Interesting Observations: Throw results between LX2, E2L, G2 Incan, M61

I did a little experiment with the following lights. I have some woods in front of my house but also a streetlight nearby. So there is some healthy ambient light but there is a "tunnel" of cleared vegetation into the woods with a tree about 35 yards in. It is completely shrouded in darkness. This little test gives a good idea how a light can punch through some ambient light to illuminate something at a distance.

You could say this is a throw contest so total lumens don't really matter. I was surprised by the results.

Here are the results in order of results. No beam shots yet, but could possibly do them later.

1. Surefire LX2 - 200 lumens - TIR lens with 200 lumens, this guy puts out a large spot and I can clearly identify foliage details around the tree. Did not have the tint of the P60 but it has so much light it just overpowers everything.

LX2 was head and shoulders ahead of the pack, but the next three were very close in ranking.

2. G2 incan (P60) - 60 lumens - I was really shocked by this one. This light has a fairly tight hotspot that is somewhat oblong. It barely edged out the E2L only because of tint. I kept cycling back between the E2L and the G2 and the moment the incan beam hit the tree and leaves everything was more discernable. It's hard to describe but it's like trying to drive with one eye open and then opening the other eye ... you just have more perception with the incan beam. It edges out the E2L but barely - likely becuase of tint but it made a significant difference in what I could see. I wonder how the P60 assembly in a G2 holds up as a weapon-light?

3. E2L - 60 lumens - Somewhat covered in the above post but this light still amazes me. The TIR really gives this thing some punch and had a bigger and round hotspot compared the G2.

4. G2L + M61 - 260 Lumens - Somewhat surprised at this one, but not shocked. This light is a monster and puts out a wall of light (big, fat hotspot with smooth transition to spill). It definitely wins in the flood category but barely loses out to the E2L. When switching back and forth the E2L has the smallest perceivable edge. The tint on these two lights is nearly identical. I have this light on an AR and the positive side is what it lacks in throw it makes up for in flood - it is no pencil beam! It is more all purpose as it works will indoors and as a wall of light, but does comes in last for throw in this contest.

Possibly put up beamshots soon but thought I would share. I found this very interesting.

Learnings:
- TIR beats reflector for throw (duh)
- Incan beats LED for color reproduction and therefore faster/better object identification ... at comparable lumen output (duh)
- Lights are fun (duh)

I almost always find Incans to appear brighter and LEDs to appear dimmer in the field than their lumen numbers would have me believe.

So it does not surprise me that your ~70 Lumen P60 incan is better at illuminating objects than the 110L E2L. (bigchelis measured my E2L at 110 in his sphere). I firmly believe its the higher incan CRI at work. IIRC the XRE has one of the lowest CRI ratings of all the popular CPF emitters.

Great report! Your experiences mirrors my own.

LED's with optics generally out throw LED's with reflectors in D26/P60 sized lights.

Incands are great outside, especially when trying to see downrange, and will seem 'brighter' than a comparable powered LED.

M61 covers a large area with useable light. I believe it is hard to beat for distances up to 100 feet or so.

I was shocked tonight when I tested my newly purchased (today) Maglite lx100 against my RA Clicky 170 narrow. The mag threw just as good if not better. It's rated at 83 lumens vs the 170 of the ra. Does a smooth reflector make that much difference in the throw departmet over a op?

umc said:

I was shocked tonight when I tested my newly purchased (today) Maglite lx100 against my RA Clicky 170 narrow. The mag threw just as good if not better. It's rated at 83 lumens vs the 170 of the ra. Does a smooth reflector make that much difference in the throw departmet over a op?

Click to expand...

Just goes to show you it's not only about lumens but additionally (and possibly more so in some cases) the profile of the beam for it's intended usage.

By the way - do warm Leds have that same color "pop" as incans outdoors?

Isn't this sort of apples and oranges, though? Comparing the reflector M61 against the TIR LX2 and E2L is useful as far as pure throw goes, but throw via TIR optic comes at the expense of spill. In the end, it's probably just a question of what the individual user wants/needs. I was interested in your impression of the G2's performance, though, and the discussion about that is very interesting. Good thread!