dated, may or may be relevant but should be interesting;
perhaps a mutant side note; last year a very good friend took his motorcycle trip of a lifetime (we both retired) to a place called the ‘Tail of the Dragon’ NC/TN USA (a very dangerous place due to very crazy people). This person is a riding fool and traveled the 1200 +/- miles in a lot less than a day and a half, he arrived mid morning and the last thing he told me he remembered is having to pull over quickly then, as the story goes, 72 hrs and a $42,000 USD helicopter ride later he was coherent (relatively speaking) again. Seems he decided to count the lines/poles to occupy travel time and induced some sort of grand type of seizure.
Any relevance other than the lesson that all should not travel at high speeds over vast distances on a bike whilst trying to count rapidly disappearing lines and objects ?, you tell me……….
All the lumens
Of all the lights I have, the very most often used is my Petzl Tikka R headtorch.
I think it’s something like 260 lumens, but having the “Reactiv” technology which brightens or dims depending on the light conditions, plus the ability to move to a diffused beam for close-up work or a more focused beam for longer distances is excellent. The beam is excellent with good CRI (have not tested it scientifically, but it feels it).
It may not be the brightest, the furthers throwing or even the longest battery life, but it’s incredibly practical and reliable and it’s my most often used for around the campsite or the garden at night (especially for BBQ’ing in the dark).
Let’s start by discussing what you are not saying. You are not encouraging my 100 lb niece to spend a week in the high Sierras thinking a flashlight is all the protection she needs after dark. She is a naive city girl who might believe that is what you mean… you who pack a firearm. So I am not arguing with you as much as establishing relativity for others reading your vigorous theories.
Now, you are correct about persuading rats to move out of the attic. My results were the same for persuading deer to move out of my orchard and stop eating the young tree branches. Persuasion is not self defense. And experimenting led me to believe shining two lights on turbo was more effective than strobe, perhaps it reminded them of eyes or of a vehicle’s headlights (just a subjective guess). Ultimately, yelling while clapping my hands was more effective than using a flashlight, I think. But that was at a distance and deer are not aggressors.
Coyote packs often come as close as 30 paces. Strobe, verbal commands, and just ignoring them all result in them just passing by.
Realistically speaking, the only close encounter was a test on my German Shepherd, LOL. She had a quick reaction and then just continued to smell for scents. She looked back at me a couple of times, perhaps thinking this guy is a real pain. When she whined, I stopped. There was no reaction to indicate she was disabled by the strobe, just irritated. Others can try and we can compare results.
If someone armed with only a strobe came into your camp, grabbed your pack and ran off, would you be neutralized and unable to pursue them? No way!
So a strobe might be helpful for my niece for a momentary advantage to be used along with other methods, but is not sufficient alone. Please do not mislead her and others unless you have had close encounters with something like a bear or Sasquatch. I admit I have not, but will advise others on the side of safety.
There was a debate long ago on Candlepowerforums with some officers/military for and some against using strobe in a combat situation. One said, “Another former SEAL and tactical trainer, Jeff Gonzales, debated former SEAL trainer and handheld strobe inventor Ken Good on the merits of strobing on another forum. So, with some SEAL trainers and combat vets not sold on the merits of strobing versus the inventor’s same background, I’d say it’s a wash.” This is old news and new strobes might be better. So it is worth trying strobe if the need arises, but have a plan B.
Unless they have epilepsy
H/a, maybe it is the flash rate as I mused OR it might be that strobe lights that are in or near the Sierra Nevada Mountains have a requirement to be predator friendly
I heard that was in a bill before the California senate, but have not verified it.
It is a bit of a surprise more people have not recommended their favorite tint, since it is important in nature. My opinion is the warm white might be nice with a campfire, but is a bit too orange when doing camp chores or during fire bans. The nw is my favorite, around 5000K. Someone mentioned it shows tree bark and details better than ww and I agree. Cool white is said to be outstanding around lakes and rivers and has a bit more throw than nw. But it does create more glare in rain, fog and dust storms, so you see farther with nw in those conditions. Still, you cannot go wrong with whatever you buy… just be prepared to buy many more!
All of the lumens that you can within the form factor and beam profile that you want. If you think it’s too much, just use a lower mode.
What’s with this thread and attracting spammer accounts? It’s already happened twice now. 
Dang dude, what kind of predators are you running into in New England that requires a rifle and two handguns to go for a walk? I know there are a few wolves but there has not been a recorded attack since 1857, and there has not been a fatal bear attack since 1830. I do know that moose can become very aggressive though.
I agree with others here. When camping, I like to use a headlamp (hands free in nice when setting up a campsite, cooking, cleaning game etc) and have a more powerful handheld light (Convoy C8+) available.