# Flood or throw? What is the main use for your headlight?



## gcbryan (Mar 20, 2011)

I'm just curious as to what is more popular regarding headlights...mainly flood or some flood and some throw?

Which is another way of asking what is your primary use for a headlamp. I understand that once you have one you find other uses for it.

Is it as simple as mechanics like flood or anyone else working up close with their hands and hikers, campers, like some flood and some throw so as to be able to see the surrounding and a little of what's up ahead as well? I guess bikers would be in this category as well?

I guess a camper who only used the headlight in the tent or while preparing a meal would be in the flood category as well.

Which is more popular among headlamp users all flood and some flood and some throw?


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## mwb01 (Mar 20, 2011)

I can't speak for everyone but I mainly use headlamps for flood, although I definitely like headlamps to have some throwing capability. After all, if you're using it around camp for flood and hear something out a ways in the bushes you don't wanna have to go grab a handheld for the throw.


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## tedh (Mar 20, 2011)

For me, it's mainly flood...but when I need throw, I really need it. The classic scenario is backpacking or backcountry skiing; Generally flood for around camp, but if I'm actually traveling after dark, I need the throw for routefinding and finding trail markers. Which explains why I'm often droning on about the lack of good headlamps with diffusers. 

Ted


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## gcbryan (Mar 20, 2011)

Yes, that's the confusing part for me. All flood is a nicer beam when you are around camp and don't need to see ahead but when you need to...you need to. Yet, when you have a throw type of beam and are doing something up close it's annoying to have that bright spot in the middle of everything.

Diffusers would be good but are generally not efficient. I have a headlamp that has a mode where you switch to two secondary (5mm) leds and this is a diffused light. However in the case of my headlamp (BD Spot) the secondary leds just aren't bright enough for much except for in tent use.

I could see using a XP-G as a good compromise of throw and flood.


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## gcbryan (Mar 20, 2011)

Duplicate post


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## mrgreg (Mar 20, 2011)

I find that I need both. I use my BD extensively for camping and backpacking and the throw is too much for cooking or reading in my tent or searching through my pack for dry socks, but the flood LEDs on my light are not sufficient to find a trail or even for good footing in the snow when I need to answer nature's call in the middle of the night. for camping/backpacking I find that a light that can do both is a must for me.


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## Bolster (Mar 20, 2011)

Wide, even FLOOD. 

If I need throw I use a handheld.


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## srfreddy (Mar 20, 2011)

Doesn't the Fenix HP10 have a flip over diffusor?


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## Launch Mini (Mar 20, 2011)

Flood. Normally. When I use a headlight it is because I'm using both hands close up. Ie firewood, moving stuff etc. I can use a handheld for throw in addition to a headlight.


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## gcbryan (Mar 21, 2011)

Bolster said:


> Wide, even FLOOD.
> 
> If I need throw I use a handheld.


 
I guess this could relate to your thread regarding why headlights aren't used more. When I want/need/use a headlamp I need both so if all I could find was a pure flood headlamp I'd still have to carry a handheld and therefore there would be no need for the headlamp in the first place.

I do like the beam quality of a flood better but without some throw it's use is very limited for me (hiking, camping, etc). Climbing just after dark however pure flood would be best.

It's good to have this feedback everyone! I'm just getting into occasionally using headlamps and I haven't quite figured out the optimal usage for me.


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## bedazzLED (Mar 21, 2011)

I tend to use mine more for flood than throw, but there are times when a little throw is great too. I like the Fenix HP10 but it can be a little too throwy, and I don't always have the diffuser with me. I actually liked the LED Lenser H7, which has variable output and flood-to-throw capabilities. The only thing that let it down was the ABSOLUTELY flimsy hinge on the head. I'm currently using the LED Lenser H14, and it's got flood-to-throw and variable output capabilities, so I can select whatever, whenever I want, and it's regulated. Not a bad light I have to admit.


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## Bolster (Mar 21, 2011)

Should I be adding the Lensers to the Flood Beam Headlamp Thread? Are they floody enough to count? If so, can you send me to any beamshots?


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## B0wz3r (Mar 21, 2011)

I agree with Bolster... my primary uses for a headlamp make a floody beam best. DC-fix on my H51w makes it a great light; it still has a hotspot, but it's much larger and more diffuse than without it. When I need throw, I use a handheld light like my Q123^2 nw on an 18650 body, or my Jet-3 Pro ST in neutral.


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## moresnowdays (Mar 21, 2011)

I find that flood in headlamps works most of the time. I mostly use it for reading at night, or for reading maps in any low light hiking. For map reading on the trail, nothing beats a flood light to me. For longer through I like a hand held light to quickly through the light right where I want it. Especially spotting wildlife on the trail, it prevents whiplash for trying to direct a headlamp all over.


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## uk_caver (Mar 21, 2011)

My main headlamp use is underground, and there I tend to use a whole range of beam blends depending on the situation, from pure flood to full spot, though flood with a little added spot is my most commonly-used beam blend, as it is for walking with my main surface headlamp.


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## lightnin'hopkins (Mar 21, 2011)

I definitely prefer flood for headlamp. Walking, running, climbing, etc.
Some lights have a flip up diffuser so you can have your cake & eat it.


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## B0wz3r (Mar 22, 2011)

When I'm biking, I prefer to have a thrower on my helmet. I typically use something floody on my handlebars so that I've got a good wide swath of light directly in front of my wheel, no matter where it's pointing. In combination with that, a thrower on my helmet lets me put light anywhere I look, even a good ways downrange if I need it. 

For that use then, I've been considering one of the Spark ST6-280 OW models. From what I've seen they're very throwy instead of floody, and it would be brighter than my Jet 3 Pro which is my primary light for use on my bike helmet right now.


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## matt732 (Mar 22, 2011)

Both.
As a firefighter I found that a flood beam causes blinding in heavy particulate ladent smoke. A narrow spot beam works much better. However, there are many other times, sans smoke, that the flood beam is much more appropriate, such as on EMS runs or service calls that require the use of both hands.


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## Flying*A (Mar 31, 2011)

Flood. Walking or working. Have flashlight or spotlight for long range lum.


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## RonM (Apr 1, 2011)

When it comes to headlamps I find myself needing flood much more often than spot. Whether it's fixing plumbing under a sink or doing tasks around camp, flood is the rule. When camping I'd like some throw occasionally, so I carry a 1xAA hand held for that.


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## Outdoorsman5 (Apr 1, 2011)

I mostly use my headlamps for running before the sun comes up (streets & trails.) So, a good combination of flood & throw is better for my uses. For situations where I'm working up close, I'd prefer pure flood.


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## LED_Thrift (Apr 1, 2011)

For most uses, Flood. 
However there are two circumstances where I've needed more throw than my Princeton Tec could deliver. One is mountain biking, the other backcounty skiing [on the downhills]. Seeing the turns of the upcoming trail and the condition of the trail or snow ahead needed a more focused beam than I had. In both instances using a handheld thrower was not practical. I've also been in caves where more throw would have been nice, but was not critical.


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## Bolster (Apr 1, 2011)

B0wz3r said:


> When I'm biking, I prefer to have a thrower on my helmet..., I've been considering one of the Spark ST6-280 OW models. From what I've seen they're very throwy instead of floody...



Bowzer, did you know you can pop the reflector out of a Spark and have a full flood light? Yep, it's true; so you can have the best of both worlds. See a beamshot in the thread referenced in my sig line.


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## bwm (Apr 3, 2011)

Flood for the most part. I find flood best for shoveling snow before work in the early morning, reading a book in bed before going to sleep, gardening after work in the spring or fall or numerous other indoor uses for a headlamp. 

The one use I found for throw in a headlamp is mowing the lawn for those times when I don't get home from work until almost 7 pm and the grass needs mowing and for whatever reason I can't put it off to another day.

Brian


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## HotWire (Apr 3, 2011)

I usually use my headlight for repairs around the car or house, so flood is best for me. I carry a flashlight when I need a focused beam. :candle:


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## davidt1 (Apr 3, 2011)

I have been using my all flood H501 today after two months of using the H51w. Wow! Flood is nice.


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## davidt1 (Apr 3, 2011)

Bolster said:


> Bowzer, did you know you can pop the reflector out of a Spark and have a full flood light? Yep, it's true; so you can have the best of both worlds. See a beamshot in the thread referenced in my sig line.



Can you ask Zebralight why they can't make their H51F all flood by doing this?


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## srfreddy (Apr 3, 2011)

Bolster said:


> Bowzer, did you know you can pop the reflector out of a Spark and have a full flood light? Yep, it's true; so you can have the best of both worlds. See a beamshot in the thread referenced in my sig line.


 
I can do the same with a lot of other lights; It wastes waay too much light.


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## Bolster (Apr 4, 2011)

srfreddy said:


> I can do the same with a lot of other lights; It wastes waay too much light.



What other headlamps allow you to unscrew the bezel and take out the reflector to get a flood? I'd like to know. 

Regarding wasting light...not sure about that...more-or-less bare emitters exist on other good lights, particularly caving lights...but with 500 lumen on a Spark, you'd have some to waste!


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## uk_caver (Apr 4, 2011)

Bolster said:


> Regarding wasting light...not sure about that...more-or-less bare emitters exist on other good lights, particularly caving lights...but with 500 lumen on a Spark, you'd have some to waste!


 The waste does rather depend how deep a bare emitter is in the case, or rather, the range of angles from which light can get from the emitter to the outside rather than lighting up the interior of the light.

If someone had a removable-bezel/removable-reflector light that they wanted to make more permanently into a pure flood, they could try either rolling a cone replacement for the reflector out of white material, or out of silvered material. The first should give a very smooth light, the second something a bit more centre-weighted while still being essentially floody.


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## srfreddy (Apr 4, 2011)

Bolster said:


> What other headlamps allow you to unscrew the bezel and take out the reflector to get a flood? I'd like to know.
> A
> Regarding wasting light...not sure about that...more-or-less bare emitters exist on other good lights, particularly caving lights...but with 500 lumen on a Spark, you'd have some to waste!


 
All you're doing is removing the hotspot and keeping the spill. The light that the reflector would focus into a hotspot would now be wasted against the walls. And as Sparks have plenty of throw, plenty of light is going *poof*.


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## tedh (Apr 4, 2011)

I think I see what you mean...but to a certain extent, I think you're not "removing" the hot spot, as much as not creating it in the first place. Not all of it would be wasted against the walls, a bunch will go out the front, just in a wider cone.

Do the LED manufacturers give a "natural" beam pattern for a bare emitter? I remember reading the Zebralight H501 mimicked the natural shape of the emitter output. It is possible, depending on where the emitter is placed in the housing, that the cone of light emitted from the bare emitter doesn't hit the inside of the housing at all, and the majority of the light goes out the front. 

The experiment I'd like to see from a Spark owner: remove the reflector cone. Replace is with a flat reflective disc with a hole cut out for the emitter itself. Then, put another strip of reflective material around the inside of the housing. Put another way, replace the cone-shaped reflector with a cylindrical reflector. Like a tiny tin can with the lid removed and a hole cut for the emitter. 

Then we need beamshots and integrating sphere outputs from normal, no reflector, and can reflector configurations. Hey, I can wish, can't I?

Ted


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## Bolster (Apr 4, 2011)

Ted, sounds like you need to get a Spark! You know we already have a beamshot of the Spark without reflector, you can see it in the thread referenced in my sig line. It's one of the most beautiful beams I've seen from a headlamp, just pure even flood. 

If you look at some of the high end caving lights, you'll notice they don't put any reflective substance behind the emitter...just have the emitter sitting there behind glass. Like this Hurricane or this Scurion...the throw emitter has a reflector, the flood emitter is bare. 

But back to my question for srfreddy: What other headlamps besides Spark allow you to easily remove the reflector and get a floody beam? You'd mentioned there were lots of others, and I'd like to know which they are...would allow me to start experimenting with some of them...thanks!


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## srfreddy (Apr 4, 2011)

I meant flashlights, that I've done it with, and its pretty pointless. Tape works better. See diagram:


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## MikeAusC (Apr 4, 2011)

Ever since I discovered zoomable LED lights (Lenser H7 clone from DX) I consider any other light a waste of money, because it's only suited to one type of need.


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## srfreddy (Apr 4, 2011)

Ever since I moved off zoom lights, I have been thankful for my knowledge. (Seriously, get a light for each job, carry both-much better performance)


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## MikeAusC (Apr 4, 2011)

srfreddy said:


> Ever since I moved off zoom lights, I have been thankful for my knowledge. (Seriously, get a light for each job, carry both-much better performance)


 
When I'm carrying a stretcher, most of the time I have the Headlamp set to Wide to see the patient and the area around me for safe foot holds.

When I look up to see where the track is headed, it takes me half a second to go to Spot to see well into the distance.

You're suggesting I take off my Wide headlamp, put it in my pocket, fumble around to get the strap from my Spot headlamp on my head single-handed, then switch it on ???


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## shao.fu.tzer (Apr 4, 2011)

Flood... Usually if I'm wearing a headlamp, I'm working on something up close, in which case I don't need a 400 lumen hotspot 2 feet away from my face.


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## srfreddy (Apr 4, 2011)

I just went for a quick run outside, with a super floody headlamp. Omg. Its 10 pm right now, and super foggy. The headlamp did absolutly NOTHING against the black ground. Nada. Luckily, I had a Maratac AA on me, which helped a ton. Once again, I wish for an optic formed beam.


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## srfreddy (Apr 4, 2011)

MikeAusC said:


> When I'm carrying a stretcher, most of the time I have the Headlamp set to Wide to see the patient and the area around me for safe foot holds.
> 
> When I look up to see where the track is headed, it takes me half a second to go to Spot to see well into the distance.
> 
> You're suggesting I take off my Wide headlamp, put it in my pocket, fumble around to get the strap from my Spot headlamp on my head single-handed, then switch it on ???


 
Ah, for your usage, yeah, a Flood to throw headlamp is pretty convienent.


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## electrothump (Apr 4, 2011)

@ bedazzLED "I actually liked the LED Lenser H7, which has variable output and flood-to-throw capabilities. The only thing that let it down was the ABSOLUTELY flimsy hinge on the head."


I couldn't agree more about the H7 hinge being flimsy. It is a simple fix though. A one inch #2-56 bolt, with a nut will fix it. It works much better like that anyway. You'll have to drill the hinge rivet, and make the little bolt work in there. After that, no more hinge problems. Nice flood, and good zoom. Best headlights I've used in years!


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## Bolster (Apr 5, 2011)

@srfreddy...understood regarding the wasted light hitting the inside of the "tube." Clearly a better solution is to shorten (or at least reflectorize) the tube.


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## srfreddy (Apr 5, 2011)

Do you know the dimensions of the reflector? One could possibly find a suitable optic for it.


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## fridgetarian (Apr 5, 2011)

I've not seen mention of the light I am just about to buy: ZL h51fw. 

I will be using it for camping (setting up camp at night / reading within a hammock), possibly for car repair, and hopefully for some caving. Is there any opinion about the frosted lens on this model? 

I could certainly use the flood it provides in most cases, but something tells me I can preserve whatever throw the h51w is capable of by using a removable diffuser of some sort. I guess I'm just fishing for simple ideas to make this light (whichever model I get) as versatile as possible. Thanks.


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## carrot (Apr 6, 2011)

I like flood for my headlamps but I don't want it to be completely flood with no throw at all. I find the beam projected by the Surefire Saint to be especially satisfying, but a cluster of 5mms does a very good job as well. I am also pleased with the PT EOS beam, which has a very wide and diffuse hotspot, not unlike the Malkoff M61. Essentially I expect the headlamp to illuminate what's directly in front of me and a little bit further so I can see where I'm going without using another light. I 

I have had very throwy headlamps and find them useless since so many tasks I do with a headlamp is at arm's reach.


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## tedh (Apr 6, 2011)

srfreddy: got it, that diagram makes it clear. I do still wonder what "reflectorizing" the inside of the tube would do. But I'll take your observation that the tape (or presumably other external diffuser) is preferable to reflector removal. 

Bolster: I have a Spark, actually, but it's got the flicker problem, so I need to send it back. The bezel didn't come off easily, and I didn't want to take the chance of dinging it up. But you're right, I do need to play more with one! I was hoping to lure someone else into doing all my crazy experiments!

Electrothump: looks like a good light. I'm paranoid about lights with a cord from the battery pack to the front, I had one fail at a very bad time once, but that's me. I wish they would make one with a single AA up front. 

fridgetarian: I bought the H51w, and wanted the same as you did, a flood option. I modified a Fenix diffuser to fit. Thread is here: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?308655-H51-H51w-mod-flip-away-diffuser I do think it makes the light more useful; there are plenty of situations (as described above) where going from flood to spot or vice versa is necessary. 

Ted


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## electrothump (Apr 6, 2011)

Electrothump: looks like a good light. I'm paranoid about lights with a cord from the battery pack to the front, I had one fail at a very bad time once, but that's me. I wish they would make one with a single AA up front.


tedh, 
I know what you mean about the cord. I've had trouble out of every corded light that I've owned. But, I am very hard on lights, as I use them daily, and nightly. I've had to repair broken wires on the H7 twice so far. I have three of the H7s. I keep two in top shape, and just rotate them out. One thing you'll find with the lights that have the battery in the front, and nothing in the back, is the comfort on the head when you are working on something that requires you to lay on your back with your head on the ground/floor. No battery pack back there is a definite plus in those conditions. I don't like most of the lights with multiple batteries up front, simply because of the extra weight making the lights off balance, and sometimes a little bouncy. Those that have the single AA don't have that problem, and work very well. I also have several of the ROV Xtreme single AA. Run time on the ROV main light is about two hours, then you have the smaller leds to get you out of a pinch till you can swap batteries. I like the ROVs really well also. The brightness, low weight, and ease of controls is what sells me on the H7s. Flood to spot, and low to high in a second with no cycling is pretty nifty. For the most part, I have as much trouble with wearing out the straps as all other things combined.


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## fridgetarian (Apr 6, 2011)

tedh said:


> I modified a Fenix diffuser to fit. Thread is here: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?308655-H51-H51w-mod-flip-away-diffuser I do think it makes the light more useful; there are plenty of situations (as described above) where going from flood to spot or vice versa is necessary.
> 
> Ted



Tedh: This is great! I will look into this. Or, as you mention in the post, maybe upgrade to a ground glass version. I'd love to have a small disc that fits within the bezel, but have no idea how to secure it / where to store it. I suspect some tinkering is in order. Thanks.


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## zare34 (Apr 19, 2011)

I use the throw most of the time. I service Telecom equipment. My main light is the coast led lenser h7. Very easy to use and does not have the SOS flashing feature that I don't need. I also like the dimmable feature that reduces glare. Light and comfortable to wear also.


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