I really dont know what to say about all the stated lumen outputs of all the lights out now. I have owned at some point or another over the past couple years many, many led flashlights. From Surefire l4,l2,l1 ombu in 3watt and 5watt to HDS, Fenix P1, Longbow and other less expensive knockoffs. I have also skimmed the surface on mods such as Mcapsules with t-bins and U-bins with different converter boards . To me the most impressive in the class of 2cell smaller lights was the SF L2. I have always compared everything else to that as a marker. Surefire to my knowledge is the only manufacturer who understates the output of their lights.
Nowadays I seem to be carrying a HDS B42/2cell with a U-bin 3watt I dropped in myself. now when I got this nice little light the Max setting did def. seem to be 40 lumens. I know it's noticeably briter now with the u-bin . though the beam is more of a flood , in brightness it is equivalent to my Longbow with 917ma conv and a ubin emitter. I also carry as a backup my P1 by Fenix. which is where this thread is going . Now I luv my P1 and for a 1cell tiny twist light it is bright!! especially with r123. BUT,,,, there is NOWAY the P1 is putting out 50-60 or 70 lumens and noway for 2 plus hrs. .
I was recently at a sports type outdoor store and they had a display of a recharegeable incandesent streamlight flashlight . the display stated the out put was somewhere in the range of 80-85 lumens. the recharge base indicated it was fully charged so me being a flashlight junky I always have to compare my lights to others whenever I can . well the streamlight was noticeably briter than my HDS, a more focused beam on the streamlight but def. more output also .
Now to put it all together , my P1 is brighter than my Hds on primary but my HDS on Max absolutley blows the P1 away . so if the Streamlight dominates my Hds on max. and it's listed at 80lumens which I think Streamlight is probably pretty accurate in their lumen output estimates , and my Hds dominates my P1 when on max then to me the P1 aint puttin out no 60 or 70 lumens. I think based on the comparison of the Hds and the Streamlight the HDS is possibly putting out 60 lumens on max , maybe (which is cool by me)
so the P1 being less bright can only really be doing maybe 40 lumens at best .
Now I know comparing 3watts to 5watts to Incandescents is like apples to oranges . the 5watt with 4 1.25 leds gives more of a wall of light which at close range is always more impressive thana more focused 3watt . plus the P1 has a smaller head/reflector than the HDS so it will be less impressive. alot of different factors but I still think everyone is fooling themselves with all the lumen output estimates on many different lights. My grlfriends son has a knock off made in China 3watt led light he got for maybe 20 or 30 bucks. the packaging stated 80lumens output. well of course I had to compare to what I was carrying (the HDS u-bin) . I decided to play a trick on him and when we lit up side by side i kept the HDS on primary . He chuckled and made some wise *** comment cause he knows I am into led lights as his light was definitely brighter than mine. then I clicked into Max and the HDS blew his light away no problem.
Dont get me wrong I luv my P1 and carry it in my 5th jeans pocket daily but I cannot fool myslef into fantasy land by thinking it puts out 70lumens!!!!
what do you all think are things spiralling out of control ??
Nowadays I seem to be carrying a HDS B42/2cell with a U-bin 3watt I dropped in myself. now when I got this nice little light the Max setting did def. seem to be 40 lumens. I know it's noticeably briter now with the u-bin . though the beam is more of a flood , in brightness it is equivalent to my Longbow with 917ma conv and a ubin emitter. I also carry as a backup my P1 by Fenix. which is where this thread is going . Now I luv my P1 and for a 1cell tiny twist light it is bright!! especially with r123. BUT,,,, there is NOWAY the P1 is putting out 50-60 or 70 lumens and noway for 2 plus hrs. .
I was recently at a sports type outdoor store and they had a display of a recharegeable incandesent streamlight flashlight . the display stated the out put was somewhere in the range of 80-85 lumens. the recharge base indicated it was fully charged so me being a flashlight junky I always have to compare my lights to others whenever I can . well the streamlight was noticeably briter than my HDS, a more focused beam on the streamlight but def. more output also .
Now to put it all together , my P1 is brighter than my Hds on primary but my HDS on Max absolutley blows the P1 away . so if the Streamlight dominates my Hds on max. and it's listed at 80lumens which I think Streamlight is probably pretty accurate in their lumen output estimates , and my Hds dominates my P1 when on max then to me the P1 aint puttin out no 60 or 70 lumens. I think based on the comparison of the Hds and the Streamlight the HDS is possibly putting out 60 lumens on max , maybe (which is cool by me)
so the P1 being less bright can only really be doing maybe 40 lumens at best .
Now I know comparing 3watts to 5watts to Incandescents is like apples to oranges . the 5watt with 4 1.25 leds gives more of a wall of light which at close range is always more impressive thana more focused 3watt . plus the P1 has a smaller head/reflector than the HDS so it will be less impressive. alot of different factors but I still think everyone is fooling themselves with all the lumen output estimates on many different lights. My grlfriends son has a knock off made in China 3watt led light he got for maybe 20 or 30 bucks. the packaging stated 80lumens output. well of course I had to compare to what I was carrying (the HDS u-bin) . I decided to play a trick on him and when we lit up side by side i kept the HDS on primary . He chuckled and made some wise *** comment cause he knows I am into led lights as his light was definitely brighter than mine. then I clicked into Max and the HDS blew his light away no problem.
Dont get me wrong I luv my P1 and carry it in my 5th jeans pocket daily but I cannot fool myslef into fantasy land by thinking it puts out 70lumens!!!!
what do you all think are things spiralling out of control ??