Light is versatile.It's used functionally to illuminate work stations,beautifully to accent decor in your home,and dynamically for displays.One of the less talked about functions,however,is the use of light as a considerable weapon in self defense.Going beyond the porch light or common flashlight for safety around the home or camping,high powered lumen flashlights are used by law enforcement and military,not only to provide illumination in dangerous situations,but to temporarily disorientate attackers,and they do it with a high rate of success.If you've ever been hit by a surprise camera flash,you can understand the effect.
A lumen is 1/4 of the total photon(light)flux emitted by a one-candela source.One candela is the luminous intensity of a source whose radiant intensity is 1/683rd of a watt of monochromatic light of wavelength 550 nanometers per steradian.A steradian is a conical figure,or solid angle,whose intersection with a unit sphere covers one unit area.Basically,all that techy-speak about high lumens translates in to"Ahhh!I can't see!".
To give you an idea of the amount of lumens needed for this type of application,the average household flashlight(think Eveready)puts out 10-30 lumens of light.When directed at the eyes,it can be enough to get a small avoidance reaction.Tactical and self defense flashlights begin with 110 lumens on average,nearly 10 times the output,and can go up to 4100 Lumens.The beam,even at a range of 20 feet is enough to cause the wincing pain expression of someone who just tried to down a Jagermeister too quickly.What is the effect you might ask of the 4100 lumen Torch flashlight?
The Torch at close range.
Sure fire is one of the leading brands that manufacture self defense flashlights,such as the Surefire Defender.They are small,powerful,rugged,and reliable.SureFire uses integrating sphere photometers to measure the total lumen output of our illumination tool's,weighted with respect to human eye response.Now,other manufacturers have begun to follow their lead.Their lastest product,soon to be released is the Wristlight,a whole new category of tactical illumination.
Developed with input from active-duty cops,the ambidextrous SureFire 2211 WristLight straps securely to the support-hand wrist and utilizes a virtually indestructible high-performance LED.It delivers a visual serrano pepper burning 180 lumens of wide,brilliant light with a press of either of two ergonomic switches.This is ample enough to overwhelm an aggressor and properly identify and assess threats to make more-informed decisions.It is powered by a rechargeable lithium-ion battery with a built-in LED fuel gauge that lets you know when it's time to recharge which is simply done by using the included USB cable.
OK….Maybe not quite,but one can dream….right?
