Miscellaneous
Transcript: In this episode of Flashlights and Stuff I’m going to try and answer some common questions that get asked all of the time. Why does one flashlight appear brighter than another, yet they both have the same lumens rating? Do I need a flashlight rated at more than 1000 lumens? Why doesn’t a 4000 lumens flashlight appear 4 times as bright as a 1000 lumens flashlight? Ready? Let’s get going… So what are lumens? Essentially, lumens are a measure of brightness. Flashlights have lumens ratings to give you an indication of how much perceived brightness you can expect. But, if you buy tactical flashlights based solely on lumens ratings you’ll be disappointed. There are a number of factors that affect the perceived brightness of a flashlight. Lumens rating can be a starting point, but there are a bunch of other factors to consider as well. Let’s start with the reflector. Is it smooth? Is it orange peel? Is it narrow and deep? Is it wide? The reflector helps determine light dispersement which affects the perceived brightness of the flashlight. Typically, narrow, smooth reflectors produce more throw. So a narrow, pronounced beam APPEARS brighter. Just remember that flashlights deemed as “throwers” typically have a ton of light fall off on the sides. So if you want even lighting throughout your field of vision this isn’t the type of flashlight you want. If the flashlight has an orange peel reflector, you will typically get more flood than throw. By design the orange peel reflector disperses light in a border pattern. Typically, this flashlight reflector design will produce more even lighting across your entire field of view. So if that’s the type of lighting you’d like your flashlight to produce, this is a type of reflector design to consider. Obviously, the width and depth of the reflector make a difference as well. Generally, a shallow reflector distributes light in a border pattern while a deeper reflector concentrates light more effectively. Let’s move on to the LED. Most tactical flashlights use some model of a CREE LED. Like any technology, LEDs models change over time to use power more efficiently, yield greater brightness, etc. etc. The bottom line is the LED version your flashlight uses does affect perceived brightness. Take the Nitecore P12 and the Nitecore P12GT. I own both flashlights. They are mid-size everyday carry flashlights and rated at 1000 lumens. Both flashlights use the same reflector, same power source, are the same size and have the same features. Even though both are 1000 lumens rated, the Nitecore P12GT is noticeably brighter than the Nitecore P12. Why? The difference is in the LED that they use. The P12 uses a CREE XM-L2 U2 led. The P12 GT uses a newer CREE XP-L HI V3 led. The CREE XP-L HI V3 led produces more light intensity. So in this case simply swapping in a newer technology LED makes one 1000 lumens rated flashlight appear brighter than another 1000 lumens rated flashlight. Both identical in every way EXCEPT for the LED. Since we are on the topic of LEDs don’t forget LED tints and colors can affect your perception of brightness as well. Warmer LED tints, the ones that lean a bit more toward orangey red, have a tendency to soften the light thus making it feel less bright to your eyes. Pure white tints will make the flashlight appear to be brighter. Just remember, the whiter the tint the harsher it is on your eyes for viewing. So LED tint and color selection can get a bit snobbish, but as you purchase more flashlights you may lean toward a preference. In fact, the quest for the perfect flashlight for you - lumens output, LED type, LED color etc. may take you into the world of flashlight “modding.” Flashlight modification - swapping to emitters, LEDs etc. is a whole other episode, but is a reminder just how serious people can take their flashlights. Another thing to remember about lumens is that a 4000 lumens flashlight won’t appear four times as bright as a 1000 lumens flashlight. So this shifts us into the topic of just how many lumens do you need in a flashlight? I have flashlights with lumens ratings as low as max 300 to max 4000 lumens. I will say that my most used flashlights range from 650 lumens to 2000 lumens. Personally, for just about any lighting task I find this range to be useful. The 2000 lumens flashlight that I really like is a total thrower… narrow beam, super intense and truthfully not really useful for anything but non-lethal self-defense. It’s a Klarus XT11GT. I have it set up in tactical mode so it turns on in turbo mode or strobe mode via the dual tactical tail switch at the full 2000 lumens of output. If you are buying your first tactical flashlight, there are three I’d highly recommend. Two are a bit more budget friendly and one is a bit on the expensive side. Let’s start off with the budget friendly ones. Here is the flashlight I always recommend IF a person has never had a decent quality flashlight. It’s the Nitecore P12GT. It’s got 1000 lumens of output and as I mentioned earlier, extremely bright. It uses a dual tactical tail switch as well, another feature I prefer in my flashlights. Another excellent flashlight with a great reputation is the Fenix PD35. Like the P12GT, it’s a mid-size EDC flashlight with 1000 lumens of output. It’s just a great all around flashlight and Fenix just makes good flashlights. All of my Fenix flashlights have continued to work well over time. Lastly, I’d highly recommend the Surefire E2D Defender at 1000 lumens. Yes, it’s a bit more spendy, BUT you get excellent build quality in a made in the USA flashlight. So to wrap things up… here are the fine points to take away with you when it comes to understanding lumens: The lumens rating is good to help you understand what the general brightness of the flashlight will be Know the reflector design so you understand if the flashlight will have more flood than throw or vice versa
LED design makes a difference so make sure you are buying a recent model utilizing the latest LED technologies and capabilities
Be aware of the LED color or tint. Pure white LEDs will appear to be the brightest
The noticeable difference in brightness between a 1000 lumens flashlight and a 3000 lumens flashlight won’t be as much as you’d expect. Lastly, be wary of cheap flashlights and their lumens output claims. No, you can’t get a flashlight with 5000 lumens of output for $19.95. So that just about wraps it up for my discussion of lumens. I hope this has helped demystify this topic. If you go to the website flashlightsansstuff.com I’ll have this up as a blog post with a bunch of beam shots from various flashlights. You’ll be able to see how different flashlight designs and LEDs affect the flood and throw of a flashlight. Until next week, stay healthy and safe and don’t forget to subscribe to this podcast. Thanks for listening. Visit the website: flashlightsandstuff.com