I’ve been reading about high lumen flashlights and a lot of them have the lumen rating at turbo or burst mode.
For example, one claims 8000 lumen and the description says, 8000 for 30 seconds and then goes down to 1000 lumens.
Why so much difference?
Can’t they do close to burst for long term? Like 5000 lumen high?
That’s a useless lumen rating when it drops to not even 15% of the burst for regular use.
Another thing, is how you use that mode and is 30 seconds enough???
LED’s produce heat, and a handheld light can only dissipate a limited amount of heat. It is very common for high output lights to need to step down. For single-cell sized light, the thermally sustainable output is often only 400-500 lumens. Depending how high the turbo is, it may need to step down in ~10 seconds like the FW3A, or sustain several minutes, like the Convoy S2+. Bigger lights can maintain higher outputs for longer.
I personally had no interest in unsustainable turbos when I bought my first light like this. I only wanted to be able to sustain 200-300 lumens of high CRI light indefinitely for yard work, and the Emisar D4 can do that.
I found, however, that I actually do occasionally use the turbo beneficially, not just for fun (it is fun, too). The most recent example is I was working on some fencing after dark. When I was packing up, I wanted to scan the field for any tools I might have left in the grass, and make sure the fence looked straight. Rather than spend a minute or two walking the length of the section I was working on, I just put the light on turbo, looked across the area I had been working, and then reset it back down to normal working level. So my view is this kind of output isn’t really needed, but when it is available, it can be nice to have.
It’s great for advertising and selling flashlights. Plus boasting. If your light makes 100,000lm, like the Imalent MS18 (albeit for only 1 second at turn on) then you have the brightest flashlight ever, even if it isn’t sustainable or usable. If you want to sustain 5000lm then you need a lot of mass since 5000lm needs a lot of energy to achieve and that means lots of batteries and heatsinking. Take the BLF GT4. It can sustain 10,000lm, but it still gets really hot (like dangerously hot 200 F+) and weighs over 6 lbs.
In a pocketable light, you will never get a sustainable 5000lm output until led technology and battery tech makes it possible. Look at the Astrolux EC03. It will step down aggressively and throttle to keep from burning you (and damaging things like batteries which don’t like being hot).
Lighting up my kids glow in the dark toys every night before bed.
Getting my flashlight toasty warm for a hand warmer.
Scanning a field or woods for animals.
Honestly it’s rare that I need anything that bright for more than 30 seconds. Also it seems that LEDs are more efficient when run on lower brightness so by having more LEDs you can run the low settings longer on the battery.
The only down side I see is lack of throw with multiple emitters.
You can always run a bright flashlight dimmer but you cant run a dim flashlight brighter.
Use cases:
Honestly there are a LOT of cases where you want a short burst of light. One more example from just yesterday: Was doing a night walk with my girlfriend and we found a hedgehog in the grass near a fence to a forest. We wanted to quickly check the grass if there are more of them. Turbo —> No more hedgehogs to be seen. But we saw that there are enough holes in the fence that it will be able to find back into the forest without issues —> Back to regular light.
What's the practical use of Turbo or Burst mode that doesn't even last 30 seconds?
Several practical uses.
1. I classify flashlights. I classify flashlights that I have (40) and I classify flashlights that I do not have. (510,204.08)
I classify them by weight, head diameter, throw, etc. Sometimes, I even classify flashlights by lumens. I do not classify flashlights by lowest lumens spec, or by middle mode lumens. For some reason, I don't know why, maybe genetic enzyme deficiency, when I classify flashlights by lumens spec, I choose to classify by maximum lumen spec. To Sum: when I classify flashlights by lumens output, I rank them based on each flashlights' maximum lumen output. Call me silly.
2. Lots of times, I want to illuminate the largest reasonable area for just a very brief amount of time, with the most lumen output possible, from the smallest size flashlight possible, just to simply quickly identify small target points of interest that are located in a wide area. Once I have done that, in just one or a few seconds, I throttle back to normal power output mode, and then I attend to the quickly acquired small point target that I was able to quickly identify in a large area from a small flashlight by brief use of maximum power mode, so as to get the most amount of light on a wide and/or long field, with plenty of lux per unit area.
3. Sometimes, I feel depressed about my spirit having been cast down to the hostile surface of this one-star planet, without my asking God first, and without God asking me first. I have found that a brief burst of maximum light from what is currently the smallest size flashlight per power makes it all ok/fine for a while, until the next time I feel the need to repeat.
4. When I buy yet another flashlight for its' max power, I always make sure that it also has normal modes for normal flashlight use. I certainly wouldn't want a pocket rocket or shoulder fired flashlight that only has maximum mode. That would be silly.
Sometimes you need to see more than your usual sustainable Low or Medium mode (or approximation thereof) allows. Think of Turbo as overclocking a computer, or throttling your vehicle hard enough for it to reach the red numbers of the RPM counter. Not something you should do all the time, but the extra power is there if you need it for a bit.
Perfect. :cowboy_hat_face:
This is why I only do constant-current lights, like EagleTac. But the answer to your question is, gimmickry. People want flashy things. Serious users want lights that can do what they are advertized to do.
lol
The answer is marketing!
I think that manufacturers need to start stating the sustained lumens as well as the maximum lumens.
Thanks for replies.
It is messed up for anyone who’s looking for certain continuous lumen as you have to read the specs of each flashlight one by one.
No different than choosing flashlights based off mode options.
I know so many muggles who’ve bought a zillion lumen flashlights who are then unhappy that the light drops to about 10% output after 30 seconds.
Stating fixed specs would require perfect power regulation. Not all lights can offer this, and sometimes the curve depends on the battery used and/or environmental conditions. The customer ist responsible to read the whole text and the manufacturer is (or should be) responsible to publish specs according to the standards.
Turbo modes are no approach on cheating, but are appreciated modes to gain a significant plus of light when needed.
I agree. It’s so deceiving to not indicate duration! I’m hoping that eventually changes. This is why reviews are so important and I always rely on reading several before deciding on a flashlight.
Very good instances of turbo use cited. I’ve also leveraged it for checking on possible wild animals in the immediate area. Also, if you hear a noise and you want to briefly illuminate the area, an EDC sized flashlight with bright turbo is super convenient (saving you from having to take out the “big gun” search flashlight).
What if you see something farther out and it goes down to 10% darkness?
Can you turn the turbo on again right away or wait until that thing comes too close for lower light to see?
buying High lumen lights for me is more of a tactical choice, the logic being that if a light will do 4000+ lumens it should be able to sustain at least 1000, and in the case on my Convoy M3 for instance that`s perfectly true.
the amount of times i`v seen a light advertised as 1000Lm but can`t sustain it or anything above about 300lm gets a little tiresome, so buy a 10,000lm light and you`ll do 2000 no problem!
The rest of my logic is that most of these mega lumen lights go down quite low as well, but need to have bigger batts to run at high power, so you get a much longer runtime at normal levels than the average 18650 will get you.
Thankfully most my flashlight needs are met by 100lm or less (normally about 25), but it`s nice to know you can sustain 1000+ lumens if ever you wanted to.
i find things to do with Burst-Bo mode
my main concern is small size plus the energy of 18650
i have an FW3A
it is small enough
i am happy that it does have Burst-Bo mode
yes 30 sec is short but i would not make the necessary trade to have it go 5 minutes or ‘indefinitely’, since usually means a light about 3 times bigger
i would say i use Burst-Bo about once a day
one good use is, looking in dark places [like under a car, or in a drain culvert or under a bush]- in broad daylight…
i have other lights for Long-Bo mode, but i do not expect them to be EDCable
i think it is a good feature for ANY light to go beyond its ‘sustainable max’
even if it can do 2000 lumens all day, i would still want it to do 10,000 for 1 minute sometimes
it is just a different type of limit
wle
This is the best/most accurate description of turbo uses I have read. I find myself using turbos for very similar things, and they are very useful in short bursts (I live in heavy wooded area). Better to have it and not use it often then not have it and need it for a moment… Reading forum member’s justification for needing turbo make me feel like :person_facepalming: LOL , just kidding, kind’ve.
It’s useful for spotting a house number in the dark. Think about all those delivery people nowadays…. er, now-a-nights.
You don’t need much power to warm your hands. In most cases, 5W (for each hand) is more than enough.