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Posted: 7/23/2012 8:16:49 PM EDT
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As I'm sure many of you experienced several weeks ago, massive storms hit the east coast and took out power, up to a week for some residents.
Let me start by saying, my tactual equipment does not get much "tactical use". This made it difficult for me to appreciate the difference between a $50 and $170 tac light producing the same lumen output. I timed out how long each of my lights, which are very common lights, took to become "too hot to handle". This meant that the light was no longer "holdable" and had to be shut off to cool down. Streamlight ProTac 2L - 4 Min 18 Seconds Surefire Z2X Combat - 15 Min 8 Seconds Streamlight Microstream - 46 Min 19 Seconds.......NO HEAT I GOT TIRED OF WAITING! Conclusion My first ever light was the Z2X. I knew that I would "get what I paid for" so I shelled out big for my first light. When I got the ProTac 2L, I was surprised that I could get the same lumen output for a third of the cost, but it was obvious after this storm why this was the case. The Microstream proved to be the most useful light in the group for the power outage. I attached this thing to a baseball cap, and was able to walk around in light all power outage long. I had to replace the battery after the storm was over, but only having to use a AAA is no big deal. |
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Quoted:
Let me start by saying, my tactual equipment does not get much "tactical use". This made it difficult for me to appreciate the difference between a $50 and $170 tac light producing the same lumen output. When your power comes back, please look up "tactual" in a dictionary... Paladin |
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I think this thread is less about the actual light output and more about the thermal efficiency and characteristics of LED lights (or at least that's the impression that I got from the OP.) The Protac 2L and the Z2X both use 2 CR123 batteries and both put out about 200 lumens but the Protac has only about half the mass of the Z2X in which to dissipate heat. I would be far more concerned if the Protac did not warm up faster than the Surefire as, like with most electronics, LED's run more reliably and efficiently when they are kept cool, in this case via passive cooling.
200 lumens might indeed be overkill for certain situations but that certainly isn't always the case. I often find myself using the sub-lumen moonlight modes on my lights when it is pitch black and I don't want to ruin my night vision, but other times even 200 lumens seems a bit anemic -like when my neighbors car window was shattered at 2am. Sure there was a streetlight not even 50 yards away but with all of the trees and houses around it there sure were a lot of shadows for the scumbag to hide in until I lit them up with an 800+ lumen maglite. |
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I was surprised that I could get the same lumen output for a third of the cost, but it was obvious after this storm why this was the case.
If you are implying that fact the surefire took longer to get too hot to handle is a good thing, that is not necessarily true. Good thermal management means dumping excess heat, the faster a light can do that the better thermal management it has but due to the different sizes of the light the surefire may still be good. Have you wrapped the P60 module for a better thermal path yet? |
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Quoted:
I think this thread is less about the actual light output and more about the thermal efficiency and characteristics of LED lights (or at least that's the impression that I got from the OP.) The Protac 2L and the Z2X both use 2 CR123 batteries and both put out about 200 lumens but the Protac has only about half the mass of the Z2X in which to dissipate heat. I would be far more concerned if the Protac did not warm up faster than the Surefire as, like with most electronics, LED's run more reliably and efficiently when they are kept cool, in this case via passive cooling. 200 lumens might indeed be overkill for certain situations but that certainly isn't always the case. I often find myself using the sub-lumen moonlight modes on my lights when it is pitch black and I don't want to ruin my night vision, but other times even 200 lumens seems a bit anemic -like when my neighbors car window was shattered at 2am. Sure there was a streetlight not even 50 yards away but with all of the trees and houses around it there sure were a lot of shadows for the scumbag to hide in until I lit them up with an 800+ lumen maglite. Its not lumens you need in that scenario. My 200 lumen Zebralight headlamp wont throw past 30 yards. My similarly powered Streamlight HP duty light throws 100-200 yards... its about your beam shape. And has been stated... heating up has nothing to do with quality. Quality is efficient drivers and reliability, nothing more. |
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I know that it isn't lumens but lux that comes into play for illumination at any great distance, but I was less concerned about said scumbag being 100+ yards away as I was about him being 30. I will take 800 lumens of floody retina frying goodness over a wide area as opposed to 100 lumens in a tiny hotspot that still leaves shadows all around me.
Heating up does indeed relate to quality and reliability, go ahead and wrap a poorly fitted high power LED dropin with some thermo-tec or other insulator and see how long it lasts, or simply put it in a G2. If a flashlight can't move the heat away from the LED efficiently, be it from poor design or construction materials, I don't see how you could call it quality. |
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