Here is my review of the Defiant big guns as promised. As stated in my first post, the 3D 590 lumen ArmorMax is the best thrower, leaving the Super Thrower a close second and then the 625 lumen 5C Tactical in third/last, but not by a large margin. As far as output/overall brightness goes, the new 5C Tactical rules, with the ArmorMax 3D coming in at second place, and the Super Thrower third.
The 5C is undeniably the brightest and most powerful out of these in all around performance and the current king of all high output super flashlights available at offline stores. I have been collecting LED and HID lights for years and know just about all of the high output lights out there that can be found at regular retail markets such as hardware, sporting goods, etc. stores.
The ArmorMax 3D is the best tubular flashlight style thrower out of them all, and the DST is a really cool light to show off with because it has such a narrow laser-esque beam and looks like it could melt lead in the air. It certainly has the tightest and most narrow beam of the three due to its huge reflector, but the 3D ArmorMax is nearly on par in focus and its greater output allows it to generate more lux and throw even still.
The 5C really shows these two up though as it does outclass them in brightness and is supremely powerful. My humble opinion, of course, that the 5C is the better of these three lights due to being brighter.
Once again just so there are no misunderstandings:
*THROW: 590 lumen ArmorMax 3D > Defiant 490 lumen 3C Super Thrower > New 5C Tactical 625 lumen
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*OUTPUT: 5C 625 lumen > 3D ArmorMax > Super Thrower
*
Now time for the pics and proof. I’ll just post links to these due to their size as they would skew the display of this page if they were inserted.
The lights (Right to left: 625L 5C, 3D ArmorMax, DST)
http://imageshack.us/a/img515/3451/cam00410.jpg
The reflectors:
http://imageshack.us/a/img248/1346/cam00412.jpg
Defiant Super Thrower:
http://imageshack.us/a/img16/7519/cam00413.jpg
ArmorMax 3D:
http://imageshack.us/a/img835/3923/cam00415.jpg
Tactical 5C 625 Lumen
http://imageshack.us/a/img209/7956/cam00416.jpg
Hope you enjoy the photos and can make a good decision on which one to buy now if you are looking to get a high output LED light. The ArmorMax 3D clearly has a larger yet still brighter hotspot than the DST. The 5C is simply the brightest of the three with a very uniform beam and clearly larger beam divergence than its two counterparts. All three had fresh Energizer alkalines.