HDS Systems #23

[kaichu dento]

I'll say that I'm one of the owners who has always wished for Boss 35 brightness from an HDS, but also understand why we'll never get it. I may seldom need more than what my Rotary puts out, but when I do, it would be nice to have it. Anyway, the Rotary is still one of my favorite lights ever, and the only one that has never taken a break from daily carry, even if it's been my backup light for the past month or so.

 

[Mgizler]

I will admit, Its hard to not buy into the lumen race…..but……every time I do, I realize that I just don’t need that much light. Or I realize that it’s a crazy amount of light for a very short period of time. And I end up using a brightness that any hds I own can handle.

Now onto the hds brightness side of things…… I have had the 120, 170, still have a 200 and a 250. Every single one of them had enough light and throw to make them look just like higher lumen lights that I have had and still own. Like said above…..more often than not, someone will buy an hds, or try one and think…..wow that’s brighter than I thought it would be.

I have gone away and come back around to hds many times over. This time it has lasted the longest. And I have no reason to get rid of them.


Yes they are getting more and more expensive every day. But so is everything else in our lives. But at least with an hds I know it was hand built by hard working people, and it will last a lifetime!

Before anyone counts one out…. You must give it a try…..I can guarantee that carrying/using one for a few days straight will change your mind!!

 

[kerneldrop]

My only hang up with the rotary is you gotta turn all the way to level 19 to get above 20 lumens.

I know, I know… 2.44 HDS lumens at level 13 is enough for us hardusers.

I’m in the executive camp

 

[ilikeguns40]

Executive is where it’s at for me

 

[Mgizler]

My only hang up with the rotary is you gotta turn all the way to level 19 to get above 20 lumens.

I know, I know… 2.44 HDS lumens at level 13 is enough for us hardusers.

I’m in the executive camp

I get that. And I can also see how it seems like there are a lot of wasted levels. I I do love, my executive clicky, but the rotary knob is unbelievable for a quick operation from low to medium to high brightness. I think the answer is to just have both. And carry them at the same time. Yep I’m gonna go with that.

 

[PoliceScannerMan]

Rotary definitely shines for those in low light hard use situations.

 

[cerbie]

My only hang up with the rotary is you gotta turn all the way to level 19 to get above 20 lumens.

I know, I know… 2.44 HDS lumens at level 13 is enough for us hardusers.

I’m in the executive camp

That's why my rotaries are Tactical. They would be improved by a detent prior to going momentary, but I like the reduced twisting all the same.

My EDC is a clicky, though. Even with a protruding button, the shaft-wise movement of the tailcap gets in the way of being able to reliably and reflexively multi-click, IME, even though the same options are there. So, I treat my rotaries as just having on/off/burst.

Being able to dial in the output over time is nice, but for for just whipping the light out and using it, for a short period of time, coarser control is just fine, faster, and easier. It's long since become muscle memory, and doesn't require any changing grips. As well, I find the sloped tube to tailcap section on a Clicky CR123 body to be more comfortable to hold in a cigar/pencil grip, rather than the rotary knob edge.

For nighttime walking or hiking (am night owl), my 18650 Tactical (High Noon, but that's not terribly relevant), with a smooth reflector, is amazing, still, and has probably saved me more money over these last several years, in other lights I chose not to buy, than it cost (I'm not a headlamp fan). I can keep the output low enough to maintain some degree of dark adapted vision (the level of which varies by where I am, and the state of clouds and the moon), then twist it brighter to look farther away, and back down as I use again just to see where I'm going. The 18650 size is more comfortable, to me, anyway, to hold in a grip where I keep the rotary knob near the base of my hand, ready to use, though too big for comfy EDC.

 

[kerneldrop]

What can be seen by .02 lumen?
Steps 1-5 range from .02 - .10 lumen…does anyone use those steps?

 

[Commodorefirst]

What can be seen by .02 lumen?
Steps 1-5 range from .02 - .10 lumen…does anyone use those steps?

Yes, all the time during our power outages, turn it on step 2, 3, 4 and leave it on in the room I am in, also at night outdoors in a blind when dark adapted, although I like my red nest for that.

 

[Duster1671]

The single emitter/deep reflector design matters too. 300 Lumens out of an HDS, Malkoff, Zebralight, Haiku, etc. is a lot more useful than 300 lumens out of a triple/quad emitter/TIR light.

 

[jonathannnc]

The single emitter/deep reflector design matters too. 300 Lumens out of an HDS, Malkoff, Zebralight, Haiku, etc. is a lot more useful than 300 lumens out of a triple/quad emitter/TIR light.

Completely agree.

 

[ironhorse]

The lowest level is enough light to get around in the middle of the night.

 

[Showngo]

The lowest level is enough light to get around in the middle of the night.

Sometimes it is too much light ;)

 

[kerneldrop]

Sometimes it is too much light ;)

Haha, exactly. I use a Jetbeam RRT01 rotary when I need less than .02 lumen

 

[slumber]

Those sub-lumen levels seem to be getting less and less useful the older I get. These days I mostly use turn on preset or max on my Clickys which is why a rotary would be wasted on me.

 

[Mgizler]

The lowest level is enough light to get around in the middle of the night.

This is the exact reason why I love it. I know in the middle of the night when I wake up, and I grab my rotary, I can twist it all the way to come on in the lowest setting, without really even thinking about it. And the lowest setting is more than bright enough to get around when your eyes are fully adapted to nighttime.

 

[tech25]

I usually use my rotary low and make it higher as needed. My “double click” is set to approximately 60 lumens so I have long runtimes on 18500 and full brightness at anytime is just a press and hold away.

 

[cerbie]

The single emitter/deep reflector design matters too. 300 Lumens out of an HDS, Malkoff, Zebralight, Haiku, etc. is a lot more useful than 300 lumens out of a triple/quad emitter/TIR light.

It depends. But, if you don't have a lathe, the Carclo 20mm, Ledil 24mm, and a couple oldies that don't look right with modern emitters, are about it, for any small builder, DIYer, or company going for quick turn-arounds. TIRs tend to vary in performance much more across emitters than reflectors, and that goes extra for those common ones made from polycarbonate and acrylic (I'd love to see some made of better plastics, to reduce the tint shifting, and improve efficiency). The Carclo 10507, FI, with about any 3535 Cree or Nichia, creates a big spot, that drowns out any spill, and hides anything next to the edge of the spot. The same optic over a high intensity emitter, like an SST-20, or Flat White, OTOH, creates a rather nice, very usable, throwy beam, with a gentle fade out to the edge of the spill, the performance and quality of which would normally need a much bigger reflector than ~1" lights can hold.

 

[Mr. LED]

Rotary forever!

What can be seen by .02 lumen?
Steps 1-5 range from .02 - .10 lumen…does anyone use those steps?

these are the steps I use the most to preserve night vision, when it’s too dark and I have adapted eyes, or when waking up in the middle of the night for bathroom trips. Totally useful, I wouldn’t buy it if it didn’t go this low.

 

[kaichu dento]

What can be seen by .02 lumen?
Steps 1-5 range from .02 - .10 lumen…does anyone use those steps?

I used to use them all the time at work and even though I don't use them anymore, I'm glad to have them in the eventuality that they become necessary again.