What lumen output do you use the most?

[Dude Dudeson]

General use around the house, 30 lumens from some little Sharper Image light I got years ago that does quite well.

Outside, my new Surefire 6P led Defender at 80 lumens (the only setting).

The 30 lumen light actually has a spot very nearly as bright as the 6P, and practically zero spill. It's a "thrower", albeit a low powered one.

I plan to purchase some much brighter lights in the future, but I really can't imagine putting more hours on them than the two above mentioned lights.

However, I've had jobs in the past that would completely reverse that situation...

 

[Hogokansatsukan]

Work 650+ from my Milky Roomsweeper.
Home... I don't know. How many lumens does the three red LEDs put out from an Aviator? I'll bet not much.
Crap. That gives me an idea for a Milky Mod.
Thinking always costs me money.

 

[Bonky]

I use around 50

 

[MWClint]

mostly...

1-2 lumens when at home.. <10mah battery draw

~60 lumens at work.. 250-350mah battery draw

 

[ANDREAS FERRARI]

My Magcharger61 is next to my bed(700-800lm)-so I use that the most(going to the bathroom/bump in the night/etc.).

 

[Burgess]

Another interesting "inactive" thread
which deserves Reincarnation . . . . .

For Years now,
99+% of my flashlight usage
has been less than 20 Lumens.

Often, MUCH less !

 

[tech25]

Great bump!
I use an HDS rotary as my primary light so it depends, usually 60lm or less around the house.
Outside the house, can be a lot more depending on the light I have with me.

For work I used a Malkoff with first an M61L ~ 125. Than upped it to an M61N so ~250?

 

[richbuff]

Use to function indoors: 10 to 100 lumens.
Use to function outdoors: 100 to 10,000 lumens.
Use to make me feel happy: Up to 100,000 lumens, depending on how much of a mood boost I need.

 

[Jean-Luc Descarte]

Good bump, Burgess!

[snip]
For Years now,
99+% of my flashlight usage
has been less than 20 Lumens.
[snip]

Same for me. The VAST majority of my lumen usage has been the lowest or second-lowest mode of my lights, and none of them surpass 30 lumens. Rarely do I ever fire them up above 50, that's mostly when I'm cleaning the house and need to spot hairs and lint to vacuum up.

 

[Poppy]

Yes Burgess, good bump!

I don't really know, but I guess I typically use between 40 and 200 lumens output. It depends upon which light I happen to grab, and what options it has. And of course, what I am trying to see.

 

[Olumin]

Nice bump.
80 lumens for the most part. Kinda the perfect medium between close and medium distance illumination.

 

[CHNeal]

Most - maybe 60 or so from an Eiger.
Often-1100-950 from a wildcat couple times a day this time of year.

 

[fuyume]

For general use, over the last 3 months, what 'approximate' lumen output do you use the most?

im guessing no-one actually uses more than about 100 lumens (unless your police or military),

at night, without wanting to light up the whole neibourhood i bet we are very conservative with lumen output/battery life.

even looking around an unlit basement requires less than 100 lumens.

By far, the most used setting on my EDC flashlight is whatever the lowest mode is, usually somewhere between 1-7 lumens.

For my Fenix PD36 TAC, the 150 lumen mode is what I use most, because I use it mostly as my bicycle headlamp, but I will use the 350 lumen mode when going downhill and picking up speed.

For general utility use, I find that 30-50 lumens is plenty.

 

[Hooked on Fenix]

Lately, I've been going on night hikes up Black Mountain in Ramona, CA. That is a 14.6 mile hike round trip with over 3,000 feet of elevation gain. It's in a dark valley with dark green colored plants making the mountain look black at night. Fog is common on this trail. The trail is a 12-15 foot wide road that cars and motorcycles drive up and down frequently so you need a bright light to be seen and a wide enough beam that you don't get turned around and go the wrong way. My most used light setting is 250 lumens (more like 300) on my Nitecore HC60 v.2 or 1050 lumens (dims down as low as 320 due to heat) on my Nitecore E4K. So I'd say around 300 lumens, and that is barely enough for the task. Other trails, I use around 50 lumens the most.

 

[Owen]

^^^Same here for low mode.
Outdoors, whether handheld or headlamp, I mostly use one of several Zebralights on their 2.7-2.9 lumen L1.
EDC, my Malkoff MDC CR123 4000K, whose Low is rated at 3 lumens(though it's really quite a bit more), and occasionally the 5 lumen low of the Lumintop EDC01 on my keys.

'Course I use more(sometimes a LOT more) when there's ambient light to overcome, or my activities are more demanding or fast-paced, but floody lights with single digit lumens get the majority of my "normal" flashlight use.

 

[bykfixer]

What ever a given situation calls for, but typically the lowest setting that gets the job done.

15 or less to find a crayon under the sofa. About 200 or so to light up stuff at night at work. Maybe 300. It usually takes 500 or more to light a dark hole in daylight.

 

[Aces-HL]

Because I have hiked and camped outdoors so much, I tend to use as low of a setting that I can. Partly preserving night vision; partly fear of running out of battery. It's funny, because the LED technology has made the batteries last so very long now; yet the old habits remain.

-My EDC is a Fenix PD25, which I normally run at 50 Lumens; 150 if looking for something small dropped on the floor.
-My backpacking Headlamp is a Nitecore NU25, which I normally run at 38 Lumens; And Red at 1.9 Lumens (inside tent use).
-My newest Headlamp is a Fenix HM60R, which I normally run at 30 Lumens; occasionally 130 Lumens, when doing evening walks. I will soon be using it on building projects too. In my past experience, I need even more Lumens during the daytime, in a poorly lit building. So I will likely be using more like 350 Lumens.

 

[3_gun]

100-500 for 85% or more of my use over the last year. For me duration has gone up even faster. It's not unusual for me to be "under the light" for 1/2hr or more at one time, 1 day last week it was 4 hours straight at around 300L. This was behind the push to find a new EDC that wasn't AA based. Even using 18650 format lights it's not odd to need to recharge 3x a week

 

[Megalamuffin]

Most of my light use is at work. Fairly bright, 100 lumens and up generally, depending on what light I have. Around 300 lumens (give or take some) is my sweet spot for being bright but not overwhelming if you happen to be close up. If I pull a light out at work it's often used on the highest or second highest mode.

I do have use for low modes but a little less so.