......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.
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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?
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.
Man I WISH I was in the 90s. Our biggest political scandal was that the president was getting laid.
You want a light that’s a light? Ridiculous.
Streamlight makes some simple on/off models. Like the Streamlight Microstream 66323. Very bright for its small size.
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.
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
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.
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.
Fenix makes a few that are like what you're looking for, I have two, one has one big button on the back and one on the side, the back button is a simple on off and the side button cycles the power settings, if you hold down on the smaller side button it goes to strobe instantly. The other is basically the same but both buttons are on the back and the smaller button toggles strobe by pressing it when the flashlight is off vs cycles power settings when the flashlight is on. I only buy flashlights that are set up like this or similar. I need to be able to access strobe instantly and I need to be able to turn it on and off at a low power setting without turning on the fire of a thousand suns to get there.
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.
Maglite, the last one I bought has twist on and off. No flashing or buttons.
I have never had strong opinions about my flashlights. My favourite is a blue one I found that had leds and lasts forever on AA batteries. Never had one with settings all the ones I've used are on/off
Peak power can only be maintained for a minute (if you are lucky) before it overheats. Peak power is the main advertised spec, so it has to be high and default mode so you don't feel cheated when you turn it on for the first time. The other modes you toggle through are settings that can be sustained for extended periods of time.
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).