Your favorite UI for a 3 stage light

[recDNA]

Low,High, Strobe. Low and High on the bezel. Strobe hidden...like 4 fast clicks.

 

[Scotty007]

All of those who use flashlights for "Duty use" would opt for HIGH first...with a strobe somewhere in there, and low being last....because OBVIOUSLY for "Duty use" switching thru low, medium, blah blah blah, to get to maxium output is absolutely foolish, dangerous and ridiculous. thats why MOST LEOs use Incans!!!!!!!!
(not to mention they are better for duty use anyway...)

 

[kaichu dento]

Unfortunately, it's almost nonexistent. That would get most votes imagine.
Too bad flashlight designers are ignoring this demand. :duh2:

I'm betting that within the next year we'll see at least a couple new notable additions with ring selectors and my preference would be for the U2 or 007 style!

the ra twisty UI...

I just bought one and can't wait for it to get here!

I'm a L/M/H, no memory person myself, tho I can accept memory in some cases, depencing on how it's implemented.

+1

All my programmable lights are set starting from low to high, but I do like the option of going immediately to high like my D10 and H501 offer.

high to low would be good for times where you need full output instantaneously like maybe a tactical
low to high would be good for saving the night vision. non tactical situation.

i would say though that my choice would be in output in sequence so either way.

not a fan of the med low high but it's livable.

This too mirrors my feelings very accurately. I also tend to think in terms of low>high for fully dark, primarily high for partially dark situations.

 

[Beacon of Light]

All of those who use flashlights for "Duty use" would opt for HIGH first...with a strobe somewhere in there, and low being last....because OBVIOUSLY for "Duty use" switching thru low, medium, blah blah blah, to get to maxium output is absolutely foolish, dangerous and ridiculous. thats why MOST LEOs use Incans!!!!!!!!
(not to mention they are better for duty use anyway...)

And I remember the day a LEO stole my cheap china 9LED light. He was searching my car and low and behold he found the light turned it on and kept it I was pissed. He also took a Streamlight Task Light.

 

[Scotty007]

And I remember the day a LEO stole my cheap china 9LED light. He was searching my car and low and behold he found the light turned it on and kept it I was pissed. He also took a Streamlight Task Light.

Well, this one may be TOO HOT to touch but...uh...seems like he may have had probable cause to search your vehicle...what would have given him that in the first place?

 

[Beacon of Light]

DUI checkpoint, I passed the various tests and hoops I had to jump through but he frisked me and took the 2 flashlights out of my pockets and searched my car for open containers or drugs. That's the risk anyone takes by playing music at band rehearsal one town away until 3am and then having to drive home.

 

[ImGeo]

L/M/H because sometimes I had it last in high, but I don't always want high the next time. L/M/H is always predictable, and I'm not usually in a "tactical" situation, ready to cap someone's a$$ with my .45

 

[Hawk600]

Definitively memory to remember last setting is the way to go.
The user can choose the best mode according the situation, like very low to walk around the house at nigh and not getting the eyes burned when turning the light on or maximum brightness for tactical situations.
Predefined modes are nice and easier, but makes the light limited.

 

[Badbeams3]

Head loose...super low, low, medium, high. Head tight...programmable....pick your level.

 

[Yapo]

For me i like to be able to choose to turn on instantly at high when i really want a lot of light or low when i dont want to kill my night adapted eyes/disturb others.

Which is why i like the UI of my Zebralight H501 and Proton Pro!

no need for checkin if the heads tighten/loosen or remembering what mode you used last(given that no one else has been playing/using it)

but given the above poll choices i would go for low > med > hi

 

[flatline]

I voted lo-med-hi because it's my favorite of those listed, but there are lots of better UIs.

As folks have mentioned, the Quark UI is nice because you can start at either extreme, but it requires 2 hands.

Personally, I like the photon freedom micro UI: click for hi, click + hold to ramp up from min to max. Simple, elegant, and lets you get either extreme (or anything in between) with a single button press. And only 1 hand required to operate.

Any driver boards that implement the photon freedom micro UI?

--flatline

 

[paulr]

Missing option: hi-lo-med. I'm not sure I'd pick it but the basic theory is that medium is the least useful of the 3 levels. Personally I have one 3-level light (Fenix LD01) and I'd prefer to eliminate the medium mode and leave it at 2 levels.

I don't like multi-click or multi-twist interfaces in general. A control ring or knob (Spy) is a much better way to select multiple (more than 2) levels. For 2 levels, a force sensitive pressure switch (McGizmo PD, SF A2) is best.

 

[Patriot]

Well, it looks like the low, med, high, is twice as popular as all the other UI's combined. I wonder why the old LOD threads didn't reflect this opinion.

 

[big beam]

L/M/H but with a default to low.Fenix got it right,even the low is useful most of the time.
DON

 

[flatline]

Okay, so now that we've determined that L-M-H is the favorite, which flashlights actually have this UI?

The only one I can think of is the MG L-mini II.

The regular Quark is close if you keep the bezel loose (LL-L-M-H-SoS-B...although SoS and Beacon are throwaway modes...).

Programmable lights like the LiteFlux and JetBeam lights can, of course, be programmed to do this.

What am I missing?

 

[gunga]

All Lumapower EDC series have this UI (with memory).

The Incendio, Avenger GX, and Connexion.

The L-mini 2 from Shining beam has this (with memory too).

The Jetbeam IBS lights with 3 modes can all be programmed to be this too.

All the advanced liteflux models (LF5XT, LF3XT, LF2XT) can also be programmed to be this UI.

 

[Gary123]

I generally prefer L/M/H, tho I have one light with 3 outputs (20, 100 and 450 lumens) and I have that set to M/L/H.

Memory is OK if you typically require the same output level whenever you turn on the light. For me that's rarely the case.

 

[Beacon of Light]

I forgot about this thread with poll I started. I guess the people truly HAVE spoken. This was to show that the Maratac/iTP EOS 3A had the UI all wrong. We generally prefer low/med/high for most of us. I hope someone can get this message across to iTP/Maratac as those lights are great but I get annoyed everytime I turn it on to have to twist it back and forth 2 times just to get to low.

 

[Beacon of Light]

I thought I set up this poll to list the members that voted which way instead of anonymous. I have never posted a poll before so maybe I have to wait until the poll ends? Also is there a way to end the poll early considering I made this thread?

I am curious out of the 25 votes that went to the memory preference, if this wasn't an option, how many of them would have voted for low/medium/high?

 

[berry580]

I vote Jetbeam's IBS!

i.e. All the options in the poll is bad! =P

lol, well IMO, if its EDC, LMH. If tactical use (or intended for self defence, HML.

MLH... is a controversial one.... IMO

Last used mode, just darn stupid, I won't remember the last mode I used in a torch. Don't know about you guys. lol