What is throw to you?

I always wonder if some people consider throw different than others. If a light has say 200 meter throw to you what do you expect to see. Lets say their is a tree and a person at 200 meters.

With the tree do you see the leaves and not the trunk or both, maybe even the leaves color? On the person can you just tell something is their if they move? If they are still? Can you see skin color or possible shape/size, clothing?

You see where I'm going with this and the tree and person is just something off the top of my head. Your own examples will help to.

I love throwers, and have a very large collection of them. For me, it has to do with a light's size to throw ratio. If it throws extremely far for its size (For example, the Dorcy 220 lumen which is nearly pocketable and has a throw of at least 300 yards) then I consider it to be a lot of throw coming from the light. The Olight Titanium Infinitum is a great example of this, as it is only a 1 CR123A light yet manages to be about equal a much larger 2C light in throw.

I most prefer large lights such as spotlights, especially the Incandescents for their full CRI. I consider lights like the Stanley 2M Series, Stanley HID, and Brinkmann Q-Beam Max Million III Rechargeable to be great throwers for their size because they are only pistol grips yet have incredibly concentrated pencil beams that I might expect from a larger light. The Mega Illuminator is my best thrower however it is very large and I consider it to be pretty extreme for any type of practical use.

For me, a good amount of throw would be a light such as my Brinkmann Max Million III that will brightly illuminate a tree and person at 200 meters and make them very easy to discern. As far as smaller flashlights go it would have to be the Dorcy 220 lumen rechargeable.

I have a Max II rechargeable its definitely a thrower. Great on a boat.

But I wouldn't think a light has to brightly light up a person and tree at 200 meters to claim its a 200 meter light would you?

Technically, throw is the square root of the lux a light delivers at center beam at one meter, i.e. it is the range in meters at which the light will deliver one lux illumination level to a target. One lux is fairly dim, so in practice it is the range in meters at which the beam (to the average eye) looks like it is falling off in terms of usable intensity.

BTW, by the numbers, 200 meters of "throw" means the light puts out 40,000 lux at one meter, so that's some light. Others perceive differently and judge a light to be useful at lower intensities than the technical 1 lux standard.

Or maybe I didn't understand the question...

jhc37013 said:

I have a Max II rechargeable its definitely a thrower. Great on a boat.

But I wouldn't think a light has to brightly light up a person and tree at 200 meters to claim its a 200 meter light would you?

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I fully agree. I think that if a light is able to put a discernable amount of light on objects at that distance then it is very legitimate for it to be claimed a 200 meter light, even if it only has a fraction of the throw of a halogen spotlight. There is no point at which any light's beam abruptly stops going out, but it becomes too faint to see.

I am just used to using large spotlights a lot of the time on nightly walks so I have become accustomed to that level of throw and power. I think the smaller LED lights with beam ranges of 200-300 meters are amazing and very useful since they are a lot more portable and can be carried more places.

nerdgineer said:

Technically, throw is the square root of the lux a light delivers at center beam at one meter, i.e. it is the range in meters at which the light will deliver one lux illumination level to a target. One lux is fairly dim, so in practice it is the range in meters at which the beam (to the average eye) looks like it is falling off in terms of usable intensity.

BTW, by the numbers, 200 meters of "throw" means the light puts out 40,000 lux at one meter, so that's some light. Others perceive differently and judge a light to be useful at lower intensities than the technical 1 lux standard.

Or maybe I didn't understand the question...

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No you understand it perfectly, I was asking what people generally perceive as light at a set point and used 200 meters as a example.

But my next question which you just answered is what is the technical standard, so thankyou.

I live in a town outside of San Diego in an area where we have a bit more property around our houses than the coastal regions and a good supply of coyotes, owls, and bobcats. Every night I take the dogs for an extended stroll that both gets them ready for bed and gives me a chance to play with my lights. This exercise involves three distinct uses for my lights:

• Sweep the trees for owls (my little guy is tough as nails but small enough to be carried off)
• Check the distant corners of the property for coyotes or other critters
• Spot the dogs when they take off after a rabbit.

So, throw to me is the ability to light up an owl in a tree or a coyote's eyes as far away as possible. That said, the light has to be small enough that I don't mind carrying it around.

Lately I've been using a 6P with and M60 - my first ever modification if you don't count buying a KL1 head for my E1 years back - and it gets the job done but probably doesn't qualify as a "thrower" in the sense that CPF guys use the term.

Polklifer said:

I live in a town outside of San Diego in an area where we have a bit more property around our houses than the coastal regions and a good supply of coyotes, owls, and bobcats. Every night I take the dogs for an extended stroll that both gets them ready for bed and gives me a chance to play with my lights. This exercise involves three distinct uses for my lights:

• Sweep the trees for owls (my little guy is tough as nails but small enough to be carried off)
• Check the distant corners of the property for coyotes or other critters
• Spot the dogs when they take off after a rabbit.

So, throw to me is the ability to light up an owl in a tree or a coyote's eyes as far away as possible. That said, the light has to be small enough that I don't mind carrying it around.

Lately I've been using a 6P with and M60 - my first ever modification if you don't count buying a KL1 head for my E1 years back - and it gets the job done but probably doesn't qualify as a "thrower" in the sense that CPF guys use the term.

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An owl in a tree or a coyote's glaring eye's. Interesting this is the info I am looking for. So if a light claimed 200 meters but did not light up an owl or coyote's eyes at 200m you would disagree about its 200 meter claim?

I don't know if the failure to light up an owl at 200 meters would totally discredit a manufacturer's claim on the subject of distance, but it would not meet my definition of useful throw.

If I can find a coyote and tie him up I'll take a couple of comparison shots with different lights. We may have to settle for an old King Charles Spaniel though.

Yes thats my intended question its what you personally would expect to see from a light not the manufacturer technical claim.

For me, it´s Fenix TK20

Led light, compact size and awesome throw!

Juggernaut

Sounds like I could set fire to a coyote at 200 meters with some of your stuff.

If I can determine if a deer is a buck or a doe from around 100 yards I consider a handheld light to be a good thrower. The only handheld I have that can accomplish this right now is the very tight beemed Dorcy 220 lumen. I use a POB HID when shining from the truck and the Dorcy from my ATV. The other night I tried a 6P with R2 drop-in and it could not get the job done because of it's bigger hotspot. Throw to me is a 200 plus lumen handheld with a very narrow beem pattern. The POB makes all my other spotlights look like candles but it's a monster to carry.

There was someone on here a while ago that said a thrower was a light that could turn off a street light by activating the photocell ontop of it.

I've tried with a malkoff mag dropin and an aspheric lens, and I haven't been able to turn off a street light with it. =\

Personally I would say If a light is said to be a 200 meter thrower and can show the outline of the person and tree at 200 meters , I would call it a 200 meter light. It does not have to show any detail like tree color, trunk size, person size, person skin tone.

So in total darkness as long as a light can give a outline of a shape at max distance then that is the lights max distance.

Again I'm not asking what is a good throwing light to you but rather I'm asking what is max throw to you.

If by word of mouth or manufactures claims their is a light that claims 150 meter throw. You get the light home measure 150 meter(google Earth or however) you point the light at the 150 meter spot. OK what do you expect to see. I used a tree and a person at max throw point as an example. Feel free to use your own example.

I really can't discern different objects (unless they're moving) at more than about 100 yards. Anything further than that, and its really just wasted light.

divine said:

There was someone on here a while ago that said a thrower was a light that could turn off a street light by activating the photocell ontop of it.

I've tried with a malkoff mag dropin and an aspheric lens, and I haven't been able to turn off a street light with it. =\

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Depends on the streetlight. Near where I live through a small wood there is a tunnel running underneath a railway bridge. At the other end there is a streetlight that is very easy to switch off with ~100 lumens directed at it Found this out by accident and thought a blackout had occured as there are no homes or other lights visible unless you go back through the tunnel.

two words..
White Laser

carbine15 said:

two words..
White Laser

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I wonder if you could get that effect by sweeping through the visible spectrum at n>120 Hz? We could get some real range that way. :nana: