Just wondering... why the Noctigon with W1 and not one with higher lumen?
There's a lot of science here that I don't know.
But....redneck talk here. Think of lumens as brightness with no where to go, so it just scatters.
Now the key is to harness that brightness in a beam in a direction you want.
That is where the reflector, optic, and LED die size comes into play.
The smaller the die size the more narrow the beam
The more narrow the beam the more throwy
The larger the reflector the longer your throw is.
So pair a small LED die size with a large reflector and you get a longer throw.
A W1 is the smallest die size that I know of....so it has the most throw.
Pair the W1 with the head of a K1 and you have as good as it gets in terms of LED throwers.
It's not the brightest...not even close. But it points the tiny little beam the furthest.
The w2 is brighter than the w1 because it's twice the die size
The 90.2 is way brighter but less throwy because it's an even bigger die size
The new 70 LEDs out are even brighter but less throwy because it's an even bigger bigger die size
You can have bright and you can have throw, but you can't have both out of 1 LED flashlight.
You can pick a dedicated flood light, a dedicated thrower, or a compromise that is good at both but not great at either.
The generally accepted and recognized formula to calculating throw is : Usable Throw = 1/2 the distance that's advertised, best case. lol
Good news is you have tons of choices anyway you go.
