Real world test of my lights.

Last night was Chief's Induction night throughout the US Navy. This is the night when we perform our secret ceremonies and rites of passage for the new Chiefs. Anyways...

Our venue was the perimeter and support structures of an airfield that Navy helo pilots use to practice night landings in total darkness to simulate landing on a ship at night. Darkness is necessary to preserve the pilots' night vision (you do not shine your light at the helo!) so the only light sources were the red and green navigation markers. Strewn all over in the pitch black night were hazards mixed with people. IOW, the perfect flashlight crucible.

Most of the night was spent running in groups of 10 to 15 men a mile or so from one place to another and navigating steep hills and trails.

First my E1L:

1. The E1L's clip allowed for mounting on the bill of a ballcap and made running with a light easy. The lightweight construction also kept it steady on my head.
2. The throw was impressive even at the low setting. You can clearly see a coherent beam of light with a defined hotspot.
3. The high setting carries incredibly far. I was standing on one of the 50 foot high berms leftover from construction and I can clearly illuminate men and machinery 50 yards away.
4. A multi setting flashlight is very good to have in a social setting so you can go low in order to not dazzle everyone around you. It's not always about the lumens.
5. The tight beam was inadequate when we traversed narrow trails on the top of the berms. A bit of flood would've been good for guiding large bodies of people's footing through narrow paths.

My 6PL which I used for one run but wound up in my friend's hands for most of the night.

1. The 6PL threw a big splash of bluish light wherever it was pointed. There was no coherent beam that I could see so it looked like I was "transmitting" the light to the target. I also made the same observation when my friend was using it.
2. The very bright single setting meant that I had to be careful with shining the light in order to not blind anyone. Now that I have a Malkoff coming I don't know whatever I will use it for. IMO now: Lumens isn't everything. One has to be responsible in wielding powerful lights and an overly bright single setting will be of very limited utility to me.
3. The flood was perfect for lighting up narrow trails so the group can watch their steps.
4. The weight and size didn't prove to be much of a hindrance to running in step with others.
5. I prefer the click on and click off interface of the E1L so the 6P will probably get a 49/59 TC.

Other comments: The 100-120 strong crowd had an assortment of Wally world headstrap LEDs, multi cell Maglites, and an odd G2 and 6P incans in their mix of lights (someone had a Kroma. Bah. Spec War types can order anything...). In comparing my lights to theirs, I noted that the budget LEDs, while bright to look at, do not carry very far at all. They get a diffuse field of bright light immediately infront of the user and nothing more. The Maglites, while certainly good lights and utterly reliable, simply cannot hold a candle to my lights for throw and brightness. The G2 and 6P incans had good throw and impressive flood but the yellow output made them seem feeble compared to the E1L's warm beam or the HID like output of the 6PL. The Kroma guy hardly ever used his light so I couldn't compare mine to his.

As I mentioned earlier last night's experience with high end lights opened my eyes to a few things:
I need multi settings and I prefer them to go Low first in consideration of those around me since I am more likely to use my light to help others see than to blind an attacker.
Light output doesn't mean squat to me once I've reached a certain level. The E1L's 45 lumen high setting was bright enough for me. The 6PL's 80 lumen output was like a solar flare in the dark night. I think 100 Surefire lumens OTF is the most I will ever need from a light.
Given the choice between a sun that burns for an hour or a moon that shines for 8 hours I will take the moon. Both my lights CR123s lasted the night with heavy use.

Now I am GASsing for a E2L.

Thanks for reading.

Good post and use of lights.

Many people often get caught up in wanting the brighter of 2 lights. When in fact one should see runtime/throw/usefullness of beam on lights.

I find my Z2 with Q5 too bright, but that is where my A2 comes in handy using just the LEDs

This is a very good post for utilitarian use of lights or survivalist use of lights as opposed to tactical use. A fenix L2D or P3D would have also worked, on low mode for what you needed, and still have a ridiculously bright high mode when desired or needed for another purpose. I like the idea of the light weight flashlight with a clip facing rearward to clip onto the bill of a standard ballcap style hat.

It would be nice if they put them on the Fenix L1/2 series or the P2/3 series with the option to simply take it off.

Some one probably already knows the answer to this question. Does someone already have an aftermarket clip to go on either the L or P series Fenix's to do the same thing (clip to ball cap bill)???

Remind me what IOW stands for???

Good post :thumbsup:

IOW = In other words

Good post every newbie needs to read.

Always glad to read " Real World " flashlight testing.


_

Double_A said:

Good post every newbie needs to read.

Click to expand...

+1

Finally, we've reached an age when the brightest available lights (beginning about a year ago with the Q5's) left us at a point where we frequently do NOT need nor even want that level of brightness.

I no longer search for the latest and greatest lights, I mainly look at how friendly the UI is and how easy it is to switch to lower levels of light.

Newbies who come to CPF typically get all excited and immediately ask everyone what the "very brightest" light is, but the OP gives a real-world feel for what really goes on "in the dark".

Newbies, pay attention.

Zenster said:

+1

Finally, we've reached an age when the brightest available lights (beginning about a year ago with the Q5's) left us at a point where we frequently do NOT need nor even want that level of brightness.

I no longer search for the latest and greatest lights, I mainly look at how friendly the UI is and how easy it is to switch to lower levels of light.

Click to expand...

+2

Last friday I tested my Olight M20 Warrior Premium on some night-caching. We were a dozen people searching for reflectors and hidden film containers and tubes.

For normal operation, I used my 4C-Mag with the 200-Lumen Cree. The batts were already weak, so the output dropped down after 3 hours. The Warrior, equipped with the SMO throws farer and is brighter. Very good for reflectors? Maybe, but in rainy weather other things are reflecting, the stronger the beam, the more disturbing reflections you get. Just try a strong light in the fog!

On high, you really must pay attention where to point the Warrior at if a dozen people walk around, as you don't want to blind somebody. The UI of the Warrior isn't user-friendly at all. To change the output, you need both hands and you need to pay attention on the timing. As the Olight has a memory, you always must pass high and strobe, even if you only need normal or low. Somebody thought to have seen a spider under a reflector. I was at a meter distance or so, pointed the Warrior on high at the spot and we saw... nothing but blinding light!

Thinking of my U2 at home, where you can change levels with one hand just by turning the wheel... 100 Lumen OTF would have been enough for everything and equipped with the diffuser it would have been perfect to illuminate the way. Doing this with the Warrior, you mustn't be over normal output, changing the output made me step right in a puddle of liquid mud, which I didn't see looking at what I did with the light.

Next time the TK10 will be the test candidate. I'm curious already...

Greets,

Henk

I really love my E1L when out in the woods too, a very versatile light. Regarding the lack of flood, you definitely need to pick up a F04 diffuser. I think The TIR Surefires should be sold with this invaluable accessory.