I have tested a few H.I.D. I kept the PL24 and Boxer.
In NORMAL daily use..I can not see ANY use for more light then these make.Un-diffused both light up 100's of yards away no problem.Diffused they light a football field and then some.
Both are decently small, Hell the boxer is soda can size or near that.
Unless you do serious rescue or park ranger work.....even 1300 lumens is way way way overkill.
My 2 cents
Different people have different needs.
When I started in CPf I spent most of my time in the LED forum.
I must say I could get by with low levels of light, but I live in a VERY dark area and find that HID's like the N30 are not only easy to carry around, but all of that extra light makes everything easier to see. The spill itself lights up my front yard nicely. I have also found that there are times I am walking at night that cars don't seem to care if people are walking with flashlights. Now when that person bathes the entire road around him or herself in light it is AMAZING how careful these drivers become.
When I was testing a N30 prototype a local Cable serviceman drove up to me and asked what I had. He wanted one. He said, "This area is so dark in fall and winter that I am always have trouble finding homes and doing the work I need to do. That light would make my life a lot easier."
Last winter I used my different HID lights to light up portions of my yard nice and bright as I put up different Christmas decorations. It sure beat running chords for floodlights.
I also make sure that any family members traveling in the mountains behind where we live have at least one charged N30 in the car, accidents happen. I was an EMT when I was younger and really believe that in emergency situations, you can't have too much light. This is why I carry my Polarion X1 in my mtb backpack when I am doing long solo rides.
You don't have to be a Ranger to be a good samaritan.
When my family wants to play games like Croquet in fall, it is 3 of my HID lights that turn my lawn into a nicely lit croquet field.
I also find the extra brightness of the more powerful HID's make great job site lighting devices. I was working on doing a custom finish on some garage doors this last spring and part of them had to be glazed when the doors were up. This glaze coat was critical for making the otherwise plain, blotchy, Douglas fir doors look like Alder. There were no plugs in the new garage so a Costco HID and an Amonotech Illuminator did a great job of lighting up the doors from ceiling bounce in this dark garage well enough for me to do the job properly when I was on a ladder and they were only about two feet from the ceiling. This was a 3 million dollar home and saying the garage was too dark to do a good job since there was not sufficient electricity just would not have cut the mustard. Last year I was doing a woodworking project for some friends in my yard and had the HID's out again. This time they were lighting up the underside of a Pop up sun shade and made the area I was working in look like a regular workshop.
I have a friend that uses his X1 with a diffusion filter for filming video.
One CPF member uses an Amondotech Illuminator and an N30 for doing videos of caves.
Numerous people have reported using Costco HID's shining against campers or trailer for very effective area lighting when in the middle of nowhere camping.
Once CPF member reported loaning an Amondotech Illuminator to a Baja 500 suport crew vehicle when their lights went out. They used it as a head light till they could get to the next camp.
Quite simply putting it.
The Longer I have these 30 and 35 watt HID lights the more practical day to day uses I have for them. Uses that make me never want to be without at least an N30 available to me whenever I am out and about.
Take Care,
mtbkndad :wave:
I'd have to get rid of 90% of my lights if I reduced my collection down to what I need.
