# Average Lumen...



## Gunner12 (Jan 3, 2009)

I'm not sure where this thread fits so I'll post it in the Cafe section.

What is the average lumen of a flashlight?

Considering the all the functional flashlights in the world, what is the average lumen of them combined?

What about the average lumen of all the flashlights owned by CPF members?

My guess is 20-30 lumen for the average of all the world's lights and 50-70 lumen for all CPF's lights.

Edit: Thanks for the move mods, I guess this would have been better if I posted in the general flashlights area.


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## Marduke (Jan 4, 2009)

Seeing as the vast majority of flashlights in the world by a HUGE margin is almost definitely a basic $1-5 2D incan plastic job, I would guess the average is the average brightness of those lights. So, 10-20 lumens is my guess.


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## Burgess (Jan 4, 2009)

Agreed.


I'd say World-Wide, it's barely in the Double-Digits.


Perhaps 10 - 12 Lumens.


And ya' know . . . .


For much of my life, and long before me,

that was quite adequate for 90% of people's needs.

:candle:




As for "typical" CPF members . . . .


Well, we've been "enlightened", haven't we. 

_


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## Yucca Patrol (Jan 4, 2009)

I came across my old 2D Maglite the other day and tried it out and was just plain horrified to see how miserable that giant piece of metal really is. And to think that I thought that was a good flashlight for nearly all of my life?


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## VillageIdiot (Jan 4, 2009)

It can be... in ROP form


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## Derek Dean (Jan 4, 2009)

Yucca Patrol said:


> I came across my old 2D Maglite the other day and tried it out and was just plain horrified to see how miserable that giant piece of metal really is. And to think that I thought that was a good flashlight for nearly all of my life?


I do understand your feelings..... however, don't discount how good a light that Mag still is. 

I've had the same 3D Mag for nearly 30 years and it still works as good as new. By the way, I found that a bit of contact cleaner and new batteries made a huge difference in how bright it can be.

As far as average lumens go ... for my 9 lights that comes out to 60 lumens.


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## Yucca Patrol (Jan 4, 2009)

Don't worry, I'm planning on modding that old Mag lite into something beyond what it ever dreamed it could be. . .:twothumbs


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## adirondackdestroyer (Jan 4, 2009)

I tested a 2D Maglite the other day and with fresh cells it is 19 lumens out the front. I would guess the average cheapie flashlight is even dimmer than that, so I would expect people to be used to around 8-15 lumens, depending on how fresh the batteries are.


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## ToeMoss (Jan 4, 2009)

12


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## techwg (Jan 4, 2009)

According to http://www.brightguy.com/manufacturer/maglite.php

A 6D Mag has 162 lumens, 4D Mag has 122 lumens and a 2D Mag has 36 lumens


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## Gunner12 (Jan 4, 2009)

But as we know from general testing, the actual rating is around half of what Maglite states at least up to their 4D model(around 60 lumen for the 4D).

10-15 lumen sounds more likely for an average even considering the 1000+ lumen lights.


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## Guy's Dropper (Jan 4, 2009)

My 4D mag is closer to 30-50 lumens.


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## 2xTrinity (Jan 4, 2009)

> I'd say World-Wide, it's barely in the Double-Digits.
> 
> Perhaps 10 - 12 Lumens.
> 
> ...


Oddly enough, since joining CPF, I never use lights that are in the 10-30 lumen range typical of most flashlights. I either use lights that are well over 100 lumens, or well under 1 lumen. Nothing in between. Seriously.

My most commonly used lights, most used first:



Liteflux LF2, LiIon, Minimum Setting (5A Cree) ~ 0.3 lumen*
Liteflux LF2, LiIon, Maximum Setting (5A Cree) ~ 100 lumen
Mag 2C ROP (Overdriven Incan) ~ 500 lumen
Amondotech N30, custom secondary light (5A Cree) ~ 200 lumen
Amondotech N30, primary light (4200k HID) ~2500 lumen
* Note, this one has seen equal runtime to all my other lights combined.

Another oddity about my lights is nearly all flashlights lights in the world have color temperature of <3000k (most incan) or >6000k (most cheap LED). NONE of my frequently used lights are in those ranges. In my case, nearly ALL of my lights still in my possession (more than just the ones listed) are between 3500k and 4200k. 

This CCT range is probably the most common for fixed lighting in general (nearly every office/workplace on earth uses 3500k or 4200k), but it's virtually unseen in flashlights.


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## techwg (Jan 6, 2009)

Well the last crappy light i ever had, it must have been hitting the 13 lumens max, and it was an incan. :thumbsdow


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## brianjon (Jan 6, 2009)

Yucca Patrol said:


> I came across my old 2D Maglite the other day and tried it out and was just plain horrified to see how miserable that giant piece of metal really is. And to think that I thought that was a good flashlight for nearly all of my life?


 I agree Yucca Patrol, I have several Maglite's that I thought were just fine until I installed a cree LED into my 6 D cell maglite. Now it really sends out a nice beam!!


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## KiwiMark (Jan 7, 2009)

Guy's Dropper said:


> My 4D mag is closer to 30-50 lumens.



Mine is 240 Lumens from the emitter, probably getting over 150 out the front.


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## mossyoak (Jan 7, 2009)

my average light output is 300 lumens thanks to one real bright one.


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## drmaxx (Jan 7, 2009)

I would say that world wide the m*glights are top end flashlights. Most what I encounter are 0.3W hotwires. With estimated 15 lumen/W you get somewhere around 5 lumen.


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## GregWormald (Jan 8, 2009)

Since the average flashlight 'world-wide' has dead batteries, the lumen count is 0. 

Greg


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## Gunner12 (Jan 8, 2009)

GregWormald said:


> Since the average flashlight 'world-wide' has dead batteries, the lumen count is 0.
> 
> Greg



This is probably more true then I would like to believe. But with us and the other higher output light users, it might bring it up to 5-10 lumen.


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## Riddick (Jan 11, 2009)

So if the whole world averages out that the typical individual uses only 0-10 lumens (generally speaking here)

Then my E2L 45lumen one speed /which clocks in at over 55lumens by some folks around here/ has gotta be the Bee's Knees. According to the math that puts me in the 99.5 percentile, Top of the heap

And those of you with those 500+ lumen lights well . . . . . . . . . . either Gods or alien beings from another world:huh:

Either way you look at it CPF'ers are a well lit bunch!!:thumbsup:


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## Riddick (Jan 12, 2009)

that was meant to be humorous


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## Gunner12 (Jan 12, 2009)

I get it, just didn't know what to post at the time.

Well, my brightest light is around 500-600 OTF lumen, so I guess I'm from the Jupiter?


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