"Practical" Lumens?

[Shorttime]

You see it all the time. Flashlights bragging about their 10,000 Lumen output. Then you read a little further, and find that output lasts thirty seconds, and then steps down to 800 Lumens.

Or something like that. My question is, are there manufacturers out there that put a "practical" runtime figure on the front page?

Other than Surefire, I mean.

Oh, for "practical" runtime, let's say ten minutes.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Olumin]

Surefire often doesn't anymore either.
What you're looking for is Malkoff.

 

[Megalamuffin]

Malkoff is the most honest about lumens and runtime.

At face value malkoff lumens are low compared to a lot of the competition, but then you see how great their regulation is.

 

[chip100t]

When I first started buying flashlights I thought more lumens = more throw. So when I went out walking my dog I took my 2500lm torch with me expecting to see almost twice as far as when I went out with my 1500lm torch. I was quite disappointed to see the distance was roughly the same just what I could see was marginally brighter which seemed pointless as the 1500lm torch was bright enough. It was then I realised lumens are not everything and can quite often be lumens for lumens sake.

 

[3_gun]

All lights tested using the FL1 standard suffer from that standard & mislead new buyers who don't read the fine print. The standard is run time = the light output @ 30sec until the light reaches 10% of that number. So if you start at 4000L but at 30sec you're at 3000L the run time would be to when you dropped to 300L. Some lights dim slowly over time (hard to see/notice) & some hold a level well until a major set down (hard to miss) & may make 3 or 4 steps going from 3000L to 300L. You can get 10000L for a real 10 minutes you'll just need to use a mid range level of a light that hits 30000L+ at peak (as a guess). The bigger question not asked is what do you need to see? You might be better served by the same or less output thru a different lens/reflector combo. There is a lot of overlap in how lights in the real world work & no one spec or standard tells the whole story

 

[bykfixer]

As LED's got capable of brighter things accelarated like a top fuel dragster. But like a top fuel dragster the run was short. Things platued due to physics and batteries.
By then flashlights were big business. So to gain a leg up on the many new competitors many companies created super duper outputs for very brief times but labeled as if it were constant.

Omission of facts or creative word use led to the marketplace believing 900 lumens could be had from a double a battery for 4 hours.

Meet pop can flashlights. Suddenly miraculous outputs were being marketed and sold like draft beer on 2 for 1 night.

If you really want a mega bright light that holds check out Sky Lumens here at CPF in the customs section.

For us mere mortals Streamlight, SureFire, Malkoff, Elzetta, Maglite, Pelican, Convoy, (some) Fenix models, JetBeam, and many others still state fairly truthful numbers.

 

[PoliceScannerMan]

Malkoff, HDS, Zebralight

 

[3oni]

Along with Malkoff and ZebraLight, Armytek has been reliable in this department for me.

 

[fulee9999]

Malkoff and Elzetta,
Elzetta usually includes graphs as well:

( image source )

And the Malkoff stated output is usually the regulated output, so it holds it pretty well:

( image source )

compare that to the chinesium lights, where the claimed 4200 lumens is sustained for 1-2 minutes:

( image source )

 

[flashflood]

The other thing to remember is that lumens are a linear scale, while human vision is roughly logarithmic. 2,000 lumens is perceptibly brighter than 1,000 lumens, but nothing like "twice as bright".

 

[idleprocess]

Advertised peak lumens are like a 0-60 times on a daily driver - something you're not going to realize regularly.

 

[vicv]

Now this is a nice regulated runtime with more than advertised output

 

[Shorttime]

All lights tested using the FL1 standard suffer from that standard & mislead new buyers who don't read the fine print. The standard is run time = the light output @ 30sec until the light reaches 10% of that number. So if you start at 4000L but at 30sec you're at 3000L the run time would be to when you dropped to 300L. Some lights dim slowly over time (hard to see/notice) & some hold a level well until a major set down (hard to miss) & may make 3 or 4 steps going from 3000L to 300L. You can get 10000L for a real 10 minutes you'll just need to use a mid range level of a light that hits 30000L+ at peak (as a guess). The bigger question not asked is what do you need to see? You might be better served by the same or less output thru a different lens/reflector combo. There is a lot of overlap in how lights in the real world work & no one spec or standard tells the whole story

Baby steps, 3_gun. Baby steps.

It's true that Lumens are part of a more comprehensive picture that includes things like battery type and user interface. Lumens are the thing that a lot of flashlight companies like to put on the front page, so it's a useful starting point.

 

[orbital]

+

Practical is subjective, it's like saying decent on mpg for a new car.

Regulated output in my opinion, is more important than anything.

 

[vicv]

I like lights that generally always give full output on high. Then over 15 or so minutes drop to 50% and stay there until the cells can't anymore. Our eyes can't see the gradual drop in output, and it greatly increases runtime. Especially as people hardly ever use their lights on max for long. And whenever you do use high, it's always full power

 

[fuyume]

It's important to note that for a true tactical flashlight, maximum output for a short duration fits the usage profile for personal protection/self-defense in many situations. You want that sudden stunning brilliance that you may not necessarily need or even want for more than 30 seconds.

For a utility flashlight, the usage pattern is different, and sustained output is usually more useful. You will want to trade off maximum brightness for extended runtime at a continuous brightness level.

I would never buy a flashlight based upon a single number. I always, always, always look at the runtime graphs, as they will give a much more accurate understanding of how a light will perform in practice.

That's why I bought my Fenix PD36 TAC. I don't really need the maximum 3000 lumen Turbo output in Utility mode, or even the 2000 lumen Tactical mode output, although it's there if I ever do. What I really need is the 8 solid hours of runtime at 350 lumens and 16 solid hours at 150 lumens.

I've had my PD36 TAC for six months, now, and charged it twice, maybe three times.

 

[Sabrewulf]

Very high lumens is great for shits and giggles, but medium brightness but with long duration is more important for me.
I could be hiking at night or walking the dogs and don't want my light dimming down or getting too hot.

I like when lights give me the option.

My noctigon k4 is about 3 or 4000 lumens max (modified), but I mainly use medium because it lasts a long time without overheating. But that stupid bright is a nice feature when I need it.

 

[Monocrom]

When outdoors, "practical" = Bright as hell!
Different story when indoors.

 

[Chicken Drumstick]

You see it all the time. Flashlights bragging about their 10,000 Lumen output. Then you read a little further, and find that output lasts thirty seconds, and then steps down to 800 Lumens.

Or something like that. My question is, are there manufacturers out there that put a "practical" runtime figure on the front page?

Other than Surefire, I mean.

Oh, for "practical" runtime, let's say ten minutes.

Thanks in advance!

Define "practical".

 

[kerneldrop]

Define "practical".

30,000 lumens combination mule, flood and throw.
And obviously the LEP is in the other hand ready.