Originally Posted By: MostlyHarmless
Thanks for taking the time for this excellent piece of testing and writing smile


Thanks for the feedback on my testing. As to the writing... Well a good writer would have been able to impart the same information in half the amount of space. I think my original post is so long that few people will actually make it all the way through. Most will simply skim it. I think I need a writing class on how to write with more brevity! (even this simple paragraph is to wordy!)

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


Yes. You and I are on the same page on this.

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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.


I don't own any really great "thrower's", so don't have any experience. It is interesting that you have lights with a useful range that could have illuminated the farthest cairn in my test from my the starting point at my truck! If I get a flashlight with such a beam, I'll have to try it.

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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.


I certainly noticed a difference in color between the incandescent and the LED based flashlights. A non-blue-white LED might be interesting to try out.