LED vs Incan Bulb life

[Pk14]

Greetings -

My objective is to source a tactical light for my AR-15 in a HD role. The light should support target id out to 100m for either irons or T-1 RDS employment. No NVDs anticipated.

Inasfaras datapoints go, I have a SF E2E as a handheld and a SF forearm on a Mossberg 590. (Both are incans). I have a TRL-2 on a railed handgun for bedside. The TRL-2 output is fine for engagement distances and interior HD use. For exterior application, I'm looking for a little better performance than the SF forearm light provides.

Looking at the Lumen Factory offerings, the specs appear impressive (as do Malkoff's drop in modules). The one thing that caught my attention when reviewing the LF specs was that bulb life is rated for 20 hours - is that fairly standard? Assuming proper shock isolation, 20 hrs doesn't seem all that much. (No idea how long SF advertises their bulbs to last)

If that is "fleet average", which is the prefered choice?

SF G2 w/ aftermarket drop in
Malkoff M60 (LED 235 lumens)
Malkoff M60L (LED 140 lumens)
LF EO-6 (Incan 200 lumens)
LF HO-6 (Incan 160 lumens)
LF D26 LED (LED ______? lumens)

SF G2L (80 lumens)

SF Scout light

Thank you for your inputs!

Cheers,
Pk

[markm]

My objective is to source a tactical light for my AR-15 in a HD role. The light should support target id out to 100m for either irons or T-1 RDS employment.

100 meters? That's going to be a pretty big bezzel. Even my full sized duty flash light might barely meet that standard.

[Pk14]

I've thought about rigging flood lights to illuminate the edges of the property (much bigger bezels, right? ) and I'm certainly interested in hearing what a suitable light output should be that cover indoor and outdoor tactical light needs.

Is 235 lumens overkill? Would 110-160 be better (augmented with property lighting)? The 65 lumens from the SF 623FA works okay indoors, but doesn't project far enough outside.

The G2 body in a VLTOR offset mount looks like a reasonable choice - question is on what bulb / output to choose and is the 20 hours of bulb life from LF considered normal?

Cheers,
Pk

[MisterWilson]

Surefire X300 is tits. None better IMHO, and I've had the G2, G2LED, G2LED w/ aftermarket LED, and the Surefire Scout.

For a dedicated weapon light, there's nothing better.

ETA: If you're cheap, a G2LED with upgraded head is a close second.

[militarymoron]

check out this thread:
http://m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=19348

as much as i like the X300 for sheer compactness etc, like misterwilson said, the G2 with drop-in LED is the most cost effective, and depending on the drop-in LED you can get 250+ lumens, which will have better reach than the X300's 110 lumens.

G2 + drop in = $35 + $25-40 = $60 to $80, with 250+ lumens, plus mount = ?
X300 = $225 with 110 lumens.

i recently replaced all my incan bulbs in my flashlights with 4 TNVC drop-ins and 2 lumens factory D26, and i'm really glad i did. with half spent batteries, the incan bulbs grow yellowish and dim while the LED modules shine bright.

[MisterWilson]

Sure, they ADVERTISE 250-290 lumens, but we both know that's not accurate.

I picked one up from THIS GUY and while it has marginally better throw than my X300, it doesn't have as much spill and isn't as well suited for indoors as the X300 is.

Meanwhile the X300 is still awesome indoors and has 95% of the throw at 40 yards or so.

Btw, I am in no way associated with that gentleman, I'm just a happy customer who thinks that at the price of $20 DELIVERED, that his product is a great bargain. Dropping one of those into a G2 body makes for one hell of a dedicated rifle-light. It's literally too bright for general purpose utility light as the hotspot is TOO bright. When looking for things in a dark closet it hurts your eyes, while the standard G2LED bulb is just right.

Another consideration is to put an aftermarket LED into a G2 or G2LED body. The G2LED features a metal head that's supposed to dissipate heat better which allegedly allows you to get better life from your batteries. I don't know how true this is or whether it's worth the extra $20 to have a metal head, I'm just passing along what I've heard.


ETA: Also, just for educational purposes, my experience with the older Surefire Scout light (with the last generation KL4 head) was that it was the greatest indoor rifle light in the world. It could simply flood a room like no other. It was even good out into your front/back yard, but beyond that it was lacking - It didn't have any throw at all.

I thought it to be a one trick pony. It does that one trick better than anything else but beyond that... And we won't even talk about battery life or retail cost. I have heard that the newer model's head has improved upon these shortcomings but I lack the experience with it.

[Pk14]

Thanks for the perspective and link to the other thread. It appears that current production LED has a lot more going for it in terms of lumens, power consumption, and durability. Sounds like a G2L (for the metal head) is on the short list in a VLTOR offset mount.

The balance question remains. 235-290, or 110-160 lumens, given both Indoor and Outdoor environment need? Would 235-290 be overpowering in light-colored hallways?

Thanks,
Pk

[militarymoron]

Would 235-290 be overpowering in light-colored hallways?

more so if you were on the receiving end

[KyAKGuy]

Would 235-290 be overpowering in light-colored hallways?

Certainly no more overpowering than being shot by a 5.56 at
that range would be...

KyAKGuy

[Jay Cunningham]

Would 235-290 be overpowering in light-colored hallways?

Yeah, actually, I think that many lumens could be quite detrimental to the guy behind the trigger and to any of his teammates.

There is such a thing as too much light indoors.