Kinda sorta like a young boy:https://aqu52.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/pe-cartoon.jpg?w=296&h=252
I have a camera flashgun that can output tens of thousands more lumens than any flashlight, but it can only do so for a thousandth of a second. That doesn't stop it being very useful for photography. It would of course be useless for walking a dog at night. The problems being discussed in this thread seem to be problems that arise when people buy the wrong thing because they didn't do the appropriate checking of specifications and performance before purchase.
Welcome to BLF Chris.
That is part of it. I believe the bigger picture is the deception that manufacturers have been feeding us the last ~ 4 years or so. That deception is a result of the lumen war and advertising X amount of lumens for 50 or 60 minutes, when in actuality we are getting that MAXIMUM SUSTAINED OUTPUT[MSO] for a relatively short time. They[ANSI] get away with it because they set the criteria and standards for their way of measuring[Time of MSO] which is NOT based on 100% output for 60 minutes, instead, for how long the flashlight can maintain up to 10% of its MSO! The deception and short turbo bursts have been my complaint and many others.
My personal solution started a little over 5 years ago when I started buying modded lights. Not only do they have more output, b/w more heat sinking and programmable and a different type of driver, they are able to sustain max output much, much, much longer!My examples are in POST #27. ALL of which can maintain Max output until battery depletion with the exception of my TN42vn90 which, in the summer time can go ~ 10 minutes b4 it gets too hot.Naturally from turn on until battery depletion the output is slowly depleting,but there is NO STEP DOWN.EXCEPT for a thermal step down for TN42vn90 which has never happened[at least it was not noticable by eye]. The sensor is in the head of the light and the modder said it is set at a high temperature where it would not affect my loooong turbo runs! :+1:
Turbo/boost mode is a temporary mode designed for occasional purposes, if you are getting dependent on it then it’s a sign you need a brighter light or…. more lights. In my opinion, manufacturers should only put the highest sustained output in the packaging. And let the maximum ridiculously bright turbo/boost mode in the specification page so as not to misled newbies. But that will not going to happen since lumen sells 
I see most people tend to use higher modes of their light in dim condition. While in darker or pitch dark conditions, there are less complains even for a cute 5lm keychain light. It’s the same as your cellphone display brightness, the brighter the ambient light, the more energy you use to lit the display.
- Clemence
Btw, there was somewhat similar thread a year ago, about turbo advertising nonsense and a search for real high lumen lights:
“Turbo nonsense?” lol! ,maybe to you it is. To some like myself it is beneficial, just as ML-L-M-H are to others, and myself when Edc’ing indoors.
Who said nonsense ?
not me for sure 
Simply read my post #164,especially the “words” of the guy I quoted!
Look at his quote!!! “About turbo nonsense”! He edited NOW to say ,Turbo “advertising” nonsense!!! lol!
My thought reading the OP would be to find your lumen need and a light that matches the output and amount of time it is needed. All lights want to show off their max power. It will never change. So given that, adjust what you can control.
When I first started paying attention to BLF, 1000 lumen tube lights were common. Then up and up and up. It took me awhile to realize the heat and capacity aspect of these lights. Now I am more into run time and sustained high values. Like anything, do your research and pick your poison.
OK, to explain a bit… I LIKE turbo mode, because I can start a fire with it (some flashlights can do that). BUT it’s almost impossible to find a flashlight for some tasks. I know what I want (need) to buy (or recommend to someone), but can’t search for it, because every light is 1e4 lm or more. Something like speakers/amplifiers, every small box is 500 W (with tiny letters “PMPO”) and you can’t get the real data. Even if you consider that “turbo” is just for marketing, flashlights often stepdown even from high mode, but they can usually sustain it for 1/4-1/2 hour, so it is somewhat usable. Now, if no one did a review and measured real data, you buy a flashlight more like “small&flat” is low lumen, “2 fin” (heatsink) is medium lumen, “5+ fin” is high lumen light. Don’t tell me you are happy with the situation like this?
The only thing constant is the fact that there are variables. How would you go about determining this MSO? Every light sold would have to be fully custom. For me, in the summer, it can still be 100º at midnight. How do you account for that in your formula? Or for my friend in Connecticut, out camping in the snow in the winter, his light would be far different than mine, wouldn’t it? And then, which emitter? Which cell? Every variation on the theme will result in a different need to compute the theoretical maximum sustained output. And so our dear friend Tony Maglica did all that for us long ago, he gave us a flashlight with massive cells and very weak output, there ya go, bulletproof!
Where is will, there is solution (maybe I did not translate it the best way - czech proverb).
There are industry tests/standards for almost everything, so I don’t see the problem here. When you open some emitter’s datasheet, you will see that those tests do have their variables specified. For example ambient temperature 25°C.
This has been a fun thread, thank everyone for the laughs.
I don’t know how to link photos from others threads, so I am going to link the whole thread.
The last photo in post 2 of the owners manual.
Couple nights ago… mosquito roaming around my room. Tried to squish it with a kleenix but it got away.
Then spent 20 minutes shining my flashlights carefully examining every possible surface it might have landed on before I spotted it and killed it. I needed LOTS of lumens to spot it against dark surfaces, so wanted as much output as possible.
- Emisar D4 number 1 - turbo ramped down too fast.
- Emisar D4 number 2 - turbo ramped down too fast.
- Emisar D4 Titanium - turbo ramped down too fast.
- Fireflies ROT66 - nice, but timed stepdown after 3 minutes wasn’t enough. Plus a little big to carry around.
- Zebralight SC64w HI - nice, but not quite what I was looking for to spot that pesky mosquito. I wanted a bright wall of light for close-range use. The SC64W HI had a not bright spot, but it was smaller than I wanted and the spill was dimmer than I was looking for.
- Zebralight SC600w IV Plus - Perfect! Initial output not far off the Emisar D4, but unlike the D4 the turbo just keeps going and going and going without a noticeable rampdown (when held in the hand to help wick off heat). Pretty much all the way until the battery hits 3.3 volts. And while the light becomes hot, it never becomes burning hot like the head of a D4.
I love the Emisar D4. It’s classy (especially the titanium version) and a fun toy for wowing friends. But I have to admit the Zebralight SC600w IV Plus pretty much blows the D4 away when it comes to usefulness at high output. The Zebralight makes the Emisar feel like a toy.
If I were going to do some task and knew I might need more than 30 seconds of 1500 lumen+ turbo, I’d shelve my Emisars and grab the SC600w IV Plus. Zebralights may be pricy, but their heatsinking is first-class.
Zebralight is also CONSIDERABLY more expensive, and that’s in part because of the expensive machining and assembly so they can have that host milled from a single block of aluminum, which owes greatly to their excellent thermal performance. (Which is worth it to me too… I carry a Mk IV HI everyday :+1: )
I’m curious what emitters you have in those D4s though too, a 219 will get hot and step down noticeably faster than many of the Cree options.
I’d rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.
The Acebeam X65 will hold Turbo Max for nearly 5 minutes before stepping down below 9,000 lumens.
That’s impressive.
When checking pastures and fences, we regularly use Turbo Max.
And even under those conditions, the battery pack seems to last forever…
I really don’t see it as a huge deal. There are very few situations in my case where I’d need something super-bright for a sustained period anyway. For me, having a light in low or medium setting, then ramping up for a point of interest and going on turbo just to get the big picture, then go back to a more sane setting, seems like a pretty practical use.
I have an AceBeam X80, and it requires double clicks to access the two turbo modes - then one click to get back to a normal mode. Similar with my BLF GT70 - requires double-click to go into turbo. If I wanted sustained 25K lumens, I’ll bring a generator and some floodlights, not a soda-can flashlight!
Really, it’s the same thing with most any products guys love and mod - cars, boats, computers, whatever… We want the best and fastest, yet with these things the majority of us would never experience them full-tilt for sustained periods. But it’s great to know we have the capability.