Lumens for Indoor "Defensive Situation" Lights

[Doc7]

Hello all,

Every time I turn around I find a new aspect of gun ownership that utterly bewilders me.

Driving, in the seat next to my fiancee in a dark car when she pointed a 208 Lumen Coast light at a piece of white paper and hit the switch, I realized that there is such a thing as too bright.

Without having to spend several hundred dollars on trial and error, what kind of lumens are you folks using on your weapon lights (or handheld if that's your thing) for indoor purposes? My house has light colored walls, and in particular my bedroom has white walls. It is a small apartment and at most I'm looking at 7 yards distances.

Is the goal to have the minimum amount of light needed to identify a potential target, or is it to be able to disorient them without simultaneously disorienting yourself?

 

[rcmodel]

I don't know what the goal is.

I keep a 165 lumen Surefire on the night stand and it works for me.

I think it would ID + dazzle the BG in darkness, but not me.

On the other hand, I could get by nicely with the 2-AA cell Streamlight Stylus Pro I keep in my shirt-pocket all the time.

It's only 48 lumen, but lights up the bedroom like somebody flipped on the light switch.

rc

 

[backbencher]

Doc, lumens are going up all the time w/ improvements in LED technology. My M4 weapon light is a 2010 9V Inforce that puts out 170 lumens - that'll get me out to 100 yds or so, I expect. The same 9V now puts out over 300 lumens - both are overkill for 7 yds w/ a white background. (Soon, it will be de rigueur to practice house clearings w/ uber-cool sunglasses on.)

 

[hso]

The latter.

A focused beam will help with the "back splash" problem as well as knowing when to use a a "flame thrower" and when to use a "lighter". Keep your weapon lights separate from your navigation flashlights.

 

[fireside44]

I've found indoors at night that a 100 lumen or so light is more than plenty for me. I prefer one that spreads rather than one that has a tight beam because it seems to light up the room more so than just a single point. Step outside and it all changes.

 

[dmazur]

I like the somewhat modernized 6P (the 6P LED) -

Surefire 6P LED Review

...The beam of the Surefire is a real delight. It doesn't throw a spotlight like a laser into the darkness like some lights. Instead, it has a very bright center spot with a very wide area surrounding the spot with even floodlight. It's a favorite for most emergency purposes because the beam pretty much fills a normal room with enough light to identify a threat with a quick blip of the momentary-on switch. It's bright enough to light a pretty large area outdoors as well...

The specs say this light is rated at 80 lumens.

And, yes, it is too much light for use by the passenger inside a car. Mini-mag with LED conversion seems adequate for that.

 

[Outlaw Man]

Lumens are kind of iffy for comparing how much you're lighting up the room. Lumens are a measurement of how much light the diode (or lamp) is capable of putting out (in simplistic terms). What you're actually seeing is a combination of lumens, reflector quality/design, lens transmission, etc. There are a few manufacturers that you can coax useful information out of, but for the most part, I want to see the light in use.

HSO's last sentence is the most important advice. Keep your flashlights for their intended use. An insanely bright light is great for navigating or for blinding an attacked, depending on the distribution. As RC said, it doesn't take a lot of light inside a dark house.

 

[JShirley]

I thought for years 2 lights was the way to go, with about a 15 lumen task light and 50+ lumen tac light. That changed when I T&Ed the ElZetta. The low power setting is so perfect, and throws so far, that I also wondered if the low setting would be all that I needed for indoors.

When I faced a situation with smoke and conflicting light sources, that thinking changed. I strongly recommend the ElZetta. It's efficient, powerful, and the UI is intuitive and simple: just what you need when the situation's really bad.

John

 

[herrwalther]

Between 100 and 200 lumens is a good happy medium between indoor and outdoor use I have found on flashlights. My weapon light is 100 lumens and it is rather dim compared to my 180 lumen Streamlight Protac 2L.