What beam profile is 'your' preference for EDC?

[brighterisbetter]

Just curious.
EDIT - Poll should be working now.

For polling purposes, let's just assume that the beam profile of a Novatac is the middle-ground, being an exact balance of throw/flood. YMMV

 

[Sgt. LED]

Re: POLL: What beam profile is 'your' preference for EDC?

Tough poll!

 

[concept0]

Re: POLL: What beam profile is 'your' preference for EDC?

Wow, apparently 100% of CPFers like "An Exact Balance of Flood/Throw"!

or maybe I'm just the first to respond...

 

[tx101]

In MY perfect world, I would go from one extreme to the other
All flood or all throw .... gives me an excuse to carry more than 1
flashlight

 

[Juggernaut]

I like having throw because it's cool but I really need flood. I compensated by going P7:naughty:, I get more throw then a Li-ion driven Taskforce while it's all flood:twothumbs. Who said you can't have the best of both worlds. Though for all my other lights I go for throw.

 

[kelmo]

Since my EDC is carried in my pocket my choice is a lot of flood and a little throw. A turbohead in my pants would just open me up to public ridicule and tired old tasteless jokes!

"Is that a Turbohead in your pocket..."

 

[Sgt. LED]

And here I always though the turbohead in my pants made me MORE popular.


Tired: check!
Tasteless: check!

 

[D-Dog]

Hmmmm... good question. I voted for just a tad bit more flood than throw only because most of my EDC's tasks at least involve picking up a screw or examining some wiring or maybe lighting up a closet... all "boring" tasks which require close illumination of objects.

I will also go out on a rather thick limb and venture to guess not many CPF members go outside in the dark with just their EDC and thus it does not need to be optimized for throw.

 

[Gunnerboy]

I'd say my A2 is an exact balance.

 

[D-Dog]

I'd say my A2 is an exact balance.

ooo good choice... one of the only lights which can function as a "thrower" and a "flooder"

 

[mossyoak]

the beam from the mcg ti-pd-s

 

[brighterisbetter]

the beam from the mcg ti-pd-s

That's precisely why I voted the way I did. IMO, it fits the "Slightly More Throw than Flood" category perfectly.

In retrospect, I probably should have included an 8th category along the lines of "Dual-Function Light" which would include the LunaSol's and A2's.

 

[mdocod]

A reflector loaded R2 or Q5 tends to have both a strong central beam in the popular 26mm reflector size for many EDC lights, but at the same time, any reflector loaded LED has a ton of spill light just based on the characteristic of the way LEDs emit light. With that in mind, I believe it would be accurate to say, that such a LED light, has both strong throw and flood capabilities built into a single beam. I find this beam type very useful for a broad range of applications. It works well indoors and outside.

So... I suppose "exact balance" is probably the closest thing to what I like in my EDC, but that depends on how you interpret "exact balance." For me it means that about ~50% of light emitted is focused nicely while the other ~50% is spill. Which applies to most reflector loaded LEDs. The shape of the focused beam could vary within this concept of "balance."

 

[KnOeFz]

My edc should be useful for just about anything but I don't expect it to to be very good in one specific area.
For me the balanve between throw and flood is found in the ss fighter aaa light from dx, that is small enough for me to carry without noticing but is also usefull for many tasks, brightness from a cree, runtime that's sufficient for my everyday tasks, but also not pure flood, not pure throw...

 

[TORCH_BOY]

Slightly More Throw than Flood

 

[ampdude]

Throw, can never get enough throw in EDC sized lights. A little bit of sidespill is nice too.

 

[bigchelis]

I would say more flood. The bright Malkoff M60 for close range tasks is painfull to my eyes.

Thankfully, I just got the M60LLF:twothumbs

 

[shomie911]

I like the RA Twisty 85-Tr's beam more than any other flashlight I own.

Very small hotspot fading out to strong spill.

It works for everything thanks to the strong spill. The 85-Tr is the ultimate EDC. :thumbsup:

 

[1dash1]

I've got an EDC for work in the day. It needs to be throwy.

I've got an EDC for walking at night. It needs to be floody.

:shrug:

 

[brighterisbetter]

I've got an EDC for work in the day. It needs to be throwy.

I've got an EDC for walking at night. It needs to be floody.

:shrug:

Interesting, I'm the exact opposite of you. For the workday I prefer a bit more flood. And for night walks/jogs, I like an incan thrower.