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Throw is primarily determined by a few factors:

  • The intensity of the emitter. Think of this as “lumens per square mm of emitter surface”. Usually, but not always, small-die emitters have higher intensity. But because of their small surface area they produce less light overall.
  • The width of the reflector. Wider reflectors produce more throw.

A triple may have less throw than a single emitter light using the same emitter. Look at the surface of a triple and you’ll see dead space between the 3 reflector cones. In contrast a single emitter light probably has no wasted space. Beyond that, you can make a throwier triple by using more intense emitters (usually these have smaller dies and produce less light). Or you can use a big-head triple with large reflectors for each emitter.

Most compact triples use 20mm Carclo optics with very small reflectors. They tend to produce great floodbeams but are definitely not throwers.

In general, if you’re looking for a thrower, you’re probably better off going with a single-emitter. Another advantage of a single-emitter light is the hotspot will be narrower and you’re probably going to get less spill hitting at close-range. That’s important because if you’re looking at something far off in the distance, you don’t want the small amount of reflected light from that object to get swamped by much brighter light reflecting off objects right around you.

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