best throw?

Hello all,

Been reading here for a little while now and thought I'd finally post....

I currently have an L4 and a Q3, and while they're good for flood lighting, I'm now looking for a flashlight with really good throw. Something relatively compact would be good, runtime isnt as important to me as I wont be using it constant on for long durations.

Thanks!

Hello thisisCP and welcome at CPF

What's your budget? The cheapest solution is a D-Mag led.
Also good throwers are Led Logic Striker-VG, SL PP Lux 4AA, and in the high-end class HD45 and Aleph3.
There are also nice mods. avaiable.

Take a look here and compare:

Flashlight Reviews and LED Modifications

Best regards

____
Tom

I think for the best throw flashlight would be Streamlight ProPolymer Luxeon (http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/streamlight_propolyluxeon.htm)

It's pretty cheap at US$25, can also use NiMH AA batteries x 4. Battery life of 4 hours is good enough. WaterProof also!!

Thanks for the tips everyone. I checked out flashlightreviews and after some research I think I might invest in a KL3 head. It has almost as much throw as the SL PP, but I can get it in a more compact form.


Now I have to decide what body to put it on....

Maybe Elektrolumens K2-LongThrow?
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/132743

Anders

I have an Incan. Wolf Eyes M90X that has great throw at a reasonable price.
Otherwise, if you still want LED, a SF L5 is hard to beat. Nice throw for a LED, and very white...

I agree about Maglite 4D led. I do not believe a 4AA lite is going to out-throw it.

Or get a custom one...

Hmmm... so if someone wanted an LED-based light - perhaps one running on 2 or 3 CR123A's - that was a serious Throw Monster (or as close as one gets with those sorts of parameters), what should one be looking at? I like the idea of being able to make someone squint from 100 yards with a light that slips into my pocket....

thisisCP said:

...I'm now looking for a flashlight with really good throw. Something relatively compact would be good...

Click to expand...

The best throwing LED light that flashlightreviews has yet tested is the LED Logic Striker-VG: http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/ledlogic_strikervg.htm

Elektrolumens has a new super-long-throwing LED light, appropriately called the "K2 LongThrow": http://elektrolumens.com/K2-LongThrow/K2-LongThrow.html

Maybe a 3C Ledbeam, $24 shipped.

How about the 27Lt by mcgizmo

joema said:

The best throwing LED light that flashlightreviews has yet tested is the LED Logic Striker-VG: http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/ledlogic_strikervg.htm
...

Click to expand...

Why does everyone keep saying that? The Striker-VG was reviewed last year. Several more lights have come out since then. Here is the top of FR's comparison chart, sorted by throw, with incans and HIDs removed:

Manufacturer/Light Throw Overall
Dorcy Super 3W Lantern (1 LS 3) 92.74 14.40
Diamond Mag (1 LS 3) White 91.65 42.00
Diamond Mag (1 LS 1) Zetex 3 cell 89.44 45.50
Maglite Mag-LED 3-D (1 LS 3) 86.60 47.50
Diamond Mag (1 LS 3) Green 85.73 32.50
Maglite Mag-LED 4-D (1 LS 3) 83.66 43.00
LED Logic Striker VG (1 LS 3) max 82.76 62.00
Maglite Mag-LED 2-D (1 LS 3) 82.46 38.00
Elektrolumens Tri-Star (3 LS 3) 82.22 140.00

For LED throwers, the Dorcy 3W lantern is at the top, and the Striker-VG is seventh.

Yes, but the actual output of those Led Mags is after it drops to 55% of it's starting out point, which is about 10 minutes. But it then runs for a long time at that level. The Dorcy lantern is not something I'd call compact either.

Tigerhawk: Ok, point taken - but everything with more throw than the Striker is MUCH BIGGER - 3D Mag on up. Compactness was on the original wish-list (as well as my own), so...

All true, but the Striker-VG is still FR's seventh-best thrower. You could say that it's the best thrower for its size, the best thrower for its regulation, the best thrower for its features... I'm not knocking the VG - I was even considering buying one once, but the Gladius just seemed better.

I was just saying.

If you only turn the flashlights on for three minutes at a time, the Mag LEDs have slightly more throw than the Stryker-VG. After that, the Styker-VG has much more throw.

Casual Flashlight User said:

thisisCP - What about the C2 body? I *think* that's the smallest set up you can get with the KL3.

I'm seriously considering the KL3 and C2 body combo myself for a 'pocket thower' (and my first ever SF).


CFU

Click to expand...

This was exactly what I was thinking of. Did you see this review : http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/surefire_kl3gen2.htm

Although its throw (53.48), is less than the other lights listed by TigerhawkT3 I think its also the most compact, and its over twice as much as my L4 (22.64).

And I know I said runtime wasnt as important to me, but its hard to ignore the 3.5 hours of regulation at 97% output.

TigerhawkT3 said:

All true, but the Striker-VG is still FR's seventh-best thrower. You could say that it's the best thrower for its size, the best thrower for its regulation, the best thrower for its features...:

Click to expand...

Thanks for the correction. That's right, there are now better throwing commercial lights than the Striker-VG, albeit physically larger.

I think the mistake is because the Striker was so heralded for its throw when it was reviewed 10 months ago. Also most posters wanting a great throwing light specify they don't want a physically big light, so the Striker fulfills that. But if all they want is best possible throw in a commercial LED light, there are now better throwing lights tested by flashlightreviews.com.

Some of those lights, esp the Dorcy Super 3W lantern, well illustrate the tradeoffs in going for absolute maximum throw. You usually obtain great throw by a very narrow beam. In the case of the Dorcy, it has superb throw but overall output isn't that great. I wonder how useful it would be in real world situations? At least the MagLEDs can be defocused.