We just got back from a fun trip at Big Bend National Park. We went for sight seeing, but also in hopes of getting some decent beamshots. I think we succeeded this time. We took 16 of our more powerful lights for fun. Some were stock, some were modded. We did two different locations with all the lights. Then one LONG range location with the 4 strongest throwers.
These are the players -
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1-Sky Ray King- 27K, 2160L - stock (XML U2)
2-Maelstrom S18 - 37K, 1445L - stock (SST90)
3-MXDL SA76 - 45K, 1260L - XML U3, 4.2A, copper sinkpad, UCL lens
4-Ultrafire HD2010 - 52K, 770L - stock (XML T6)
5-Olight SR51 - 52K, 825L - stock (XML T6)
6-Crelant 7G5-V1 - 56K, 840L - stock (XML T6)
7-Blackshadow Terminator - 57K, 2830L - Stock (XML U3)
8-Fenix TK75 - 94K, 2925L- stock (XML U2)
9-Ultrafire C8 - 102K, 1040L - XM-L2 U2, 3.8A, copper sinkpad, AR lens
10-Jacob A60 - 116k, 387L - XP-E2, 2.8A, AR lens
11-Thrunite TN31 - 157K, 1275L - XM-L2 U2, copper sinkpad
12-BTU Shocker - 181K, 3670L - XM-L2 U2, copper sinkpad, UCL lens
13-Small Sun ZY-T08 - 205K, 1110L - XM-L2 dedomed, 4.2A, copper sinkpad, UCL lens
14-Thrunite TN31 - 313K, 1115L - XM-L2 dedomed, copper sinkpads
15-SR90 - 325K, 1685L - SBT70, custom copper pill
16-OSTS TN31mb - 426K, 741L - stock
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The first set was fairly close, appx 125m, at a big rock formation on the side of a mountain. The control shot was at a slightly different angle on this one -
Control-
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SRK-
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S18-
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SA76-
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SR51-
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HD2010-
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7G5-
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Terminator-
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TK75-
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C8-
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A60-
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TN31-
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BTU-
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T08-
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TN31~~
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SR90-
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TN31mb-
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This next set was a decent range. About 300m. And was also a big rock formation on the side of a mountain -
Control-
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Control-
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SRK-
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S18-
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SA76-
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SR51-
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HD2010-
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7G5-
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Terminator-
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TK75-
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C8-
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A60-
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TN31-
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BTU-
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T08-
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TN31
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SR90-
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TN31mb-
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Ok, here an interesting set. The lodge we were staying at was built by an impressive looking mountain - Casa Grande with an elevation of 7325ft. We found a nice location close by & away from the lodge lights. We were appx 835m horizontally from the upcrop of the mountain top, and appx 515m vertically below the target area of the mountain top - using the formula A2 +B2= C2 calculates to a beamshot of appx 975m. I tried my rangefinder to verify, but anything beyond 600m is too far for it. We have included maps of the target area if anybody cares to verify. I might be a little off, but all the shots were in the 950-1000m range I’m pretty certain. At that distance we only included the 200k and above lights. Sorry about the photo quality - at this distance being only fair. We are amateurs after all, but I think they are good enough to see all 4 lights actually did reach the target - some just barely and some fairly easy.
Here they are -
Map 1-
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Map2-
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Control-
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Control-
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T08-
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TN31 (dedomed)-
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SR90-
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TN31mb-
Your C8 did amazingly well for being the runt of the litter?
Also that tn31mb looked like it burning a hole in the mountain in the 1st 2 sets.
Long range beamshot over 800m is very rare, good job!
Did you de-dome your C8 to get 102kcd?
Yes, the C8 is XM-L2 dedomed driven at 3.8A and on a copper sinkpad. Tom E did the mods on it and several others in the bunch.
And yes it very difficult to do this long shots. We’ve been trying for months now to get a decent target over 500m. It took a 1200 mile round trip to do it finally.
Thanks for the beamshots!
Can’t wait to go camping in a month!
I was wondering: Did you have to make any kind of special arrangements to do the beamshots, with the park?
No. We were a little worried about that too. We made sure to keep the beams pointed away from the lodges and campers. And we did it as soon after sunset as possible. And lastly, the total time the lights were on varied from perhaps 1 min at the long shot locations and perhaps 5 mins at the close locations.
I’m sure campers and lodge personnel could see the beams and spots, but even these lights arn’t bright to cause and serious annoyance to anyone.
Wow! 
Thanx for the beam shots rdrfronty.
You have really powerful lights in your arsenal. 
Thanks for the beam shots!
Is it me or do all the dedomed lights have a yellow/green tint to them? Is that the same color seen in person or does the camera exaggerate a bit on the tint?
Amazing set of lights you have there 
Simply amazing again. You and your brother are dedicated beyond the cause. Thanks. That C8 and T08 punch well above there weight. Is the fun about to start? Cheers guys.
Did you do a BTU pic for the long shot comparision?
Fantastic comparison. Well done and thank you
very nice job, rdrfronty…
glad T08 is capable for heavy mods and doing awesome throw
From your beamshots they make me want to buy a T08 immediately and do the mod!
Your welcome guys. We started to do the BTU also, but even modded, we didn’t think it would quite make it. It lights up so much air, the target at that distance would be pretty hard to see. I do love that light though and has an impressive showing on the other two ranges.
And the C8 and T08 do a very impressive job. Awesome performance once modded for fairly compact lights. It’s nice to see reasonable price lights can hang with the big dogs too.
Most the dedome lights do tend to go in the yellowish tint. Some more than others. They arn’t too bad in person. It shouldn’t be enough to stop anyone from dedoming their own lights. When done right you can get awesome results as you can see.
And brother(manxbuggy1) and I are fortunate to have members like Tom E and Vinh help us with modding these lights to make them as impressive as they are.
Agree. I have T08 one myself but still stock and only draw 1.84A on high…not very impressive although still throwy.
will do resistor mod or swap driver soon
Awesome!!! Thanks for sharing. Amazing landscape.
im at lost for words, thanks for the beamshots.
Thanks RDR!
Nice work guys! The Shocker sure beats the TK75 in that second set.
The TK75 is impressive bone stock. Awesome flood and good throw. But my modded BTU now has about 700 more lumens and double the lux of the TK, so yeah it beats it pretty good now.