Your runtime preference

How important is runtime to you?
Is there a minimum that you require? 1 hour, 2, 4, etc?
Runtime is a factor in my purchase decisions, 2 hours is my minimum for led/lux lights and 1 hour min. for incans.
Personally the more the better, but I also consider the trade offs.

It's less important if it's a multi-level light. My biggest fear is running out of light when I really need it, so a two-stage saves me that worry, and also gives me access to high output. On a one-stage light though, one hour is my minimum.

I used to go for ultimate brightness, heck runtime but in practical use, I would willingly trade some brightness for longer runtimes.

To be 'green' and also save money, I run everything on rechargeables, and the Li-ons don't have the capacity of their primary lithium brothers, so a lot of lights run shorter than their specified runtime. I am getting 45mins to 1 hour for most of my 1-2 cell SF sized lights, and its not enough.

Checking a PC, hunting down a cockroach, trying to do some minor stuff in the car engine bay, taking a night walk etc... all these tend to take up the whole duration, I find myself reaching for another light to continue the work.

I'm thinking 2 hrs is minimum to be safe and not worrying to have to change a light or batt. Even tho a mag is heavyass compared to a SF sized light, that is the first light I would think off (modded of course, maybe even a single, overdriven Luxeon) if I was going for a long walk. 4-5 hrs of approx 80-100 lumens.

A 1-hr light is good for flashing ard the house, use around camp, room-clearing etc... but for traffic control, hiking, caving, nightwalk, repairing stuff etc... 1 hr just seems too little. The moment you switch it on, you like have 59 mins left which even psychologically seems too little. Haha.... Your runtime is no longer counted in hours but in mins.

My preference is in line with what LEDcandle said.
At least 2 hours of very very useful light for most lights.
Unless a super bright output is offered as a tradeoff.

This question wasn't as simple for me as I may have thought. For the most part I'm a guy who thinks the world of runtime -- the longer the better. It's cultural -- it's where I come from. I have some brighter lights but I still normally watch the runtime very carefully.

A few months ago I had someone build me a light and over a week we discussed battery and runtime and current options. I was amazed to hear myself say something like, "The runtime really doesn't matter. I just need it to be bright when I turn it on and it has to be able to stay bright for a few minutes, that's all."

Go figure.

Runtime was the biggest consideration in my purchase of an HDS U60 xrgt. For me, the 60 lumens is just for the wow factor or to temporarily spot something at a distance. However, that I can set it to 15 lumens and I could walk through the woods all night with it on one battery is very appealing. If in a survival situation, I can set it on one of its lowest settings and have enough light literally for months.

i second runtime as well, i used to be all about brightness but then running on primary 123's became expensive. what really hit it home for runtime was when a friend's neighbourhood had a blackout. it was just him and his girlfriend in his big 2 story house and they didnt have a light. i lent them my mclux (q3h with downboy 400 on 2 primaries) the light ran for close to 5 hours
gradually dimming but those five hours were crucial to make sure the house was secure and locked, and to keep a little light for your spirits. amazingly, he had candles, just no matches lol
the q3 only had about 30 lumens but it was more than enough and the long runtime really was excellent
the light was gifted to another friend who use it for general task around the house and its still on its first set of batteries after 2 years, although i keep telling him to change it,

I deal with run time by carrying multiple lights Brightness is also a factor so by having several lights, I know I won't run out. Atleast for a while. I usually have 2-3 incans plus 2-3 LED's on me all the time.

I kinda like the hour mark for a light at full brightness, but since all but one of my high-powered flashlights have multi-levels, it doesn't really matter much. My Jil gets 20 minutes at max. Yay! My Orb Raw Ns will have even less. Yay! But on lower levels they'll last several hours. My HDS U60XRGT might "only" last 40 minutes at max brightness, but it'll last another hour after that. Well over 2 hours if I use the 42 lumen level, and many, many hours at 10 (or even more at lower). That's why I love multi-brightness lights so much. Runtime when you need it, brightness when you want it.

1 hour minimum for full brightness. 1.5 ~ 2 is usually what I shoot for. And flat regulation is an absolute must.

Dave

1 hour of light is acceptable for me but the more the better.

What Shadowman just said.

For my own use, I have settled in on 3 levels of light.
- approx. 30 minutes full brightness
- approx 2 hrs medium
- approx 15 hrs (est) on low

It would be nice if it could run for 1 - 2 hrs on high, but that is the size trade off we all face.

Using R cells has helped me a lot with not worrying to much about run time costs, but more importantly, I can pretty quickly top it off if near power. (AC or car)

Minimum runtime until 50% > 10 minutes if light > 2000+ lumens (Size must be close to 4D M*ggotlite)
Minimum runtime until 50% > 10 minutes if light > 500+ lumens (Size must be close to Surefire M6)
Minimum runtime until 50% > 10 minutes if light > 200 lumens (Size must be smaller or equal to 2C M*ggotlite)
Minimum runtime until 50% > 20 minutes if light > 100 lumens (Size must be smaller or equal to anything bigger than a Surefire U2)
Minimum runtime until 50% > 30 minutes if light > 60 lumens (Size must be smaller or equal to a HDS U60XR)
Minimum runtime until 50% > 10 hours if light > 10 lumens (Size must be smaller than a HDS U60XR)
Minimum runtime until 50% > 100+ hours if light > 1 lumens (Size must be smaller than a HDS U60XR)

Hopefully with regulation or boost-circut like preformance in light output.

LED 1hr High(minimum), and much longer on the lower levels(for multi levels), has to be regulated
Incan 1hr (at least) wouldn't buy one unless at least 1 hr and hopefully regualted as I hate watching incans dim, I waste batteries that aren't spent to get that initial boom
HID 1 1/2 - 2 hrs on searing high , again definately regulated

although LED exceptions would be made 1/2 or so if output was phenomenal and white, white, white

Ian

Approximately 2 hours to 75% brightness for a single level light. Multi-level needs to run for at least 2 hours at 10 lumens or better.

Lot of good answers here! Just as one screwdriver won't do every job...a survival light would indeed demand loooooong runtime vs a search & rescue or on the job light that requires brightness, throw, or flood...

Don't even need to talk about survival lights - give me 100 hours or more!

I like 2 hrs, but would accept 1 depending on the task and battery availability.

Well I'm looking at HID lights and I'd prefer one that got at the minimum 90 minutes runtime since I'd be using it to walk trains at night. I'd like one that got more, but if it had a short recharge time or able to change batteries easily, then 90 minutes would be good.

Heheheh This is a question I've asked myself over and again...

For night hiking or geocaching I want a light with ample light yet a looonnggg runtime (thinking my LEDBeam or LuxIII Maglite). For walking the dog the 1 - 2 hours I get from the PM11 is enough. For bedside and glovebox work it is the durability and longevity of the cells.

Two torches is the answer.

One long RT for general use, one brighter output for "spotting"

Best way to carry spare battery is in a long RT torch.