Throw Comparison - Surefire KT2 vs Tiablo A9?

This is more of a question than a statement of fact or a test report...I just got my Tiablo A9 today and tonight stepped out the front door with the A9 in one hand and a Surefire Z3 with a KT2 turbohead in the other. With the acknowledgement that it's really hard to compare an incan to an LED, I'd say that the KT2 out-threw the A9, which is a surprise (to me at least).

This weekend I'll go over to the commuter rail right-of-way and do some real tests and with luck take some pics. In the meantime, I'm open to thoughts on whether I'm mis-judging this very quick and dirty comparison???

Nope the KT2 will easily out-throw the A9 because of the simple fact that it's an incandesent light.

LED's still have a long way to go before they rivial incandesent lights in the throw factor.

Mad1 said:

LED's still have a long way to go before they rivial incandesent lights in the throw factor.

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My A9 easily out throws my Streamlight TL-3...no contest....and it's a three cell. In a same size package it seems the newest hotshot LED's can finally out throw the incan's.

In a bigger light it's a different story of course. I have one of these that will walk all over the A9, but it's bigger and uses 3X the battery power:

http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=85759&highlight=stinger

I'm probably going to be an LED or HID guy henceforth.

Mad1 said:

LED's still have a long way to go before they rivial incandesent lights in the throw factor.

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I disagree! NO Incan with the same Lumens as my Aspheric 1C will out throw it.

The KT2 with three CR123's, or two LiIon's is about 1/2 the lux of the A9, looking at the A9's lux. What JNewell is noticing is his KL2 setup is easier to see at distance. The incan output of the KT2 is easier for the eyes to pickup, compared to the A9.

Bill

Bullzeyebill said:

The KT2 with three CR123's, or two LiIon's is about 1/2 the lux of the A9, looking at the A9's lux. What JNewell is noticing is his KL2 setup is easier to see at distance. The incan output of the KT2 is easier for the eyes to pickup, compared to the A9.

Bill

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If I can see the output of the incan KT2 better at a distance, isn't that what it's all about? Isn't that the goal? Lux and lumen numbers are nice, but what I really want is to see as clearly as possible what I am illuminating at any distance.

Mark

Yes, and the larger the hotspot, the better. A lot of our lights show this great lux, but only a small portion of the beam has that high lux. A lower lux light with a huge center spot can serve us better. I don't mean a low, low, lux light, because lumens do count, particularly if most of them are in the center area. To me I can see a 150 lumen light better when it has a large hotspot, and better yet if it is an incan. BTW, my favorite lights are led lights.

Bill

Thanks for all the input - I went over to the commuter rail right-of-way last night with one of my sons. We took the Z3/KT2 (with fresh cells) and the A9. We agreed that it was close to a draw, but we both thought that the narrower spill and center beam of the A9 probably gave it a slight edge in throw. We also thought that if we were searching for something at distance, the narrower but brighter spill from the A9 (with the smooth reflector) would be more useful. The broader but dimmer spill from the KT2 would make it harder to spot something outside the immediate center beam, we thought. So, on a pure lighting basis, the A9 came out slightly ahead. There is room to debate color temp and spectral width...I don't have a strong preference between these two, although I lean toward incans...my son preferred the LED...I think it's a YMMV situation on that.

Additional credit would go to the A9 in real life because it's more compact, both in length and in the diameter of its reflector (which doesn't seem to affect its performance), and because it's very well regulated on 123 primaries and rechargeables. So, though I'd gone out expecting to put the A9 up for sale, I am now thinking that it gives me performance at least as good as the Z3/KT2 in a physical package that's closer to a 6P, which ain't bad at all.