Minimum usable illumination -- ideas?

[lampeDépêche]

But that's not all! Anduril also whips up your protein shake! Anduril chops vegetables for your stir-fry! And Anduril waxes your car, while you take it easy in a lawn chair!

Yeah, one of these days I'll get me a KR1AA and get on the Anduril train. I do have Anduril in a chunky 18650 quad-emitter, I forget the brand. I liked the interface, but the light was bulky and clumsy, and I never like the beam from quad optics -- it gives me a nebulous blob when I want a more defined hot-spot. My SC64 is much smaller in the pocket, and I prefer reflector beams.

Those old Thrunite Ti3's had a great mode spacing, as you say. Possibly my favorite AAA? Hard to say....

 

[jon_slider]

My SC64 is much smaller in the pocket, and I prefer reflector beams.

I appreciate reflectors, particularly for outdoor distances.. otoh, I have come to appreciate evenly diffused beams for close range uses. With your Zebra Plus a KR1AA you could have the best of both worlds ;-)

 

[lampeDépêche]

I forgot -- I also have Anduril in a Wurkkos TS10.
Now, that light is close to my ideal. It has an excellent hot-spot, despite using an optic. And the form factor is so small -- it rides smaller than many AAA lights. If only it took 1.5v AAs! That's where the KR1AA is going to swoop in and seal the deal. Maybe?

 

[sbslider]

I’m using 0.05 lumens for bathroom trips and such at night. I’m most comfortable indoors or outdoors with a minimum of around 3-5 lumens in the absence of any other light source if the sole need is merely navigating at a non rushed walking pace and see several feet in front of me.
10-15 lumens, if in total darkness will allow you to accomplish a lot. Also I think the beam will be as important as the output for this. 3-5 lumens with a totally diffuse beam will not be as useful as the same output in a reflector light with a balanced hotspot.

This reply reminded me of a post I have shared at least a few times. I spent 3 weeks in September 2017 on the John Muir Trail with my only light source being a TI-3. 95% of the time I used it, it was clipped to my hat and in moonlight mode. Didn't come close to burning through the lithium primary I had in it.

 

[lampeDépêche]

This reply reminded me of a post I have shared at least a few times. I spent 3 weeks in September 2017 on the John Muir Trail with my only light source being a TI-3. 95% of the time I used it, it was clipped to my hat and in moonlight mode. Didn't come close to burning through the lithium primary I had in it.

Now we're talking about minimum usable illumination!
So, a sublumen moonlight mode was enough for putting up the tent, cooking dinner, stepping out at midnight to use the bushes, and so on and so forth. Probably not enough for walking unfamiliar trail, though, right?

 

[Candleometry]

Now we're talking about minimal usable illumination!
So, a sublumen moonlight mode was enough for putting up the tent, cooking dinner, stepping out at midnight to use the bushes, and so on and so forth. Probably not enough for walking unfamiliar trail, though, right?

We do know a 1000 lumen wasn’t needed for that though.

 

[jon_slider]

I also have Anduril in a Wurkkos TS10.
... It has an excellent hot-spot, despite using an optic.
...If only it took 1.5v AAs! That's where the KR1AA is going to swoop in and seal the deal. Maybe?

I carried a TS10 Triple for a couple of years, it is one of my favorite lights.
I consider the beam very floody. (Im just now realizing you actually mean the TS10SG, I agree it has a great hotspot)
The KR1AA displaced my TS10 because it does not use PWM, and is dual fuel..

The TS10SG is a great little thrower.
Im particularly fond of it, after I changed out the Low CRI LED for a High CRI of the same type, on right:

its quite challenging to mod:

lots of tiny wires to deal with

3 weeks on the John Muir Trail ...TI-3 ...clipped to my hat and in moonlight mode. Didn't come close to burning through the lithium primary

great story! agree the Ti3 is a great little hatclip light with a nice vampire mode ;-)

 

[lampeDépêche]

I carried a TS10 for a couple of years, it is one of my favorite lights.
I consider the beam very floody.

Correction -- I had the TS10-SG. The throwier version.
Yeah, the dual fuel feature is valuable to me....

ETA: -- I can see why you swapped out the emitter on the TS10-SG. The color and CRI were not ideal.
I can also see why it was not an easy mod. That is *way* beyond my competence.

 

[sbslider]

Now we're talking about minimum usable illumination!
So, a sublumen moonlight mode was enough for putting up the tent, cooking dinner, stepping out at midnight to use the bushes, and so on and so forth. Probably not enough for walking unfamiliar trail, though, right?

Most days we weren't hiking at night. We did get in pretty late one night towards the end of the trip though. I didn't set up my tent unless I thought it would rain, or it was going to be super cold due to being at higher elevation. Cooking at dusk or night with firefly mode was easy. Walking in the higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada mountains, the moon and stars provide more light than you might imagine. For stepping out at night firefly was fine. The night we did get in after dark was likely one of the times I cranked it up to 10 lumens.

 

[TPA]

It all depends on what you're using it for. I'll agree with @jon_slider that Anduril has been a game changer. I love illuminated power buttons and aux LEDs and dim lights all the way back to the original PALites, which I still have and are still working 20 years later. Smooth ramping as well.

Lately I've been using a Nitecore LA10 CRI in the hotel bathrooms at night on low. More than enough light, even in the larger hotel bathrooms. It's more lantern than flashlight, which makes it ideal for low-lumen broad-area light.

I've also been playing around with the Wurkkos CL01 for nightlights and they've been fantastic. They say 300 hours on low. I've not been able to verify that, but even using it every night for a week, one notch above low, the battery meter didn't move.

The TS10 V2 is my current EDC pocket light. Nice light output, plenty of toys, runtime is good for what it is.

As far as what's adequate, everything is relative. Lighting up a 10x10 bathroom for a midnight visit is one thing. Lighting up a 25x25 living room for normal activities in a power outage requires quite a bit more light.

 

[WarriorOfLight]

Normally I do not need Low light, since my area ist illuminated. I am living in a City with ~90000 citizens in an area with over a billion.

Actially I am in Saigon, and my Last night was in
Mekong Delta. There a HDS with Low light ist Essential tobensure Findling the way to the toilet in the night. Night was really meaning IT IS DARK outside.
My requirements for a light are in general not that high. I usually sleep at night. I often have Illumination devices for Special reasons i.e. a working light to do Work under the sink.

 

[TPA]

Normally I do not need Low light, since my area ist illuminated. I am living in a City with ~90000 citizens in an area with over a billion.

Blackout curtains are my friend. In lieu of that, sleep mask.

 

[WarriorOfLight]

Blackout curtains are my friend. In lieu of that, sleep mask.

In Germany brownouts are rare. WE Had in Winter 2025/2026 a "Terror attac" to the electricity infrastructure in Berlin. About 20000 peopoe more or less did not have electricity over a few days.
During my travel in Vietnam and Kambodia I also did Not have brownouts.

The Last brownouts I had is ~2 years ago, and was for 4 or 5 hours.

The lanterns I use are Streamlight Siege or Black Diamond Moji and some Fenix with replaceable rechargable cells.

 

[TPA]

Blackout curtains = light blocking curtains. Separate concept from electrical power.

As far as power outages go, it varies around the USA. https://poweroutage.us/ is a great website.

Here in Florida, power outages are common, however it's much improved over where we were 20 or 30 years ago. 20 years ago I was getting at least one outage a week. It's been months since the last one now.

 

[kaichu dento]

I used to be able to see my way around on the lowest level of my Rotary when doing night trips on the mountain, but that was in a place with no light other than the aurora, and sometimes the moon, in which case I didn't need any additional light at all.

But now that I'm generally close to some level of light pollution, I'm generally at least a quarter of the way up the dial, and probably more like half if I need to see more than just getting around.

 

[TPA]

@kaichu dento Very true. If you're away from civilisation or are in a true grid-down situation and your eyes are dark-adjusted it's amazing how little light you need compared to normal life.

Similar story in an airplane cockpit on a moonless night.

 

[lampeDépêche]

Blackout curtains are my friend. In lieu of that, sleep mask.

It's funny -- I'd say that two things have happened to me with age:
1) I have lost some visual acuity in the dark. When I am in pitch-black conditions, my eyes do accommodate a lot, but I still need a bit more light for navigation than I did when I was 40.
2) I have become more sensitive to light while I am asleep. I used to sleep through the early morning light, even when dawn started at 5a and I woke up at 7a. Now, if I want to stay asleep until 7a, I need to make my room dark and keep that early morning light out. And for this, the blackout curtains really help, i.e. curtains that completely exclude outdoor light from my sleeping space.

I don't think there's a real contradiction here. Age just makes it harder to get the deep, unconscious sleep that I enjoyed when I was younger. I sleep more shallowly, so small stimuli wake me up. (And then once I'm up, I have to use the toilet, because of age....).

 

[WarriorOfLight]

Generally the German electricity network has a lot redundancy. But if you know the weak points you know how to "make" a brownout.

Some funny sidefact CPF was blocked from Vietnam, Had to use VPN, from Kambodia No issue. Maybe because of US sanctions?

 

[dc38]

Generally the German electricity network has a lot redundancy. But if you know the weak points you know how to "make" a brownout.

Some funny sidefact CPF was blocked from Vietnam, Had to use VPN, from Kambodia No issue. Maybe because of US sanctions?

Did CPF block Vietnam, or did Vietnam block CPF? It could just be whatever hosting services autoblock Nam because the whole country is a botnet? LOL.

Speaking of, I'm convinced that some VPN companies moonlight as botnet for hire services.

 

[WarriorOfLight]

Did CPF block Vietnam, or did Vietnam block CPF? It could just be whatever hosting services autoblock Nam because the whole country is a botnet? LOL.

The Provider used by CPF or CPF is blocking (do not know if this is done by CPF owner).
My guess is also ist IS because of BotNets or DDOS attacks...