it should just be, big button for power on and off, and another button for mode/cycle.
this post was submitted on 13 Oct 2024
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My Emisar flashlights have a single button that does a hundred different things that you need a fucking map to navigate
But if you click it right, it goes into Muggle Mode… where it acts as a normal flashlight. Click to third on, click to turn off.
"Muggle Mode" is for Anduril 1, Anduril 2 usually comes in "Simple UI" by default, and requires unlocking which is probably better for most users. Anyone familiar will be able to detect it and unlock, other people are less likely to burn themselves.
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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.
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Surprised not to see any posts referencing the Arbitrary List of Popular Lights or [email protected].
One of the requirements to make it on the list is:
A user interface where a single click turns the light on in a reasonable mode, and another single click turns it off.
you know I was expecting mostly what I got, people commiserating, people giving explanations for why they exist, people talking about how their flashlights don't do that, but something genuinely useful, that I did not expect.l
Just
- on off switch/button
- rotate the head for bright-dim-wtf
That's it. That's what I want.
You should look into Anduril UI flashlights. They are enthusiast grade flashlights but you have so many setting for it. It one click on one click off double click for max brightness and when the lights is on you hold the button to make it brighter and a double click and hold makes it dimmer. Also when it is on and you double click it goes into a turbo brightness which is the brightest setting.
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They put them in all the flashlights because of a combination of minimum features required and cost savings.
To keep heat at a minimum and improve power usage, LEDs benefit from being run by a driver circuit.
If you're going to use a driver circuit you might as well allow for dimming if you're going to allow for dimming you need to have timed button presses.
There's only a couple of companies out there that make the circuitry that does the LED driver / lithium ion charging, so everybody just uses the same chipset.
If you want to flashlight that just turns on and off and doesn't have a lot of features try to find one that doesn't have lithium ion batteries. If you don't need the lithium ion charger they're more likely not to use one of them more extensive chipsets.
You're describing a UI that I've only seen in cheap hardware store flashlights. Yes it's infuriating when you can't just turn a light on or off, and choose the mode you want. I use strobe when crossing streets at night but my lights make it easy to access that feature when I want it.
Who is this "favorite flashlight manufacturer"? I find it odd that you both have a favorite, and buy lights that act like this. There are thousands that don't.
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Buy one that’s made for fire fighters. They must be compliant to norms and from what I see all of them are super easy to handle. On off with a physical button.
Same with bike lights, no I don't want 16 different strobes, it's not a vibrator.
Thinking about it, vibrators should have a on/off button too.
My wife’s favourite has a button that scrolls through the various modes, but when you hold it for a couple of seconds turns it off. Shit’s a game changer. Even starts back up on the last used setting.
My bike lights aren't bad.
Hold to turn on (to the last mode used), hold to turn off, push to switch between three modes: High, Low, and Flashing.
Right there with you.
Why can't I get a light with super simple controls (say low/med/high/off) with like a 18650 battery?
Nope, you want a 18650,you get all sorts of goofy UI crap. Uggh.
I do have some Duracell led flashlights that use 4 AAA, with a single button, low/med/strobe (uggh)/off. OK price as a multi-pack from Sam's or Costco, about $7/ea.
But their runtime is about the same as an old incandescent, just with a lot more light.
I don't know how it is with four AAA, but I had an Anker that had the three AAA cassette, where it holds them all side by side. the cassette broke, and when I called asking for a replacement part, they told me they weren't making that anymore so no more parts, but these three cell AAA cassette could be replaced with a single 18650
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I don't know, but I hate that, too. Modern flashlights have every advantage over the ones of old, but they ALL seem to have stupid things like that.
Clicking through multiple brightness levels is one thing, but strobe, SOS, and 5 levels is ridiculous. Just give me on/high, low, and off.
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Because it’s cheap for them to jam functionality into the circuitry and more expensive to actually add physical buttons. They want to advertise lots of features but deliver them in the cheapest way possible.
You need flashlights with a better UI.
None of my flashlights strobe without making the effort to make it do that or require me to cycle through modes just to turn them on and off. The worst one I have has 9 modes you select with a detented twist ring(Fenix SRT9), but has an on/off button so you always start on the mode you used last unless you twist the ring.
Strobe is useful for firearms lights to disorient a target. For emergency use it prolongs the runtime, like if you were in a flash flood, your house was bombed in the middle of the night, or you got lost on a hike and needed to signal for help. Strobe is unlikely to be needed, but can be a life saver.
You need flashlights with a better UI.
I mean, yea, I think that's what OP is saying.
But it can be hard to find, with a high output/good battery.
Lights using a 18650 seem to be the rage these days, at crazy cheap prices, but they all use some UI with clicks, holds, etc. I feel like I'm doing a dance to use any of mine, definitely not what you want in a circumstance requiring a flashlight.
Even the simplest of lights require something most people would find unusual (and certainly never guess). Setting an Anduril light to "simple mode" is still more complex than I want in a light. It would be nice to have a simple click control, and be able to disable the strobe nonsense (never once in my life have I thought "ooh, a strobing light would be great right now!"). Nevermind the arguments for it are debatable (to confuse an attacker? Research has shown it affects you too).
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I guess I haven't used a flashlight recently
Couldn't find one of the two bottles of doe piss and doe estrus piss I bought today. Went to my grandfather's car to look for it and sure as shit he hands me a flashlight with one button that turned it on and off as well as having a rotating head that was kind of threaded so as you turn it, it will move closer and further from then bulb making the light adjustable the same way a garden hose nozzle that only rotates works. All the way out = wide flood light style beam. All the way in and it produces a bright pin point wide beam of light. It looked brand new too. If I remember I'll ask him tomorrow what brand it is.
Sounds like you're describing a maglite
Maglites are perfectly fine flashlights for most people, maybe a little heavy but sometimes that's kind of the point (a lot of cops and security guards and such took to carrying them when their agencies started prohibiting nightsticks and batons, especially the bigger 4 or 6 cell models) for a long time they were basically the default flashlight, you had maglites, you had the big spotlight looking things that took a 6v battery, you had cheap plastic flashlights, and you had various small penlights and such (which were often mini maglites) and that was like 90% of what you'd ever encounter.
There's a good chance if you go rooting around in your dad or grandfather's car trunk, garage, basement, workshop, toolbox, etc. you'll find a maglite or 3 kicking around somewhere. I know I keep one in my car for emergencies and I'll probably inherit a half dozen more from my parents someday.
They still make them, pretty sure they switched over to LEDs (one of their selling points used to be they had a spare bulb stored in the tail cap) and I'm sure they're still perfectly reliable and rugged, you can probably still find them at most of the places you'd think to go buy a flashlight, and a standard 2 D cell maglite still costs in the neighborhood of $20-$30.
But there are a bunch of flashlight nerds out there these days, who want really specific form factors, battery types, features, led color temperatures, etc. and they'd probably pooh-pooh the humble maglite.
I get it to an extent, I have flashlights I like better, but I'm not about to nerd out about them, and if you someone sent me out with instructions to buy them a flashlight with no other requirements listed, I'd probably buy a maglite and feel pretty confident that it's going to be an acceptable flashlight.
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If you've ever tried to read something off a label in the dark and outshined what you were looking at because the light was too bright, you know why.
Rescued my daughter in the cliched flat tyre in the rain scenario, the flashing light was good to alert other drivers. I think it’s something that could be useful very rarely.
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.
- Click once to turn it on, once to turn it off
- While it's on, hold the button down to change the brightness
- 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
- 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
- Strobe is three clicks, but it's not the discotheque-ass crazy strobe, it's usually an SOS pattern. One click turns it off
- 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.
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I have 2 Hexbright flashlights. They're programmable so you can make it work however you want. Really wish the company went beyond the kickstarter because I'd love some different models with the same customization.
I have mine programmed where from off hold=as low as possible. Then standardish 3 brightness, starts at low first click. Hold button while on for turbo. But my favorite part is if you don't click the button for 5 seconds, the next click is off instead of the next brightness. Saves your night vision not having to cycle through high to turn off.
That's far more than I want from a flashlight.
On/off. That's literally all it needs to do. I'd like to be able to plug it in and charge it but quite frankly if I can't get that without it just going on/off with the single press of a button I'll replace batteries until the day I fucking die.
I use a pocket flashlight daily. It is an integral part of my job. I use flashlight in a wide variety of light conditions and different levels of reflectivity.
I have never wanted my flashlight to flash on and off, change brightness, or any of the other random crap they force in to what should be the simplest tool in my toolbox.
Press button. Change state of light. That is literally the only thing it needs to do.
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I wish there were more things like this (and not just flashlights) - made with some thought put in. And to anyone who'd whine about the price, the fact that you have them 10+ years later says enough.
......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.
Same man, where do these people get their flashlights
Edit: Thank you for the countless tips on where you guys buy flashlights. But neither am I in the USA nor do I actually ever need a flashlight. I have two at home and I don't think I ever actually used them for other than fun. I guess the follow up question is what do you do with all those flashlights?
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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.
You want a light that’s a light? Ridiculous.
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.
Streamlight makes some simple on/off models. Like the Streamlight Microstream 66323. Very bright for its small size.
My perfect flashlight:
- On button on side to be placed where the thumb rests
- 4 D batteries.
- Twist-ey head to change focus
- Dedicated switch(NO MORE CYCLE BUTTONS) to change mode from bright, to med, dim, and strobe
- Sturdy metal for emergency use as a hammer
- Textured rubber to feel good in the hand
4D batteries just doesn't make sense in 2024. That was for incandescent lights, modern LEDs are brighter and use a small fraction of that power. You could still have the form factor if you really wanted a giant flashlight for self defense or something, but a pair of AA's if you really don't want rechargeables would be more than enough for a long life flashlight.
But any LiIon battery is going to far outperform alkaline batteries.
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The mighty Kingdom of Anduril takes grievance against this sentiment.
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I have a two button flashlight. One button to change settings and one to turn on and off. It has memory so it uses the last setting used that's not strobe or the highest setting
I got an Acebeam EC35 Gen II a couple years back and while there are many settings you can use there's a big button onto he back that turns it on full blast and you click it again to turn it off. Done.
Oh man This post just awoke a REAL old memory for me. Growing up my dad had these two old beat up flashlights. I looked them up and found this https://www.etsy.com/listing/1027765511/eveready-no1359-safety-flashlight.
I always thought they had a cool design.
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