mode visible/selectable before turning it on

lumen aeternum

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Sep 29, 2012
Messages
890
I'd love to have a light that goes from moonlight to solar flare, but its imperative that I know the mode it will be in when I turn it on.
Turning on in last mode is useless, you have to remember it.
Some lights have a ring, with either steps or infinite.
One now has a dial ???

I'd like to see light that has a display panel, and a button you can press to select the level (showing on the panel) , and a different button to turn it on.
 

InvisibleFrodo

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Sep 16, 2014
Messages
963
There are plenty of lights that have no mode memory and always default to the low setting. I prefer lights that start at the lowest setting and go up from there, and I have come to find I don't like mode memory. Streamlight has quite a few lights that can be programmed with the ten tap feature. Those lights can be programmed to go low-med-high and always in that order. They require a very deliberate double or triple press right at turn on in order to access medium and high. Virtually no way to have accidental access to medium or high. I've been kinda eyeing up a polytac or the new polytac x that's sized to fit an 18650 and has three output settings. But the low mode on the streamlight is like 14 on the polytac and 35 lumens on the polytac x. Not a moonlight. The Prometheus Alpha is a big favorite of mine, and the driver they come with can be programmed to have up to 7 brightness settings, all user programmable, with ability to enable or disable mode memory, adjust thermal protection temperature, etc. The cool fall spy always comes on in low, but you can go to high as fast as you can turn a knob. 6 brightness settings user programmable. Super expensive.

Malkoff MDC lights have a sort of semi memory. The lights use on time to change brightness. So when the light is used less than a second, next time it comes on in the next brightness setting. But anytime you use the light for more than a second, it will again default to low next time it comes on. These are pretty reasonably priced considering how really good they are.
 
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lumen aeternum

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Sep 29, 2012
Messages
890
> There are plenty of lights that have no mode memory and always default to the low setting.
No, I want to go on in my selected mode.

I have a Zebra, and its like 6 settings-- there is a "hidden" pair in each of the main 3 settings.
Too complicated. Always turns on in high, would like to make it turn on in low low since its my bedroom light.
Can't stand memorizing different click patterns for different lights.

> The cool fall spy
???????????
 
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StarHalo

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Dec 4, 2007
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California Republic
> There are plenty of lights that have no mode memory and always default to the low setting.
No, I want to go on in my selected mode.

I have a Zebra, and its like 6 settings-- there is a "hidden" pair in each of the main 3 settings.
Too complicated. Always turns on in high, would like to make it turn on in low low since its my bedroom light.

There's three memory slots, each slot has a range of settings you can select. Clicks determine which memory slot the light starts on; to start on low low, hold for one second and release, the light comes on and remains on the first memory slot/low modes setting; mine is the moonlight 0.01 lumen setting, which is what I use the light for most.
 

InvisibleFrodo

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Joined
Sep 16, 2014
Messages
963
So you want it to turn on on low mode because it's your bedroom light, but a light that defaults to low is no good?

With the streamlights, or any multi mode clicky light, turning the light on in medium only requires a brief tap of the button followed by another. It takes about a tenth of a second or so. Going straight into high? 2 quick taps to go through low and medium, that third press you're in high mode. Getting into high mode takes less than half a second.

If the argument is for "tactical" purposes you want the ability to go straight to high, I would point out that looking at the flashlight to choose your mode first is much more time consuming.

The closest thing to having a little screen on the light to choose your brightness setting that I can think of is a nitecore TM28 and TM36. But they are not cheap and they are definitely not compact. Although if it's a bedroom light, size shouldn't be much of an issue...

The Coolfall Spy is a very compact custom light that operates on 2 A123 or 16340 cells. It uses a rotary knob to adjust brightness exactly the way you adjust volume on a stereo with the volume knob. There are no buttons, no display screen. There are 6 different brightness settings and all can be user adjusted to exactly the drive current you want.

Just to put it out there, if memorizing one click for low, two clicks for medium, and three clicks for high is too much of a hassle in your mind, you may not want to learn how to program a light like the spy.
 
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Poppy

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Dec 20, 2012
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Northern New Jersey
See the Niteye MSC20 review
It's a bit older, but less expensive now, than when I got mine.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...ye-MSC20-Review-(1x-18650-or-2x-CR123-RCR123)

In short it has a magnetic switch, rotate it to the left and you get strobe.
rotate it to the right, and you get a rampable low, and one more click to the right and you get high.

See the review for beam shots.

The drawback as an EDC for me is that I need to lock out the tail cap, to avoid an occasional accidental turn on in my pocket.

Thrunite (for example the TN30) and Acebeam have some lights with magnetic ring mode switches.
 
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