LED light that can throw ???

I went to take the dogs for a walk in a nearby school yard tonight. Usually, when we get to the school yard, I let them off leash so they can run around (I'm too old and lazy to run around), but I like to keep tabs on them.

When I was leaving the house I threw my new Lion Heart (the best throwing LED I own, except for my Trilight-3 which I couldn't find) into my jacket pocket. Just to be on the safe side, I threw a SL TL3 in another jacket pocket and stuffed an Ultra Stinger in my belt (it's a long way from one side of the school yard to the other).

When we got to the school yard, I eyeball compared the throw of the TL3 and the LH in the open field. The TL3 won easily, but I can't stand that yellow light any more. I knew the Ultra Stinger would blow them both away, so didn't even compare it.

Okay, enough talk. Bottom line - is there any LED light out there (commercial, custom, or modded) that can compete with an incandescent for throw. I would be really interested in something that could compete with an Ultra Stinger.

I'm beginning to get the feeling that the technology just isn't there yet /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif.

I am very pleased with the throw of my Gerber LX3.0. It lets me ID objects down the street and has a better throw than many of my incandescent lights and is not terribly expensive.

I remember that the Space Needle II is an awesome thrower... Any owners can chime in on this?

How about the the Electro Lumens Blasters or better yet their Tri-Star Phazer?

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Brooks said:
How about the the Electro Lumens Blasters or better yet their Tri-Star Phazer?

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yes, I would also like to hear about the Tri-Star Phazer. i am on the fence about buying one, and would really like to hear what anyone has to say.

thanks.

SS

You get really great throw with any of the Lux III run at full power in a maglight. Remember my minimag with the full sized Maglite head?

Daniel

Promagnum from Lambda out throws many incand lights including TL-3. It's regulated to drive LIII at 1.1A and it runs on either 2D NiMH or 6AA NiMH. It outthrows TSP and other 3x3W due to its foucs smooth reflector.

Alan

Any Aleph with an A-3 head (and I know some folks who might be able to build you one!)

Surefire KL6.


These both out-throw any incandescent that I have (which isn't really saying much since all I have is some Surefire 2-cells for my incandescent collection). Regardless, these both throw quite nicely - the A-3 is the best LED thrower that I have yet witnessed (outside of PK's private stash)

MRX-X3T has a monster throw!!!

Any C or D sized maglight modded with a LuxIII will give you great throw. To give you an example of this, i can stand on my 3rd floor balcony and shine my modded 2D and 3D luxIII mag at the school chimney stack on my street which is perhaps 20 houses down from me and still see the spot even with the street lights around here. If your looking for something a little more compact that still throws well then go for the Blaster Jr. It gives pretty decent throw for it's size, however you must keep in mind that a reflector will almost always outperform an optic when it comes to throw.

CY, My Promagnum outthrows my MR-X. Of course, MR-X has a lot bigger hot spot and brighter spill light.

Like DaMeatMan said, it's hard to beat LIII on C/D size maglight reflector on throw.

Alan

I just took my Tristar Phaser and Trilight-3 out in the yard to compare with my ultra stinger. They both have decent short to intermediate throw, but niether could compete with the Ultra Stinger.

I've also got some low cost battery spotlights that will blow the socks off any LED light I am aware of - forget about competing.

I'm looking for something that will let me to tell whether my dogs are just having a discussion , or are in an all out brawl, from 80 yds away. What I'm talking about is the difference between "seeing your light on a reflective surface" and having enough light at distance to identify a subject.

All I know is that when I think I'm going to need throw, I always grab for an incandescent. I will have to admit I do not ave any LUX III modded Maglights. The best I can do in the Mag department is an Everled running on 3 C123s.

Tangential/academic:
LEDs can only throw so far because of their limited power.

You can get a carbon-arc searchlight rated in kilowatts with a 72" dia reflector that could probably throw further than you can actually see. LEDs only go up to 5W in a single package - there's only so much useful range that can be squeezed from that point source using conventional simple optics/reflectors.

well, i don't think 80 yards is all that far in terms of long-throwing lights.

my Elektrolumens FT3C could throw 80 yards with an optic.

With a proper reflector or optic, 80 yards isn't tha big a deal - I know my Aleph 3 with a 1x123/BB500 tube gives me usable light in the CITY with that, though you have to cut down on the streetlights a bit to do that. On an acreage, that doesn't seem to be as much of an issue. With a 2x123 tube and a DB917, I don't see any problems with throw on that end, especially if you're a ways out of town.

It should be noted that LEDs aren't the most powerful lights out there - but they do a lot for very little power, up to a certain point - the million candlepower portable spotlights that are everywhere now outdo LEDs easily... but those require a far larger power supply than the LED does. Considering that one properly designed LuxIII can outdo your standard Mag 4D-cell light, that's not bad at all.

Again, depends on what you're comparing it to, and what the design of the light is as well as the use you're putting it to.

For the cost I was suprised with my Pelican M6 LED.For a production light this one is incredible in bot color and throw.Now I really dont have much experience with higher end Luxeons however I do have a great 3 watt(TWOH)modded by LitFuse with current bumped to 667 and a reflector.This light is awesome and has almost identical throw as to my Pelican.If you dont have the M6 by Pelican try it out...you may be suprised in the throw from this production light.

Point taken, but it doesn't take much to outshine a Mag 4d. Unfortunately, my current reference is an SL Ultra Stinger - light weight, small diameter tube, not too long. If I could find something in an LED that could comptete, I would be very interested. You gotta remember I trying to spot a camo colored dog (collie/australian shepherd mix) against a dirt and grass background.

I can kind of speak from experience on this topic. I live on 40 acres with 2/3rds of it being wooded. I need a torch that will punch through the darkness out to a minimum of 100yds and on top of that to be able to identify my dogs against a wooded & brush background. All of my torches that I use to run my dogs are all rechargeablea and all incan. I just don't think their is a LED out there modded or stock that could achieve my objectives. The light being generated by LED's is just too difussed for any sort of long distance.

Ditto the Pelican M6 led. The throw from the M6 is in competition with the throw from many of the mid-long range incandescents.

I live on a big country acreage and constantly use lights with good throw and spill, often using xenon/lithium lights like the Scorpion, Pelican M6 xenon, Brinkman LX, Surefire E2e. The Pelican M6 led is definitely giving the above lights a run for their money in the throw department. However, the incandescent yellow still seems to give a bit more long-range definition than the bright white led beam.

Also, I have parts on order with Elektrolums with which to build one of the LuxIII Mag conversions.

My Lux3(TX1J) in 3C Mag give 13,000+lux with freshly charged 3C nimh. I dont know what another LED monster that can throw further.