Obviously a broad question, but here’s my 2¢.
Thrower is a relative term. So I break them down into classes. I also have a general opinion on optic type per class/ use case.
EDC - like 365/365 kind of ‘E’:
This is a weird one, but the edc class for me has competing variables like NW and HiCRI. For me its the FW1A with SST20W 4000k in a narrow spot TIR. I’m getting around 22kcd in a ~11° fwhm ~25° total beam. No crazy lumen output but per watt my cd on target is awesome considering 95 CRI.
Next tier up is the the ‘ADIN’ (any day its needed) class
Here there are a few that stand out. GT micro WF1, Convoy M2 WF1, modded ET TX25C2, KR1 WF2, and presumably the FF T1R.
In that class about 35mm head diameter is a cutoff and length below 140mm. These all will come in somewhere around 100kcd with Osrams, and can fit in any pants pocket and stay there all day if need be.
The small LEPs like TK30 and W10ii.
The ‘tactical’ class ranges from the 36-45mm and has so many competitive offerings I wouldn’t know where to start. Acebeam L17 for TIR, NM1 C8+ for budget king. X9L for 10second bursts. Another ‘toy’ in this class is the D4S with WF2, awesome but impractical for me.
46-55mm… the awkward class. Too big to come with you easily, too small to make the effort worthwhile. But this is BLF, and we find a way top justify everything. GTmini Osram for side switch, P30-21700 modded for FC switch, B158B for zoomie (best in category imo), NI40 90.2 for searchlight duty. Maxtoch Archer M1 for a wildcard.
56-65mm. Ahh yess. The truest ‘thrower flashlight’ class imo. Here again its a crowded field. My favorites are the L19
and L2K short, in theory at least. T9R for a powerhouse/searchlight. I wish very strongly that more TIR optics enter this range.
Above this I think anything with a single cell is dumb. Reflectors should only be deep (near 1:1) and paired with big emitters like 90.2 or SST70 (soon the SFT70 and hopefully 50.3HI) for use as ‘searchlights’, anything with <6mm² LED should use an aspheric with a collar. LEPs cut into this realestate though, offering binocular range throw in more power and space efficient packages. … Big emitters with a collar/aspheric would be awesome too, and might be the subject of my next scratch build.