My best thrower rates a throw factor of 27.25.
The little Solarforce M3 I did for a member here yesterday figures out to 15.67. With this being all new to me, don’t know if that’s good or bad!
Thanks for throwing something new into the pot…
Thanks for that formula lovelites!! 
It seems like my OSTS TN31mb will be hard to beat in this category with that impressive 44.6 rating! 
For stock lights my TN32 and Olight M3X did the best’ :bigsmile:
TN32-20.61
M3X-17.0
Thanks. Thats a pretty interesting way to look at throwers.
Duh! 
This is new to me too. So which is better, a higher throw factor or a lower throw factor? :~
Higher is better, it shows more of the available light making it downrange.
If 3000 lumens put’s light out to 500 yds it’s sheer power making it happen.
If 700 lumens put’s light out to 500 yds it’s genius of focus. Pencil beam comes to mind, nothing lost peripherally.
Edit: It might be a misleading formula though, as the light that reaches distant targets while spilling light on the surroundings between is a much more powerful light than the one that threads a trace of light through the darkness to illuminate a small area downrange. So based on the number alone, one might choose an XR-E light that is focused perfectly to illuminate marker signs or meters (say an electrical meter) for reading in poor light from a distance, whereas the lower relative number light may actually throw further and show more in the surrounding area, like a cow that is having calving problems that you can easily see at 700 yds distant through binoculars. So 2 lights with fairly different numbers in this formula might not be good for the same task, and the higher number could mislead as to which task it’s good for. Unless, of course, one knows his formulas…
EditII: To clarify, a pencil beam might show a cow in the distance having trouble calving, but not the 4 coyotes 10 yds away waiting for that calf to drop. The broader beam spill pattern of a more powerful light can show other things that are relative and equally important.
A higher throw factor only means higher relative throw after equalizing for differences in luminous flux. As I wrote a few posts ago, rdrfronty’s TN31mb has higher relative throw than any of his lights here, although all but the K40vn throw farther.
To avoid any misunderstandings about what this metric does and does not do, here’s more info about relative throw and flood. Throw factor is metric #3.
Comparing LED with different die size is wrong.Put xp-g2 in that tk-61 and you will increase "throw factor" by more than 50%.
You mean, like throwing that 6900 lumen multi emitter light in with the single emitter throwers?
Actually that’s the point. It does (and should) increase throw factor because an xp-g2 is relatively “throwier.” Throw factor lets you compare apples to oranges by equalizing for differences in luminous flux.
Don’t want to hijack rdrfronty’s thread, so go to How to Calculate Relative Throw and Flood With Excel Formulas for the detailed reasoning and calculations behind the metrics.