Tips to maximize throw?

TimEggers

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Jan 6, 2009
Messages
32
Location
Tiskilwa IL
Hi guys I am loving my Malkoff 3-D drop-in, its great. I'm curious if there is anything I can do to maximize throw with my 3-D Maglite.

I'm open to new drop-in's (Terralux 3 LED?) and battery configurations (I would move my Malkoff to my 2-D Maglite).

How can I best maximize or achieve throw for distance spotting?

Thanks to you guys I can't stop thinking about my flashlights and their many useful applications outdoors!
 

Youfoundnemo

Enlightened
Joined
Aug 24, 2008
Messages
598
Location
Munfordville, KY
well you can start with a UCL (ultra clear lens) for your Mag, lighthound has em im pretty sure and then move to an aluminum reflector instead of the stock plastic one
 

kongfuchicken

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 21, 2003
Messages
1,570
Location
Santa Cruz, CA
You can upgrade to a larger reflector, look into aspheric lenses and/or squeeze more current into a better emitter...
Some of these options can be pricey while others can make your light less than perfect for regular use.

Depending on your application, it may be cheaper to invest into a new light specially designed for long distances and keep the one you have as is.
 

Gunner12

Flashaholic
Joined
Dec 18, 2006
Messages
10,063
Location
Bay Area, CA
There's not much else you can do besides an aspherical lens(the CreeXR-Es will work better for this).

You can swap the plastic window for a UCL one. A bit less light is lost. You can also try to find a better and more reflective reflector.
 

2xTrinity

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 10, 2006
Messages
2,386
Location
California
The way to maximize throw would be to go incandescent -- build your 3D mag into a Mag85 (incan running on 9xAA, or 3x LiIon) With a smooth reflector. Overall output is still far exceeding what you can get from even the best quad-die LEDs, and will defeat any LED combo able to fit in the same host for throw.

That said, the rest of my post assumes you want to stick with LED:

There's not much else you can do besides an aspherical lens(the CreeXR-Es will work better for this).

You can swap the plastic window for a UCL one. A bit less light is lost. You can also try to find a better and more reflective reflector.
Going from plastic to glass will improve output -- especially because plastic tends to scratch and get filled with dirt, which really hurts transmission and throw (it tends to diffuse the beam if it's scratched). UCL is an antireflective coating that will prevent light from being reflected from the glass-air interfaces. This will improve throw/beam intensity by about 10% compared to plain glass, and even more compared to plastic.

well you can start with a UCL (ultra clear lens) for your Mag, lighthound has em im pretty sure and then move to an aluminum reflector instead of the stock plastic one
Aluminum reflector won't automatically help with the LED -- most I've seen use the same type of reflective coating (sputter deposited aluminum) as stock, so efficiency won't necessarily change by changing the reflector from plastic to aluminum. Aluminum reflector is needed for high-power incan for durability, as the stock plastic would melt under those circumstances.


The aspheric lens is the way to go to get maximum throw from an LED. A typical reflector only captures a small fraction of the output from LEDs, as they emit their light mostly forward, rather than omnidirectionally like incandescents. With an aspheric lens, the light that normally goes straight forward is captured and collimated into an extremely narrow beam.

This works particularly well with the Cree XR-E, which is even narrower than typical LEDs. In my experience, the malkoff doesn't work well with Aspherics, however, as it uses a ssc emitter.

If you're intersted in aspherics, check out the thread on the DEFT. Not a mag, but a custom aspheric-lens based flashlight that is currently the longest-throwing LED light.
 
Top