No Stupid Questions

Yeah, I've used strobe a few times.

The anduril settings make it easy imo.

But, we use it they're at the house plenty, the strobe. If I'm out in the yard at night, doing some kind of crap in the rain (hello helene, the most recent event that I used it), flipping to the strobe is a quick and easy signal I need help. It lets everyone else stay dry (er, until I need them to come out lol), and means I don't have to fumble with my phone in the wet and dark.

It's not an every day thing, and it isn't meant to be afaik.

It's handy enough that my best friend and his husband now use the lights I bought them after they saw how well it worked and wanted the same thing.

We've also got a sort of awareness of it in the neighborhood now. My using it drew attention, and I explained why I was doing so. Everyone close enough to see the flash now knows that if it's only on for a minute or so, it's no big deal, and I know that after word spread, if I leave it going longer, they'll know I need help, or at least check.

One of the neighbors bought his own wurkkos as word spread. It's such a good signal at night that it's likely going to be a thing in the entire neighborhood rather than just our block.

There's even diffusers you can get for most lights that come in colors, so you could expand the signalling to have different meanings per color, if it became useful to do so.

Seriously, you have no idea how nice it is to not be fucking around in a storm either running back and forth for things, or having someone else just standing around miserable while you work just in case you need help.

It's kinda niche, but at this point, I've got those kind of lights for everyone in the house just in case we need to be coordinated when sound is difficult (like in a freak hurricane lol).

I picked up some stranded skaters in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night because they flashed SOS with their headlights after I drove past them. They had been there for like 8 hours. I'm sure they would've rather had a flashlight to do the work for them.

But I agree that there should be another UI for getting to the emergency flashing. Like hold for 5 seconds or something unlikely to be used during normal operation.

I have a flashlight that has multiple flashy settings, but they are disabled after like 5 or 10 seconds of idle power on time. So the first click turns it on, and if you wait a while, the next click turns it off.

So i carry a sure fire. They don’t. The one I carry takes a rechargeable 18650, and has 2 settings “intellibeam” that adjusts brightness based on near-and-far and intensity, and full-on-burn-your-eyes-out.

They have other lower cost models. Alternatively , if you’re not looking for something that’s incredibly bright, stream light offers a very inexpensive penlight that’s pretty handy. (Only complaint with that is they take AAAA’s)

The problem is that the old multiple-choice physical switches (like the ones from 90s) got replaced by a single electronic flip-flop button (plus lots of "modernities"). These old flashlights could last for decades (especially if the user has the knowledge to repair it through simple soldering for replacement of a defective battery contact, for example).

Agree. I hate having to click through 4 modes just to turn it off. On, dim, on and off slow, strobe…off. No!

The vast majority of flashlights just go to your last setting with one click, what flashlights are you using that this is an issue?

I like using a lot of my flashlights diffrent functions at diffrent times. Although mine also has the option to turn off from whichever if you hold the power button so I don't have to cycle through, which is nice.

My go to light for work is a Streamlight Protac 2L-X. It has a few modes to set it up how you prefer. Plain bright. Low, bright. Bright, strobe. Rechargable 18650 but you have to take the battery out to plug a usb into it but it lasts a loong time between charges so I don't mind

Strobe is great for raves, self defense and epilepsy tests! (jk)

Just wait till your flashlight needs to connect to wifi via an app that you download and log in via Facebook or Google and only works if gps is enabled and it also has to have access to your contacts and it gets your first born child.

Just

• on off switch/button
• rotate the head for bright-dim-wtf

That's it. That's what I want.

You want a light that’s a light? Ridiculous.

I know the feeling. Most of those features are only useful in low probability events.

If you’re looking for simple flashlights, Maglight has always made decent flashlights, though I’ve been buying Ryobi flashlights for the last 15 years as they are relatively affordable and I’ve already a bunch of their 18v batteries. Not sure how weather proof they are but I’ve never had an issue with the “new” (I think it’s a 10 year old design) led flashlights.

I have a really good bright quality flashlight, USB rechargeable that turns on and off with no bullshit in between. It lasts a long time between recharges too. O'Reilly Auto parts. Found it among all the fun stuff they sell at the front counter.

Flashlights that use the open source Anduril v2 interface are... tolerable, I'd say. It's not good, it's not intuitive, but it does at least make it easy to just turn the damn flashlight on and off.

1. Click once to turn it on, once to turn it off
   • While it's on, hold the button down to change the brightness
2. Click twice quickly to put it in turbo mode, click twice quickly to take it out of turbo mode. One click turns the light off
3. Click twice and hold your second click to turn the light on in turbo mode. Once you let go of the button, the light turns off. I actually really like this mode
4. Strobe is three clicks, but it's not the discotheque-ass crazy strobe, it's usually an SOS pattern. One click turns it off
5. Click four times to lock the flashlight. This stops it from turning on in your pocket. This is a big deal for some flashlights because they're bright/hot enough to burn you if left on in an enclosed space. Four clicks takes it out of lock mode

The interface gets way more complicated after that, but I don't bother with any of that shit. Luckily, it's hard to accidentally activate the crazy bullshit.

There are also lights that mimic this pattern, but differ in a few key ways. The Wurkkos FC11 is a great option that's relatively cheap. The 4000 K version is $35 and is bright with a nice neutral color temperature (I find it much easier on the eyes.) It follows the interface rules I outlined above except that it's missing number 3 and the strobe is of the flashy hold-a-rave variety. Still, you have to specifically press the button 3 times in a row pretty quickly to trigger it. I never have accidental raves with mine.

......am I living in a different world? Every flashlight I've ever known takes D batteries, has a slider, and only has 2 settings. On or off. Like......literally NO flashlight I've ever seen has settings. Why would you need settings, besides MAYBE an S.O.S flash in morse code. Even that seems like a niche use thing.

The maglights I have in my emergency kit only have 2 settings: On and off. It's a switch not a button. If they ever put goofy ass strobe lights or whatever in maglights, I will stop buying them. I just need light; not an epileptic seizure.