Lognest throw, tightest beam?

[vbmike73]

What are some flash lights with the longest throw, tightest beam? Something without a big head, like the size of Fenix TK12.

 

[TriChrome]

You're best off looking at Aspherics if the head has to be kept small (since the larger the traditional reflectorized head, the better the throw).

 

[vbmike73]

I'm kind of new to all this. Is that a brand? Or a mod? I definitely don't feel comfortable with any mods. Just want something out of the box, to get started at least.

 

[joe1512]

Throw is a factor of several things.

First is the emitter. Some are more throwy than others. THe SST-50 is probably the best thrower for a high intensity LED.
Some lights use smaller emitters, but several of them to increase throw.

Second is the type of reflector. You want a SMOOTH reflector, not an OP or orange peel. OP makes the beam look nicer, smooth increases throw.

Third is the size of the reflector. The bigger the reflector, the more throw.

Of course, you want an aluminum reflector, not a plastic one!


Aspherics are a special category of light. Basically they use a special type of optics to tighten the beam. You wind up with a very tight hotspot and little else.


A cheap alternative would be a Romisen Throw-to-flood light. In full throw mode, it does a pretty good job and has a tight beam.



It is worth asking: Whats your budget? What is your use case? Why do you need a high throw light exactly?

 

[Moka]

HERE is an example...

Aspheric is a type of lens... It is the best way to achieve monster throw. Pretty much projects the LED Die shape out the front...

 

[Lobo]

Longest throw, tightest beam. That would be a laser...

As Joe1512 pointed out, what are you going to use the light for? Ashperics throws a VERY narrow beam that is not much use than to showing off the light. There is a reason why no(at least what I'm aware of) production lights use it.
Use and price range would greatly help in finding out what kind of thrower you should get.

 

[vbmike73]

SST-50? What brand? I see a few different ones with SST-50.

 

[Dark Laser]

Tiablo produces an aspheric head :D

Just to let you know...

On the other side, if you move the lens out of focus, you could get a nice flood beam (look at the LedLensers). But in this category/size, I don't know any pure thrower, too.

 

[kramer5150]

I have not found a small bezel tight beam thrower (TK12 sized)... they just dont exist, given todays LED die dimensions.

The E2DL/E2L TIR lens has a pretty tight beam for its size. But I wouldn't call any of these lights throwers.

 

[vbmike73]

I'd like to keep it under $125 or so. Just general use for all outdoors, and the ability to blind. That's why I guess I'm looking at the beam. I want it to be able to shine far, as opposed to just a lot of lumens. Does that make sense?

 

[Lobo]

Yepp, Tiablo came to my mind too.:D They had a very nice deal on Kaidomain before when I got my Tiablo A9 for 60USD and could buy the lens for 20USD(but I skipped the lens).
The longest throwing "small reflector" light I know of is the Eagletac T20C2(R2 version NOT R5 version). But I don't think the tiablo is that big, looks a lot bigger in photos. It's easily pocketable in a coatpocket. And then there are a whole slew of other throwers depending on price range.

 

[John_Galt]

Look for lights with an aspheric and a Cree XR-E. The XR-E will have a higher surface brightness than the SST50 or SST-90, even when both are overdriven. (basically, surface area is lumens per mm^2. The SST-50 will put about 1200lm over 5mm^2, or 240lm/mm^2 at maximum drivve values, whereas and R2 XR-E will put out about 275lm/mm^2 at about 1A)

Because of the larger die size of the SST 50, it will be a very long head in order to get the proper focal point of the small aspheric. An XR-E based light can be shorter because of the shorter focal length.

 

[MustardMan]

The Dereelight Javelin is a pretty solid thrower for the price, and doesn't have an obscenely large head. You didn't mention what battery type you preferred, but the Javelin is 2xAA, so easy to find replacements. It's not as ultra bright as some of the more exotic battery types, but definitely pretty impressive for an AA light.

Ashperics throws a VERY narrow beam that is not much use than to showing off the light. There is a reason why no(at least what I'm aware of) production lights use it.

That's just silly. My DEFT FTP is incredibly useful for lighting up objects at a distance, and I've taken it with me while hiking or walking the dogs at night in subalpine desert type open fields. Being able to pick out a handful of coyotes a half mile away is VERY useful when you're alone, walking three small dogs. And not only is it silly, it's factually incorrect - there are a number of aspheric production lights.

 

[carrot]

Malkoff M60 in an MD2 or E2E+VME or 6P will do nicely.

You could also go for the Elzetta.

 

[kramer5150]

I'd like to keep it under $125 or so. Just general use for all outdoors, and the ability to blind. That's why I guess I'm looking at the beam. I want it to be able to shine far, as opposed to just a lot of lumens. Does that make sense?

My Xtar TZ-20 is my farthest throwing small-form light. Easily out-throwing my malkoff M60, and reaching farther than most of the newer compact 300+ lumen XPG lights I compared it to on a recent CPF night hike.

Stay away from the small sized XPG lights... I have yet to find one that out throws an XRE R2/Q5.

 

[Lobo]

That's just silly. My DEFT FTP is incredibly useful for lighting up objects at a distance, and I've taken it with me while hiking or walking the dogs at night in subalpine desert type open fields. Being able to pick out a handful of coyotes a half mile away is VERY useful when you're alone, walking three small dogs. And not only is it silly, it's factually incorrect - there are a number of aspheric production lights.

I might have come off a bit too harsh, my english does that sometimes. Off course there are uses for aspherical lenses, but for what the average users uses lights for, aspherical isn't as suitable as reflectors. That's why I asked him what he was going to use the light for.
In most cases, a reflector light is a lot more useful than a aspherical, and you can get plenty of throw with a reflector. But nice to see that you are pleased with your aspherical.
I have been thinking a long time to get an aspherical for my tiablo. But I don't really need it since it already throws over 100 meters. More than that would just be for fun and showing off for friends.
And I would be interested in what production lights there are which has an aspherical(notice the "I'm not aware of")?

 

[bullettproof]

Surefire E2DL and LX2 out throw even the M60

 

[BigHonu]

I'd like to keep it under $125 or so. Just general use for all outdoors, and the ability to blind. That's why I guess I'm looking at the beam. I want it to be able to shine far, as opposed to just a lot of lumens. Does that make sense?

Generally speaking, a dedicated thrower will not make a good 'general use' light due to the nature of the beam. Not saying that it can't work out, but will be harder to implement for close up tasks. Are you leaning more self-defense (from your "be able to blind" comment) or more general purpose?

 

[spellitout]

Deleted

 

[gcbryan]

I might have come off a bit too harsh, my english does that sometimes. Off course there are uses for aspherical lenses, but for what the average users uses lights for, aspherical isn't as suitable as reflectors. That's why I asked him what he was going to use the light for.
In most cases, a reflector light is a lot more useful than a aspherical, and you can get plenty of throw with a reflector. But nice to see that you are pleased with your aspherical.
I have been thinking a long time to get an aspherical for my tiablo. But I don't really need it since it already throws over 100 meters. More than that would just be for fun and showing off for friends.
And I would be interested in what production lights there are which has an aspherical(notice the "I'm not aware of")?

Led Lenser, Intova, Wolf Eye but you're right there aren't many. I agree DEFT or any other lights where you have to be on a waiting list aren't production lights.