June winter light-fi

This will be the blog's 100th published post! I will be adding in other posts dated before it, but it will be the 100th published at least. To celebrate, a light-fi report.

Lights
Me: HDS/Ra Clickies (100Chc, 100wwCT, 140Cgt), ZebraLight SC51w, SureFire G2Z-M60.
Samy: HDS/Ra Clicky 120CThc; NovaTac 120 Classic.

At the beginning of June, on an unseasonably rainy night (we've already seen more June rainfall than any year since probably the 1930s), Samy and I visited Linn's and then headed to Moonstone Drive for a little adventuring. We walked along the boardwalk, down the boat ramp to the beach, then up and across the bridge and into Leffingwell. This area is always good for playing with lights since the dense trees make it very dark and the heavy ground cover gives a lot to look at and maneuver through. Of course nice views down to the beach too. I mostly relied on my SC51w and the Moby Click 100Chc while walking. The Zebra did its main job of providing comfortable walking light very well, though the tint advantage of the Chc was unmistakeable. Samy used his Chc but his batteries started to die about halfway through. I loaned him my 100wwCT, so he could reexperience how good the warm Osrams really were. He also tried out the Cgt a little, which we both agreed looked downright bad compared to the other lights we were using. Sad really. I also used the G2Z with Malkoff M60 a little to get a better view down at the beaches.

While in the area we did a little geocaching. Sam found his first cache earlier in the evening, so I helped him to bag a second: Leff Inkwell. I led him to the correct area beneath the trees and left him to find it from there.


We ended the evening by scrambling down to a little section of rock just above where the waves were crashing in most fiercely, sending up dramatic sprays. We stood about 10 feet back from the edge and waited for a big enough wave to come along and splash us, then we packed it in for the night. A successful little light-fi walk.

Samy, post-wave.

Samy's final flashlight thoughts on the night.
"Warm's the best, hands down. Pump that cri to the max and i'm happy. The wwc isn't as bad as i remembered, does pretty well actually. The cgt is nice when nothing else is shining but it's still flat 2D distortion that the cri's just murder. [I agree.]

Study Lighting

Lights:
ZebraLight SC51w, H30-Q5;
HDS/Ra Clickies (100Chc, 140Cgt) and Twisty 70Tr;
SureFire 6P-M60Wl, L1;
Inova T1.

May is a month of intense studying; the first half of it at least. For years, one of my biggest study problems has just been finding a comfortable amount of light. My room lighting is... awful. I love portable lighting, but fixed lighting holds little interest for me, and I tend to prefer dim environments anyway, so I'm not well equipped when I do actually need to see what I'm doing for long periods indoors. For a while now, I've used my flashlights, usually with diffusers, to fill in for my missing desk lamps, with mixed results, but recently I've improved the situation a little. Since I've just come through an extended period during which this was the most important (and sometimes only) use of my lights, and I was relying on my lights to allow me to get my work done on a nightly basis, I'd like to devote a post to taking a look at how they serve me in this role.

My Nalgene lamp (with 100wwC Clicky attached) was a clever idea, I thought, but not truly that useful for this application. I have the terrible habit of trying to study on my bed, so getting this lamp to stay in one place and aimed correctly was more effort than it was worth. Still, something to remember if I ever go camping.


This has been my most successful technique for about the last year: a series of lights with either diffusers or very floody beams suspended over my bed. Here we see my 6P with Malkoff M60Wl and Inova T1 (the 2008 edition with the K2 TFFC). Not sure what's above and behind them.


Eventually I wised up and cleared some desk space for myself, just in time for my final study sessions, after months of doing math propped in bed. Here are a couple of Clickies standing by while my new ZebraLight SC51w lights up the book from above.


The ZL SC51w has kind of revolutionized my study lighting. The output, beam, tint, and runtimes make it a breath of fresh air for this kind of use. The neutral XPG emitter has a tint that is very comfortable on the eyes and produces a beam with a very wide spot that can actually be used to read even at fairly close distances without a diffuser. (The effect is a bit better than it appears in this shot.) Wish I'd had it sooner.


A look at the lights used in the days leading up to this year's final, including that wonderful little green Zebra standing there with the Clickies. Lying in the crease is the gen6 SF L1, though I can't remember how I made use of it here. At rear left is the ZL H30, which is always useful, though I've found its cool tint and limited runtime at high outputs rather limiting for this application.


The hanging setup over the desk, similar to what I strung up over my bed before. I've got the SC51w, 6P-M60Wl, and a Clicky going here, though I found I could usually make do almost as well using just the ZL alone. It really is great, I can't emphasize that enough. Because it doesn't have to be diffused, its beam remains focused. Because it retains its normal throw, less output is needed to put proper lux on the page. Lower output means greater efficiency and longer runtime, and its efficiency is already cutting edge to begin with.


Another look at the desk setup. This time I had the SC51w and the diffused high CRI Clicky (Moby Click) hanging above to provide page lighting while the Twisty tailstands in the center of the desk and reflects a little soft area lighting off the folded paper above. At the top right corner of the book stands the little H30 set to a low level. It's adding a little lighting to that corner of the book, but its primary function there was actually just to provide a little illumination on the calculator screen with the edge of its beam.

Final look at the same setup, showing one of the other Clickies (the 140Cgt) attached to the bookcase a few feet up to add another 35lm of area lighting when I wanted it.


My study lighting setup is probably far from ideal, mostly because of the battery concerns and trouble it takes to set it all up, but the results aren't too bad and I'm very grateful that I'm able to create adequate illumination to work despite my lack of more traditional lamps.

Lights saving lights

Lights: Ra Clicky 100wwCT, SureFire G2Z-M60

Tonight, after the My Javelina show at the Rogue Wave Cafe in Cayucos, I was standing around with some friends when Will's girlfriend dropped the rubber switch boot from her flashlight. As such things do, it hit the ground and scurried into a secure hiding place behind a bench, against the building, and under the overhanging shingling. They probably never would have found it tucked away like that, but I brightly lit up the area with my two lights and spotted it hiding back there. Another flashlight's day saved.

Clicky walk

Lights: Ra 140Cgt, Ra 100wwCT, Ra 70Tr, NT 120P, HDS B42XRGT, SF 6P-M60, SF G2Z-M60WL, SF L1(gen6)

Around 4am this morning I went for a walk down to the beach to compare lights and see how my new wwCT fared. So here are my brief observations.

140Cgt: This is a great light. Using it confirms my opinion that this beam style is the most useful and practical. More than any other, it just cuts a huge swath wherever you point it.

100wwCT: Good throw, very adequate, but no better than the Cgt, short of L1. Color is just beautiful of course, and that helps to give it an advantage over Cgt at a distance. Also, it just kills the B42 for throw, which it should, but it's still impressive since the 120P never really seemed to.

70Tr: Might throw a little better than ww at 70. About same at 100. Good but not amazing.

120P: Seems actually more floody than Cgt. Doesn't throw as well, but near field seems slightly brighter; very even illumination. Its mediocre tint makes things look just that little bit flatter and less pleasant, but it's really not bad on its own, at least on light surfaces like rocks.

B42XRGT: Using this light is fun, such memories, good times. It'd stood the test of time well, its tint is still very nice and it's always been able to throw very well against the 120P, even at barely more than a third the power, about. But I think it's finally done. It still carries better than any of the competing lights, but the wwCT beats it for tint and destroys it in throw. So I guess that is the true successor, at last. It took a long time to find a light I truly think is better, and it's still not better in every way.

M60: I use the M60 as my throw reference, it's the big gun when I'm not carrying a hotwire or HID. That's why I was surprised when it didn't really impress me. Admittedly, it's running on primary CRs still (since its turn as a moto headlight), instead of its usual RCRs, but it should still be doing about 230lm, so I figured it would destroy everything. It did not reach dramatically beyond the L1, just lit up the surroundings much better; a lot of light, but not a very substantial throw advantage.

M60WL: Still the best tint, just a little bit richer than the Ra. More but dimmer spill. Other than that, pretty much the same; roughly same output and throw.

L1: Impressive throw. Clearly outdoes all the other single cells, comes respectably close to the M60 (on primaries). Really solid little light, despite the fact that it's the only stock full production light going up against more expensive boutique lights and semi-custom builds. It did itself proud.

M60 fills in on CX500

Lights: SF 6P w/Malkoff M60, HDS B42XRGT, Ra Twisty 70Tr

After some Linn'sing, Charlie and I hung around the behind the bank lot like old times. He had his cig, I had my Dragon Pearl green tea. We reminisced about bank wall tennis, car chases, old friends, the usual stuff. Got a visit from a familiar face from the past, watched some raging drunks running and screaming at each other on Bridge. Around 12.30 we decided it was time to take off, so Charlie went to fire up the motorcycle and got nothing. It's been a rainy weekend, so we figured the starter got wet or something. The headlight came on but looked a little dim, run switch was where it should be, but the starter didn't respond at all. After 10 minutes of rocking it and peering at it (with B42 and 70Tr), we finally resorted to bump starting it. First attempt only showed us how easy it is to get a 500lb bike to slide along damp pavement. Second attempt fired it right up, but suddenly it had no headlight. We let it run a little, peered at it some more, banged on the lamp, jiggled wires, jiggled ignition, nothing. He shut it off, found that it would now start up fine on its own and the headlight would flicker whenever the starter was pushed, but it died completely as soon as the engine started. We eventually had to give up on getting it to work. I switched the M60 module over to the 6P for better cooling, put in primary CRs for more reliable power, wrapped the light in electrical tape with some padding to help it sit securely, then paracorded it to the middle of his gauge cluster. It worked pretty well, plenty good enough for him to ride behind my car at 30mph through town to leave it at Tia's house. By that time it was about 1. We set off around 1.15, I got him home to Cayucos about 1.30, and he snuck into his house through the back.

Schizatch Pursuit

Light: SF G2Z-M60

After class, I went into slo to leave some welcome home artwork for Chris to deliver to Noelle. But while I was preparing it, he took off past me. I went after him, chased him onto santa rosa, and managed to get right behind him at a light and flash his mirror with the M60. That got his attention real quick. He turned to look at what was going on and I got him in the face, which was necessary in order to... which was really fun. He threw up his hands and made a face like he'd walked into a surprise party. He pulled over into a gas station, we had ourselves a chat, and I handed over my art.

Morning HID walk

Light: Amondotech N30 HID

Around 4am I went for a walk across the ranch and back, out on the coastal trail and back on the terrace road. It was a beautiful night for it; clear sky, full moon, warm. Eerily warm though. I stepped out and it was like 65 degrees, at 4am. Then I felt the warm wind. The wind was alternating between warm and cool the whole time, suggesting it would be a seriously hot day. I took along the 120P, L1, A2, G2Z-M60, H30, ROP, Apex, and N30. Here are my observations:

• The N30 is just awesome. With clear atmosphere, from the lower trail, I can easily light up the trees and the crest of the hill. The ROP barely begins to light them. Walking with this light on takes away that enclosing darkness feeling, it's like being a car driving down the path. It does attract a lot of bugs though.
• It's interesting how tint perception changes with surroundings. Inside, the M60 is very warm and the Apex's USWOI is pure white. Outside, the M60 looks pure white and the Apex looks just ever so slightly cool and less defined. Not bad, but clearly not as ideal.
• H30 is pretty useless outdoors, just not what it's designed for, especially when there's already a full moon providing dim even lighting.
• The A2 is pretty useless. It doesn't put out enough light to justify its short and inconveniencing runtime. It doesn't throw very well, L1 is slightly better, M60 destroys it. It doesn't even have a tint advantage really, it just makes everything look well defined but brown, earth toned. My observations are kind of the opposite of normal; it's better inside where it demonstrates superior full-range color rendering, my best led tints are better outdoors and provide a more natural and accurate feeling view. So I think I have to conclude that, in these days of incredible leds, the only incandescents I really have a legitimate reason to use are the E2o for its efficiency and very reasonable amount of light and the ROP for quick spotting when the HID is too big or not appropriate due to the time it requires.

The M60 Mike Test

Light: SureFire 6P with Malkoff M60 Q5-WG dropin

I visited Mike at Madeline's and got him to do his classic flashlight test with the M60 (230+lm). He held it at arms length, aimed at his eyes, lit it off, and let out an, "oh god... that's a good one!" A couple minutes later he was in the back and I heard him say, "uhh I can't read that, I just got flashed in the eyes." It was a mean trick to let him do it with something that powerful, but I couldn't resist.