Streamlight PP 4AA lux blows away my Gerber 3LX

Yep, just tried it out tonight and I'm happy and sad at the same time.
I paid twice as much for the Gerber one year ago.
I didn't expect the streamlight to be this good... the Gerber is a nice light.
I guess next year something will blow the streamlight away...

Thed said:

I guess next year something will blow the streamlight away...

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I hope so, or this forum will be closed

Kalinux said:

I hope so, or this forum will be closed

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LOL...
I guess I better use the streamlight a lot this year.

Interesting light. Can it use rechargeables?

As I do not have a SL PP 4AA Lux I can not make a direct comparison to my Gerber LX 3.0. But as I've said in previous posts, I think that the LX3 is a fine flashlight.

I bought mine BST NIB to replace my broken SL Jr. Lux. The LX3 simply outclasses the Junior in every way - stronger spot, more and brighter spill, brighter overall at 45-50 lumens and with no feeble Kroll clickie and no regulation, the LX3 is a simpler device with fewer potential points of failure. With NiMH batts, regulation is a non issue. In emergency situations where long life is needed, alkalines provide excellent initial brightness with a long discharge tail. I get several hours of very good brightness on a set of charged NiMH batts.

While the LX3 may not be the thrower that the 3000 lux SL PP Lux is, at about 1000 lux, at modest range its not too bad. With its effective spot and very bright spill, the LX3 creates a "dome" of light in front of the user. While the warm tone of my LX3 skews white a bit goldish, its ability to render, particularly, organic colors, reds, browns, greens, yellows etc., rivals incans. The X1 tint along with that "dome" of light makes my LX3 a SUPERB outdoor flashlight. And at 50 or so lumens along with its bright spill, it does a heck of a job indoors too. With its flat "bottom" the LX3 can stand on end and is a very good ceiling bounce flashlight. With its inline heavy duty aluminum tube form and powdered finish I think that the LX3 is a better looking flashlight than the SL PP. It has sort of an industrial deco look with its fluted bezel and tail and flat sides. If the situation should arise, I am certain that the LX3 would make for a pretty fair head knocker too.

73
dim

No doubt the Gerber LX 3.0 is a nice light.
It is better looking than the Streamlight and has a nice white beam.
I was just shocked last night that the Streamlight was so bright with such good throw... afterall the Gerber IS a 3 Lux.

A good head beater indeed.
I dropped the Gerber on my tile floor from about chest height... I was worried about the floor.

Thed is right. I have two open SL ProPoly, three still in the blister packs and one Gerber LX 3.0. Using a lux meter measuring the three lights at one meter isn't hard. The lux readings were 2830 and 2080 for the ProPoly and only 900 for the LX. On my lights the ProPoly puts out 314% or 231% more lux than the LX.

The best focused PP is the brightest. It has the sharpest spot beam. The sharpest beam PP light actually has three noticeable beams; a bright spot beam of about 4 degrees, a second spot of 8 degrees then the normal spill light. A little out of focus is my second PP; the light splatter that would explain the lower lux reading. My LX 3.0 has a fuzzy, off center, beam because of the optic in the nose of the light.

I'd rather have a good working light than a good looking light so the ProPoly lights get used a lot more than the LX 3.0.

The ProPoly has a much brighter spot light than the LX 3.0.

InfidelCastro said:

Interesting light. Can it use rechargeables?

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Yes, run time plots can be found here.

Later
Kelly

I think that with the Gerber LX 3.0 it's more about the lumens than the lux. For those of you who have both the LX3 and the SL PP 4AA Lux, which do you find to be brighter overall? - Ceiling bounce/eyeball test? - Practical usage? - Integrating sphere? From what I've read of the SL PP, it seems to be more in "competition" with other LED throwers like Inova's T3/XO3 rather than more general usage sort of flashlights such as the LX3. How usefull is the spill of the SL PP? Though oddly shaped, the diamond shaped secondary spot of the LX3 is also quite effective. The hotspot of my LX3 is centered in the diamond and the diamond is centered in the bright spill. I recently help a friend change a tire on his high end European car. His MAG 4D was relegated to reading the directions for the peculiar jack while my LX3 was used to light the tire and general area.

73
dim

A variation of the dreaded wall hunting test is the ceiling hunting test. To me the outdoor test is preferred.

My first choice for a light is not the LX. It has an all around fuzzy light with a crooked beam with a greenish tint. I won't use the LX because of the ugly beam so it will always look new.

ProPoly is my beater light because it has a bright beam and three sharp and useful beams.


The pictures were taken from the same distance. The exposure was changed to show the spill beam of both lights.