How many lumens is enough lumens?

[fyrstormer]

In the sage words of some anonymous military guy, "there is no such thing as overkill; there is kill, and failure to kill."

You have enough lumens if you can see what you need to see. You have too many lumens if you're blinded by the backscatter.

 

[Colonel Sanders]

Last night I walked the dog with a Barn Burner 8500L, a Mac's Customs 3840L, a modded X10 1300L, and an SC600 750L. So that's 14,000L+ to walk the dog. Coulda used a little more though. :devil:

 

[Sub_Umbra]

How many lumens is enough lumens?

The wide range of answers above is interesting. Humans (and their needs) are extremely varied, as are visual acuity and other factors less often considered like Light Culture and what kind of concentration skills the user has at his disposal in any given situation.

I suspect that there may be no definitive answer.

 

[HK45]

A light that goes from about 4 to 200 works for me.

 

[chmsam]

How many lumens is enough lumens?

The wide range of answers above is interesting. Humans (and their needs) are extremely varied, as are visual acuity and other factors less often considered like Light Culture and what kind of concentration skills the user has at his disposal in any given situation.

I suspect that there may be no definitive answer.

People will choose what they think they need based only on the equipment they have seen and used and the situations they have been in. Those choices seem to me to be actually fairly limited and understated.

Once you see more, learn more, know more, then you tend to be more open to things and to think about being better prepared.

That's what's great about this forum.

 

[texas cop]

I guess I'll jump in and give it a try. I like about 5-10 when I'm walking around the house at night. 50-200 does about everything outside in as most of my lights are a mix of throw and flood. A little more throw and I could probably get away with less lumens but I like the spill, its amazing what you can walk right past. Big warehouse, alley way or dark backyards I like 2000 lumens or more. Now a little secret keep one eye closed to keep some night vision and use that light like a camera just a few flashes here and there to get a picture of whats around.

 

[trevordurden]

I'd say after 25 lumens, beam pattern starts to become more important than output. I'd rather have a 75 lumen wide flood beam than a 100 lumen throw beam for everyday tasks.

Tint also becomes important at higher lumens too.

 

[Johnbeck180]

I'd say 170-200 lumens is more than enough for most tasks. Heck, I'd even go as far as to say a good 120 lumens is enough. This coming from a guy who used to think that he had to have a light with at least 300 lumens.

Also agree with Trevordurden ^^^^ beam patter is important, I like a smooth transition from hot spot to spill.

 

[Fireclaw18]

How many lumens are enough? Eleventy-Billion!:nana:. Yes, I'll know my flashlight is bright enough when I can point it at the moon and see the moon light up.

On a more serious note though I find 500 is enough for most tasks. For Reading or walking around the house at night 5 lumens is enough. For walking outside without dark adapted eyes to take out the trash 100 works. But if I want to have enough light so I can see the slugs on the bricks without stepping on them, 500 works much better.

Checking the wooden beams in the celing for leaks during a rainstorm? 100 isn't enough. 500+ works much better.

I typically use my EDC light either as a reading light at night or in very short bursts at max power. Currently I'm using a modded Sipik 58 with reflector, 2.8 amp driver, and XM-L T6 3c neutral emitter. I find the ring-free neutral tint beam with wide hotspot very useful.

Beam pattern and tint are increasingly important. I used to love having max lumens with cool white tint, but now I prefer neutral tints and their ability to better distinguish colors. Lack of distracting rings also helps in making it easier to see what I'm looking at.

For lower modes, I think the best system might be very high PWM like in the Nanjg 105c driver. I'm not a fan of the tint-shift that some of my current controlled lights give at lower brightness settings (such as my SC600 going from a beautiful pure white beam at 750 lumens to an ugly slightly green beam at low lumens).

 

[JerryM]

Why do folks think they need ultra power to walk their dogs?
Thanks,
Jerry

 

[Lou Minescence]

Why do folks think they need ultra power to walk their dogs?
Thanks,
Jerry

There are times I let my dog explore off leash where it is safe from cars. She may be 200 yards away and alerting me. I want to be able to see what is going on without question.
For other times on leash walking down roads, the cars slow down for bright lights. If I hear a car moving fast around a corner,I light up the whole road before the car is close. They always slow down thinking they are going to meet up with another vehicle. Safety for me and my dog. I suppose I don't need any lumens at all, but what fun would that be ?
But that's just me.

 

[Jvalera]

Despite having several blasters, I actually prefer my old SF KL3 30 lumen head and the 100 lumen SF L4 Lumamax for around inside the house. BTW I still
have a Streamlight cyclone for reading pocket books in the car with no heat or duration issue's.

 

[Tiresius]

You can never have enough lumens...I go anywhere from 1 lumens to 1200 lumens. It really depends on where and how you're using your lights. For biking, I use 1200 lumens for the front and a low strobe mode for my rear. But sometimes I use only 500 lumens when going against traffic so I don't blind oncomming traffic.

 

[JerryM]

Thanks, Lou.
Jerry

 

[Bigpal]

My LD20 is perfect for me for all of those situations. It's bright enough at 180 lumens to walk the dog and disorient if needed. The medium and low settings for everything else. It's the perfect size for me and it lasts a long time.

If I need more, I take the TK45.

 

[SimulatedZero]

Honestly, it depends alot on the situation. But, for walking my dog I use 300 lumens from my TK15. My dog is a basset hound and likes to take off and run. I have spent more than a few nights trying to keep up with her through thick woods. 300 lumens with some good throw is right around the sweet spot for penetrating thick underbrush.

Camping= 3 - 150 (mostly 3 - 75)

House= 3 - 75

2 Day Black Out= 0 - 3 (Battery conservation, around here you don't know when the lights comeback on)

Car trouble= 300 (Engines are dark and dirty and tend to absorb light. Really, 400 might be better)

Walking in woods= 0 - 50 (though I always keep a tac light on me in case SHTF)

EDC= 100 (E11) Just enough light and throw to be used in case of an emergency and be adequate as a sub-tactical light.
= 35 for general use

I know you said ignore Tactical uses but, as much light as possible really. There have been situations where I wish my TK41 was brighter or threw farther. Unfortunately those situations will always happen no matter how much light you have. You can't have a light that is purpose built to every scenario. Because so many scenarios require opposite things.

 

[Flying Turtle]

For my general around the house use I seldom need more than about 50 lumens, and most of the time get by with 3 or less. There's always scenarios where more might be needed, but these times rarely occur.

Geoff

 

[mookins]

Lumens and lux

Lumens is the "amount" of light and lux is the distribution of that "amount" of light. The larger the area, the less lux for a given amount of lumens to begin with.Lux is the perception of brightness and is the most important factor for illumination of stuff.A good example of recommended lux values for various tasks can be found at the following URL. It also includes a lux calculator based on some parameters which include the distance of the illuminated object and the dispersion angle of the light from the source. http://www.ledrise.com/shop_content.php?coID=19Another list of recommended lux values can be had at the following URL.http://www.greenlux.com.au/recommended-light-levels-for-various-tasks-and-activities/

 

[OccupationalHazard]

Everyone is always going to go way on the high side but in honesty I would say:


Walking the dog in suburbia? 70 lumens

Camping site? 150 lumens

General in-house use? 30 lumens

2 day blackout? 300 lumens

Car breaks down? Flat tire at night? 70 lumens

Walking in the woods? 300 lumens

EDC?[/QUOTE]

 

[Slazmo]

Re: Lumens and lux

EDC........................................... 6 to 50 (Inova X1 fits the bill)

Walking at night in suburbia?........... 6 to 50 (depending on situation)

Camping site?................................>50 (Flood - spill lighting prefered)

General in-house use?.................... 30

2 day blackout?............................. 30 - 50

Car breaks down? Flat tire at night?.. 50 - 100

Walking in the woods?.................... 100 - 800 (EA4 should find weird things)

I guess it all comes down to runtime, EDC you want a usable amount of runtime, in the woods / bush you want reliable runtime, car breaks down you want batteries in that torch to have not leaked, with Bugout situations you want super reliable torch with easily accessible batteries that aren't too confusing or hard to replace in pitch black darkness situations.