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

  • Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world
    0·
    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.

      • bizarroland@fedia.io
        0·
        1 month ago

        I got mine at costco. It comes with a huge lithium-ion battery, can double as a power source for usb, charges with USB C and is bright enough to flashblind a bull elk in mating season.

        Turns on full power on the first click but then you have to click it three more times to turn it off.

      • Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        0·
        1 month ago

        this guy, always and forever.

        I’m not paid but I love his lights and will shill any time for them. I have a couple and they’ve saved me through so many blackouts. Also if you TURBO MODE at the ceiling, you can use the bounce light for AMAZING cat pix.

    • electromage@lemm.ee
      0·
      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.