Questions about Flashlights.

I'm new to this forum and I have to admit I've been bitten by the light bug.
I own two flashlights. I have a Garrity, Maglite AA flashlights. Now for my questions. I've heard that a flashlight of 60 Lumens can temporarly blind an would be attacker. Is this true? What exactly is a Lumen, can a lumen be compared to Watts? I'm going to be upgrading my maglite to use LED. I love LED lights, but I also favor Halogen Lights. I'm a avid Bicyclist and Cateye is the best in my opinion and does not hurt the pocket book. I would like to wish everyone a safe and Happy New Year. My job is a Custodian working graveyard, so I need a good light to shine in dark corners and self defense. Frogman74

Welcome to CPF Frogman74. There's been a lot of discussion regarding utilizing flashlights for self-defense and then some. . .I'm a newbie myself and am still learning.

If you're going to upgrade your Mini Maglite AA, then I'm sure you're aware of the drop-in LEDs that can be had from LED-Replacement.com which has decent pricing on such items. Of course there's the ones that can be bought from Walmart, Fry's Electronics and such from NiteIze which isn't all that bright really. The others from The Sandwich Shoppe, well, it goes WAY up there! Interesting that you mentioned "Cateye is the best" in your opinion, reason being is because it "does not hurt the pocket book." I have to agree with you on the later.

Hope you find what you're looking for and Enjoy!

If someone has their eyes adapted to low light, then 60+ lumens will be blinding, and possibly disorienting (tested on myself), giving you enough time to get the hell away -- probably. Don't count on a light for self-defense though -- you can search for other threads on this topic for more details.

Since you'll be using a light regularly, I'd recommend looking for a high-output, rechargeable, or buying a light that you can use rechargeable batteries with. Using cheap batteries works too.

If you want a decent light that is bright (roughly 40 lumens -- correct me if I'm wrong) and uses cheap disposable batteries (or rechargeables if you so choose), consider the Fenix L1P, which can be had from various sites (like lighthound.com) for about $40-50. I don't have one yet, but it is the most-talked about light on CPF right now. For the price, a Fenix is hard to beat. It's a very small 1 AA Luxeon LED light.

If you want a light for backup or emergencies, you could use primary batteries (disposable) in a light like a Surefire G2 -- at $35 it won't break the bank, and outputs 60-75 lumens (depending on who you ask) for 60 minutes. It uses 2 CR123A batteries, which can be ordered online for about $1 each (batterystation.com and amondotech.com). For another $20 (plus $4 to ship to the US, from lighthound.com) you can upgrade the bulb to the P61, which outputs 120+ lumens (outputs a wider beam at the same brightness), which runs for about 20 minutes on a pair of batteries.

As for Maglite Mini AA mods, I can't really say, as all I've tried is the Night-Ize drop in 3-LED module, which is a good deal for the price but not all that bright.

unfortunately, the term "tactical light" seems to have been marginalized by the marketing departments who have figured out that labeling something as "tactical" is a cheap way to increase sales, when will it end, how long before we start seeing "tactical" breakfast cereals and "tactical" underwear......

as has been stated in many other threads here, *do not* rely on a flashlight as a "weapon", a bright flashlight (60+ lumens for dark adapted eyes) is simply a tool to TEMPORARILY *disorient* a would-be assailant, giving you time to plan your defense, or run away...in the best case scenario it might be all that is needed to defuse the situation, but in the worst case scenario, you better be able to respond to the continuing threat, either through running away, using chemical deterrents (pepper spray) or other forms of physical resistance

essentially, "hope for the best, prepare for the worst", if that 300 pound redneck approaching you in a threatening manner is not fazed by your "lightshow" you had better have some backup plans, and quickly...

a bright flashlight is simply a tool to aid in situational awareness, it's not a magical lightsaber (no matter how badly we *wish* it was )

.....now i'm off in search of some "tactical" snack food....

MacTech said:

unfortunately, the term "tactical light" seems to have been marginalized by the marketing departments who have figured out that labeling something as "tactical" is a cheap way to increase sales, when will it end, how long before we start seeing "tactical" breakfast cereals and "tactical" underwear......

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Wait... they sell tactical cereal? I want some of that. If a LEO or soldier uses it, I want it.

a bright flashlight is simply a tool to aid in situational awareness, it's not a magical lightsaber (no matter how badly we *wish* it was )

.....now i'm off in search of some "tactical" snack food....

Click to expand...

Well put... and as for the tactical snack food, how about MREs or Datrex emergency rations? I also seem to recall someone on CPF selling MREs. Or try Nitro-pak.com -- they seem to have a good selection.

frogman74 said:

...I've heard that a flashlight of 60 Lumens can temporarly blind an would be attacker. Is this true? What exactly is a Lumen, can a lumen be compared to Watts?...I need a good light to shine in dark corners and self defense. Frogman74

Click to expand...

A regular flashlight won't momentarily blind someone unless they've been sitting in the dark for 20 minutes and their eyes are mostly dark adapted.

A lumen is a unit of light output. It's different than a watt, which is a unit of power. In flashlights you usually want the most lumens for the fewest watts.

If you can afford it, one of the best compact duty lights is the Streamlight Strion. It's incandescent, rechargeable, smaller than a Minimag, yet puts out nine times the light, and over double the light of a big 3D Mag-Lite. It's about $85:

http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/streamlight_strion.htm

One of the least expensive high quality LED lights is the Streamlight Propoly Luxeon 4AA, about $25:

http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/streamlight_propolyluxeon.htm

Lumen = overal output of light in all directions;

Candelas = "quantity" of light, "brightess" in one direction, dazzling or not.

A classic flashlight has a low overal output (comparing too a 20 W fluorescent tube, for example) but if the beam is narrow (so, high value in candelas), it may make someone "blind" for a few seconds!!

For instance:

Maglite flashlight:
Lumens = Low (without reflector, it doesn't light very much)
Candelas = High (when ones eyes into the beam)

18W fluo tube:
Lumens = High (very powerful)
Candelas = Low (not dazzling at all)

100W classic incandescent 110/220V bulb:
Lumens = High (it light my room very well, as the 18W fluo tube)
Candelas = High (dazzling if looking at the bulb)

Candle:
Lumens = Low
Candelas = Low (flame not bright, overal output distributed on a big surface)

I hope it helps!

Welcome to CPF Frogman74

welcome to cpf!
the difference between lumen and candelpower can also be looked up in the cpf wiki.
Marc

makar said:

welcome to cpf!
the difference between lumen and candelpower can also be looked up in the cpf wiki.
Marc

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Here I read: "lux (essentially the metric equivalent of a candlepower)".

I disagree: lux is the unit for illuminance.
Intensity is light emitted; illuminance is light received.

For example: I have a white sheet of paper on a dark brown desk.
The intensity measured on the white sheet is strongly higher than the intensity of the dark desk (both emit light received from a lamp, but the sheet emit more light, it is brighter).
The illuminance is exactly the same on my sheet and on by desk, as I receive for instance 300 lux on them from my lamp above.

Good explanation can be found here: http://www.schorsch.com/kbase/glossary/illuminance.html

Hey, Frogman! Welcome to CPF. Here's a recent thread on the whole self-defense hype. Not to discourage you, but to warn you about the hype.

For all things minimag Mod, refer to AuroraLite's Dummy Reference Guide to minimag modding (do a search for AuroraLite's posts).

There's also a couple of bikes & lights threads sitting in the archives.

Time spent browsing theledmuseum.org and flashlightreviews.com is well spent.

frogman74 said:

I've heard that a flashlight of 60 Lumens can temporarly blind an would be attacker. Is this true?

Click to expand...

Welcome.

A LAYERED personal self-defense system is the smart way to go:

1. A "pacifist-deconditioning" program consisting of targeted reading and study to overcome the academic/media/cultural conditioning that begets "never fight back/use violence" feminized mindset. Without this crucial, ongoing effort, you're destined to look like "food"... and eventually be eaten.
2. Increased "situational awareness": heightened alertness ("paranoia" to the Sheeple) integrated into your lifestyle, everywhere, and all the time.
3. Non-lethal weapons... including O.C. gas.
4. Training in the above.
5. High-quality, high-output flashlight(s) to COMPLIMENT the above.
6. Lethal weapons (firearms).
7. Extensive, ongoing training to facilitate the safe, legal and effective use of the above. Just buying a gun makes you no better prepared for confronting dangerous street punks than does buying a guitar instantly make you a professional musician.

A flashlight, alone, is a poor choice for a stand-alone self-defense "weapon." It MAY buy you a few seconds to deploy a more effective weapon... or to escape.

I see the flashlight's role as more of "radar" to enable you to spot threats out there in the shadows -- before they get too close -- and also to signal those "threats" that it's highly likely you ain't some unprepared, naive, kinder/gentler Cyndy Sheehan ditzbrain just blowin' by, waiting to be eaten by the predators... i.e., you just might be one of those dreaded Hard Targets that criminals fear. YMMV.

http://store.advancedmart.com/lu5wledalfl1.html One of my favorite lights.

Nuwai 4 C-cell. 3 power levels, flashing, and a killer case. :rock: 5w LED, naturally.

Some people here will dispute the 120 lumen rating, but trust me, it is as bright as any 5w LED light I have using 2 or 3 CR123 batteries.

Anyone else have this one?