Flashlight Rating Accredation

[Polargirl]

I was browsing flashlights on http://www.newegg.com/Flashlights-Lanterns/SubCategory/ID-359 and noticed "18,000" lumens flashlights being sold for $100 - $200. This is obvious rating inflation. They must simply multiply the number of lights in a flashlight by the lumens each light is rated at to come to such ridiculous claims.

Is there a reputable rating accreditation board or company for flashlights like the GIA (Gemological Institute of America) is for diamonds? Underwriter's Laboratory appears to only be concerned with safety rather than performance claims.

 

[Polargirl]

I am new to this site so I don't quite understand how threads are classified. It seems odd that this thread was moved to the "LED Flashlights" forum when it is about every type of flashlight out there including every non-LED.

 

[louie]

AFAIK, the only thing we have is the voluntary ANSI/NEMA FL1 flashlight rating standard. I don't know of any accreditation body. Truly, unsubstantiated specs are a problem in this and many other fields.

 

[BillSWPA]

One of the most important things to understand about flashlight specs is that in most cases a rating of X lumens of output and Y hours of runtime does not mean that you get the full X lumens for the full Y hours. It means that X lumens is achieved within the first few minutes, even if not for the rest of the runtime, and the listed runtime is the time until some much lower output is reached. Thus, a direct drive light will produce a high output initially, and a long stated runtime, but the output v. runtime graph will be a straight diagonal line, resulting in suboptimal output for a good portion of the stated runtime. Or, there will be a stepdown after a few minutes, either openly and truthfully advertised or not. A well regulated light that produces the stated output for the stated runtime will actually have worse appearing specs on paper, but will be a more useful light.

The new ANSI standards are a definite step in the right direction, but the runtime is until output drops to 10% of stated output. Many participants on this site have expressed the opinion that runtime to 50% output is a mure useful specification, and I will agree with them. Your best source of information is to check the review section and look at the output v. runtime curves. We have been fortunate to have some very serious hobbyists producing professional quality reviews for lights, chargers, batteries, LED replacement bulbs, etc.