Are surefire lumens ratings consistent?

[zenlunatic]

The only SF torch I have is an E1B. Its rated at 80 lumens on SF.com, and it is just as bright as my nitecore D10 which is advertised at 145 lumens. Being as its my only SF, I thought to myself, "Man, if this is 80 lumens, then the E2DL is 200 lumens that must be crazy bright." Only thing is they've got a new limited run of the E1B rated at 120 lumens. I know there are better ways to measure light output than lumens. Being as I want a brighter torch, if I order the E2DL rated at 200 lumens, am I gonna be in for a treat, or are SF ratings null-and-void when comparing different models, considering there are signifcant release gaps between various models. Are they consistent between their measurement methods?

 

[mossyoak]

A e2dl, or a lx2 will both blow a e1b away. They complement each other nicely

 

[Bullzeyebill]

deleted.

Bill

 

[kramer5150]

No they are not consistent. The E2L is spec'd at 60L. bc measured mine at 110L. But that does not mean all their lights are going to be near 2x their rated spec. They are all under-rated though... but by how much varies greatly.

 

[rookiedaddy]

Are surefire lumens ratings consistent?
Yes they are. They are consistently under-rated.

Another factor to consider when comparing SureFire specifications with others is SureFire rate their lumens Out-The-Front (OTF), while most other manufacturers rate their lumens at the emitter. However, since late 2009 we see a few more manufacturers started to rate their lumens OTF (e.g. 4Sevens, EagleTac, etc.) :thumbsup:

 

[strinq]

Unless I'm mistaken the newer batches are rated accordingly no?
Eg: the E2DL at 200 lumens etc?

 

[mrartillery]

Surefire rates by average lumens, in other words they take the reading at start up and near the end of the cells life and give you a figure in between those two. So with new fresh cells at start up, you will more than likely get 30-50% more lumens than what the box reads.