Which do you prefer a Flood Beam or a Throw Beam?

Honestly, 90% of the time I need more throw than spill. When I'm on duty (nights) I use a TK41 as a primary light and the TK15 as a back up. Both have a bright enough spill (especially the TK15) but seeing things farther away without having to get close to them is extremely important. That's why streamlight was (and is) so popular. You didn't have to get close to something to look at it, therefore it kept you safer.

Just wondering if more people prefer a Flood Beam or a Throw Beam. Tell us your favorite.
As for me it's 100% Flood.

If you use it for self defense like for a room or close distances.... Flood.

Now if you like more distance like for search and rescue... Throw.

I like both. For my EDC I carry a flood. Mounted on my AR is something that will throw like a spot light.

I'd say out of the all of the hours of use I use my lights in a given month, 90% of what I need/want is FLOOD. Sometimes while riding at home at night on my bicycle, I like to use one of my few throwers to search out coyotes, rabbits, and other critters at distance. And of course, anything related to household/home use calls for a flood only...

Flood all the way. I think throw is more of a "cool factor" than it is for practical use for most people. Unless you are doing search and rescue, working in a light house, or something of that nature (obviously there are more uses I'm partially kidding), but for the typical person flood just has more utility

Endless.ender said:

Flood all the way. I think throw is more of a "cool factor" than it is for practical use for most people. Unless you are doing search and rescue, working in a light house, or something of that nature (obviously there are more uses I'm partially kidding), but for the typical person flood just has more utility

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Absolutely! +1

Endless.ender said:

Flood all the way. I think throw is more of a "cool factor" than it is for practical use for most people. Unless you are doing search and rescue, working in a light house, or something of that nature (obviously there are more uses I'm partially kidding), but for the typical person flood just has more utility

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+1 again here. you absolutely nailed it man!!

sent from my mob. Excuse misspelling. thanks!

Flood more than throw around the house. Throw when outside walking the dogs, want to see skunks before the dogs. Love my M@Gmules.

Flood for work. Throw for play. Easy enough

Throw always.

For my use, 80% flood and about 20% throw

For EDC 100% flood for me.

EDC = Flood mostly.

If you burst into a dark warehouse, and want to know if someone ELSE is in there...a flood lights the place up like you flipped on a light switch, and you can see the entire space at once.

If you have a tight beamed light, you have to sweep it methodically across the entire potential space a few feet at a time, like looking at the room through a long paper towel tube a little at a time, and then trying to stitch together your views to take it all in.

The OTHER guy of course sees you, and, can even see your little circle of light sweeping across the room, and has plenty of time to duck and hide when the when its finally time for the beam to sweep HIS position, etc...."Here it comes - DUCK!"



If they want to shoot you, or run for it...they know when the best time is, because they KNOW WHERE YOU ARE LOOKING at any given moment.



If you are doing a search over a long distance, like a large hillside, etc...there are no floods that light up several acres at a time...you need a search light, and you DO need to sweep methodically back and forth to cover the areas of concern with a tighter pattern, as that's the only practical way to get enough lux on a target far away....to tell what you are looking at.



A strong floody beam might be able to tell you there's a guy standing 200 yards away with something in his arms....but maybe not really give enough light on the target to tell if its firewood or firearm...whereas the dedicated thrower might tell you that....

...If he lets you CATCH HIM in that spot light beam, etc.

^Gurthang said:

Flood more than throw around the house. Throw when outside walking the dogs, want to see skunks before the dogs. ....

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Same comments here. Too, I want throwy lights during nightly walks so drivers in approaching cars can see me at long distance. There are no sidewalks here.

+1 on the many "flood" responses with maybe a few "throw" uses. For me it is about 95% flood and 5% throw. Going even farther, the flood usage is mostly ceiling bounce. Examples? The SC600 for flood no matter whether inside or shorter ranges outside. Inside I am looking for the "presents" the cats left.... The TK-35 is a _very_ good compromise between spill and throw for the woods in my back yard. The V60 is not really that useful because of the tighter beam, tighter than the TK-35. By the time the distance increases enough to render a usefully sized spot, I need about 2x lumens. The best example of the TK-35 usage is finding a moving critter making noises in the woods. No consistent way except by chance will a tight spot pick up the fur if the animal does not look at you.

A flood light meets my needs at-least 70% of the time.

Both have their uses.

Flood is great for up-and-close. For close-range tasks and within indoors, flood works nicely. Unfortunately, it can get in the way if there are lots of things that you do not need to be reflecting back at you, like smoke, fog, snow, etc.

Throw is great for distance and cutting through obscurants. Being able to illuminate things out to a distance and make objects out clearly means that you don't need to be close to the target. The downside is that the spot may be too intense for close-range tasks, and you won't have wide FOV with the provided spill.

Personally, I prefer throwy lights over floody lights. I can attach a diffuser to the head of a throwy light and get a perfect flood beam, just like I do with my Javelin Shorty. You can't easily convert a floody light to a throwy one.

I have two zoomable torches (China-made ones of no definite brand, but closely resembling the 'Police' brand 600 lumen torch). I usually use one set to 'flood' for general searching of wildlife and the other set to throw which is mounted on a rail on my camera tripod.

I use two zoomable torches, one set at flood for searching for wildlife and the other set to throw once I find something.

About 80% of the time I prefer a floody beam, a tightly focused thrower indoors or at short range use only blinds me with that bright hotspot.

Outdoors in the fields I want throw. Lighting up things at great distances is a kick in itself. I always carry a smaller light outdoors too if I need to light up something close by.

This is reflected in my flashlight collection: Most of them are on the floody beam side. I only have three real throwers: LD40, TK50 and TK41.