Came across this video with a bunch of common Weapon Mounted Lights (see list at bottom) for both pistol and rifle. I found it interesting that all the lights were good at 10-20 yards (likely typical HD distances), but quickly fell off approaching 50 yards and then onto 100yards. For anyone who might need a weapon light to survey a rural property I think it’s especially helpful to see the ones that “throw” the best. It also shows that lumen count isn’t the end-all-be-all, and balancing the hotspot vs spill and the warm vs cool tint makes or breaks a light at the various distances.
After the light demo, the people involved talked about being on either end of the flashlight. Could they shoot back at the light? Could they ID whether someone had a weapon or cellphone? They described some of the lights as literally painful to the eyes.
From the description in the video:
Lights featured in this video:
Inforce WML - 200 lumens 1x CR123a
Streamlight TLR1HL - 800 lumens, 15000 candela, 2x CR123a
Surefire XH35 - 1000 lumens, 3000 candela, 2x CR123a
Surefire X300U - 600 lumens, 12000 candela, 2x CR123a
Surefire X300U - 1000 lumens, 16500 candela, 2x CR123a
Surefire Dual Fuel Fury Handheld - 1500 lumens, 28800 candela, 1x 18650
Surefire M600 Dual Fuel Scout - 1500 lumens, 16000 candela, 1x 18650
Streamlight HLX - 1000 lumens, 27600 candela, 1x 18650
Cloud Defensive OWL - 1250 lumens, 50000 candela, 1x 18650
Modlite PLH - 1500 lumens, 29000 candela, 1x 18650
Modlite OKW - 680 lumens, 69000 candela, 1x 18650