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The Water Cooler
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Anyone else addicted to flashlights?
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<blockquote data-quote="_CY_" data-source="post: 1424787" data-attributes="member: 7629"><p>used to be quality flashlights was the exclusive providence of USA mfg lights.... and all the bleeding edge technology came from USA. </p><p></p><p>well that's no longer true ... but for different reasons than you think. </p><p>bleeding edge technologies still come from USA via Candlepower Forums. But the Chinese companies have the leg up in mfg capacities. especially in speed to market. </p><p></p><p>Three major developments have driven a chunk of the innovations in flashlight technologies. </p><p></p><p>First was introduction of Luxeon LED emitters. Arc Flashlights, then a garage operation, introduced worlds first Luxeon flashlights. putting out a whopping 25 lumens with a puke green tint. Bleeding edge technologies used a voltage regulated parallel circuitry delivering 350 milliamps at the emitter with a forward voltage of about 3.7v</p><p></p><p>Second was the consumer use of Li-ion technologies. Cpf users were the world's first adopters in used of individual li-ion cells without power management protection. There were many instances of li-ion batteries blowing up in those early days. </p><p></p><p>JSB or Jon Burly bet the bank by mortgaging his house to pay for tooling for world's first R123 protected li-ion cell. the Chinese promptly stole his technologies and the rest is history. </p><p></p><p>Third was development of Cree LED emitters ... overnight output in lumens doubled... flashlight mfg had the choice of doubling output or doubling runtimes. at that time the highest output luxeon emitter was the fabled Xbin 5watt emitter (google MR-X brethren map). output was 250 lumen out the front end. but most emitters put out about 60 lumens out the front end. </p><p></p><p>high end flashlights have long put out way more light than is usable. </p><p>most of the time any more than about 60 lumens will over flood what you are trying to illuminate. less than 25 lumens is more than plenty for most common chores. </p><p></p><p>don't get blind sighted by all the lumens claims.... what really counts is usability. this is where American flashlight mfg still have a substantial edge. Chinese flashlight mfg usually put all sorts of stupid options that get in the way of using your flashlight. </p><p></p><p>Surefire still gets the grade A marks for making lights that are user friendly first with unmatched reliability. their weakness has always been cost.... Surefire has always been among the most expensive light available.... no apologies from Surefire... Quality costs!!</p><p></p><p>from left... Surefire L5, M2, U2, McGizmo Ti PD, Surefire Ti Titan, McGizmo/Arc Ti AAA, NiteRider HID ... </p><p></p><p>Sebenza folder was just given to my son for his Eagle Scout gift. </p><p><strong>[Broken External Image]</strong></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="_CY_, post: 1424787, member: 7629"] used to be quality flashlights was the exclusive providence of USA mfg lights.... and all the bleeding edge technology came from USA. well that's no longer true ... but for different reasons than you think. bleeding edge technologies still come from USA via Candlepower Forums. But the Chinese companies have the leg up in mfg capacities. especially in speed to market. Three major developments have driven a chunk of the innovations in flashlight technologies. First was introduction of Luxeon LED emitters. Arc Flashlights, then a garage operation, introduced worlds first Luxeon flashlights. putting out a whopping 25 lumens with a puke green tint. Bleeding edge technologies used a voltage regulated parallel circuitry delivering 350 milliamps at the emitter with a forward voltage of about 3.7v Second was the consumer use of Li-ion technologies. Cpf users were the world's first adopters in used of individual li-ion cells without power management protection. There were many instances of li-ion batteries blowing up in those early days. JSB or Jon Burly bet the bank by mortgaging his house to pay for tooling for world's first R123 protected li-ion cell. the Chinese promptly stole his technologies and the rest is history. Third was development of Cree LED emitters ... overnight output in lumens doubled... flashlight mfg had the choice of doubling output or doubling runtimes. at that time the highest output luxeon emitter was the fabled Xbin 5watt emitter (google MR-X brethren map). output was 250 lumen out the front end. but most emitters put out about 60 lumens out the front end. high end flashlights have long put out way more light than is usable. most of the time any more than about 60 lumens will over flood what you are trying to illuminate. less than 25 lumens is more than plenty for most common chores. don't get blind sighted by all the lumens claims.... what really counts is usability. this is where American flashlight mfg still have a substantial edge. Chinese flashlight mfg usually put all sorts of stupid options that get in the way of using your flashlight. Surefire still gets the grade A marks for making lights that are user friendly first with unmatched reliability. their weakness has always been cost.... Surefire has always been among the most expensive light available.... no apologies from Surefire... Quality costs!! from left... Surefire L5, M2, U2, McGizmo Ti PD, Surefire Ti Titan, McGizmo/Arc Ti AAA, NiteRider HID ... Sebenza folder was just given to my son for his Eagle Scout gift. [b][Broken External Image][/b] [/QUOTE]
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