Flashaholic Blues

I have a case of the Flashaholic blues.

I've been shopping for lights with dad the last several days. We went by Target for the cheapy Dorcys and then a law enforcement store for the higher-end stuff, and we looked around on the internet.

Why is there so much crap by way of lumen advertising?

Dad got the new Mag XL400 rated at 83 lumens and it outshines my 160 lumen Dorcy. How is that possible?

This happened before when Dorcy put out a "119.5 luman" 2 CR123 light and it is at best 70 lumens.

Streamlight says the TL-3 is 211 lumens or 175, depending on the source. But it's not quite equal to my 120 luman Cabela's light, which seems to judge ratings conservatively like Surefire. I now have my Cabela 180 lumen with me again at work because the switch on the Dorcy went out. I keep hearing that this happens with Dorcys.

The Armourled 140 lumen is about 90 lumens tops. Not enough.

I tested out the Magcharger with the Terralux drop-in at the law enforcement store. I was not impressed. No way that thing is 700+ lumens! Maybe 200ish. The beam can't be focused anymore. Didn't I hear someone say this was supposed to be brighter than the TK-40 from Feonix???

None of the highest and most expensive drop-ins seem any brighter than my Cabela's 240 lumen turbo head 12 volt incan. Why is that?

Screw this.

When are they going to get their act together and work with an industry standard for lumen ratings?

I want something 300+ lumens that is a reliable pocket light with a working switch and regulated runtime that specializes in throw.

Is it just me or is anyone else suffering from the flashaholic blues?

I think a SureFire with a Malkoff M61 drop-in should satisfy your requirements

LED lumens, Torch lumens and OTF (out the front) lumens are all different and depending on the manufacturer, they will state one or the other. I believe the MagLite XL100 uses the new standard rating for participating flashlight manufacturers so it may be a true OTF rating. I put my XL100 side by side with my Surefire 6P and the are very close in total output but the XL100 throws further with its tighter hotspot.

It is a slippery slope to navigate. That's why it helps to be informed and CPF is great for that. :twothumbs

UpChUcK said:

It is a slippery slope to navigate. That's why it helps to be informed and CPF is great for that. :twothumbs

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CPF is a fantastic source of information when it comes to flashlights. I hardly buy any flashlight today without first reading reviews.
And what would CPF be without all the serious flashoholics who sacrifice they time and effort to give us the valuable information of different lights?

Regards, Patric

Swedpat said:

And what would CPF be without all the serious flashoholics who sacrifice they time and effort

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& lots of money!

No blues but it is a tangled web of (mis)information out there as with most things. Thanks though that there's CPF to help you sort it all out. After all, that's half the fun. :thumbsup:

My recent bout with the Flashlight Blues is from accidentally snapping off the tip of the pocketclip of my C2. Fortunately, SF is sending a replacement.

Blinding-Lights said:

& lots of money!

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Yes, I really forgot that! :thumbsup:

I hear you totally and that lack of industry standard measuring procedures or the lack of an independent measuring laboratory is why I'm so glad that I have access to CPF and its members with the proper light measuring equipment.

Rusty Joe said:

I tested out the Magcharger with the Terralux drop-in at the law enforcement store. I was not impressed. No way that thing is 700+ lumens! Maybe 200ish. The beam can't be focused anymore. Didn't I hear someone say this was supposed to be brighter than the TK-40 from Feonix???

Click to expand...

My Terralux TLE-300M-EX is most definitely brighter than my Fenix TK40. I can see the difference in the dark with my own eyes (indoors only) and also Bigchelis confirmed that with his measurement equipment not too long ago. Read his thread in the LED Lights forum for the actual lumen numbers for both lights. I can't remember the actual numbers but the TLE-300M-EX was about 100 lumens brighter than the TK40.

The one that you saw must have had something wrong with it or the Maglite host. Maybe it was stuck in low mode. (There are three different light output modes in the latest Terralux drop ins.) Yes, the Terralux TLE-300 series drop ins with the three LEDs eliminate the focusing feature of stock Maglites. That's a *very* good thing in my opinion because my main gripe with stock Maglites is the focusing that results in a putrid donut hole beam pattern if they are used on anything other than their tightest setting.

If you're in the Bay Area, come to a CPF meet and I'd be happy to show you a properly operating TLE-300M-EX drop in that has been properly measured.

Also, at least for me, the more that I get into this hobby of flashlights, the more I realize that brightness isn't the end all be all when it comes to lights that I like. It used to be that way when I first got into LED lights but not any more.

First of all you need to understand HOW to evaluate a light for Lumen output. Its FAR more complicated than just shining a light off into the distance and comparing which one is brighter.

First you need a small room with a uniformly white ceiling. Small bedrooms are perfect, preferably one with some "stuff" in it... bookshelf, laundry, stereo, computer desk... general stuff.

Next pick a light in your collection that has some kind of CPF following and has a solid reputation of emitting "XX" Lumens. Some examples:
6P-P60 = 75L
P60L = 85L
E2L-KX2 = 110L
E2DL = 215L
SF-A2-incan = 85L
L1T-V2 = 80L
(see bigchelis' Lumen measurement thread in my sig line for more examples)

These lights are your baseline references for comparison.

OK, now bring your lights into the bedroom and cigar hold a reference light in one hand and the unknown light in the other. Hold the lights next to each other and aim them at the exact same spot on the ceiling and alternate power cycling back and forth between each light. Alternate them ON-OFF-ON-OFF... BUT Dont look at the light beams on the ceiling as you are power cycling them. You should be looking at all the stuff in the room as you power cycle them, taking mental notes which light illuminates the room more.

This is basically how you ceiling bounce compare two different lights for Lumen output. So if you can see that your light is dimmer than a Romisen RC-N3-Q5, but brighter than a SF-E2L... then you know your unknown light is somewhere between 140 and 110L. But even then its not an exact science.

This is THE ONLY way to approximately evaluate Lumen output without an integration sphere or integrating lightbox. There is no "magic meter" that you can buy and just point a light at and "measure" its Lumen output.

Measuring Lumen output is nothing more than a comparison against a known reference. Even high $$$ integration spheres... basically compare test subjects against a calibrated reference.

If you try and measure/observe Lumen output incorrectly it will lead you down a path of complete confusion... as you have quickly discovered.

But yes... you can pretty much disregard advertised Lumen specs. Unless you are reading it off the package of a Surefire. But even then, surefire severely under-rates many of their products for OTF Lumens. The fore-mentioned E2L for example is only spec'd at 60 Lumens... in reality its 110.

Why is there so much false advertising?... simply because there is nothing preventing advertisers from publishing whatever they want. So, of course they are going to inflate whatever specs they want to lure in customers.

Thanks, gang. I think my blues have almost passed. I messed with the Inova T4, rated at 170 lumens. It's the duty light at work. Great spotter, but not quite as bright as my (again) baby, the 180 lumen Cabela's light.

You're right. Surefire does, if anything, slightly underrate their lumage, but I'd rather have that than the other way.

Is there a Terralux drop-in worth a darn for a 2-D Mag that will beat the Magcharger stock bulb output?

I plan to head to the local Outdoor store today and see what mula I can spend on this expensive new obsession. Also, Dorcy is going to re-place the faulty switch.

I'd be blue if I were stuck at Target looking at Dorcys and Mags too; you're not going to find much to be happy about at your local brick-and-mortar stores. Dump the <$50-and-under category and you'll be a lot happier. Flashlights are just like any other tool, there's the cheap crap, and then there's the serious tools.

The Terralux is over 600 lumens, but you're not going to see it indoors or in light - always test/compare your lights outdoors at night. The Terralux isn't a serious-duty drop in anyway, for that, check out Gene Malkoff's drop ins: http://www.malkoffdevices.com/shop/dropin-mod-dropin-lamp-assembly-for-maglite-c-1_25.html