Thanks for taking the time for this excellent piece of testing and writing

It confirms my own observations:
a) Small, dim flashlights are surprisingly useful for finding your way, even with their much limited throw.


b) The actual useful range for a flashlight is surprisingly small. My strongest, "throwiest", farthest reaching flashlight (jetbeam M-III) can't be trusted to reliably illuminate anything beyond 150 meters (500 feet), and often not beyond 100-120 meters. I'm not interested in how far away I can put a visible blob of light onto a wall or a tree (easily 3-4 times those numbers) - I want to find stuff like your man-made heap of stone among a rubble of stones. Unless you invest in a high-tech light cannon (such as a HID searchlight) or carry the equivalent of your car headlamp (including the car battery) you just can't throw useful light much further than say, 150 meters.


c) In my opinion and experience, the color of the light ("tint") matters. I think those bluish "cool white" LEDs that are so common are far from ideal, at least for my eyes. I prefer "warm" or "neutral" tinted LEDs. Unfortunately, very few manufacturers offer those in their arsenal.