Are modded lights worth it?

[bykfixer]

I cannot understand this yet?

To me the Cool white brightest light looks the most futuristic and more impressive, the neutral light just takes me back to the old torches of the 1990's with bulbs. Ive only got photo's to go off tho

I wish I understood more!

I want my light to be so bright it stuns people, would neutral tint be easier to look at, lets say an intruder was in my back garden and I hit him with some cool vs neutral light, I feel the cool would be harder to look at. the neutral would be like normal sunlight?

Am I right or wrong ?

I wonder if the neutral tint is something of an aquired taste or just something that comes with time of having lights.

I agree that the colours pop more which is a good thing

Clears throat, taps microphone, "check, check, check"

At the risk of rowing against the tide during this sportac triple nichia 219b commercial...

You are right. Your observations are correct.
If your goal is the scare away the thug in your yard, then cool is better at blinding them quickly.

If you are the hug-a-thug type who just wants to get along while he steals your tv, then yeah warmer beams are better to light his path to ensure he doesn't trip over the dogs toys as he exits your premises... and he'll marvel at the vivid colors of your carpeting too.

It really comes down to what your goal is and how many lights you care to own. And how much you want to spend.

As stated in the comercial above you can get lots of output that blasts photons in ways that don't cause you to be blinded by your own light, which is very useful for home invasion or general security as well as 'wow-ing' your friends.
Or you can acquire the ugliest, nastiest shade of white that will cause the bad guy to think he just looked at the sun through a telescope. Or you can have the builder do something in between.

It comes down to goals vs budget vs where are you willing to compromise. Their is no perfect flashlight available after the sun sets. The only perfect flashlight is the sun.

Hobbyists have fun while obtaining what they consider their best compromise. Some have larger budgets to obtain that prize while others figure there is no point.

To me the irony is that the ultimate goal these days is to achieve what once was.... the tint of the light bulb.

If you research the archives here there are methods to obtain the output folks desire with the tint of a lightbulb using... a lightbulb. And the best part was the individual did it themselves, which in turn is way more of a thrill than sending it off and having it done for you. Sure the run time and lifespan of a light bulb sucks. But it's like owning a race car. You go big or don't go at all in the case of hotwire'd flashlights.

Me, I've done the stock thing, bought modded lights and done some DIY stuff too.
All are worth it imo.

 

[outofthedarkness]

Wow first negative. Interesting stuff

 

[bykfixer]

Wow first negative. Interesting stuff

Wasn't meant as a negative. But was meant to direct the subject back to your original question using a 'bykfixer commentary' technique. I try to inject humor that at times seems a sharp to some.

Like I said, it comes down to your goals, your budget and your needs.
There are many fantastic lights from the factory.
Some see a 400hp Mustang as a chance to squeeze 600hp. Others think 400 is plenty, but want the exhaust to growl. Some opt for better brakes, while staying stock output, still others load the engine and chassis with doo-dads to give it more pizazz.

When you go to a Mustang forum the masses will likely say modding is the way to go with a small crowd saying stock is cool.
Same goes for a flashlight forum.

I like modded flashlights. And the folks here are steering you into tried n true directions. Yet my point was "is that what you want to do?

Your comments tend to cause me to think you like a white beam for blinding bad guys. Fair enough.
The others are saying that with time you'll slowly lean your prefferences to the warmer tint. I agree with that.

This time last year I thought my Coast HP7 was the greatest flashlight ever... time changed that.
Until then if you want bright white, go for it. I love them all but tend to migrate to warmer tints for the everyday use and copy paper white for self defense...which I hope to never need, yet have just in case.

Famous light maker PK does his lights between 6000 and 6500 kelvins. That is the tint he prefers for the same reason you asked about white light blinding. His products push the envelope of todays devices in a stock platform. But those tints in many cases is not seen as 'modern'. His goal is to provide the user with something aimed at self defense. That is not the goal for the everyday casual user. So many times when he introduces a new product the crowd either yawns or asks for neutral tints. Some say "heck yeah man, 6500... take that you bad guy"...

There is no right or wrong. Like I said it is all about the compromise. If my previous comment came off as ugly, that was not the intent. I just saw the thread was going to be heading way off topic very soon.

 

[ven]

Different perspectives is what you want outofthedarkness, no rights, no wrongs, the question you ask is open ended and could go on 100 pages with mixed opinions. Some for, best thing since sliced bread(is sliced bread really that good?) to why would you need more than 1000lm you can buy off the shelf.

My main reasons are for driver options, LED and tint options, current bump, better heat sinking and also wanting something a little different than off the shelf.

Again no rights or wrongs, opinions which we are all entitled to, if your happy with stock then great!, if it takes a modded light or p60 for that happiness then great! As long as the buyer is happy thats all what matters, what i like to someone else could be completely different.............like recommending a film............not easy with so many variables.

Oh and i want to see the intruder in hi cri:nana:

j/k

Most important, make it fun, experiment, after time you will be happy with 60lm of 4000k :laughing:

 

[Wendee]

[...]
Most important, make it fun, experiment, after time you will be happy with 60lm of 4000k :laughing:

Excellent advice! Make it fun and experiment. Flashlights really are fun. If today your preference is super bright cool white then buy exactly that and enjoy it!

[...]
If you are the hug-a-thug type who just wants to get along while he steals your tv, then yeah warmer beams are better to light his path to ensure he doesn't trip over the dogs toys as he exits your premises... and he'll marvel at the vivid colors of your carpeting too.

LOL! That was so funny to read!

I have one super "white" flashlight that actually makes my other CW light look neutral (side by side). To my eyes, it really does look pure white. The first thing I thought when I turned on the white flashlight was "excellent to spot bad guys lurking around my car in a dark parking lot". That's exactly what this little light will be used for. It will be carried in the pocket of my sweater and/or winter coat this fall when it starts to get dark earlier in the evening. Honestly, if I was feeling nervous or scared, I would prefer this bright white tint over my favourite Nichia 219B (without a doubt). It's got a "this means business!!" feeling.

Other than that specific job, I wouldn't use my "white tint" flashlight for anything else. Absolutely nothing. It will live in my coat pocket and barely get used but I'm sure I'll be glad to have it in specific situations.

If I were to buy a bigger flashlight with the intention of spotting and/or intimidating a bad guy, I would buy the brightest whitest 'cool white' LED possible. Personally, I wouldn't buy a modded light or spend too much money on it because it would rarely get used (if ever). I'd rather invest my money in a high quality Nichia 219B (or 219C) flashlight that I could enjoy using all the time.

It should be noted that I'm still 'new' to good flashlights. Maybe in time I won't like that white tint (even for scary dark parking lots)? :shrug:

 

[KITROBASKIN]

Oh and i want to see the intruder in hi cri:nana:

Me too, although it is more likely a critter in the wild for us. They can be quite comely in appearance.

With today's powerhouse lights, the tint difference should not be an issue. If you want to impersonate an extraterrestial, then by all means go colorless cold.

Since I just about always have some kind of flood or general purpose light teamed with a thrower in the field, tint compatibility is helpful to eliminate clashing tint distraction. And a modder can be very helpful to achieve this. But since the XP-L Hi in 5000K became available, getting a dedomed emitter becomes less critical (unless a person wants more throw with a given reflector, then a modified dedomed XP-G2 would work)

 

[outofthedarkness]

Wasn't meant as a negative. But was meant to direct the subject back to your original question using a 'bykfixer commentary' technique. I try to inject humor that at times seems a sharp to some.

Like I said, it comes down to your goals, your budget and your needs.
There are many fantastic lights from the factory.
Some see a 400hp Mustang as a chance to squeeze 600hp. Others think 400 is plenty, but want the exhaust to growl. Some opt for better brakes, while staying stock output, still others load the engine and chassis with doo-dads to give it more pizazz.

When you go to a Mustang forum the masses will likely say modding is the way to go with a small crowd saying stock is cool.
Same goes for a flashlight forum.

I like modded flashlights. And the folks here are steering you into tried n true directions. Yet my point was "is that what you want to do?

Your comments tend to cause me to think you like a white beam for blinding bad guys. Fair enough.
The others are saying that with time you'll slowly lean your prefferences to the warmer tint. I agree with that.

This time last year I thought my Coast HP7 was the greatest flashlight ever... time changed that.
Until then if you want bright white, go for it. I love them all but tend to migrate to warmer tints for the everyday use and copy paper white for self defense...which I hope to never need, yet have just in case.

Famous light maker PK does his lights between 6000 and 6500 kelvins. That is the tint he prefers for the same reason you asked about white light blinding. His products push the envelope of todays devices in a stock platform. But those tints in many cases is not seen as 'modern'. His goal is to provide the user with something aimed at self defense. That is not the goal for the everyday casual user. So many times when he introduces a new product the crowd either yawns or asks for neutral tints. Some say "heck yeah man, 6500... take that you bad guy"...

There is no right or wrong. Like I said it is all about the compromise. If my previous comment came off as ugly, that was not the intent. I just saw the thread was going to be heading way off topic very soon.

Not u the guy behind posted he dont like modded lights lol

 

[outofthedarkness]

After all this I still cant decide.my brain hurts. I am trying to think logically about the nw like watching high definition tv. But everytime I think of nw I think of a light bulb or a table lamp. Lol. Someone slap me

 

[bykfixer]

Not u the guy behind posted he dont like modded lights lol

Gotcha.

During an edit his jumped ahead of mine, which started a new page.

But yeah ledted brings up valid points. That lends towards the DIY part. How much time are you willing to spend learning vs plug n play.

I bought a light already set up to mimic the sun instead of going through the steps of building my own. Frankly it was better than I woulda done and costed less. I went in knowing trying to run it off lithiums I already had was likely going to result in carrying around a hand grenade shaped like a Maglite. I enquired from the seller what to do and for a few more $ spent at Amazon ended up with something safe.

That type of lights can be found in the want to sell section as folks either thin the herd or just decide they don't want it anymore. They get gobbled up quickly if the price is good. So you can always try that route. And be sure to ask the seller (or modder) advice about fueling your battery powered sunshine.