Highest powered led that you have.

csx7006

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Jul 30, 2012
Messages
18
Hello. I am thinking about ordering one of your blue label lights. I was wondering what is the highest lumen led that you carry. I work for Texas Dept of Corrections and i need to have a very bright light since inmates cover up their cell doors to prevent CO's from looking in. Can you get the CREE LED in an amber color and have the light with tritium on them?
 

csx7006

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Jul 30, 2012
Messages
18
Out of curiosity, how would an extra-bright flashlight help if the door is covered with something opaque?

It would get the inmates attention and it would be an indicator on writing him a case. I work in high security and they get out 1 hour a day for rec. the rest of the time they are in their cells 23 hrs a day.
 

AnAppleSnail

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Aug 21, 2009
Messages
4,200
Location
South Hill, VA
Can you get the CREE LED in an amber color and have the light with tritium on them?
Yes. Few flashlights are made with amber LEDs though; for signaling uses I suggest a bright light and a yellow filter so that it's a dual-purpose tool, not another-dang-thing-on-your-belt. Tritium inserts are pretty danged dim, though. Most people use them to find the lights in a VERY dark room. They aren't much brighter than fresh GITD paint.

'Bright' is easy. But you'll probably want other things - runtime, interface, different levels, and all on a budget. I have one flashlight that puts out 1100 lumens, and others that only reach 100 lumens. But which do I use most? The one with the best interface. I do have flashlights that will shine through most common coverings (Sheets and blankets), but you won't easily see what's on the other side through that covering (Shining into a closed cell).

For something like this, I suggest trying a multimode flashlight with AAs. Above $20 per unit there are a lot of good options. Can you describe more what you'd need?
 

The_Driver

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jan 6, 2010
Messages
1,177
Location
Germany
well his brightest white led must be the cool-white Cree XM-L, which is the most efficient emitter on the market
 

csx7006

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Jul 30, 2012
Messages
18
What i need is high lumens like 600+ and is tough since prison is a nasty enviroment. I need a light that i can easily decontaminate. Runtime i dont really care about since the most i use my light is 40 mins for cell searches.
 

CMAG

Enlightened
Joined
Oct 29, 2011
Messages
715
I have two Dark Sucks lights early models but same as blue label
Anyway they are top of the line workmanship and function, very bright for size a bit flood vs throw as I like
18650 only
another to look at is Mac customs 18650 700+ otf
or a 2 or 3 Dcell custom XML M@G light good and bright and doubles as a night stick if needed
 

csx7006

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Jul 30, 2012
Messages
18
Hopefully i can get one of Jason's lights when i get the money
 
Last edited:

csx7006

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Jul 30, 2012
Messages
18
Decided that i was going to wait till i hear from Jason on his recommendations as a builder
 

fyrstormer

Banned
Joined
Jul 24, 2009
Messages
6,617
Location
Maryland, Near DC, USA
What i need is high lumens like 600+ and is tough since prison is a nasty enviroment. I need a light that i can easily decontaminate. Runtime i dont really care about since the most i use my light is 40 mins for cell searches.
For pure brightness, the Luminus SST-50 is the best emitter that will fit into a stock Alpha. The Cree XM-L comes in second. The Cree MC-E is more efficient than both of those, but not as bright.

Luminus SST-50s are available for sale online. I'm sure Jason could get one and build a light around it, but it would be a custom job, and custom jobs are waiting at the back of the line right now. A faster approach would be to buy a ready-made light and send it to someone who can swap the LED. The driver used in the Alpha also appears to be a fairly standard model, so it should be custom-programmable to run at a higher power. There's at least one person on CPF who can do that.

- - -

Alternately, you could buy a Solarforce L2T Stainless and put a Torch Lab drop-in into it. Stainless is stronger than aluminum, and the drop-in will run at 1400 lumens, give or take, and no fiddling with the brightness settings when you really need to turn it on *now*; the light will always turn on the highest setting to start with, and you can dim it by "blinking" it if you want.
 
Last edited:

archer6817j

Enlightened
Joined
Aug 9, 2010
Messages
830
Location
Mountain View, CA
I guess I should check my own forum more often :) The brightest LED I have is the XML in a U2 bin. The listed ratings on my website are very conservative. My XML builds are routinely over 600 lumens. The same LED, coupled with a TIR optic, can put out over 700 lumens. If that doesn't blind you then nothing will :) The only issue is I'm on leave and won't be building any more customs until October. I'm shipping Ready-Made lights within 24 hours but they have a neutral MCE and come it at 425 to 460 lumens. I can't say if there is a big difference in effectiveness between 450 and 600 lumens. Both are pretty friggin bright, especially at close range. In terms of "blinding" power, I'd be looking more at lux than lumens. I think a 100 lumen light with a tight beam would have as much effect as a higher lumen light with a wider beam. You can check out this page (at the bottom) for a comparison of all my LED offerings. For arguments sake, candella is pretty much the same as lux if you are just looking to see how "bright" a light is if you look into it :)
 
Top