiara Pro has a levels at both of those ranges, which is great. The L3 Illumination L11C had 0.1 and 3 lumen modes, which also worked very well. I just wish it hadn't been so delicate.

I've disturbed my wife's sleep a few times getting dressed, with an E05 (8 lumens rated, I think), even being careful not to shine it at her. Presumably it is a combination of noise and light, but she really does seem to sleep better when I'm getting ready for work if I stay down at the moonlight levels.

All these programmable drivers say "ML" or something to that effect and often fall short. Many try, but don't come even close. I feel like this area is one that can use improvement.

Reportedly, with a single, good quality 7135 chip on its own channel, 0.2 lumens is realistic for the type of driver I think you're referring to. A lot of 7135 chips don't operate stably at very low PWM duty cycles, affecting both the viable moonlight level and the regulation when using a high frequency PWM. Some of the better projects do seek out the known good 7135's. The FW3A is such a project. I assume the Moonlight Special driver that Mountain Electronics sells is similar.

I'd guess the minimum mode on a Convoy S2+ Nichia that I recently built is 4-5 lumens, based on 8 x 7135, so even the cheap 7135 chips appear capable of sub-lumen levels if a single chip has its own channel.

 

[gurdygurds]

My daughter, "Daddy can you please turn your flashlight off?" when I've got an incandescent Solitaire ceiling bounced in her room. Some people are pretty light sensitive when they're sleeping or trying to go to sleep.

 

[Nokoff]

Prolly the oldest, most asked question ever. There's a better solution nowadays...and this is coming from someone with a ti V10r with ~20 trit vials and a low of one Lumen available to me on my nightstand.

This sub compact lantern has a diffused red led of .7 lumens. Point Seven! I keep it turned on all night on my nightstand right beside the bed. It runs for 12 days on 3AA Eneloops. Red doesn't affect nite vision or even penetrate the eyelids at this level...If you get up and just grab the handle and go. It's just enough red light to see to plug your phone in or anything else on the nightstand too.

At casa de Nokoff, we also have much ambient light from soft white nightlights that I can see to navigate the entire home without holding anything/

Best of luck!

 

[aginthelaw]

Stop taking your water pill at night you won't need to go in the dark. I turned on a light which had to be less than five lumens and my wife still yelled at me

 

[gurdygurds]

Didn't one of my previous Zebras go to you? Get that moonlight level set brother!

Stop taking your water pill at night you won't need to go in the dark. I turned on a light which had to be less than five lumens and my wife still yelled at me

 

[Nokoff]

Adding pics of the Streamlight Siege AA sub compact lantern with red LED on, in both pics.
In the first one the .7 Lumen is drowned out out by red light from my two 18650 lanterns and red xpg2 from Nailbender. In the second, it's just the Streamlight. You can barely see the other lanterns around it. When your eyes are truely dark adapted, it's all you'll want and need. Also adds a little something special to your Christmas with the lighted power button.

 

[marinemaster]

I wake up at night just to see my sublumen Zebralight [emoji12]

 

[Modernflame]

For me, low mode is low mode, whether 5 or 0.5 lumens. I've never switched on 5 lumens with dark adapted eyes and wished for less output. Don't take me wrong, low modes are very important, but we're splitting hairs with the varieties of sub lumen output. Half a lumen might be well for viewing the night stand in the wee hours, but it is insufficient for tail standing even the deepest darkness.

 

[iamlucky13]

Half a lumen might be well for viewing the night stand in the wee hours, but it is insufficient for tail standing even the deepest darkness.

Tailstanding is exactly what I do with a sub-lumen light when staying overnight in unfamiliar places, because I can then find my way around a bedroom without additional light.

Between the 0.1 lumen and the 2 lumen modes on my Tiara, I usually choose 0.1 lumens, unless I'm in a very big room.