the right light?

[L. Cranston]

As I have gotten into my 60's, my eyes are making life interesting. In preparing for an Appleseed, i found out that a scope was NOT optional. They are usually dry in the morning and require drops, and take several minutes to adjust to the light.
So the other night I woke up for some reason, and the thought came to me: How does my self defense flashlight look suddenly, in the middle of the night, if I had to use it getting up to check on a problem. It was like being 6' in front of a car which suddenly turns on it's brights. I could not see ANYTHING for about 2 minutes. So...

Have any of you tried your light in the first few seconds that you wake up? How did that go?

Should I have a different kind of light?

Less lumens?

What say you?

 

[lonehoosier]

For me I stay under 300 lumens for indoor weapon mounted and flashlights. Hitting a white wall with a high-powered flashlight is about the worst thing you could do. It takes me forever to get my eyes readjusted to darkness. Also another option would be is to put night lights in every room. In my downstairs area I leave the curio cabinet light on, the microwave light on in the kitchen and the salt lamp on in the living room. It keeps it just bright enough where I don't need a flashlight to identify my target.

This is still my go to set up. Surefire LX2 and Streamlight TLR-1.

 

[rhino]

As I have gotten into my 60's, my eyes are making life interesting. In preparing for an Appleseed, i found out that a scope was NOT optional. They are usually dry in the morning and require drops, and take several minutes to adjust to the light.
So the other night I woke up for some reason, and the thought came to me: How does my self defense flashlight look suddenly, in the middle of the night, if I had to use it getting up to check on a problem. It was like being 6' in front of a car which suddenly turns on it's brights. I could not see ANYTHING for about 2 minutes. So...

Have any of you tried your light in the first few seconds that you wake up? How did that go?

Should I have a different kind of light?

Less lumens?

What say you?

Yes, I have done such experiments multiple times.

Do you have cataracts or some other problem with your eyes where any bright light is going to cause issues?

Where did you shine the light, from what did it reflect, and how close were you to the reflecting surface?

If your eyes are otherwise healthy, the problems with being blinded are more related to proximity to the reflecting surface than they are about about how bright the light is (unless you're talking about ridiculously dim like 10 lumens or ridiculously bright like 10,000 lumens). The intensity of light decreases rapidly with distance (actually with the square of distance to the source). If you're close to a highly reflective surface, you could blind yourself with a 200 lumen light just easy as you could an 800 lumen light.

The key is managing where you shine the light. You can see what you need to see (especially if your light is really bright) if you point it downward and use the spill and softer reflections. You can see even better if you hit the ceiling with the light.

Keep in mind that the chemical reactions that adjust our eyes to light levels (that complement pupil size) happen more slowly and less completely the older we get. Old eyes simply do not adjust to changing light levels as quickly as young eyes.

 

[STEEL CORE]

Try a Crimson Trace Railmaster pro light/laser on you favorite pea shooter, just put the red laser light on your intended target and pull trigger, works for me.

 

[cosermann]

... The key is managing where you shine the light. You can see what you need to see (especially if your light is really bright) if you point it downward and use the spill and softer reflections. You can see even better if you hit the ceiling with the light. ...

What?! Are you actually suggesting that people might benefit from low-light/light use training of some kind? I mean, that's nuts. What can there be to learn about a flashlight?

 

[rhino]

What?! Are you actually suggesting that people might benefit from low-light/light use training of some kind? I mean, that's nuts. What can there be to learn about a flashlight?

It's shocking, I know!

Modern, high intensity flashlights are awesome tools that have the potential for making life better. Using them is like any other tool - used well, good results. Used poorly, less good results. Used negligently, sometimes bad results.

 

[nobody_special]

I have a Fenix Pd35 the tactical version which on turbo mode is 1000 lumens which is a 40 lumen bump from the original but doesn't seem nearly as bright as the original it has 5 settings 8,60,200,500, and 1000 with a 1000 lumen strobe.. even at the 1000 setting its not blindingly bright