I’m curious what criteria the average flashlight enthusiast considers relevant in determining whether a particular light meets their requirements as a bona fide “thrower” (for those that pursue/collect/own that particular genre). Are you purely scientific in your qualification, or are you more perceptual when judging the merits of particular lights designed or marketed for extended reach? Do you have a specific benchmark that satisfies the distinction of a dedicated “thrower”, or are you more pragmatic in your expectations?
Admittedly, I’m not a numbers person. The lights I have that can give me details at 200+ meters, I consider a thrower. But I also understand that has to be taken in context considering the format of the light itself.
It's simply a light designed to throw the light out a far distance. This tends to require a large diameter, deep reflector, although some lights have multiples of smaller reflectors which can work well (Imalent R90TS).
My FW21 X9L is a nice tiny thrower, but not exactly ideal if you're looking for a legit thrower. Although good, the beam isn't 100% perfect and it just can't do max power for very long. The single SBT90.2 LED is fine but you would need it to be placed in a larger reflector with more aluminum heat sinking with more batteries to have a better beam with longer runtime at high output.
My definition of a thrower is a flashlight that is useless at short range, and has the opposite beam profile of a flashlight that is useless at long range.
There’s no hard cutoff for me where one light might be a thrower and another similar light might not be a thrower. There are a number of attributes that make a light more of a thrower though.
absolute intensity (candela) or throw (meters)
a high candela per lumen ratio (higher than ~30, generally)
Seems to me that the Thrunite Catapult is the one and only thrower named like a thrower. All others must be in another category.
We should come up with a definition that takes into account reflector dimensions vs emitter die area, etc, and those proportional relationships that give us more throw. That would make more sense than distance measurements, seeing as though we have throwers in all sizes these days. And then the TIRs as well.
cd/lm, beam angle, and optic:emitter area are all linked. If we were to define an objective threshold for a ‘thrower’, I’d say one of these values would be an appropriate metric. Personally, beam angles below 5 degrees fwhm are throwy, and below 3 degrees are purpose built.
I would say beam profile is the defining characteristic.
Narrow angular distribution with little spill = thrower, even if it’s 1 lumen.
Using metrics like intensity or distance would make the sun could be a thrower which doesn’t make sense.
I understand what you’re saying. But I agree to disagree I’ve been using throwers for more than 10 years on the trail. They have enough peripheral light for me to see fine. So they’re far from useless at short range.
Regardless of one’s definition of short-range they’re still useful. I can see 5, 10, 15 ft in front of me and then I could use the center beam(throw) to see
40 50 60 80 1000 yards ahead of me.
On the other hand. If I was a plumber or electrician I wouldn’t be using a thrower!
Definition of a thrower:
Light that can cover all situations from flood to throw. And of course there is nothing like well balanced aspherical flashlight for such usage.
I don’t have a really specific definition, but I generally consider a flashlight a thrower if it meets both of the following criteria:
Has a beam pattern optimized for long-range that is unsuited to close-range use. This typically means lights with small intense hotspots. Smooth reflector lights with small emitters like W1, plus some aspheric zoomies with small emitters. Sure I can use thrower inside the house, but the hotspot can be so small and intense it’s definitely not ideal. And…
Can illuminate things to at least medium range (couple hundred feet). I don’t consider an incan mag solitaire a “thrower” even though it has the narrow beam pattern of one. Its 2 lumen max output is barely enough to light up a door’s keyhole from a meter away.
Maybe “useless” is dramatic but I agree with his overall point. A dedicated thrower can be kinda garbage to use in close quarters if the beam is too focused. Too much output and you have a blinding point of light with brutal backscatter. Too little output and you have a narrow beam of useful light and basically no useful spill. I think a distinction should be made between a light that throws and and light that is a dedicated thrower.
