Question: For what purpose do you use your high lumen output lights?

[Chicken Drumstick]

Not opposed to high lumens, but I absolutely detest the current marketing BS where they advertise "2000 lumen pocket light!!!" and then in the fine print far below, you find out it drops down to 400 or so after a minute.

It's ironic that the ANSI standard was meant to create transparency and accuracy to these ratings, but then manufacturers immediately realized they could take advantage of the short measurement time for output, and just have their lights take a huge step down after a minute or two but still market the light as a "2000" lumen light (or whatever) when in reality it's a 400 lumen light that happens to have a short burst mode.


Dang, I'm turning into the Clint Eastwood of flashlights......NOW GET OFF MY LAWN!!!

ANSFI FL1 was never meant about flat regulated output. Far far from it.

And you can't blame makers adhering to a standard if one exists.

Lets face it, your car doesn't make PEAK power all the time you drive it. It does it for a very small part of the rev band. And most modern cars then use torque limiting technology, so that as a rule cars only make PEAK power in higher gears and generally make a whole lot less in 1st & 2nd gear.

 

[KITROBASKIN]

Yeah I think its mostly the misleading marketing around it as well as cheap chinese lights claiming "100.000 lumens" to then deliver 300.
Well made high output lights serve their purpose & im sure are indispensable for some people, but I think most people actually need a lot less light then they think they do.

If a person wants to get a masterblaster for fun and experimentation, fine. Seems like it is also useful for the more experienced members here to bring up the aspect of how eyes work in terms of utilizing the light more effectively? Defining oneś goal with portable illumination then achieving the goal is worthwhile.

The aspect of a tight thrower like an LEP being able to narrowly define an area of interest is certainly valid. Turns out in thick forest, a person can ¨look past¨ the closest tree/shrub branches with a tight beam, rather than getting a lot of light reflection from those close branches with a flashlight casting a wider beam.

 

[Sabrewulf]

Look down on people who want high lumens? Some just question the urge to have so much output. Often because the unelightened are led to believe that more lumens always equals better, which leads to marketing folks exagerating or even flat out fibbing in order to gain market share often using sub-par products or out right junk.

Yeah I understand that some people only look for high lumens.
The #1 thing I look for is color, I like warm/neutral with high CRI, then good moon and good turbo.
If it only comes in bluish tint, I won't even consider it.

To me, if a light can't get bright, it's like a knife that can't get sharp.

 

[Lights and Guns]

For me, lights with higher lumens are generally reserved for duty carry in which you'd need to be able to flood a room with light, as you progress through the structure that you're clearing for any threats. I don't carry anything above 1350 lumen output, and that lights' output is able to remain stable for approx. 10 minutes straight from turn on, before starting to step down. Even when it steps down, it's barely noticeable at about 700 lumens, where it stays for quite some time. With that said, generally on duty, you're light won't be on steady for a prolonged period of time.

Looking back throughout the years, the longest time I've needed to keep my light on was clearing a huge structure with hundreds of rooms and multiple floors. In all, the light was on for roughly 45-60 minutes. Lucky for me the light I was using had a fresh battery and still had about 20-30 more minutes of runtime left when I was done. Even so, not really a big deal as you normally would either carry a smaller back up flashlight or an additional battery in your bag at least.

That situations was really the exception generally speaking your done with your light well within 10 minutes on average. So with something like an 18650 / 21700 you can certainly power a light that's around 1000 lumens for that sub-10 minute period of time that you need all the light you can get.... and if it goes longer, it steps down gradually... but not enough to hinder whatever it is that you needed it for in the first place.

Basically, if you (god forbid) have the potential to find yourself in a gun fight, I strongly recommend you carry a stronger light. (not a gimmicky one, or one with 2, 3, or 4k lumens... Something that's reliable and you can depend on, generally with 1 mode than turns on max output).

Besides that, really you don't need anything super powerful. For general EDC tasks, 99.9% of the time, 50-250 lumens or so will do the job. Over the past decade my go-to EDC light has been the 4sevens Mini ML. Absolutely LOVE this light. It was tiny, but yet powerful and simple and easy to use, low/med/high and very reliable. Max output was around 200 lumens which I rarely ever used, generally it would be on low or medium.
Big reason I found such a liking to the light is that its so small and lightweight, it's acceptable to carry it in addition to my tactical light... and it really doesn't add any bulk or weight to you for the day... but I had a capable and useful EDC light for general tasks.

 

[desert.snake]

That would be the Moon.
Planet Earth is filled with way too many human-beings to not be a threatening place, anywhere. Except Siberia. But they have massive 4-legged predators, instead of the 2-legged kind. Plus, the predators in Siberia are a lot more intelligent.

The biggest danger in Siberia is ticks with encephalitis and borreliosis. In second place is the cold, if you don't dress correctly. Further are people, but not in the sense of physical violence, because of scammers, you can be left homeless and in huge debts. Animal predators are somewhere at the end of a list))

At work, sometimes there is no light, sometimes it is, and it is enough for night vision not to work, but there are a lot of dark cavities where need to look. Bright light is sometimes very useful, I use an H600c mk4 that a friend gave me, the most common level is 579 lm, it can burn long enough to do everything

In nature, I rarely use bright light, mostly 0.1~15 lm, but sometimes it is needed to inspect something. For example, on foot to inspect the road near the cliff and what is below, then to drive by car. Here it depends on the distance. On close distance Nitecore TM26 works well on a turbo, if need to illuminate further than 30m, then Convoy M21C SFT40 works well, although sometimes you want more, just to have more. But that was about 1.5-2 years ago. Now I have no long-range flashlights left. Maybe I'll get a Hound Dog Super again or a new HOG or Weltool LH18, I don't know yet

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HOG FDE Hand Held Complete

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[bykfixer]

Yeah I understand that some people only look for high lumens.
The #1 thing I look for is color, I like warm/neutral with high CRI, then good moon and good turbo.
If it only comes in bluish tint, I won't even consider it.

To me, if a light can't get bright, it's like a knife that can't get sharp.

Not all knives are made to be sharp, and not all flashlights are made to be bright.

 

[alpg88]

Which knife is most dangerous? a dull one. those are the ones that make it necessary to use extra force , and that is when they slip, and cut you, or cut something that should not be cut. unless it is a butter knife, dull knife is your enemy.

 

[Chauncey Gardiner]

FUN.

 

[The Hawk]

The most powerful flashlight I own produces about 1,000 lumens. I bought it because it also has a very long run time on Eco mode. It is my travel flashlight. I have not needed it, but it makes me feel better having it and not needing it. Of course I have other lights that I travel with that do get used for necessary chores such as bathroom visits in the middle of the night. Yeah, I'm that guy!

 

[letschat7]

My only real high output light I used was the LED Lenser X21 and one of the older models that may have been 1700 lumens give or take a few hundred.

I would use it in flood mode to work on some vehicles or do general outdoors activities at night. When I got it my friend is why do you even need something like this and then we used it to work on his Volkswagen late at night and he stopped questioning it.

Sometimes I would take it camping and it was great at identifying animals at night but I got tired of carrying it because of it's heavy weight and bulk.

If it wasn't for knocking one of the LEDs or perhaps the lens out of alignment by dropping it I would have kept it. I will probably get another someday but it isn't Surefire or Mag-Lite and needs handled with care.

I've found I like lights at the opposite ends of the spectrum. Like somehing very dim for reading or unlocking things at night or lots of light for working late at night.

 

[hsa]

How far did you drop the Lenser? I thought they were pretty rugged.

 

[brighterthanthesun]

I've got a 25k lumen flamethrower I use on northern Wisconsin winter nights to light up the back 40, but the main beneficiary of my flashlight fetish is shining deer at long distance in the fields neer my hunting areas.

 

[letschat7]

How far did you drop the Lenser? I thought they were pretty rugged.

1 metre.

 

[radellaf]

Which knife is most dangerous? a dull one. those are the ones that make it necessary to use extra force , and that is when they slip, and cut you, or cut something that should not be cut. unless it is a butter knife, dull knife is your enemy.

Funny, every time I've hurt myself with a knife, it's been a new, sharp, one. Once they get (more) dull, never, ever had an issue.
Guess it depends what you're cutting with them. I do veg and cheese, bread... no cuts of meat apart from cold cuts.

A dim flashlight, the analogy, can often be better than a bright one; though, fortunately, almost every LED light has multiple modes. Hard to blind yourself with a dull flashlight, though.

Generally great except when I wanted a 1xAAA or AA light with ONE MODE for a very non tech savvy person's gift.

I think I answered the original question earlier but in case not, I mostly use my brightest flashlights, ceiling bounced, for photography. It's dim in the room even when I turn on all the lamps. Light up a couple of 2000-5000lm torches and, well, it's not dim any more. Usually don't need the light for more than one minute or so.

They're also good for scanning the back yard. The floodlight fixture is broken so they point too far down to really get down to the fence.

 

[fuyume]

4000+ lumens

I don't own any lights capable of putting out more than 3000 lumens theoretical maximum output.

 

[Talster]

I use my two Nitecore flashlights (TM28 and P23i) for mostly wildlife spotting along my local river and surrounding countryside. My P23i is used when I don't want to or need to take my TM28 with me or when I am just generally out walking after dark and just want a small "fit in my trouser pocket" flashlight and it has surpassed my expectations.

I regularly use my TM28 on turbo (6000 lumens) as it lights the riverbank opposite me and the field behind like almost daylight, and makes spotting the wildlife very easy.

The P23i I still use its turbo (3000 lumens) but less so than the turbo option of my TM28. But it's still extremely capable and has a super long reach for to light up the distances I need to look at.

 

[Launch Mini]

Not crazy high lumens ( not even sure how many I use), but to check for critters that want to eat my critters at night. ie cougars and bear.
Both are very prevelant in my area.
and one of my critters is black with a tiny bit of white and brown, so he is hard to find when I let him in the yard at night, so more lumens make him easier to locate.

Tehn when you tail stand one of them at the cabin , it provides some light in the rooms. ie no 110 power, off grid.

 

[Monocrom]

I don't own any lights capable of putting out more than 3000 lumens theoretical maximum output.

Got myself a 65,000 lumens Imalent for Christmas last year.
Literally have no where in the city where I can use it. But I enjoy knowing I own it.

 

[bykfixer]

I happen to dwell in a place where lions, tigers, bear and perpitrators are not a constant threat. So the uses for my highest output flashlights are typically work or recreation related.

Work means lighting up a given area where things are taking place without fore-knowledge so preparations for deisel powered sunshine did not occur. Either that or the workers rely on celphone lighting.

Recreation involves using a flashlight to turn off photo sensor lights at neighbors houses for kicks and giggles or just aiming it forward to see a football field sized area all lit up.

 

[DRW]

High lumens only attracts me to the runtime table. At low to medium settings those things run forever.