Why not go for the better?

[IMightBeWrong]

I am willing to make sacrifices for more lumens, but only to a degree. I will not trade a High CRI 60lm keychain light for a 100lm keychain light with an extremely cool tint. I won't trade a good UI for another 50lm. I wouldn't trade a LensLight KO for a SureFire EB2 just because the EB2 has another 100lm because the KO reveals far more color and is adjustable while the EB2 has a greenish color to it that washes colors out and in my experience that actually makes it HARDER to see what I'm lighting up in spite of the extra output.

A light should be a nicely rounded tool and it should meet all of your needs proficiently, not just be super bright and throwy but have a terrible tint, runtime, and UI.

 

[Stridebeam]

Wow! Thanks for all the great reply's on my post, took a while to read them all but finally did. xDD I guess I fall into raw power part of flashlights? I think it has to do with my lack of night-vision and fear of the dark. I do see now what everyone is talking about when it comes to stamina over output, and quality over quantity. There is a tool for every job and sometimes using the wrong tool for a everyday job, over simulates the expectations of the situations overall appeal. As I go along with collecting flashlights I think my taste for them will change to suit my needs better then butcher them. And as for my "question" ... I would say it has been answered and more!

 

[archimedes]

Wow! Thanks for all the great reply's on my post....

As I go along with collecting flashlights I think my taste for them will change to suit my needs better....

:twothumbs

 

[wjv]

Because for many of us, other factors are FAR more important than lumens.

Most of the time my EDC is my Fenix LD10 or my Mini-ML.
Indoors I use the LD10 on 3 or 13 lumens. Outdoors (walking the dog) I use it on 45 lumens. I rarely use the 100 lumen setting. The Mini-ML gets used on the 3.6 and the 48 lumen settings, and is rarely used on the 216 lumen setting. It's just too blindingly bright and ruins my night vision.

I do have a couple of more powerful lights like my Predator 2,5. It's great when I'm looking at something 200 meters away, but not as useful when looking at something 2 meters away. And honestly, I am 20x more likely to need to illuminate something 1-10 meters away than something 200 meters away.

I can see real purpose for some of the more powerful lights. My PD32UE was great when I was in a cave this year. I think my Predator would be a good light to have on a boat, for signaling and illuminating the water at night. Cops, firemen and search & rescue often have needs for powerful lights that can throw for 300 meters or put out a "wall of light".

But for most of us, a couple hundred lumen or less would fit 95% of our needs (again, there are exceptions).
I'm personally more interested in lights that will run 50 lumens for 25 hours, than one that will run 500 lumen for 2 hours.

Yes, I do have some special purpose lights (as I mentioned above) that have better output, but none of my edc lights have more than ~200 lumens, and mostly get used exclusively on the lower setting.

Someone might ask: Why not carry a more powerful light and just use it on the lower settings. This could work, but a light such as my Mini-ML is ~1/3 the size and weight of my PD32UE.

I have over 15 different lights so as you said "a tool for every job".

Now if we really want to cause trouble: Which is a better caliber, 9mm, 40S&W or .45?

 

[N/Apower]

Because it's not all about power.

Exactly.

If it were, anyone who buys a $30,000 car with less than 400 horsepower is an idiot, because a Mustang GT or Camaro SS has 400+hp.
Anyone who buys a $50-60K car with less than 600 horsepower is an idiot. GT500's got it!

So...what do you drive, OP?


For me, the mission drives the gear. If I need color rendition to be excellent, that is that. If I need throw, OK. If I need a wall of light...

You get the picture. Lumens are like horsepower. Sometimes you need an SUV to pick up some friends, sometimes you need a truck to haul junk around. Sometimes you need a Miata for a tight road course. Sometimes you need a GT500 for a drag race. The horsepower will be what it will be, as long as it's sufficient to fill the role of the item you need to do the job.

 

[Etsu]

Have your cake and eat it too. You can get small multi-mode lights that will give you lower lumen levels for most of your needs, but still put out 500+ lumens for the rare times you need it. You don't have to have one or the other, unlike 10 years ago.

 

[N/Apower]

Have your cake and eat it too. You can get small multi-mode lights that will give you lower lumen levels for most of your needs, but still put out 500+ lumens for the rare times you need it. You don't have to have one or the other, unlike 10 years ago.

For some of us, multimode is bad. The mission still drives the gear. For others, multimode is the ticket, or, for certain uses, rather.

 

[ven]

The simple answer for me is there is no better...........

Better needs to be defined,some like lots of modes,others 1 on/off,different tints,different throw/flood.Then single cell to multi cell lights,all cater for different needs,different taste in size be it HUGE or compact edc.

My purchases fluctuate,highest is 2500lm with the tm15,lowest a lenser p3 at 16lm.......love the "blue moon" tint tbh......you may hate it.

I will be purchasing some high output lights this year,be it a tk75,76 for example(undecided yet).But i am also looking at getting a lenser t7.2 as its "better" than a tk76.........why because i need a small flood/spot light for work that i wont cry if i drop and its easier to use and will be more than enough for what i ask.

 

[the.Mtn.Man]

For some of us, multimode is bad. The mission still drives the gear. For others, multimode is the ticket, or, for certain uses, rather.

That's why I love HDS lights. They're multimode but can be programmed to act like single mode. It's the best of both worlds.

 

[Etsu]

With today's high-output small programmable lights, there's really no reason to limit yourself to only low-output lights. The only case I can see for deliberately limiting lumens, is when you want a high CRI light. In that case, you can limit yourself to something like 150 lumens with a Nichia 219, instead of 300 lumens with a Cree XML. Or perhaps you want the light of an incandescent, where you would further limit your brightness.

But going low-output only when you can also have high-output in the same size, just because you use low 95% of the time... why? Needs change, you may as well have a light that can change too.

 

[Swedpat]

Interesting discussion about brightness here. I still find high brightness fun and use it now and then. More important issues than brightness are tint, beam profile, runtime and hold comfort, however. As well as I am impressed by hundreds and thousands of lumens and lux I am impressed by a fraction of lumens modes. As well as 100lm is very useful for many tasks 1/100lm also has it's use. So this is fun. With some of the new multimodes lights(for example Armytek) the difference between the lowest and highest mode of the same light is more than 10000 times. This makes the light useful for many tasks. With a simple twist you can change from an ultra low multi-months runtime mode to a car headlight brightness mode. That's fascinating I think, and coupled to a very pleasant tint it's even better.

 

[leon2245]

Since there aren't any multimode lights that can be set up to my preferences anyway, single modes just end up working out better for me. Turn how I want, and to the output level I want.

 

[fresh eddie fresh]

I agree that it is fun to have bright lights you can turn on and say "wow," but for actual usage, more than 300 or so lumens is overkill for me. I go more for runtime these days. Having a 1000+ lumen light is great, but if the batteries only last 45 minutes it is not so practical.

Have you ever tried to read a map with a 500 lumen light? It is no so fun.

 

[Razzle]

"a tool for every job".

Now if we really want to cause trouble: Which is a better caliber, 9mm, 40S&W or .45?

That would be the 10mm, Bill. :devil:

 

[Swedpat]

Since there aren't any multimode lights that can be set up to my preferences anyway, single modes just end up working out better for me. Turn how I want, and to the output level I want.

The programming of ArmyTek Predator and Viking I find very nice. You can choose your own modes and how many modes you want: you can have only a low and a high. Or you can have several modes between. You can have strobe, SOS and other special functions, or exclude them. You can choose between flat output or declining output. You can chooose between cool white and warm white(not within the same sample, though) So many possibilities!

But yes; I really like simple one mode lights as well: I like the several Malkoff dropins I have in MD2, Surefire C, G, P and Z hosts. As a flashoholic I like flashlights of every kind, and the more different quality flashlights, the more fun!

 

[Etsu]

The programming of ArmyTek Predator and Viking I find very nice. You can choose your own modes and how many modes you want: you can have only a low and a high. Or you can have several modes between. You can have strobe, SOS and other special functions, or exclude them.

The best thing I like about my Quark Tactical (as opposed to the Quark Pro), is that I can program it so I never have to see those stupid strobe/SOS/beacon modes again!

I really don't get why someone prefers a single mode to a programmable light. If I want, I can program it so that all I never see is one mode. It ends up being a single-mode light if I wish, but I can reprogram it later if my needs change. I don't have to go out and buy another dedicated single-mode light that is a different brightness.

While I prefer multi-mode & non-programmable, a programmable light does have some advantages.

 

[wjv]

That would be the 10mm, Bill. :devil:

I wasn't discussing weapons of mass destruction. . .

 

[leon2245]

The programming of ArmyTek Predator and Viking I find very nice. You can choose your own modes and how many modes you want: you can have only a low and a high. Or you can have several modes between. You can have strobe, SOS and other special functions, or exclude them. You can choose between flat output or declining output. You can chooose between cool white and warm white(not within the same sample, though) So many possibilities!

But yes; I really like simple one mode lights as well: I like the several Malkoff dropins I have in MD2, Surefire C, G, P and Z hosts. As a flashoholic I like flashlights of every kind, and the more different quality flashlights, the more fun!

That looks nice. Yeah for bigger lights, either programmable, or one of those click for on/off, head tighten/loosen for output types could work for me.

Unfortunately there just aren't any mulltimodes that can be programmed to conform to my UI & output requirements as they apply to pocket edc's. The hds rotary, titan t1a among others come close, but still fall short vs. my single mode edc's which check every box, and do so for a fraction of the price.

 

[archimedes]

....
Unfortunately there just aren't any mulltimodes that can be programmed to conform to my UI & output requirements as they apply to pocket edc's. The hds rotary, titan t1a among others come close, but still fall short vs. my single mode edc's which check every box, and do so for a fraction of the price.

No question that highly programmable flashlights are pricier than many simpler torches, but I am curious as to what are your UI & output requirements that can't be met by, say, the HDS ?

Even the Rotary can be set to ignore the dial and function as off/on & single output only ....

 

[leon2245]

No question that highly programmable flashlights are pricier than many simpler torches, but I am curious as to what are your UI & output requirements that can't be met by, say, the HDS ?

Even the Rotary can be set to ignore the dial and function as off/on & single output only ....

Okay, at the risk of opening myself up to a goalpost change from "What are your requirements?", to "Why are these your requirements?", to "Oh yeah? Well that's not a problem for ME!", here it is: if the rotary could be somehow programmed opposite of your last statement above, to ignore the button, just shut that off completely, & function as twist for on/off to single programmed output, then that'd work. And really there are only a couple multimode UI's with that potential, the ramping titan type, and the once popular twist back and forth to cycle through discrete modes. So apart from forcing what would likely be a too cumbersome programmability setup into something like those (no button, or deafeatable button, unless connectivity), I think it's just inherent in what's necessary for them to be a multi output capable light in the first place. And I'm okay with that. Meanwhile I just keep paying attention here for updated more efficient versions of my old favorites, and in case someone comes up with something i didn't think probable.