EDC - Which do you prefer?

Flood or Throw?

Flood or Medium Flood.
Throw is a task-light ... for me at least. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
bernie

I HATE compromise, which is why in my belt pouch, I EDC a Pelican M6 xenon for throw...AND a Wolf Eyes 6MX for flood!

Really depends on where I'm going and what I'm wearing. Most of the time a little bit of both, some sidespill, but a good hotspot too (either U2 or Longbow Micra on belt when holster for those come in.)

It is a tough question I vote more flood at night. In the daytime?? Spot rules no doubt. LED or INCAN high Lumens are the best in daylight best in midlight, only in the total darkness will flood beat spot to me. No problem if anyone takes favor with that. We all have a choice.
Topper /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

The Aleph 2 reflector. The aleph 2 has great spill and moderate throw. It is a great all around reflector for edc.

i go with Paul_in_Maryland , i like to carry an e2e and an e1l, with e2e as flood-ish and e1e spot/throw. if i had to chose one it would be a throw light with some sidespill. dont really know how this is special but it just seems obvious /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thinking.gif

i love throw but i guess a light that could do both would be very usefull

I have the original Surefire E2 with tear-drop bezel and Lexan lens and it has pretty good throw for what it is and it's a good size to EDC. The hard part is deciding what flashlight to carry for the day. I have the pocket lights on a shelf near the front door and that's hardest thing to decide. E2, L2, A2 or C2/P61.

The E2 gets it for weight, the L2 for flood and unbreakable LED. The C2 for plain umph and the A2 just falls in between everything. What I really wish I had is the C2 with P61 and LED in bezel. The A2 just doesn't have enough punch for me these days but I carry it on occassion.

There are so many types of beams I hadn't previously thought about before joining the CPF. From the sharp, tiny spots of some Pelicans, for example, to the wall of light from an L4 or other flooders.

As so often we respond: "It depends." What ever is best for the present task would be ideal. Since we can't always predict future lighting needs, perhaps a "thrower" may be the safest choice - if only one light can be used. While a spot beam is unpleasant to work with up close and forces one to sweep the light if searching, a thrower may illuminate your target or danger at a greater distance than a flood.

It's relatively easy to add a flood beam shaper to some throwers. I'm unsure if there reverse is true. So if only one light were to be had, I'd choose a thrower. Having a choice, I opt for a flood during my hikes (with a thrower in reserve) but am forced to use something with at least moderate throw at work.

For EDC, flood is more useful to me. If you know you need to spot something, you can pack a C3 or some incan like that, but for day to day, an LED with flood is better for picking up a screw under your desk, putting a light on a keyway of a lock, checking on the kids when you get home.

But I daresay the Lionheart has some pretty good throw, and dimmed down makes everyday tasks easy as well!

daloosh

Reallly depends where I am,
Outdoors, a good bit of throw, like LuxIII or Lux V mags
indoors, a large hotspot. like the IMS 17mm reflector.

Tested the A1 and A3 the other day, but are really really nice.
Though the A1 was a damn nice all around beam.

EDC-I prefer flood over throw. Something that will at least light up my personal space and hopefully a bit more. 95% of the time I use my light, it's for up close and personal work.

If I had to pick between flood or throw I'd pick flood.

Ditto, but I'd love to have something which could switch between the two! Not like the Mag system though, I would rather a switching thing to a "smooth" transition.

Throw.

If you have throw, you can diffuse it to a flood. But if you have flood, you are stuck.

So my EDC is a McGizmo McLuxIII-PD with a Surefire F04 Beamshaper. You can do more or less the same thing with lots of lights.

Scott

Flood would get my vote most of the time, but both of my current EDC lights use the Aleph 2 head with the McR20 reflector, which has a decent mixture of both, and doesn't disappoint me in any respect.

My basic principle in EDC-ing a flashlight is very simple:I don't want to do stupid things in the darkness. If I go to he woods I will bring a cheap xenon flashlight with Inova X5 as a backup. But on daily basis I will bring an SF E1L w/ F04 on it. At least it covers both needs, throw and decent flood.Cheers.

FRIDS

I have always like throw, great for cutting the night mist

I prefer flood. So the L4 comes along most days, backed up by an Aleph2 or LionHeart.