When would a long throw flashlight be more useful?

To date I've been using much flashlights that would be characterized as being much floodier: the Electrolumens Firesword V, the Zebralight SC60, and so on.

I was looking to purchase something high end, and I've been trying to decide between the Dark Sucks Aleph flashlight, which is another floody light, and the DEFT EDC which is a long throw light with an aspheric.

I'm leaning towards the DEFT EDC, just so I would have some variety, but I'm curious when what is essentially a portable spotlight would be useful in a practical way, more so than a more floody light. Is it just that you can get more distance? (Although the Firesword V has pretty good distance, just because it's so darned bright.

I volunteer with a SAR group. Doing nighttime searches in a rural/suburban area (Usually for Alzheimer's patients who walk away from their home), a big bright light (Using a Catapult v3 NW) with lots of throw lets me search fields, open parks, playfields, etc. much faster. Then there's being able to see into yards from the road without stepping onto somebody's property. A needle beam like the DEFT isn't as good for this -- you want reach and enough spill to light up a big area.

For my typical day to day flashlight needs, a floody light is a better choice. Something like the DEFT would be lots of fun to play with, though.

Hunting

Outdoor use.

Especially in more rural settings.

A pure throw beam with little spill is also most useful in foggy conditions. Floody lights will reflect back at you and blind you. Throw lights illuminate your objects only and that allows you to cut through the fog.

I use throwers (small ones and larger ones) in the city when I want to see something without drawing attention to myself or without bothering the neighbors.

When hiking I generally have a flood type headlamp and a small (thrower-focused in other words) to spot the wildlife or a route or whatever without all the backscatter you get with a bigger beam. I don't hike just using a thrower. It's just pulled out and used for a few minutes every now and then.

I just prefer two lights that are good for what they do rather than one that does neither job especially well.

In a search and rescue situation as was described in one of the posts above however I would want big lumens. I don't own such a light however.

Tight, throwy lights are good for searching objects out in rain, fog, smoke, on the water, under the water.

The bottom line is that when ever you are holding a light looking for something and you hear yourself thinking '...I wish I could take some of this light I'm wasting as spill and squirt it into the main beam where I could make use of it' you obviously need more throw.

In many situations (including those noted above) one not only needs more throw but also less spill, since the splash back from any spill at all will make effective pointing discipline more difficult, effectively making whatever throw the light does have much more problematic to utilize.

Tight, throwy lights (of various output) are also much easier to handle in many security situations -- in particular occasions where one wants to mask the location of the light (and yourself) from others. Been there, done that.

Throwy lights seem to work better when looking through glass... Like if your in the house looking into the backyard or looking into a car with tinted windows

I've noticed that in an urban environment where there is already some light available via streetlights, buildings, that a flood type of light doesn't do the job. At night with my Olight M30 Triton I can barely light up anything, it's almost like daytime. So I feel that a thrower would do better in an urban environment.

Everyone else is right, hunting would be a great use(just don't get caught).

yowzer said:

For my typical day to day flashlight needs, a floody light is a better choice. Something like the DEFT would be lots of fun to play with, though.

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What if you could have both?

I always like to keep other critters at arms length (and then some) when walking or out with pets. Some of the other critters have white stripes on their black fur, some critters have pointy teeth, and some of the critters have two legs and walk mostly upright.

I think of lights the same as any other tools and a tool box with only one screwdriver doesn't do you all that much good.

How about in a tactical situation? Any LEOs or the like know if it's better to have a throw vs flood light? I would think throw is better since it's more tight and centered, but what about for indoors like room clearance?

Your need for throw or flood also depends on the terrain. I live in heavily wooded rolling hills, I only need a flashlight that throws two or three hundred feet because that's the maximum line of sight available. Flood (or good spill) is more important. If I lived where there were open fields I would get a flashlight that had significantly longer throw than I have now.

If you have to ask that question then you probably don't need a flashlight with much throw ...

Just sayin.

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"but I'm curious when what is essentially a portable spotlight would be useful in a practical way, more so than a more floody light?" if you're asking that you really dont need a dedicated thrower. The OMG DEFT has (i believe) 40k lux, which should give it a 200+ meters of EFFECTIVE throw. Generally speaker, a thrower light is useful for things like signaling or long range spotting. However, with the aspheric optic you get no spillbeam at all, which is not useful at all for an EDC light.

Quiksilver said:

If you have to ask that question then you probably don't need a flashlight with much throw ...

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Yes. It's like a man who owns just a hammer -- and wants to know what all the fuss is...about the screwdrivers he's heard people talking about. It's pretty tough to justify something to people who have no use for it. OTOH people who have a real need for throw will keep seeking it out one way or another.

Sub_Umbra said:

Yes. It's like a man who owns just a hammer -- and wants to know what all the fuss is...about the screwdrivers he's heard people talking about. It's pretty tough to justify something to people who have no use for it.

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I disagree that's like saying a person who doesn't carry a light doesn't need one... I like the phrase "you don't know what you don't know"

If you have a use for a light with awesome throw, then get one and justify the purchase on rational grounds.

If you have NO use for a light with awesome throw but still want one, then get one and justify the purchase on irrational grounds.

I'll be getting a light with an aspheric lens soon, because I do see a use for it. I run on the beach at night sometimes, and out there my 235lm Malkoff M60 and my 285lm Nailbender XR-E R2 get swallowed in the open darkness. Packs of feral dogs roam this area at night and I want to be able to assess the danger level at a greater distance than the NB XR-E R2 will allow.

If I was just going from the office, to the car, to home, and repeat that always, then I have no use for an aspheric lens and probably wouldn't buy one.

Some people complain of lack of spill on an aspheric lens light, but after seeing the useful lux one of them provides at good distance, I have a use for one. Subject/Object identification at 750 feet in darkness ... Something my other lights are unable to provide.