Looking for a good thrower.....

Spitz · Oct 11, 2010

I don't know much about the thrower side of flashlights. I've had a few lights from NiteCore, SureFire, 4Sevens, Maglite, and Brinkman but never had a dedicated thrower. Can you please recommend me some throwers so I can check into them. Price range can vary from expensive (not Hellfighter range or HID) to cheap. TIA.

NightIntoDay · Oct 11, 2010

I just bought a Solarforce Masterpiece Pro 1 head to go with a Solarforce L2 body that I had great thrower for the price! You can buy the head and body for $85 right with free shipping. The lux on this light is around 50,000, I'm amazed at the throw so far with my testing.. I think it's said to throw up to 250 meters or more.

http://www.sbflashlights.com/Solarforce-Lights/Solarforce-Masterpiece-PRO-1-p51.html

LauraQ · Oct 11, 2010

I'm far from an expert, but I'm impressed with the throw on my Jetbeam Jet-III M military.

richardcpf · Oct 11, 2010

There are 2 classes of throwers.

1. Single emitter, compact size, large reflector thrower. These flashlight are designed to reach very long ranges, but their beam are not ideal for indoor or close range use, because of the very tight hotspot and weak spill. Output usually at 260 lumens

2. Multi-emitter, larger size (still pocketable), high output thrower. These are larger than the single emitter ones, but in exchange you get 2-3x the output. They provide a very bright spill and large spots, generally wont throw as far as the single emitter ones, but well enough for a 300m range. Output usually at 700-900 lumens.

If you dont mind the size, I'd recommend the latter.

Few solid choices are:
-Fenix TK45
-Eagletac M3C4 XPG

There are many SST50 contenders but their efficiency and output are not match for a 3x XPG setup. :)

Flaptipulon · Oct 11, 2010

Price on this one may be creeping up to the HID (definitely NOT hellfighter) range, but I'm really happy with my Olight SR90. The size is another consideration, as the SR90 is pretty ginormous, but if that and the price tag doesn't bother you, it might be worth checking out. This is also the brightest single led (production) light I'm aware of @ 2200 lumens on High. (700 on low) It's uses a (Luminus) sst-90 led and definitely throws a great distance. It also pretty much lives up to the advertised runtime of about 80 minutes on high (at least in my experience so far with it). It's certainly no edc light but it sure is impressive for an led light imho.

notsofast · Oct 11, 2010

DEFT is the king of LED throwers. It would fall under a 3rd class of throwers, aspherical lens type.

MERCSTREAM · Oct 11, 2010

if it needs to be compact go with the streamlight PT2L. i can guarantee you will not find a better thrower for a reflector of its size. C4 technology uses an optical lens as well as the reflector. check it out