Streamlight Propolymer Luxeon : Blinding?

Do you guys think the Streamlight Propolymer Luxeon lights can temporily blind or disorientate a person?

There have been zillions of "tactical" light discussions, but in a nutshell, yes, it would.

It has a very tightly focused beam, and should do OK in that situation.

You really need a gun attached to any light used for defensive purposes.

i'm assuming its the 4AA version... and yes it will blind you.... it has the most throw/hot spot out of all my lights (sort of sad)... but yes... i can look at my U60GT, i can look at my U2... but its REALLY hard to look at the 4AA...

i just got it for christmas and its a fantastic light!

the same filters that I use for U2 from walmart work for my Streamlight too... i'll make a post about it!

JohnK said:

There have been zillions of "tactical" light discussions, but in a nutshell, yes, it would.

It has a very tightly focused beam, and should do OK in that situation.

You really need a gun attached to any light used for defensive purposes.

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I don't agree with the "attached" statment, but this follows, Don't bring a flashlight to a gunfight.

VWTim said:

I don't agree with the "attached" statment, but this follows, Don't bring a flashlight to a gunfight.

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The simple answer to your question is: under the right set of conditions, any bright light will cause some level of discomfort to someone eyes.

To expand on what vWTim said: Under the "right" circumstances (ie. dark adapted eyes", the "right" defensive training, and the "right" mindset and practice, etc., a powerful lighting device may be used to your advantage. However, if you lack (or are weak in) any of the above, do not rely on a flashlight *only* to get you out of a tight bind. "Blinding your opponent" doesn't really work for the average Joe. Do not trust your safety/survival on a light only. Do not buy into the "blindingly bright" lights hype.

All that said, why do you ask? You may just be "curious" (in which case the simple answer applies) or you may have been considering a flashlight for "defensive" purposes (in which case, my expanded answer applies).

If the person has night adapted eyes then the SL 4AA is definetly blinding! The throw on it is very impressive for a Luxeon light and is hard to look into. I would consider most luxeon flashlights that had decent throw to be considered blinding, because the Fenix L1P is blinding in the right situation, and is much smaller than the SL 4AA.

Just a reminder folks, you really can damage your eyes permanently by looking directly into a bright LED flashlight. This is particulary important when buying a light for a child, or letting them play with one. As the demand and production for brighter LED lights with greater throw increases - so does the danger.

VWTim said:

I don't agree with the "attached" statment, but this follows, Don't bring a flashlight to a gunfight.

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yes very true, instead bring both!

Interesting comment there Yukon_Jack. Someone asked that question in another thread and Yooper detailed it since he's a resident Opthalmologist MD. But nevertheless, it can and does cause an annoyance, albeit temporary, when ones' eyes are adapted in light deficient areas and then suddenly blasted with a bright light thrown at his face. . .

Thanks for all the replies guys!
The reason I'm asking is because I'm getting a flashlight for someone and I'm considering either the 4AA or the 3C.
They both seem to perform well in all areas and I asked about this aspect because it was the only area I wasn't too clear on.
It's for a general purpose light, not defensive light.

And as for guns.....
Guys.... I'm located in Singapore.....
No such options for me.....

Yes, I believe it would be, but that advantage is only good for a few seconds at best.


The party begins when the light comes on.

Bright light = blinding:mecry:

Big, heavy light = painful

Gun = dead

But, whatever the confrontation, the light is going to be best applied to the eyes.

Interesting anecdote: when the hurricanes came through last year, a huge by large tree destroyed half my neighbor's house. The way the damage went, there was no open areas except one, which was unfortunately right by the driveway and could be seen from the street. Neighbor and his wife were out of country on a vacation. Well, about 3am I hear these subtle voices coming through the tree in my backyard (which had been my neighbor's tree right up until the time it came crashing down into my backyard after crushing his house, leaving my back yard looking like Sherwood Forest). It was easy to hear them because there was *nothing* going on in the way of noise. No planes were flying, no cars driving, no a/c compressors running, no stereo's playing, etc. Quiet as a pin drop outside.

Hmmmm, voices, sounding stealthy. Not good. I gerded up with a Glock and S&W and a several million candlepower spotlight. Snuck out the front door and walked over to the neighbor's house real quiet like. There were two guys there checking out the hole in the wall, and one of them was half-way in, with his whole upper body through the hole. I just stood there without saying anything, trying to get a feel for what they were up to. Maybe family checking out the house, maybe fire department or cops, maybe punks. Dark as all hell out there, and the only real light was from their flashlights. The back scatter from the local shopping centers, the streetlights, everything else was out.

One of them shortly noted my presence and mumbled something to his friend, who backed out of the hole in the wall. He mentioned something about 'fire department', which I think was BS, and we started a very short and polite, but curt, parley.
Then they both put their lights into my eyes at the same time.

I dunno, maybe they really were fire department, but who on earth knows a fireman who doesn't have a whole slew of identifying items even at his house? The guys were wearing tanks and flipflops, and in no way looked anything like firemen, even in their mannerisms.

The one who had backed out of the wall, who looked to be the fiester of the two, took a few steps in my direction while trying to while saying something and I immediately got a herkey feeling. It just didn't feel right. I fired up the spotlight and aimed it right at their faces. The protested, but I told them they were making me very uncomfortable and asked them to leave. Told them nobody was home at that house but that I was going to protect is as my own until the owner came back. Told them that there was no way on earth that I would allow anybody to start looting within earshot of my house.

They just said okay and walked away, disappearing through the trees that were stewn in the road a few houses up from my own. In retrospect, I'm almost sure the were punks.

The short point of that story is interesting in that the two guys beamed me right in the face when they seemed ready to try to make a move (the fiesty one had a set look on his face for sure), and then I beamed them right back. In this situation, both parties utilized lights to try to gain the advantage, myself reflexively, and I believe that any such confrontational situation will always begin with both parties (if they have flashlights) trying to blind the other.

Bright light good.:duck:

I just purchased the Streamlight ProPolymer 4AA + 7 LEDs this evening over at Fry's Electronics. It's okay for "dimlight" situations I would say. My tired eyes need lots of lumens they tell me. Interesting that this thing takes 4AA, but my 3[M]iniMag that takes one (1) LC14270 battery and running a NexGen750BB is MUCH BRIGHTER still than this newly acquired "novelty" piece. I wanted to get this SL.ProPolymer to see what everyone who has one was talking about. Interesting. . .

Your package says 7 LEDs. That would not be the single Streamlight ProPolymer Lux I light. The lights are not the same even though the bodies look the same. A lot of people have made that mistake.

Under the window of the light is a single emitter.

Yukon_Jack said:

Just a reminder folks, you really can damage your eyes permanently by looking directly into a bright LED flashlight. This is particulary important when buying a light for a child, or letting them play with one. As the demand and production for brighter LED lights with greater throw increases - so does the danger.

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Really? I haven't read about permanent damage. Can you point us to a URL?

TrueBlue said:

Your package says 7 LEDs. That would not be the single Streamlight ProPolymer Lux I light. The lights are not the same even though the bodies look the same. A lot of people have made that mistake.

Under the window of the light is a single emitter.

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Whoa and I being one of them. Man did I ever get lambasted again! I'll have to find that one and see how it'll compare to my Lux.III 750mA sandwich driven Minis. . .

guys.. how is the beam on the 4AA? I am really picky when it comes to beam quality, so is there a circulare spot, and then even spill, or are there rings in the beam?

-David

You're referring to the Streamlight 4AA ProPolymer Luxeon right?

CHC, I hope you get yourself a propoly 4aa lux. You will be impressed like I was. I have a nexgen 750 TXIJ with a 17mm reflector in a minimag and the 4aa blows it away in the brightness of the hotspot. Also my nextgen last about 1 hour where the 4aa last about 4 hours. I also have the 7 led version and their is no comparison. Try brightguy.com or other places on line.

http://www.brightguy.com/detail_int.php?Sku=STR68244

cheapo, the ProPolymer 4AA Luxeon has a very tight, bright hotspot, surrounded by a bright ring, then wide spillbeam. Each of these three areas are divided by pretty distinct rings. It's not ringy in the sense that there are rings of dark and bright in the beam, but the transitions from bright to dim are not smooth.