I found the Acebeam K30 to be the perfect compromise between brightness and heat output.I can still EDC it in a jacket pocket .On turbo it’s supposed to be around 5000 lumens bright enough for me.
On low and medium outputs a set of batteries easily last me the whole day at work .
To OP, would you rather ramp down on Turbo to save flashlight thermal burn out. OR have light DESTROYED due to negligence and stupidity?
Flashlight companies have step downs from Turbo mode for good reason. To help aid in any damage due to EXCESSIVE heat generated by flashlight.
If OP feels inclined to ” FRY ” his light due to negligence by all means do it. You own flashlight.
BUT DO NOT come here and complain afterwards after light damaged.
Especially lights by Imalent, Acebeam, etc… those guys have fans to help aid in cooling flashlight.
BTW, I own Imalenet DX80 and only run on Turbo 1.5 to 2 minutes total. I manually step down output to avoid damaging my light.
I don’t think he wants a light that self destructs. I believe he wants sustainable lumens.
All that's required is that the user can modify the flashlight's maximum output level. Those who don't want a level that can't be sustained for ever can choose that. Those who want a maximum level that can only be sustained for five minutes can choose that. Those who want a maximum level that can only be sustained for 5 seconds can choose that. And so on. Of course that level could be affected by the state of charge of your battery, the age of your battery, and by the model of your battery, so you'd want to be able to change when you buy a new battery.
Some flashlights are already offering that kind of choice, such as being able to choose the temperature at which thermal regulation kicks in.
Of course some people will be annoyed by having to choose options in a menu or carry out experiments, so there will always be a place in the market for flashlights with no complicated options, no need for an instruction book, and so on. Just as there's a place in the market for simple mobile phones which only do phone calls, have no menus, no GPS, no texting, no email, no social media, etc..
This thread really took a “left turn” 
Hahahahaaa……I need more stuff like that in the morning.
Thanks for the thread!
Glad There is at least one other person who loves turbo and feels that way about lights that can sustain it for 20, 30 seconds or so[some a minute! wow!]. Which is they are useless!
About 4 years ago these manufacturers started all this. They try to entice us with these deceiving ANSI measurements,when in reality these lights can not sustain turbo for long at all.
It is ALL about preference. For some people the short turbo bursts do not bother them,I am not one of them.
I do have a life!!,but My husky is a part of it[~ 4 hours/day]………which is ~ 8 miles a day on the trail. Lately, I have been getting Two torch walks in a 24 hour period! 5 and 5,AM and PM!.
The solution to this BS step downs are modded lights,at least a much, much longer step down.I have a half dozen throw monsters that do not step down.
I got a T27…That was the last stock light that I got.It lasted 3 days. I sent it back because of Two malfunctions. When I got the light I knew that it had a 90 second step down. I accepted that even though I was not happy with that.
My favorite lights that do NOT step or have a thermal step down[TN42vn 90] which has never been activated.
1.TX25C2vn W/ XPG2 DD/Single mode activate by tightening/loosening tail cap. 900L/80Kcd
2. M2Xvn XML2 PDT DD/Single mode. 1200L/250Kcd
3. E’Tac M25C2vn T W/Oslon Black Flat. 740L/552Kcd
4.U21vn XPL PDT 1600l/260Kcd
5.K40vn XML2 ~ 1400L/400Kcd
6.TN42vn 90 [CFT90]–5000L/1Mcd
The ONLY one that gets hot is the TN42vn 90. That is in the summer. I get about 10 min. b/4 I have to dial down.
The rest NEVER get hot regardless of the season,FULL BORE AHEAD!
I forgot to mention that CAPO loves my lights. He is an EXPERT at following the beam, knowing that I am searching for critters! He will be 8 the day after Christmas,shortly after that we will pass 18K miles on the trail.
Reading some of these posts, it would seem that some of you haven’t discovered “modes” yet. You see, there’s this thing where a flashlight can put out less than its maximum level of light. It’s like a feature, or something… 
Like I said it is preference. Sure, there are other modes. My choice is CONSTANT turbo on the trail. What is wrong with that?!
Low modes for me are for my EDC lights.
I have never ridiculed any one on here for what ever output they choose to enjoy. However, whenever I mention my love for TURBO people want to try to point out that I should use other modes! lol!
WHY do I keep explaining myself when this comes up?! lol!
Lately I’m into smallish lights with 3000 lumen turbos but can sustain mid teens on high indefinitely . X9, SP33, C8F , SC26 all fall into this category. The X9 is especially usefull for short walks on winter nights. The SC26 is basically a 500 lumen light.
What are these “modes” you speak of??
Turbo—to make an uproar, move confusedly, be in disorder
Sounds right to me 
Frankly, this sounds more like whining than an argument.
And the car analogy is more than apt. I can have 450hp in a Chevy Silverado, but I can only ever use all of it for around 10 seconds. Does that mean I would rather have 105hp so I can use ALL of it for as long as I want? Heck no.
Sure, I COULD use the HP longer, but I might get punished. Which is the same as running tthe light for longer on turbo, and it might melt.
Oh yes, and there are other ways to use that HP. I could pull a trailer, and use all 450hp for 30 seconds. This is like wrapping your hand around the head of the light to absorb more energy.
Or I could pull a REALLY heavy load up a REALLY big hill and use all 450hp for 10,20, even 30 minutes. I could also water cool the head and keep turbo on for longer.
I CAN use lots of HP for longer, just as I CAN keep turbo on for longer, their might be punishment for doing so. I CANNOT use all the HP all the time, just as I cannot use all the output all the time.
I CAN find ways to use the HP for longer, just as I CAN find ways to keep turbo on for longer.
In the end I might run sustained low output for a long time, in both the light and the car. I might also want high output for a short amount of time, in both the light and the car. But because I cannot use the high output for as long as I want does NOT mean there is no use for it, or it is dumb to advertise it. There is some responsibility upon the consumer too you know. The argument is essentially complaining about the speed limit because you bought a big engine…
What if it only lasts for 5 seconds?
What about 1 second?
How about 0.01 seconds?
Would you be satisfied with 100k lumens for 0.01 seconds?
Or 500k lumens for 0.001 seconds?
Where do you draw the line?
The line gets drawn where sales stop.
Mega Lumens and Mcd are two sides of the same coin.
Having zero interest in either when excessive, I cannot fault builders for filling a need while satiated consumerism remains a pointless challenge.
It gets even more Ridiculous—-I’m fooling around with a Rofis MR30 — small EDC type light rated at 1600 lum—I understand it stepping out of Turbo at 1min down to High 650 lum — but after 6min it steps down again to 400 lum —- Come On Man
Ok, so, let’s extend the car analogy… if you had say that 450HP Silverado motor and you put it on a 70 lb wooden home made go cart, how successful would that be? Could be a lot of fun for a few seconds, but you’d likely cause a lot of damage if you used it on “Turbo” for more than a few seconds, right? BUT, if you put that same 450HP motor in a 12 Ton Dump Truck, you’d think it was severely underpowered.
That’s where we are with the flashlights, too much power for the light weight a lot of us are requiring. We could run Turbo a LOT longer if the light had big press fit copper cores with huge heavily finned aluminum heads. Our demands to the manufacturers to reduce size while ever increasing power has brought us to this point. We have shot ourselves in the foot, so to speak.
Now, y’all know I like a light to run for all it’s worth… but for me it’s not about it’s actual usefulness but more about what does it take to make a particular light hit that ceiling. Once the max is known it can be tuned down to find an optimum (I don’t do that of course!) But I am only building them this hot because I like the build, it’s all about the build, which is why I have over 200 lights and use only a few of them on a regular basis.
If we start trending towards a more optimized light, the manufacturers will make what we ask for, what we buy…
So,
KIA stinger
Chevrolet Crovette
Lamborghini Hurrican
Devil 16
Essentially the automotive equivalent or your argument.
500k lumen for. 01 seconds? Yep, hell of a defense flashlight.
No this is not the same thing.
Both of you are forgetting about the time.
All of those cars can function at their very high horsepower ratings for minutes or hours at a time, not a fraction of a second.
All of the superthrowers people build can also function for minutes or hours at full performance.
This is NOT the same as a high-lumen output flashlight that can only function for a fraction of a second.
No, there is nothing “defensive” about 500k lumens for 0.01 seconds, that’s literally just a bright camera flash.
And you can run a high lumen thrower for longer than a few seconds by externally managing the thermals. Just as you can run a high HP car by putting it on the track. You cannot operate a high HP car on the street for extended periods without consequence, just as you cannot operate a high lumen flashlight without consequence. Arguing that the consequence is a physical limitation instead of a legal one is semantics and doesn’t mean the argument is invalid.
As far as defensive, whatever. If I have an intruder in my house and I can hit them with a camera flash then I have partially incapscitated them. This is an effective defense.