Apologies for the overloaded mailbox, just so popular I can't keep it clean enough to receive anymore! HA!
Anyway, I own several of these "big gun" lights and try to get them out once in awhile for comparisons. BVH makes an excellent point in saying that at the distances many of these lights can cast a beam, their usefulness comes into question. There really IS a need for a pair of binoculars to get a remote idea of what is out there and, at that point, other than the testing itself and the statement "mine is bigger (brighter) than yours", there really is no justification for ownership unless you're in the National Guard or some similar military/civilian service. Gotta have our toys though! I digress....
Sledhead and I "tested" several of our lights this past Fall out at Lackawanna State Park in NE Pa. Testing/reviewing involved casting beams over and across a large lake in that same park nothing even remotely "scientific" by any means---"Hey Sandy, wadaya see waaaaaay down there now?" was stated several times. The two lights germane to part this thread were/are a LEMAX 70 and a Maxabeam, Gen II. Both of these lights had very little time on them, Sandy's LEMAX maybe an hour or so, my Maxabeam, 2-3 (?) hours----bought it several years back and take it out to dust it off so, low milage. Now, VISUALLY, there was no comparison involved between these two lights as I stated in a previous post, the LEMAX 70 cast a much longer, distant beam and, even withstanding the distance, the beam itself was much more usable in that there was some decent spread of the beam itself. Now, the LEMAX is "limited" to a fixed beam and, the Maxabeam has a variable width adjustment----the longer the cast, the smaller the area illuminated but, even so, my GenII was overpowered by Sandy's LEMAX70.
The "target" for the tests was a concrete bridge maybe 300 yards distant and, we did encounter a significant amount of surface humidity above the lake surface so, we a had some "fog" distorting our review but, the LEMAX "beat" the Maxabeam, period. It is interesting to note that picture "documentation" of this simplified "shootout" was most deceiving---side by side, the Maxabeam light could not be seen in the photos however, we could see the beams clearly with the naked eye. Need to get Sandy to drop a few grand on some decent camera equipment I'd say!!
In the meantime, being the kid I am, I purchased a "Superpower"---from LEMAX in the old country, and, I've got Sandy beat....for now anyway. He claims at this rate he will never retire however so, I suspect he'll be contacting BVH soon to secure one of his WWII lights! I will say little about the performance of the SUPERPOWER at this point---lotsa lumens states it all. If you've got extra retirement funds to burn or are affiliated with some professional group in search and rescue, ya gotta have one!
As an aside, the SUPERPOWER is a bit of a "bear" to carry---the front end is too large to balance even with the shoulder strap is attached. I have constructed a cable-carry strap which attaches much further forward on the head of the light to attempt to balance it more evenly--works fine. The sheer size of the Superpower head however reminds me of the diameter of the afterburner on an F-18 and, with similar output....NOT a handsome light IMO .."Boy is she ugly but she shore can cook"!! Not your typical EDC unless you're the Hulk.
Now....upgrading my Maxabeam to the Gen III is possible but, I'll have to buy a larger generator to charge up all of these battery packs when I'm in the field testing....
Forgive my attempts at humor folks, I know, "Karl, don't quit your day job".
Karl
