Real world use of long-throwing lights

Having had my first high output flashlight - a Thrunite TN35 - for a few weeks now, and having used it in varying situations and distances, I can't help but wonder about how useful very long throwing lights are for most people. The ANSI Lumens measurement of .25 is obviously a standard measurement of range to measure maximum throw, but this doesn't seem to be any indication of real-world usefulness, as my TN35 is rated at 518m at .25 lumens. I've paced out 500m and tested my light and have to say that is pretty useless illumination! I'm not decrying the usefulness of very long range illumination, nor am I saying that having a hotspot on something 800m away is not really cool and great fun. I'm more intrigued as to what people use these 'throwers' for. Surely even for professional search and rescue applications you need some kind of binocular / scope to see what you are illuminating at anything over a few hundred meters? Having said all this, I'm now getting the itch for a thrower, to compliment my current 'wall of light' TN35. Do I need it? Of course not, but do I want to have an 800m lightsaber? :twothumbs Please help me... :sick2:

I self don't really have any use for my long throwers. But it looks cool and impresses people. Don't use them a lot. But when I do, I've lots of fun ;-)

I am interested in compact throwers, if im out and about and lost in the hills i want to scan around for landmarks to work out where i am and where i am going, the best throwers give you the best chance for this

Real world use would probably include search and rescue, amongst others.
I don't think the average person has much 'real' use for them, but they are fun!

I ran into a couple threads where farmers needed to spot livestock /predators, at the other end of the field, and needed the local gest throw possible. So you can decide if that's a "normal" application lol.
As for me, I live in a very congested city, where I have to search to get even 100yards of open space. Do I need a thrower, absolutely not. Do I have a tk61vn? You bet your lumens I do

I do have in-laws that live on a farm, and frequently go camping, hiking etc, but even then, I use flooders, or mid-range lights. But as a collector of photon shooters, it's a must to have such masterpieces.
My tk61vn is probably my least used light, but I still don't see myself trading, or selling it.



MX25L3vn
Tk75vnkt
Shockervn
TK61vn (throw king 600kcd)

That beam just looks insane. Useful, sometimes, a necessity in any collection, hell yes!

Tmack:

Great picture!

John.

Yeah, practical throwers are where it's at for me. Where we walk at night, the ranges are not that far and since it is animals I'm interested in seeing, really long throwing lights are not necessary. Having fun with long throwers is certainly a cool thing and it is great to hear about members doing that, though; More power to them.

Vinh has really helped many of us achieve our goals. The compact throwers I have are a joy to use. With the single 18650, dedomed XML2, behind an Ahorton asperic lens being the most (practical?) fun.

Interestingly, the square beam, derived from the aspheric set-up, can be used as a 'pointer' to pinpoint an object (or critter) to a companion that does not see what I am trying to show them: Just turn the flashlight so a corner of the beam is facing down, and tell the companion to look at the bottom corner of the beam. That tip has very likely been mentioned before, on this forum.

Tmack:

As John says, great picture - what setting did you use for those? I have a DSLR and would quite like to do the same for my two lights, a D40A and the TN35. Be quite interesting with the TN35 set to 950 lumens to match the D40A's 980...

Thanks guys. Unfortunately this was not my camera. All I know is the exposure was long. Around 10 seconds maybe. You'll have to forgive me as I know nothing of photography.

Tmack said:

I ran into a couple threads where farmers needed to spot livestock /predators, at the other end of the field, and needed the local gest throw possible. So you can decide if that's a "normal" application lol.
As for me, I live in a very congested city, where I have to search to get even 100yards of open space. Do I need a thrower, absolutely not. Do I have a tk61vn? You bet your lumens I do

I do have in-laws that live on a farm, and frequently go camping, hiking etc, but even then, I use flooders, or mid-range lights. But as a collector of photon shooters, it's a must to have such masterpieces.
My tk61vn is probably my least used light, but I still don't see myself trading, or selling it.

MX25L3vn
Tk75vnkt
Shockervn
TK61vn (throw king 600kcd)

That beam just looks insane. Useful, sometimes, a necessity in any collection, hell yes!

Click to expand...

It would be interesting to have the "throw progression" increase, by adding a DEFT-X (or other super high candela aspheric thrower) and one of your laser builds to the right.

So the last three lights on the right would be the TK61vn, a DEFT-X or other really good aspheric, and finally a laser to show the ultimate in throw.


I also have a TK61vn, and will often walk the dog with it, even if it is not needed or very useful for that. I would not bring a laser along for that purpose (my neighbors would not understand).

That would be a great comparison.
My neighbors expect me to have a laser on me.
My neighbors and coworkers will ask to light their cigarettes all day lol.
I guess it's kind of expected of me .

I'd like to get several angles of the trio as well. Shots of a lit target etc. Just unfocusing the laser will make a nice 10x10' spot at 100yards. Comparable to an aspheric.

I prefer "throwers" and use them (need them? ) many times a week.
I PREFER throwers as though I probably use the floody aspects more, you can use a thrower as a flood light but not the other way around.

I don't understand the many questions/statements to the effect of "What would anyone use them for?" Or "You'd need binoculars to see something that far away anyways..." Do you guys only focus on things within 80 meters during the day time?
I think you could pick a million example but take one - driving in the day time. Think about all the things you are "seeing" that you wouldn't be seeing driving in your headlight bubble at night.
Some of those things might be important, other things are just nice to see and enjoy.

You might be able to see the sun 9X million miles away, maybe mountains 10-100 miles away. If the curvature of the road is right you could easily see a truck 1/2 mile away.
The better our flashlights get will probably have us using them just a bit more like we use day light.

Tmack said:

Thanks guys

Click to expand...

Tell me I'm not the only one who sees a 'big-bore' LumenPecker competition here.

We're unzipping.

Laaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Tmack said:

We're unzipping.

Laaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

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Funny!

rickypanecatyl said:

I prefer "throwers" and use them (need them? ) many times a week.
I PREFER throwers as though I probably use the floody aspects more, you can use a thrower as a flood light but not the other way around.

I don't understand the many questions/statements to the effect of "What would anyone use them for?" Or "You'd need binoculars to see something that far away anyways..." Do you guys only focus on things within 80 meters during the day time?
I think you could pick a million example but take one - driving in the day time. Think about all the things you are "seeing" that you wouldn't be seeing driving in your headlight bubble at night.
Some of those things might be important, other things are just nice to see and enjoy.

You might be able to see the sun 9X million miles away, maybe mountains 10-100 miles away. If the curvature of the road is right you could easily see a truck 1/2 mile away.
The better our flashlights get will probably have us using them just a bit more like we use day light.

Click to expand...

You make some valid points there. I've not used a powerful thrower yet, part of the reason for my post was to trigger responses like this to see if I would find one useful. I think the general premise of most flashlight usage is to 'turn the night into day', whether that's for 50m in front of you with a wide beam or a 10m hotspot at 500m depends on your needs. For example I think for walking in woods in the dark a floody output is preferable as you can see what's around you better, for security a bright hotspot might be preferable over longer distance, etc. However you could argue the reverse is true in each situation - in woods you might like to pick out the eyes of an animal a long way out, and for security a floodlight would leave no dark areas...

I like the TN35 for it's '50/50' output, it's huge wall of light and great tint, but it has wetted my appetite for a different type of light to play with. I can't justify a new light every month - to be honest the TN35 is all anyone needs in real terms 90% of the time. I wish I could borrow a TN32 / TK61 and see what it was like!

I sometimes have to inspect cargo air containers to make sure it's safe for travel. I find a tight beam works best even though I'm up close. So it's not always about throw. It just about using the right beam pattern for the job.

A thrower works well for inspecting or trying to spot pipes or wires etc. in crawl spaces, under trailers or anywere your looking from a lighted area to a dark area. They are also good for putting a lot of light on something at medium distances, so you can make out more details.

I don't own a dedicated thrower. Can't see the use for one...but maybe that's cause I don't have one yet...who knows.

The search and rescue I do, flood is preferred 8 days a week.

I like the binocular analogy. I find binos fun and interesting, and very useful for specific purposes - they make life a wee bit "richer" but if I didn't own any, I wouldn't suffer any loss in quality of life. However, for many, not having reading glasses would seriously degrade their quality of life. I like how many noobs come here seeking recommendations for binoculars when they probably would find greater utility from reading glasses.

My best power thrower sees most of its use as ceiling-bounce lantern primarily due to its sheer battery capacity means less battery swapping/recharging .