Spot to flood?

Bear with me this may be a dumb question, in which case YOU are to blame entirely:twothumbs.

Why haven't we got the spot to flood option on LED lights like we have on Maglites?

An adjustable head on a Fenix P3D would be brill.

Be kind, this is a legit' question!

I think it's most a matter of geometry. A Mag incan bulb sticks up about a half inch or so from the socket. By raising/lowering the bulb relative to the reflector, you change the shape of the beam.

LED emitters tend to be mounted on pills and are relatively flat. Unless mounted on a tower adaptor, they don't stick up from the socket, and thus it is difficult to move the source of the light relative to the reflector. Difficult, but not impossible. There are LED emitters that can retain the focusing capability of a Mag. For example, the Malkoff drop-ins have the emitter mounted at the top of a tower so that it maintains the focusing ability. You can see pictures on the Malkoff Devices site (www.malkoffdevikces.com). Also, there are a number of LED bulb replacements that also mimic the geometry of an incan bulb to enable focusing.

Outside of Mags, there are other brands of LED flashlights that also offer focusing capabilities (for example Coast lights). They're out there; you just need to look for them.

optodoofus

zpaulg said:

Bear with me this may be a dumb question, in which case YOU are to blame entirely:twothumbs.

Why haven't we got the spot to flood option on LED lights like we have on Maglites?

An adjustable head on a Fenix P3D would be brill.

Be kind, this is a legit' question!

Click to expand...

There are lots of lights that do just that (including the MagLED), but it's usually a rather useless feature. Variable focus lights usually have awful beam patterns.

Oh yeah; almost forgot. The flashlight world is abuzz about the upcoming focus-able U2A from Surefire. There's another good example of a spot-to-flood LED light. Not sure how I am going to sneak the U2A purchase past the missus, but I have a few months to plan. If only I had a holocaust cloak and a wheelbarrow.

optodoofus

optodoofus said:

Oh yeah; almost forgot. The flashlight world is abuzz about the upcoming focus-able U2A from Surefire. There's another good example of a spot-to-flood LED light. Not sure how I am going to sneak the U2A purchase past the missus, but I have a few months to plan. If only I had a holocaust cloak and a wheelbarrow.

optodoofus

Click to expand...

:thinking:errrrrrr whats a holocaust cloak? :devil:

Shreknow91 said:

:thinking:errrrrrr whats a holocaust cloak? :devil:

Click to expand...

Google Strikes Again!!!!

optodoofus said:

Oh yeah; almost forgot. The flashlight world is abuzz about the upcoming focus-able U2A from Surefire. There's another good example of a spot-to-flood LED light. Not sure how I am going to sneak the U2A purchase past the missus, but I have a few months to plan. If only I had a holocaust cloak and a wheelbarrow.

optodoofus

Click to expand...

LOL!

The Surefire flip up beamshaper has been the best way to handle this and still keep a nice beam up until now.

Jetbeam Jet II

There are focusable LED flashlights, the Wolf Eyes Fox is one example, not to mentioned there are MagLEDs now as well.

Shreknow91 said:

:thinking:errrrrrr whats a holocaust cloak? :devil:

Click to expand...

I was paraphrasing a scene from The Princess Bride in which three characters are strategizing on a plan to storm the castle and rescue the princess. If you haven't seen the movie, you wouldn't get the joke. I highly recommend the movie. It has no flashlights in it, but is outstanding nonetheless.

optodoofus

Several lights do including the low cost Romisen RC-G2 (about $10 at DX) but it is not especially great in function. It just adds a little more spill and a donut hole so I think it is best for most lights to design the reflector or optics to optimize the beam as best they can. I like a nice tight hot spot that also has a fair amount of flood. Recently Olights have combined a smooth with partly stipled reflector that optimizes the throw of a Cree while reducing the rings and maintaining some fair spill. We'll see how Surefire fairs with it's UA2 - I've already seen one account that did not sound impressive on the focus feature.

This one works pretty well....

http://www.quality-items-flashlight...eon-V-Focus-LED-Flashlight-Black-housing.html

I *think* I can tell you that Illumination Management Solutions (http://www.imslighting.com/ -- note: Firefox doesn't seem to like their php; it wants to download the files instead of loading them) has a patent on a solution to this very question, although a quick online patent search doesn't turn anything up.

They're also partnered with a well-known manufacturer about to bring it to market, I believe within the next quarter.

I have three samples in front of me and one of them is quite impressive -- It should take an 18500 but I'd get into a LOT of trouble if it exploded or melted down or anything else like that.

:devil: