Predator arrived today. Why am I disappointed?

Did I expect too much? My $15 3D Maglite LED throws just as far.Granted, the Mag is bigger, but rated at only about 135 lumens I would have expected the ATP to greatly outperform it.I guess for the size the ATP has some serious throw...I dunno, maybe I just over expected.My first set of 18650's arrived today too...I charged up a couple and plan to mess with them tomorrow.

135 lumens is not a measure of throw.
Lumens in a measure of the total output of light.
A common topic of confusion.

The total output of light in lumens is made of the brightness in lux, multiplied by the surface area of illumination.
Therefore total output (in lumens) = brightness (in lux) x lateral surface area illuminated (square meters).
From the formula, the greater the brightness in lux, the greater the total lumen output.
However, also remember that the greater illuminated surface area in square meters, the greater the total lumen output too.
Thus, the total lumen output represents both the brightness and lateral surface area illuminated combined.

Note that the brightness in lux, alone determines the longitudinal throw; the greater the brightness in lux, the greater the longitudinal throw.

Next time, for outright throw only, focus on the brightness in lux.
Lumens will also take into consideration the total lateral surface area illuminated in square meters.
You will find that the Predator will illuminate a much larger surface area [in square meters] than the 135 lumen $15 3D Maglite...

I have a 5€ laserpointer with 5mW that throws further than my 340€ Olight SR90 with 30000mW. So what? Throw alone is useless. A focusable flashlight will always throw further and will always be less practical. You need both, good throw and good illumination of the surroundings. Your Maglite can only provide one at a time which makes it pretty useless in my opinion.

Btw: Candela would actually be the right measure for throw, but everyone uses "lux at 1m", which is a bit circuitous, but contains the same information.

Thanks guys. I pretty much knew the above but still somehow thought it would outdo the ML.I sit here now though and think, so what if it only comes close to the ML... it runs on 18650's and is 1/4 the size.I take it back...I'm no longer disappointed!

Spent some time tonight messing with the programming.

While I wasn't so impressed earlier, I have learned what a great torch this really is. The "military" mode has everything I need in one program. The firefly 1.5 lumen setup is incredibly cool when your eyes are already acclamated to pitch dark. It's a breeze for map reading in these conditions, and doesn't draw nearly as much attention. This is where this torch really "shines"...in the ability for every user to customize the output for varying conditions.

Heres what helped me with the programming. Taken from Armytek's subforum on CPFM.

petrev said:

ArmyTek Predator

Quick Reference
(by Petrev)

v1.2
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v1.0
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Images are 300DPI

Test
Printed at 100% from Paint Shop Pro
Printed at 32% from IE8 (Header/Footer OFF - ? Adjust Margins)

e&oe

Click to expand...

aimxplode said:

Heres what helped me with the programming. Taken from Armytek's subforum on CPFM.

Click to expand...

I have those same sheets...that's what I used also. After playing around, I found the military mode was pretty cool, so I just reset it to that.

The firefly 1.5 lumen mode is pretty darn cool. You can actually look right down the reflector at the emitter. We always want super bright lights, but when the eye is already set to the darkness, a small map reading setting is pretty darn cool.

Limey Johnson said:

I have those same sheets...that's what I used also. After playing around, I found the military mode was pretty cool, so I just reset it to that.

The firefly 1.5 lumen mode is pretty darn cool. You can actually look right down the reflector at the emitter. We always want super bright lights, but when the eye is already set to the darkness, a small map reading setting is pretty darn cool.

Click to expand...

Yep, mine is set to the default Military, but I had to change battery config to 2x CR123a. Regulation is amazingly sharp.