Bright Flashlights

[Raizinman]

I’m looking for a very bright flashlight. I live on 15 acres and I would like a VERY STRONG flashlight that is very bright and can go a long distance that could focus from wide to narrow, for example on a horse at ¼ mile. In researching flashlights they use this word called lumens.

In searching Google, I found out that a lumen is a unit of measurement of the amount of light produced.

Some of the flashlights I have looked at (Lowes & Home Depot) in the 1000 Lumen and above are:

Stanley FatMax 900 Lumens for $49.97
Utilitech – 1000 Lumens for $39.97
DeWalt – 1000 Lumens for $79.00
TechLite Mater – 1000 Lumens $79.99
Coast HP314 Long Range – 1132 Lumens $204.00

Are there brighter flashlights in the 2000 or 3000 Lumen range or higher, that someone has some experience with? Will I really notice the difference between 1000 Lumens and 2 or 3 thousand Lumens?

Perhaps some police issue flashlight would serve my purpose?

 

[herm0016]

http://www.larsonelectronics.com/sh...B9rjUVMtEcKB6DY1NlQSxYp5s3vJf5-3cLhoCeb7w_wcB


how about 100s of 1000s of lumens?

 

[Zivic]

I’m looking for a very bright flashlight. I live on 15 acres and I would like a VERY STRONG flashlight that is very bright and can go a long distance that could focus from wide to narrow, for example on a horse at ¼ mile. In researching flashlights they use this word called lumens.

In searching Google, I found out that a lumen is a unit of measurement of the amount of light produced.

Some of the flashlights I have looked at (Lowes & Home Depot) in the 1000 Lumen and above are:

Stanley FatMax 900 Lumens for $49.97
Utilitech – 1000 Lumens for $39.97
DeWalt – 1000 Lumens for $79.00
TechLite Mater – 1000 Lumens $79.99
Coast HP314 Long Range – 1132 Lumens $204.00

Are there brighter flashlights in the 2000 or 3000 Lumen range or higher, that someone has some experience with? Will I really notice the difference between 1000 Lumens and 2 or 3 thousand Lumens?

Perhaps some police issue flashlight would serve my purpose?

I have a few lights... over the years I have come to appreciate surefires
I have acquired a few now, one of my favorites is the M3LT

I also have an olight SR90 that puts out some serious light.

Surefire recently released their UDR Dominator.... I am seriously considering picking one up

I understand that lights like that are not in everyone's budget. What I have learned is don't get caught up in lumens. Surefire puts out true illumination tools that will last decades.... what you listed are just flashlights. I'd rather have a 80-100 buck 6PX Pro thats rated at 320 lumens over what you have listed above.


other than surefires, I like Eagltac Lights

Fenix puts out a little more budget friendly lights that are decent as well

Spend some time at Candlepower forums you will learn more than you ever wanted to know

 

[edro]

LED flashlights have gone through a lot of changes in the last few years.
1000 lumens 5 years ago would have been damn expensive.
Lumen values are notoriously overstated, especially by generic brands.
Even well known brands may overstate their lumen values.

What's important is high quality housing, LED and electronics.
Well known high quality (and priced) brands are: Fenix, Four Sevens, Nitecore, SureFire, Pelican, Inova...

But... again, lots of things have changed recently.
There are starting to be a lot of high quality flashlights being offered by traditional tool companies, because they can easily buy and rebrand lights.

Adjustable wide/long is not very common because it doesn't work well.
Usually you have floods or throwers. The optics are designed to flood the area or throw a long tight beam light a spot light.
Throwers are usually more impressive outdoors, and floods work better indoors (closer distances).

I would just check YouTube videos of each light and see what you like.

That Stanley for $50 seems like a good bet. I would trust their lumen numbers.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/forum.php is the be all and end all of flashlight guru discussion boards.
Tons of info there... reviews, discussions, etc.

 

[Blain]

I really like my Thrunite TN12. It's a daily carry for me.
I rotate 4 Panasonic 18650 batteries, charged in a NITECORE i4 charger.

 

[natto fire]

http://www.larsonelectronics.com/sh...B9rjUVMtEcKB6DY1NlQSxYp5s3vJf5-3cLhoCeb7w_wcB


how about 100s of 1000s of lumens?

Yeah, if it doesn't have to have it's own power source, you cannot go wrong with one of these setups. Uses a relatively inexpensive bulb, too.

For self contained ones, you have to sacrifice a lot of light output in order to have acceptable battery life.

I have one of these 1100 lumen, for flood light use, and it will burn through my biggest battery (90 Wh ~1lb) in about 4 hours.

 

[mizzou]

When shopping for flashlights that you want great performance on, don't skimp on money and buy something cheap. Get a powerful rechargeable flashlight with a great throw distance.

If you want it for 15 acres, you want that spotlight to hit things as far as possible away, not necessarily spread the lumens over a shorter distance and wider area.

Just because it says high lumens, doesn't mean it has a longer throw distance then a flashlight with less lumens.

I'm a huge fan of streamlight because their base-charging stations are compatible with nearly all models and they are a pretty solid company

Refer to the flashlight ANSI chart for better info on what you will get

 

[Zorba]

I personally love Streamlights. Their 4AA series is standard issue at my company because they have an explosion proof housing. I haven't ever tried to use it in farm environment, but it throws a beam much further than any other flashlight I've ever used.

 

[master_shake_]

http://www.amazon.com/Cliplight-111113-Clipstrip-Aqua-Light/dp/B00I51X59Y

i have one of these at work.

not as bright as the snap-on version but a shit load cheaper.