Gander Mountain 350 Lumen Flashlight

Read an article about lumens years ago. From what I remember, lumens is not that good a way to measure light output. It leaves a lot of room for hype.

I had a Surefire 6p and a M3. The 6p put out something like 60 lumens. With the low power bulb, the M3 put out 125 lumens. With both of them on
side by side, the M3 did not look twice as bright as the 6P.

Ask your self this. Why does a Surefire and the other top brands cost so much more than these cheap Chinese flashlights? The truth is that sometimes
you get what you pay for. I worked in a gun shop for almost 20 years. We sold Surefire lights. In all that time we never had one come back defective.

IMHO, for around 40 bucks, you would be a lot better off with a Surefire G2 or for a bit more, the G2X-D. It has dual outputs, 320 lumens and 15 lumens.
Neither have a bunch of useless features. SOS? Really?
 
Hmm. I always thought that a lumen was a legit unit of measure.

http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/lumen

However, I have to ask if the claimed numbers are legit. There is no way for me to verify the claim, i.e. to know that "350" for example isn't really 120. Is there an independent entity that confirms these claims? As far as Surefires, I have no doubt that a superior design executed by better trained/paid labor will result in a superior product.
 
It is a legit unit of measure, but with flashlights, Lux tends to be a better measurement to use when regarding brightness or perceived brightness. Also, one manufacturers testing data may not meet the same requirements as another, which is why you often see Surefire lights with lower lumen ratings than others, while having comparable brightness. Some are measured at the LED itself, some are measured at the lens, some are measured 10 inches in front of the light, and some are measured 10 inches away after several minutes of run time. Lumens to flashlights are similar to horsepower to cars. Each manufacturer wants to put out the highest number possible to increase sales. Some manufacturers have more credibility than others.
 
There are flashlight forums. Hey! Some folks obsess over flashlights just as others obsess over knives. :D

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...Easy-to-Understand-Lumens-Vs-Lux-Explanation&

I have had some experience with Chinese flashlights. Like everything else, you get what you pay for. The better quality Chinese lights tend to cost about the same as
Surefire and Streamlight. The cheap ones may work or they may not. What I have seen on many cheap Chinese lights in switch failure. If price is more important than
reliability, go for the cheap one. You may get lucky.

There are some Chinese made lights that have a good reputation. Fenix and 4Sevens are two that I can think of off the top of my bald head.
 
I have a fenix PD35 that claims 850 and zebra light that claims 1100. They are hard to tell apart side by side. You need to double the lumens to make an appreciably large step up in brightness.
 
SteelStickler said:
I have a fenix PD35 that claims 850 and zebra light that claims 1100. They are hard to tell apart side by side. You need to double the lumens to make an appreciably large step up in brightness.
Click to expand...

I would think that you could cook an egg with them. ;)
 
SteelStickler said:
You need to double the lumens to make an appreciably large step up in brightness.
Click to expand...

Pretty cool. I didn't know that. Is there a graph somewhere, like lumens vs perceived brightness or something along those lines?

Also I would love to know how large are those increments of sensitivity and how much variation is there between humans and does it change with age?

I should probably start here: http://www.ecse.rpi.edu/~schubert/Light-Emitting-Diodes-dot-org/Sample-Chapter.pdf

Kinda intimidating, though.
 
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