Are tactical lights getting too bright?

benhar · Mar 20, 2013

I've danced at this topic elsewhere, but want to see what the smart people here have to say about it. I'm in the market for both a new nightstand light and a weapon light. I assumed 120-200 lumens would be ideal (i.e. bright enough to serve its purpose without blinding myself in the hallway). However, it seems most tactical lights now are in the 500 lumen range, even the SureFires. Isn't that way too much light in the middle of the night after being asleep, or are they distributing the light in such a way that bounce back isn't blinding to the user?

If 500lm is indeed too bright, non-programmable lights like the SureFire Fury and Klarus XT11, both which I want to buy, really aren't very practical indoors.

Any input?

kengps · Mar 20, 2013

They call them "Tactical" lights. The definition of "Tactical Use" is not rolling out of bed half asleep into the hallway.

subwoofer · Mar 20, 2013

A very interesting question.

The factors I would look at at the different scenarios and state of vision where the light is going to be used.

You mention a night stand light, one which you would use after being woken. My personal experience is that from sleep, my dark adapted eyes find it far more difficult to adjust to increased light levels than if I am fully awake and have dark adapted eyes. If I am awake, the light just ruins my night vision, but I can still see what is in the beam (although it may be that I have not been in the dark long enough to enter a deeper state of dark adapted vision). From sleep I find myself blinking and blinded for several minutes and a 500lm light indoors would have me blinding myself.

I would choose a light which you can preset a lower level suitable for your eyes when you have just been woken. This may even be as low as 2lm. Your advantage in this situation is your dark adapted eyes. An intruder may not have such well adapted eyes and you may be better keeping the lumens very low. You can then keep the light off until you need to clearly acquire your target.

The for situations where you may not have any level of dark adapted vision such as coming from outside into a building, then you want a good 500lm to see clearly and blind your target.

I would use the Armytek Predator for these scenarios, having the 'head-loose' set to a low level for indoor dark adapted eyes and the 'head-tightened' for 500lm output.

smokinbasser · Mar 20, 2013

If I need a bright light to see what those noises are in the middle of the night there is no such animal as too much light. If it causes intruders clothes to smoulder all the better. It will make them an easier target and give me time to decide if I need to pull the trigger.

fresh eddie fresh · Mar 20, 2013

I like super bright lights a whole lot, but I wish there was a push to increase runtime instead of maximum output.

benhar · Mar 20, 2013

kengps said:
They call them "Tactical" lights. The definition of "Tactical Use" is not rolling out of bed half asleep into the hallway.

Well I've never heard of a "Defense" category for lights. For all intents and purposes a "tactical" light is usually considered for a home defense light. For me that means a reliable light that will turn on when needed (I.e SureFire) and has momentary on capability. No, rolling out of bed in the middle of the night due to an intruder isn't by strict nit-picking definition a "tactical" situation, but neither is it a situation of my choosing. It is, however, something I want to be prepared for. If a new model SureFire is too bright, so be it, but the whole point of my question is to find out exactly that.

benhar · Mar 20, 2013

Thanks for the other responses! I forgot about the ArmyTek, I'll give it a look.

I completely agree about increasing runtime. I have the same gripe about cell phones... They are thin enough now... How about cramming in more battery instead of shaving off millimeters?

Greenbean · Mar 20, 2013

Great question,

It's the reason I use a Quark Turbo X by the bed, I have two modes, low and high, with head tight or loose, usually it stays on moonlight/loose
and high on tight, I also have a Quark Turbo with the old emitter, it stays in my bag as an extra carry. I like the XM-L b/c the moonlight doesn't have near the tight hot spot the other Turbo Quark does, it's a nice wide moonlight mode,

If I am going to be running around and take that particular light with me the modes are changed by myself to low or med, and then Turbo
with the head tight.

I also love my Streamlight Protac HL, because in general use I have removed the Strobe function and use low/high, But if I am riding along
with an officer and need a "Tactical" light I can change the programming to High only, but honestly when looking for things or checking a property at night
of course, I love a low mode, and then a double tap on the switch for get to high, Sometimes your other hand is fee, usually it's not as you have your
NON-Dominant hand on the torch and your dominant hand on your firearm. You want a low enough mode to shine on your feet and see what your walking on or near but never enough light to shadow and reveal another officer. That be bad!

But this light doesn't like one 17670, so I am not going to waste my money on trying to get it bored for an 18650, Now the SF Fury however is my next purchase,
because the light loves a Li-Ion and can be bored for a greater capacity cell.

I guess for me a Tactical light is a high mode only, I think some might be too bright, My idea of a "Tactical" light is a lot of things, I want a dedicated two mode, A very bright high output for "Tactical" Daily use and a lower "Tactical" king of high mode for nighttime operations, However I also want the ability to easily change reflectors.
I guess though there is the mindset that some situations can and are resolved and calmed down by an enormous amount of light on hand, make sense?

I think this is why the SF Lawmen has the dual stage switch it does, It's a genius switch change if you ask me.

If I know I am going indoors and checking rooms and such, I want as much flood as possible. With the Hotspot just awesome,

if I am not indoors I want more of a thrower type "smooth" reflector,

One reason I may be getting another 4Sevens light the Maelstrom X7,

Although I can say, if you slightly open a door and have a Malkoff M91A, you will light up the room!!!!!!

Sorry for the length,
You have a great question and I look forward to others thoughts on this....

Brigadier · Mar 20, 2013

IMHO, yes. The new SF Fury line of lights are too much, especially with their ugly blue LED beams. My bedside light is a SF M3-T with a LF HO-M3T bulb[380 bulb lumens]. Bright enough without being detrimental to me. To me, anywhere between 150-300[max] lumens OTF is where you want to be.

Now, outdoors is a different situation altogether.

Greenbean · Mar 20, 2013

smokinbasser said:
If I need a bright light to see what those noises are in the middle of the night there is no such animal as too much light. If it causes intruders clothes to smoulder all the better. It will make them an easier target and give me time to decide if I need to pull the trigger.

Amen...

fresh eddie fresh said:
I like super bright lights a whole lot, but I wish there was a push to increase runtime instead of maximum output.

That is the truth,

benhar said:
Well I've never heard of a "Defense" category for lights. For all intents and purposes a "tactical" light is usually considered for a home defense light. For me that means a reliable light that will turn on when needed (I.e SureFire) and has momentary on capability. No, rolling out of bed in the middle of the night due to an intruder isn't by strict nit-picking definition a "tactical" situation, but neither is it a situation of my choosing. It is, however, something I want to be prepared for. If a new model SureFire is too bright, so be it, but the whole point of my question is to find out exactly that.

One reason a head loose/tight light is great....You may indeed blind someone else and impair yourself but you also hopefully know whether or not to take the action to stop or confront the threat.

Greenbean · Mar 20, 2013

Lol, I hear ya,

My favorite GO-TO light that is in my bedroom but not always grabbed first is my M6, 3x17670s, Bi-Pin holder with a WA1185, Holy Crap....
SF has an amazing reflector and the WA1185 loves it....

Lou Minescence · Mar 20, 2013

Reading the original post it seems that the poster is looking for a single mode light. Just one brightness level. In that case, it is subjective what is too bright.
With the multi mode lights out now, there are many other mode levels to choose from besides max. Some tactical lights only have one level. Others are multi mode.
Are you looking for a recommendations for a single mode tactical 120 lumen light ?

Greenbean · Mar 20, 2013

benhar said:
I've danced at this topic elsewhere, but want to see what the smart people here have to say about it. I'm in the market for both a new nightstand light and a weapon light. I assumed 120-200 lumens would be ideal (i.e. bright enough to serve its purpose without blinding myself in the hallway). However, it seems most tactical lights now are in the 500 lumen range, even the SureFires. Isn't that way too much light in the middle of the night after being asleep, or are they distributing the light in such a way that bounce back isn't blinding to the user?

If 500lm is indeed too bright, non-programmable lights like the SureFire Fury and Klarus XT11, both which I want to buy, really aren't very practical indoors.

Any input?

How about the Fury two stage light, that's the one I am hoping to get soon.

First press is 15L, second is 500L, if you want to keep it on click it.

Or I would look into a light like my Turbo Quark X, Tight could be Turbo or High, you can program each of the settings, with the head loose and tight,
And it's a 1" body and should be adaptable to a weapon if needs be.

Greenbean · Mar 20, 2013

Lou Minescence said:
Reading the original post it seems that the poster is looking for a single mode light. Just one brightness level. In that case, it is subjective what is too bright.
With the multi mode lights out now, there are many other mode levels to choose from besides max. Some tactical lights only have one level. Others are multi mode.
Are you looking for a recommendations for a single mode tactical 120 lumen light ?

My bad guys,
if it were me I would find a simple Surefire 6P, use 2 CR123 batteries for no worry they are good when I need them to be, and run a simple dropin, I have a
cheap Ebay P60 drop in that is labeled at maybe 500L but it's not quite that. It works great for me and the house I live in, Nice thing about the dropins is
you can decide which level of brightness you need in your environment. Obviously you could spend more on a dropin like a Malkoff and have even more room filling light
but your environment might be that you need the light to shine down a long hall and hence, a drop in because of the ability to change the beam to suite your needs is what I would recommend.

dss_777 · Mar 20, 2013

No, they're not too bright. Remember, the whole purpose of a "tactical" light is to help you identify and process a threat. It's the action AFTER identifying the threat that determines how bright it should be. The light is the means to that end. Therefore, that light should have a single purpose. It should be as bright as possible, and have a simple on-off interface. Reports of people who do this for real confirm that in this role, brighter is better, always.

Weapon mounted lights are a perfect example of this kind of light. If you might have to shoot someone, you really, really need to be able to clearly ID them, AND what is beyond.

Walking to the bathroom without stepping on the dog or waking the wife is NOT the function of a "tactical" light. You can use whatever works, and "too bright" becomes relevant.

Searching for that "bump in the night" is also better done with a really bright light. A bigger question in this scenario though, is "what happens next"? If the worst comes true, then see my first comment above. FWIW, poking around for a possible threat with just a flashlight is kinda dumb, if you ask me.

If that's all you have, then that's just another reason to go big or go home. While I don't believe that flashlights themselves make very reliable or very effective weapons, you could easily argue that any light promoted as a defensive tool better be as bright as possible. And be big and heavy. And be attached to a firearm.

dss_777 · Mar 20, 2013

Also, training will overcome any difficulties in the use of a light for defense.

Whatever you get, practice with it.

Just don't scare the dog, or the wife, unecessarily.

Aperture · Mar 20, 2013

The Fury P2X has two modes as mentioned above, the 15L should be fine to wake up with, the 500L works great to light up the whole room with a ceiling bounce and to instantly blind an intruder with a direct hit once spotted.

Greenbean · Mar 20, 2013

dss_777 said:
No, they're not too bright. Remember, the whole purpose of a "tactical" light is to help you identify and process a threat.

Very true, I remember shopping for my weapons light for an 870, and you know, as a "Tactical" light for a weapon, It's either on or off, and you want as much light as possible to identify the threat and what's beyond.

hellokitty[hk] · Mar 20, 2013

Isn't that way too much light

Haha so I thought I went to CPF to browse again but I guess I misclicked.

leon2245 · Mar 20, 2013

Are tactical lights getting too bright?

Yes, but I'm looking for something in a combat light.

Are tactical lights getting too bright?

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