Levitt-Safety Blog

How to choose the best flashlight for your needs

Leslie MolinMarket Segment Manager - Personal SafetySeptember 9, 2024

Are you looking for info on picking the best flashlight?

Then you've come to the right post!

You'll learn about:

what makes a flashlight bright
the best battery option, and
the highest performing light types.

Lumens and candela:

Lumens and candela are technical measurements that help define the performance characteristics of a lighting tool.

These features can help you find the best flashlight with a bit of knowledge.

Lumen: A measurement of the entire output of the light emitted. Focus is not considered.
Candela (or peak beam intensity): A measure of the brightest spot in a focused beam.

More about lumens

A lumen is a measurement of raw light output.

For example, imagine a lamp with no shade on it.

The lamp makes a lot of lumens, but without something like the shade to direct the light, it goes everywhere.

Lumens without direction, shape or shade can be hurt people's eyes.

Better candela = more distance

close up shot of vulcan 180 flashlight being held by a firefighter's hip

Candela (sometimes called candlepower) is a measure of beam concentration. Candela directly impacts how far away you can see with a beam of light. A reflector, lens or shade built into the flashlight creates candela.

For example, the headlights on a car. The reflectors in the headlights direct the light to illuminate objects on the road.

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Choosing the right flashlight for your tasks:

When choosing the right flashlight for your job, make sure the beam distance rating — usually measured in meters — is adequate for the job.

For example, if you’re inspecting a utility distribution line, you’ll want a light with a long-distance rating of 1,000 metres.

Close-up tasks like inspections or repairs, a light with many lumens is important but too much can be blinding. Instead, choose a light with a distributed beam that doesn’t have much distance capability.

Streamlight work lights often don’t have a distance or candela rating because they have a soft beam to eliminate shadows and reduce eye fatigue. Their flashlights for close-up tasks will also have softer colour LEDs for better colour differentiation and to further reduce eye fatigue.

stringer switchblade being used to illuminate car engine

Low to medium lumens with low or no candela/distance capability

Performance Characteristics

Typical Uses

Examples of Available Products

Even, soft 'flood' beam
Low or no candela/distance rating
Good close-up illumination
Reduced eye fatigue

Detailed maintenance and repair operations
Up close quality inspections
Vehicle maintenance

Stinger® Switchblade

Medium to high lumens with medium candela/distance capability

Performance Characteristics

Typical Uses

Examples of Available Products

Good illumination
Good distance capability
Delivers balanced performance
Provides a good level of candela

Confined space
Mining
Fire and EMS
Construction

Medium to high lumens with high candela/distance capability

Performance Characteristics

Typical Uses

Examples of Available Products

High candela beam
Delivers long range lighting
Sheds a bright peripheral beam
More light on your target at a distance

Search and rescue missions
Marine transportation
Structural firefighting

Battery type:

Streamlight flashlights come in rechargeable and disposable battery options.

Disposable batteries: Disposable alkaline or lithium batteries have excellent storage life (7 and 10 years respectively). While they have a lower initial purchase price and are easy to keep spares on hand, they have a much higher operating cost than rechargeable lights.

Rechargeable: Rechargeable batteries using nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) or lithium-ion batteries have low operating expenses and are great for frequent use. Their initial purchase price can be higher but save money over the total life of ownership.

Light type:

Most flashlights are equipped with LED lights today. LEDs are cost-efficient, long-lasting and produce an exceptional amount of light.

Streamlight flashlights adjust the output and beam pattern to meet a customer’s needs by using LEDs.

LED: Lasts 100,000 hours and does not require periodic replacement. Can run for long periods on little power. Streamlight flashlights create an intense beam of light by pairing LEDs with reflectors.

‘Chip on Board’ (COB) LED: Multiple LED chips (usually nine or more) packaged together as one lighting module. The LED looks more like a lighting panel than multiple individual lights when lit up.

Combination LED/COB LED: Combines the intense brightness of an LED for distance lighting and a COB LED for a smooth, flood beam for up-close work.