flashlight categories

Maybe you guys have a FAQ for this, but I can't find it...

I'd like to be able to tell the difference between lights that will have a long throw, versus ones for EDC, or floodlights, etc. For example, I look at the Fenix website and have no idea what the product lines are meant to be used for.

I want to pick up a few good lights for various uses in my life and would like to know how everyone categorizes their various lights. Brand/model examples and minimum lumen rating for each category would be great too.

Personally I try and avoid categorizing everything, because that is completely 100% subjective. What one person considers tight throw, someone else may see as too floody. Long running to me is ~45 minutes on a charge, others will disagree. Furthermore, lights are defined by how the individual uses them, more so than any physical characteristics.

But since you asked for a categorized list heres how I see some of the lights I have tried and owned.

SF-M2: tactical weapon mountable, moderate throw
SF-Z2: tactical weapon mountable, moderate throw
SF-6P: general use, weapon mountable, moderate throw
SF-G2: general use, weapon mountable, moderate throw
First-Light tomahawk: tactical, on person mountable, floody room sweeper
Streamlight sidewinder: Tactical, on-person mountable, multi-color
Zebralight H501: Headlamp, task light, pure flood, on-person mountable
Solarforce L2M: EDC, moderate throw

The other rather annoying thing about doing this is it forces one to subscribe to marketing hype/jargon when describing different models.

:welcome: Welcome to CPF, nahfuten.

The various flashlight review sites might help (see e.g. light-reviews.com, cpfreviews.com, or flashlightreviews.com). They often include beamshots with their reviews, which helps you compare the different types of beams for each of the lights you're looking at.

You may also want to note each light's lumens (which measures the total output) and lux (which measures output at its brightest spot, and is a better indicator for throw). Thus if two lights put out the same number of lumens but one has higher lux, the higher lux light's beam is more tightly focused, and will have more throw than flood.

Hope this helps!

- FITP

It is a bit difficult only because one person's Every Day Carry light is another persons table by the door light - mostly due to what we wear normally and what we can realistically carry. Some folks can and do carry 2 cell (or larger) lights every day in a holster (and not just LEOs) - so a Surefire 6P or variant would be an EDC light for them, and perhaps a larger 9P or M6 would be their nightstand "flamethrower"... For me, EDC means pocket carry which means 1xCR123 or 1xAA or 1xCR2, etc...

Generally, I categorize MY lights as follows:

Backup/Keychain - in my case a Liteflux LF2 but I've carried others - mostly coin cell or AAA based due to size (and for some CR2).

EDC - in my case my E1L, Novatac 120P, Milky Creemator lights fill this spot mostly.

High Power/Thrower - the light I keep on the table by the door to check on the dogs and/or on the nightstand to deal with bumps in the night, or to throw in a jacket pocket when I'm headed out and want more oomph and more runtime. In my case - my Creemator head on an E2L body fits this, as do my Dereelight CL1H v3 and my Surefire 6PL. Generally these have more throw than spill but that is not exclusive.

Backup/Power Outage/General Use - I have a few MagLEDs which have long runtimes and which my wife likes to use around, as well as a few Energizer AA lanterns and a few upgraded MiniMags that are used during power outages, etc... as they have long runtimes and are easily operated by my wife and kids...