>>2846996 (OP)
I can’t stand using bright flashlights unless I’m looking for something hard to see that requires tons of light to find. I use a dim red headlamp when ROOONING, it’s enough for me to not trip over uneven surfaces, it shows cars I’m there without blinding the driver to the point that he can’t see where you are, only that his whole FOV is an artificial sun, it lets me see more wildlife because they don’t avoid it, and it also lets me see the stars better.
It’s that other guy’s problem that his dog freaked out over a person in a public space (the road) and he can get bent, BUT I be that you’d be safer and have a more enjoyable experience with a smaller, less powerful headlamp.
The part about a driver not being able to see you when you shine a light at his face is something I learned just this spring, I came around a corner while driving and had to come to a complete stop because a jogger with a giant powerful headlamp was blinding me and I had no idea if he was right in front of me about to get hit or if he was standing in the ditch 100 feet away (it was the second) because if I looked his way even a little, I couldn’t see anything but light shining in my eyes. If he had been in the driving lane close to the corner, I absolutely would have hit him before I could stop, and when I stopped, he just kept looking at me and blinding me until I rolled down the window and told him I couldn’t see him because his light was blinding. There’s a reason why people put blindingly bright lights on their handguns, if the light is being enough, you can’t see past it to aim at them. Go look at your light in the bathroom mirror with the lights off if you don’t believe me.