How many lumens is your edc?

[ToddC]

EDC is Fenix E01... 10 lumens?

 

[Gooby]

Fenix TK70: 2200 Lumens

 

[Jash]

EO5 goes everywhere in mmy left pants pocket. It's 30 lumens are up to meeting 90% of my lighting needs. In my EDC bag I have a PD20, and rarely gets used unless I need to see more than 5 metres when I'm out and about.

 

[Owen]

ZL SC51Fw. Rated up to 164 lumens on H1. I doubt it's anywhere close to that, but I never use the highest mode, anyway.
I use the L1, L2, M2, and H2 modes a lot(2, .16, 6.5, and 82 rated lumens, respectively). Neutral flood...fantastic.

 

[Smokescreen]

approx. 120 lumens... HDS e120

 

[Divine_Madcat]

On my belt - 337 (Tk15 - though i may carry my L2T if i like it more when i get it, in which case, 600+)
In my pocket - 72 (LD01)

 

[ico]

I'd say 100 is enough. I edc a ZL SC50W or hds 170T so that's a max of 106 & 170. Both are enough when I need them but most of the time I see myself using my back up E05 because I love its tint and floody beam.

 

[rockhong01]

I would dare to say 100 lumens is adequate for most situation you encounter in your daily life. I myself carry HDS Systems Rotary. Although it gets 200 lumens in its top output, I seldom rotate to its highest power.

 

[rockhong01]

Fenix TK70: 2200 Lumens

Oh, my! It's awesome fore an EDC.

 

[John_Galt]

Ra Clicky 140n modified with an R2 XP-E... ~150-175?

 

[TEEJ]

sigh

Again...its not a fair question, its asking the wrong parameter.

What we are REALLY trying to say is how many LUX on what we are trying to SEE is desirable.

If I have a light with a very tight beam with a lot of throw, a smaller number of lumens is needed to get the target lux we want, because the lumens are all concentrated into a smaller surface area of target.


If I have a very floody beam, the same number of lumens might produce a small fraction of the lux, but over a larger area.

This is why a 750 lumen SC600 might not put enough light on something 200 yards away to make out what's out there, but an 80 lumen DEFT edc LR+ can light up a target 400 yards away, etc.


So, depending on what you are trying to SEE, and in what detail, and in what beam shape/size of lit area, etc....any number of LUMENS might work...but not necessarily.


If I just don't want to bump into things/find that latrine in the middle of the night at the campsite w/o waking people...sure, moonlight levels work great.

If I need to tell if a main line has trunks coming off of it in a long crawlspace, or if what I see is just damaged insulation, etc...and whether I need to crawl to my left to get to a pass through in the block knuckle walls, or to my right to a different section...

..especially considering I might need to spend 5 minutes doing it given the obstructions, etc...and DON'T want to crawl 5 minutes in the wrong direction, and then go 5 minutes back, and then another 5 minutes in the right direction...etc...

I NEED to be able to see more detail....the character of the target, not JUST its presence/absence.

Crawlspace under apartment building with ~ 600 lumens

Crawlspace under apartment building with ~ 120 lumens


I see a real improvement with 600 lumens in the above examples. I know some say 100 lumens is "more than enough", and, for them, sure, maybe it is.

For inspection work though, unless you only need to see details right in front of you, or, a small spot further away...100 lumens might NOT be enough.

Look at the above pics, taken from the same crawlspace...and see which of those two lighting options you'd find more useful, and, choose for yourself.

 

[ico]

I guess what the op means by edc is a light for general purposes 24/7. A 100 is enough by those standards. It would be another topic if a work light is what is needed because the OP might have specified if it would be used for work, looking at crawlspace and the like and I think that work light would not really be an edc 24/7

 

[ClassicGOD]

I normally EDC one of those 3:
Eagletac D25CM Ti
JetBeam TCR1
Sunwayman V10R Ti

So it's between 250 and 500lm (I use 16340 in TCR1 and V10R and CR123 in D25C) but I really use them at highest brightness.

 

[fishndad]

I am thinking of buying a new light, and looking at one that is 100 lumens.
I know there are lights I could buy that are about the same size and can push over 400, heck some are getting in the 700 range.

Is your edc 100 or less? Is it good enough?

Funny thing is, I didn't even carry flashlights for most of the years of my life, now I wonder if 100 lumens is good enough

yes it is more than 100 lumens and yes its good enough. But that is very vague isnt it.
how many more than 100?
good enough for what?

 

[TEEJ]

I guess what the op means by edc is a light for general purposes 24/7. A 100 is enough by those standards. It would be another topic if a work light is what is needed because the OP might have specified if it would be used for work, looking at crawlspace and the like and I think that work light would not really be an edc 24/7

That again assumes that your life is exactly like someone else's.

Where I come from, edc means what you carry every day...as in, its normally with you. After that, it means NOTHING. If MY every day usage means finding my keys if I drop them, and YOUR every day usage means patrolling a warehouse for vandals and trespassers, we are NOT going to find that the same light does it all.

If MY everyday use involves needing to see a lot of detail and YOUR every day use involves presence/absence type vision...the same light may not work for both.

Also our level of EXPECTATION is also a factor.

If you think about it, really, we see better in day light....which results in about 10,000 - 25,000 LUX on what we are looking at.

So, anything LESS than that, will mean that we don't see AS WELL.

So, if you have a 100 lumen light, to GET say 10,000 Lux on a target...you need to concentrate those 100 lumens into a very small circle of light....and/or, be very close.

If you have a 1,000 lumen light, you STILL have to concentrate the lumens and/or be very close to get that Lux, but, not AS concentrated, or, as close.

So, to call something "enough" is misleading to someone ASKING how much is "enough"...as its masking the fact that there are a LOT of compromises that are made in lighting....for practical reasons.

So, what is "bright enough to see", may not be "bright enough to see as well as if you had something brighter".

Obviously, you don't ALWAYS need to see as much as at other times...but, its nice to be ABLE to see better.

Do we buy cars that can only go 45 mph, as there's simply no need to go any faster? Obviously, you'll still get to your destination at 45 mph...and there are no areas where you HAVE TO go faster than 45 mph as a MINIMUM speed limit.

Is it BETTER to be ABLE to go faster than the MINIMUM? Sure, usually it is...and its nice to have the option.

How about how far you SEE with your head lights?

Ever wish they showed everything a bit dimmer, because you thought you could see well "enough" anyway with dimmer headlights?

Same for the edc lights...there are very few cases where a higher high is a bad thing. Just like lower lows are a good thing....higher highs broaden the usefulness of the light...you can SEE MORE.

"Enough" is a subjective compromise. Especially in this case, where "enough" means "What you settled for instead of daylight".


So, as it IS subjective, a lot of people who are used to a dim light, and don't NEED to see much...feel that they don't WANT TO see more. They then tell YOU that you don't NEED TO see more either.


I'm just pointing out that this is the context of the responses here.


Frankly, IMHO, the light with "enough", that can be edc'd, has not been invented yet.


When we can have daylight from a pocket sized light, in a large enough pool so as to allow our eyes to use it all, with high CRI so that the objects are rendered accurately....THEN I'll call that "Enough".

 

[Lichtinsdunkel]

Mine is the EDC Rotary by Henry (200 lumens).
More than enough output for all situations.

Regards
Walter

 

[Mumbojumboo]

Maratac 80 lumens


mumbo peanut carbon by mumbojumboo, on Flickr


or Klarus 85 lumens


mumbo lost coast brew by mumbojumboo, on Flickr

 

[Endalaus]

Depends... I'd like to say its 250 (max) for the lummi raw but in reality it's 10.5 because the one light I always have with me is my indestructible arc aaa.

 

[Up All Night]

Fenix E01, always. Years of use and abuse! (key ring)

4 Sevens Quark AA on 14500 with eneloop back-up cell (neck carry)

Oft maligned Costco Techlite, the 160 lumen iteration w/XP-E. Great throw, runs on "duraloops". Sits in the bottom of a cargo pocket. This thing has been dropped, kicked,thrown and buried by city snowploughs. It just refuses to quit!


Oh, and hello! From north of the 49th! :wave:

 

[biglights]

Fenix TK70: 2200 Lumens

WOW