Today I wanted to talk about some of the misleading information regarding how bright or how many lumens a single LED element can output.
When we are talking about a flashlight most of the technical information can be discounted. The reason is a flashlight has a maximum battery voltage and not a lab bench voltage source.
One Lumen is the measurement of light of a 1ft. x 1ft. area, 1 foot away from the light source.
This information can be found on CREE.com the inventor of the CREE LED light source that we all use in our newer LED flashlights.
Using a single 18650 battery source (3.6 vdc) a T6 or 10w LED light element or bulb has a Max. Light Output of 1040lm. And that is a max rating not an average usable rating, so keep that in mind.
Now the reflector of a flashlight can increase the max. out put of light some however it can not double or triple it.
That being said it any flashlight claims to have 2k or 4k or 6k or even 10,000 lumens with only one T6 bulb it is a marketing lie. They are not being truth full with the testing method and just want to sell a cheap product by making it look better than it is.
I hope this bit of information helps you the next time you are looking to purchase a quality LED flashlight.
