once a year I email my favorite flashlight manufacturer to ask if they’ve finally made a flashlight that just turns on and off when you push the button, and every year they’re like, “no, but thanks so much for your feedback!”

be honest, have any of you ever used the flashing feature on your flashlight? did it actually come in handy? handy enough that I have to scroll past it every single time I want to turn my flashlight on or off

    • NutinButNet
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      1 month ago

      Mine does that. It has a big button on the back that just turns on the brightest setting and then turns it off. The button on the handle will let you cycle through 3 brightness settings and then the strobe effect.

      It’s just some off brand, probably from Amazon, that my uncle bought for my dad and I took when my dad passed away.

    • Ellia Plissken@lemm.eeOP
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      1 month ago

      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

  • cmoney@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    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.

  • linearchaos@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    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.

  • BearOfaTime@lemm.ee
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    1 month ago

    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.

    • SaintWacko@slrpnk.net
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      1 month ago

      Check out the Nitecore T4K. Not an 18650, but usb-c rechargeable, 4 brightness levels (1, 15, 65, and 200 lumens), plus a 4000 lumen turbo mode that it can maintain for about ten seconds before it has to drop back to 200 to cool down. Separate power and mode buttons, and it remembers what mode it was in when you turned it off. Great battery life, and small enough to fit in your pocket. The only downside is the price ($90), but.it’s worth every penny.

    • Ellia Plissken@lemm.eeOP
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      1 month ago

      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

    • ouRKaoS@lemmy.today
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      1 month ago

      Wurkkos FC12

      18650, tail cap on/off, side button for modes, stays at the last brightness setting when you turn it off and on, built in USB -C charging port. Available on Amazon for about $30 on sale.

      I carry one with me everyday at work.

      • mipadaitu@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        I have a few of these. Honestly don’t understand why more companies don’t make flashlights like this.

        • ouRKaoS@lemmy.today
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          1 month ago

          Looked it up, lack of a tail cap switch is a bit of a deal breaker for me. Might get one as a backup, but probably won’t replace my EDC.

          • resonate6279@lemmy.world
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            1 month ago

            Tailcap switch could be nice, but I haven’t missed having one.

            My SureFire has a tailcap switch and it would keep getting turned on in my pocket.

            • ouRKaoS@lemmy.today
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              1 month ago

              I hate SureFires… Had a Polytac that I carried for a while but same issue of pocket activation and the batteries wouldn’t last because of it basically running all the time. I was constantly checking to make sure it was off.

              Haven’t bought anything from the brand since.

    • electromage@lemm.ee
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      1 month ago

      Most have modes that you can click or hold to change, but a simple click will turn it on or off. I’ve only noticed the forced mode cycling on cheap hardware store lights.

  • electromage@lemm.ee
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    1 month ago

    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.

  • Death_Equity@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    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.

    • BearOfaTime@lemm.ee
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      1 month ago

      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).

      • Jesus_666@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        Anduril is way overengineered. I like this UI that some of my lights have:

        While off:

        • One push: Turn on at the last used brightness.
        • Two pushes: Turn on at maximum brightness.
        • Three pushes: That strobe mode that you don’t need but seems to be obligatory.
        • Hold: Turn on at the lowest brightness (or moonlight mode if the light has one).

        While on:

        • One push to turn off.
        • Two pushes to toggle between maximum brightness and the last used “regular” brightness.
        • Three: That strobe mode that someone has to have some use for.
        • Hold: Alternately increase or decrease the brightness.

        That’s pretty easy to learn and gives you all the functions you’d reasonably need (plus that strobe) without a lot of clutter.

      • FireRetardant@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        I really like the fenix flashlight I have. Main button on back turns light on and remembers your last setting (except strobe). There is one other button along the side. Pressing once cycles up the brightness until max, holding turns on the strobe. Very easy to use. I often use it on the lowest brightness and just turn it up if needed. The side button also doubles as the charging indicator, glowing red while charging and green when fully charged.

        As for strobing lights i use them to signal or mark things at night. Some peope use them while cycling or walking at night to increase how visible they are. I sometimes use a strobe to mark tents or ice huts in the dark but i usually try to use strobing red light as its less distracting and uses less power

  • Valmond@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    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.

  • sznowicki@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    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.

  • 11111one11111@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    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.

    • Fondots@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      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.

      • resonate6279@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        I have two D cell maglites, I give them to the kids when they need a flashlight so they dont start a fire with my light, or lose an expensive one.

  • Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    …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.

    • volvoxvsmarla @lemm.ee
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      1 month ago

      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?

    • electromage@lemm.ee
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      1 month ago

      You might be in another world, or the 90s perhaps?

      Different settings are useful because modern flashlights use LEDs and get absurdly bright. Dimming them lets the user select an amount of light appropriate to a task, and preserve battery life. If you’re in the dark you’d want to start dim to avoid blinding yourself or annoying others (in a campground for instance). Strobes are good for getting attention.

      Many of my lights use a common firmware called Anduril, which has some other nice features like a simulated candle flicker, or lightning storm (I use this for Halloween). It also allows me to turn it on directly to the lowest or highest settings, otherwise it defaults to the last level I used. There’s even an auto-shutoff feature which is nice for a night light.

  • ‮redirtSdeR@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    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
    • mipadaitu@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      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.

  • scarabic@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    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.

  • atrielienz@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    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.