Illumination beyond 150 meters...what is the purpose?

[seery]

In the civilian world, what are your needs for hand-held illumination beyond
100-150 meters?

Objects/targets at any greater distance would seem to require magnified optics
to see with any real purpose, clarity, or detail.

An absolute wall of white light out to 100-150 meters will handle 99% of my needs.

Please share your thoughts and uses for illumination beyond 150 meters.

 

[NAW]

As everyone knows these are the infamous shots taken by Kenshiro.

The only purpose for I find for light that can throw very far is for fun. What fun is it if you can only shine the lenght of a block? When I go fishing at my other house we own, I can shine at land over 400 yards away. There is no purpose for doing so but I do it for fun. Its all about haveing fun... IMO

 

[parnass]

Seeing critters in the fields at night.

 

[seery]

As everyone knows, these are the infamous HID bemashots taken by kenshiro.

Good beam shot examples.

 

[NAW]

Also if you look here, you can see the great advantages of owning a light like the BarnBurner that can throw a million times farther than any other HID. The BB looks like its going to melt the tree down!! :laughing:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showpost.php?p=1690631&postcount=1

 

[NAW]

I gave him credit in my original post in case you missed it.

Well, I normally don't like to post pictures without giving some sort of credit to the people who took the shot.

 

[seery]

More good beam shot examples.

 

[get-lit]

I think for most people here long throw lights serve the purpose of the fun in shining light far distances because such lights are not common and things out of the ordinary can be interesting. I also find them extremely useful for mountain night hikes in AZ and they're definitely useful for boating on large bodies of water such as the Great Lakes. Many times in these types of situations a light with any amount of flood only makes it harder to see what the light is shining on in the distance because it's difficult to see through the haze it creates and a light with a very fine focus is needed. I think they could also generally be considered a decent backup for unexpected situations although I can't think of any at the moment.

 

[westfork]

For checking on livestock and seeing what your dogs are up to. Not everyone lives in town.

 

[NAW]

Well anyway, in conjunction to what I said in my original post I would like to add.

Isn't this whole matter of "want" not "need". I certainly don't have a purpose or a need to shine farther than 150 yards. I really don't even need a flashlight as a civillian. I can live like the rest of the civillians who probably don't even own a single flashlight.

But thats not what I want. I want bright flashlights, and I want to shine over 150 yards because I like it. I agree I have no legit reason or purpose to be shining over a 150 yards, but I want to do it anyway. So the purpose like I said for me is to have fun...



Just my opinion.

 

[PlayboyJoeShmoe]

Uh....









Because we can? LOL

 

[seery]

My home is on just 50 wooded, hilly acres. Being adjacent though to 14 square miles of state land, I do find varying needs for different types of lighting.

How far are you spotting/checking on the LS? Naked eye or optics? While
walking or on a Kubota RTV or such? Details would be of more help than the
general statement. Thanks.

For checking on livestock and seeing what your dogs are up to. Not everyone lives in town.

 

[seery]

...useful for boating on large bodies of water such as the Great Lakes. Many times in these types of situations a light with any amount of flood only makes it harder to see what the light is shining on in the distance because it's difficult to see through the haze it creates and a light with a very fine focus is needed.

I often go 20+ miles out in the Great Lakes in my off-shore salmon boat and find
light with good thrown AND flood to be more useful on the water. On the open
water, light is used to locate and navigate, with all spot, both those tasks would
become very difficult.

 

[LuxLuthor]

Some of the places I go out walking have many skunks, racoons, deer, possums, & even coyotees.

First thing I had to do is try to figure out who that is in your avatar, and stop being distracted by it. Then as a typical American, I had to convert 150 meters to yards, and realize it is about 1.5 football (real football....aka American Football) fields.

Now that I have your question in terms that I can relate to, it is pretty obvious that if you are asking this question, you or your pet have never been sprayed by a skunk, or been victimized by a troublemaker(s).

With 20/20 vision, I can easily recognize the size & shape of an animal or person(s) at that distance. Sometimes there are gangs of youths that I wish to avoid, and visibility at 200-300 yards gives me ample time to change directions. Same with potentially dangerous animals, even if I cannot identify them in great detail...but the white stripe of a skunk can be seen far beyond 150 yards.

There is also the deterrrent effect of using a bright light. It is assumed that a police officer is using a light this bright, not to mention wiping out their vision as a non-violent defense. Then there are uses out on the water while returning from boating.

The most important one is PlayboyJoeShmoe's response: Because we can.

 

[get-lit]

Ditto LuxLuthor. That's a girl with a bazooka - along the lines of the MTV video for Benni Benassi's Satisfaction with power tools. When boating I very often find myself trying to peer through the haze of the overspill of a typical spotlight when looking at (or for) distant objects. Also, 150 meters or roughly 500 feet is not very far for identifying objects - on the water at night especially. That's why large ships commonly use 50+ million candlepower searchlights. Ideally of course night boaters should use a focusable spotlight so they can have the peripheral view that flood gives when nearing objects. For night hiking in mountains you really do need light way far beyond 500 feet to identify the terrain about you. Often times more than a mile would be very helpful. At such distances you're not looking for small objects but mountain faces.

For most people here though none of this matters, light is a natural and interesting part of our world and it's because we can. Case in point - when you read Ra's "MAXABLASTER BEAMSHOTS" post you see the excitement it creates, and the excitement of his friends that he describes. That's what it's really all about and I believe that excitement is what draws people to a forum named CandlePower Forums.

 

[get-lit]

Oh yeah, you could use one to signal your friend 1000 feet up the road to flee his meth lab because the fuzz are on the way. I'm sure there's lots of legitimate uses.

 

[Ra]

Ok guyzz,

Its about time I step in.. Indeed its all for fun, fun, and more fun !!!

Maxablaster is not a practical light, if I want practical with decent throw , I grab my HID-thor, far more practical !!

But the 5mile throw of Maxablaster is amazing, and it has sidespill, not comming from the reflector, but from the side of the beam itself !!! But that is not an issue here..

So, to answer your question Seery: Lets modify Maxablaster:

and..

Does this solve the problem??


Regards,

Ra.

 

[idleprocess]

In my experience, there's very limited use for long-throwing spotlights.

For starters, they're too large to use casually or frequently. You can't pocket them, clip them on a belt, or even fit them inside of the average backpack.

Many times that I tried some long-range targets with my Costco HID, I found that the dust/humidity/pollution made the lights useless past ~200m. All I was seeing was the beam reflecting back at me. If I had put a bit of distance between the beam and myself, it got somewhat better, and perhaps some magnification would help.

As a city-dweller, I've found that I really only need the ability to throw light a few tens of meters. I sold the Costco HID not too long ago because I did not need it or use it very often. I've found that the smaller/floodier Amondotech illuminator and my rather floody HID mod throw far enough and flood nicely for realistic usage.

I've found some offbeat uses for them that dominate the intended uses - such as lighting up my apartment during power outages, using as an indirect light source for photography, and using them as a signal beacon by pointing them skyward at night...

 

[Sub_Umbra]

While I'm mainly a 'dim light guy' and I tend to agree that there are
limited uses for spot lights as discribed by the OP I think that the phrase
'limited uses' is very important and puts the whole issue into perspective.

What civilians need or don't need is often a highly contested issue. For
those times when it's needed it's great to have a light bright enough
'to reach out and touch someone' even in the city. There are
situations where just throwing a bright beam on someone for a couple
seconds from a long ways away will alter their behavior and often even
cause them to change their location. The fact that I can't really see them
that well at a distance is not nearly as important as showing them that
they have, in fact, been observed and to then cause them to wonder
what my next action will be. If used during a disaster when there are no
authorities about they will know that shots may follow illumination.
Been there.

Bright lights are great tools and anyone who needs one won't need to be
told why he needs it. Conversely, no amount of explaination may convince
someone who doesn't need one of it's utility. If someone just doesn't
need a crescent wrench convincing them that it has any value at all may
be a very hard sell.

I keep a 'throw king' handy because I don't know when I may need to
use it. The fact that I rarely have to fire it up does not mean that I
don't need it all the time -- I do. The argument could be made that one
doesn't really need one's spare tire most of the time -- but most
carry one anyway because like a light, often how much you actually use it
is not nearly as important as the fix it gets you out of when you do.

 

[DynoMoHum]

I don't own a light that can throw past 150 meters... but it seems others are missing something... If the light can throw past 150 meters.... the object AT 100 or 150 meters should brighter then it would be with a light that only went 150 meters... Wouldn't it?

If my assumptions are correct, then aside from the fun... it could indeed have practical uses, even without the use of magnification.