LED Head Explanation for Newbie

VeloWeave

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Mar 8, 2013
Messages
123
Location
Sunny Southwest Florida
I'm ordering a light and it can come with one of the three options, don't know what the difference is. Can someone explain. The head is a Nichia 219 CRI in one of these options.

Small Optic
Small Mule
Large Optic

What is difference in throw/flood between these three options? Which would be better for EDC?
 

AnAppleSnail

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Aug 21, 2009
Messages
4,200
Location
South Hill, VA
Mule will be all flood. Great for finding keyholes and reading, not so great for seeing across a parking lot.
Small optic will be an all-round pattern.
Large optic should be throwier. You'll have to ask someone else about 'how throwy.' Have you given Peak a call to see which they suggest?
 

cerbie

Enlightened
Joined
Feb 28, 2006
Messages
556
So, which Peak model from Overready are you looking at? ;) Emitter choices vary by model.

The mule will be short, with the LED right near the lens, no reflector. The head in the photo at the top of the Peak Flashlight product page is one.

For the optic, which are focusing lenses, that do the same job as a reflector, Peak themselves use wide, medium, and narrow, which are more descriptive terms. I'm not really sure which is which at Overready.

The Nichia 219 high-CRI emitter is a neutral-white (looks pure white, rather than blue-ish or orange-ish) LED that offers color rendition right in between a typical CFL bulb and an incandescent bulb, at the cost of some output. They're all the rage, these days, and I'm among the fans :).

The Cree XP-G 4000K is also neutral-white, with inferior color rendition compared to the Nichia, but more light output.
 
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