I took to Amazon last night, to see what ridiculously high lumens ratings cheap flashlight makers were advertising, and came across a $15 “Victoper” branded model that is claimed to deliver 10,000 lumens of max brightness.
10,000 lumens. And they have a photo of kids using it close-up to read a book. Please don’t encourage this; I don’t know how anyone can think this is a safe idea.
I’ve got nothing against kids using appropriately designated or low-powered flashlights under adult supervision. But if this flashlight delivers anywhere near the advertised light level, it shouldn’t be in small kids’ hands for leisure or play, period.
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The company says that their flashlight “can bring you dazzling brightness.”
Dazzling. This by definition means “extremely bright, especially so as to blind the eyes temporarily.”
A couple of hundred lumens of brightness will certainly dazzle you, let alone thousands.
It can “dominate the night” with a “1640ft fastest” illumination range.
You can use it outdoors, in caves, at night, or… give it to small kids for use reading a book in a pillow fort?!
Please do NOT do this.
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Even if preset to a low mode, kids press buttons, and even older kids rarely have good beam control. There’s a high likelihood they’ll flash the light in their face or yours.
Seriously, how would anyone think this to be a suitable application example?
Cheap flashlights that might have inflated specs and questionable quality are one thing. Flashlights advertised as being “super bright tactical” with a 10,000 lumen rating?
You might be thinking “that’s common sense, nobody would give high powered flashlights to very small kids.” Apparently it’s not common sense enough. At least one person thought it was a good idea to advertise a high-powered tactical flashlight, cheap or not, in the hands of toddlers.
This happens in real life too. I gave someone a high-powered rechargeable flashlight about 2 years ago. I followed up about it a while later, and they asked if I had any more extras or other flashlights I might have finished reviewing. Why? Because their small toddler kept taking theirs to play with. I told them, in no uncertain terms, that it was a bad idea, unsafe, and that high powered flashlights are not toys.
Aside from how easily and quickly a small child can accidentally misaim a light into someone’s face and eyes, is a model advertised as a “tactical flashlight” the best choice for reading a book with? That’s going to reflect off the white pages and right into one’s eyes.
Baibian shows their tactical super-bright flashlight being used to read a book close-up, but the kids at least look older.
What’s the brightness level? The brand claims a whopping 180,000 lumens on high, and 10,000 lumens on low. Sure. They claim that their tactical light is “brighter than car lights.”
And that’s supposed to be safe for close-up reading?!
Is there a better flashlight for kids? I’m not sure. IKEA used to have a fantastic AA-powered flashlight for $1 or $2, and I bought two just before they discontinued it. They were just bright enough to be useful, but not enough to be damagingly bright. One failed after a few years (unsurprising given how much it was dropped) and I haven’t found a good replacement yet.
But one thing’s for certain – high-powered tactical flashlights advertising 10,000 lumens (on low!) are not suited for small kids.
MM
This is just one example of Amazon tolerating some very sketchy advertising. Torque Test Channel recently had a video where they tested laser pointers from Amazon which were advertised as being safe for kids and as pet toys, however most were powerful enough to cause injury.
And aside from the safety angle, there is also a huge amount of Bovine Excrement when it comes to the marketing numbers being inflated. I doubt that light is anywhere close to its absurd lumen rating–TTC has also done a bunch of videos testing lights and the alphabet soup Amazon brands are usually FAR off their claims.
Jared
I suspect brands get away with advertising ludicrous lumen claims because no one fact checks them and most people don’t realize what those numbers mean and just shop assuming “more is better”. A 400 lumen flashlight is impressively bright if you’re used to Maglites or shopping at a hardware store (although I realize those hardware store lights are catching up now).
If you genuinely had a 180,000 lumen flashlight…. well it would likely be thousands of dollars and terribly unsafe (an Olight Maurader does an impressive 25,000 lumens and costs $600, for example).
You really only need ~1500 lumens to be “car headlight bright”.
It’s kind of like how the Dewalt dcd771 still gets good reviews – the people buying it are probably replacing 15-year-old ni-cd drills and it feels impressive in comparison – never mind that it’s horrendously dated these days.
Ken
I wish you could still buy the old Playskool flashlight since it had a momentary on switch but I bought my kid a Melissa and Doug Sunny Patch Giddy Buggy Flashlight which met reasonable safety and price requirements.
TomD
MON flashlights are very MOM friendly. Too bad there aren’t more.
I let the kids play with the old m18 lights, as they’re pretty dim.
Eric
Something you didn’t mention is the battery. These lights usually have lithium ion batteries in them. And I wouldn’t want kids playing with high quality brand name and properly protected batteries. Let alone the cheap knock off unprotected batteries that usually come with these tacticool flashlights. It’s just a fire waiting to happen.
Stuart
One of the models I looked at listed generic safety features and added an “etc” at the end.
I get the feeling that these sellers don’t care as long as there’s money to be made.
There’s one brand of flashlights I will not post about anymore. They listed a particular model as being waterproof, and I asked if there’s an IP rating. The told me their claims are based on testing they did in a sink when they first received the flashlights (presumably from the OEM). That was 12 years ago.
A lot of people love cheap flashlights, but 10,000 (advertised) lumens with a 5000 mAh battery and USB charging, for $15? There’s got to be compromises to achieve such a price point.
JR Ramos
…are you new to Chinese marketing, Stuart? Not to be rude but yeah, this is typical and ubiquitous on every platform and has been for like a decade with soooo many products. It’s actually gotten a little better in the last few years but there’s both a cultural and a habitual thing going on and you’ll rarely see “normal” marketing and such.
Yes…if not for eye flashing then for lithium cell safety, either supervise your kids as you should or keep things out of their reach. The flashes from bright lights (so it has been said) are no more dangerous for wee ones than they are for adults, but gosh dang the power we can hold in our hands these days is incredible. Stick 400 lumens in your eye and you can damage it…you don’t necessarily need the 900 this light may actually put out and god forbid you ever do that with an actual 10K+ light.
But the goofy marketing…it’s not usually dishonest (sometimes is, though) but it’s like rainbow totality where everything is wonderful and capable of doing everything that will make your life complete. 🙂 Sometimes this stuff takes root and (because of the cultural thing) just continues in perpetuity as different businesses/sellers just copy and paste it over and over and over or perhaps changing a tiny thing. They’ll steal nice photos, too…have seen several private photos over the years end up in some light company’s ad slick without permission…some of those are still floating around.
This light brings good things to life, including blanket and pillow fort lighting. Just don’t be dumb about it, or anything, right.
Single cell AA pen light or a 2AA Minimag are pretty safe for kids. Keep it to alkalines or NiMH and maybe a max light level of 150-200 or so. They can be dumb and still stare into a bright-ish light like that, so if letting them use a light unsupervised is on the menu, keep it even lower output. I don’t advise lithium cells (any type) for anyone who isn’t old enough *and* responsible enough to learn about them and then use & care for them properly. It’s easy but they just have to be aware of the differences and willing to accept it for safety.
Stuart
So you’re saying that I *shouldn’t* post about this and potentially bring it to the attention of people that might give such a light to their kids?
I know at least one person that did think it was a good idea to let their toddler play with a charged high-powered LED flashlight. Or maybe they couldn’t be bothered to stop them, I don’t know. If there’s one, there’s more.
150-200 lumens is still a LOT of light. Tactical lights from 10 years ago were rated at around 200 lumens. My first Surefire G2 LED was rated at 80 lumens.
Energizer’s Paw Patrol lights for kids are rated at 15 lumens, which seems about right. The 2-pack says 100 lumens, but I highly doubt it.
Ct451
Good luck trying to protect people from their own stupidity.
I agree that maybe this hazard is not part of common sense yet but I don’t think that picture is going to influence a parent into buying one for their toddler.
jim k
Isn’t this site about tools? Isn’t tool safety a crucial issue with regard to tools? So it seems logical that you should post about it.
What people do with the information is up to them.
The fact that you posted it is one of the reasons that I respect this site.
JR Ramos
My apologies, Stuart. My comment was a little tongue-in-cheek but clearly that didn’t make it through text. I’m not saying you should or should not post about this. I did sort of find the rant, tone, and content on this one a bit surprising…actually thought maybe it was tongue-in-cheek itself at first as I started reading.
My recollection is that 10 years ago we were well into the 1000-1500 advertised lumens range from respectable brands…enthusiasts were getting there with single emitters (overdriven of course) and multi-emitters had been there for a good five years prior. But…200 lumens (legit ones) is a lot of light directly in one’s eye, and surely compared to the first few generations of LED lights from 20-25 years back. We had an ophthalmologist on the forums many years ago that had interesting input from his medical perspective on what it takes to really harm eyes or cause semi-permanent damage…a lot more than folks might think (especially if you’ve ever felt the burn from flashing your own eyes). Thank goodness they’re resilient because they’re one of the most important things we have, and yes, good to remind about caution.
Mia culpa.
Stuart
Sorry; it’s hard to see sarcasm or tongue in cheek tones, especially when there are people who hold such opinions as genuine.
While our sensory organs are resilient, it doesn’t take a lot to cause permanent damage.
I’ve met a lot of contractors with varying levels of cumulative hearing damage.
Despite OSHA regulations, I sometimes see – or smell – contractors dry-cutting or grinding tile, countertops, brick, concrete, and other such materials, without any form of respiratory protection or dust control.
People fall off ladders all the time.
How many eye injuries are preventable?
Modern flashlights are bright enough to cause injury, run hot enough to start fires, and are sometimes powered by unprotected rechargeable batteries that can explode or combust if damaged or mishandled.
If a post helps to prevent one accident or mishap, it’s worth it.
MM
The marketing claims when it comes to the brightness of these sketchy brand high-power lights is nearly always dishonest.
Torque Test Channel tested several auto headlight bulbs which were advertised anywhere from 10,000 to 36,000 lumens. In reality they made between 1600 and 2600. They did another test of a variety of flashlights claiming anywhere from 2000 to 120,000 lumens. The one advertised at 2000 lumens one only made 500. The rest made less than 2% of their advertised output.
Keith
I saw an ad for some car horns “300dB!!!!”
Wow, pretty dang loud, a few thousand times louder than Krakatoa explosion! All for $19.99.
Yeah, right.
JR Ramos
It really depends on the brand…it’s all over the board. Some brands that people may think are sketchy/unknown are actually legit (maybe just new/newer to Amazon or sometimes under a separate name than their China or global name).
Aux and headlights…yeah…mostly BS, to include interior bulbs from most. It’s a shame those particular markets started and have remained cheap and behind the tech and components available (for cheap, too).
It’s not uncommon for good flashlights to be off their mark a little or sometimes a little more, but usually in the ballpark. Depends on the company but also on the configuration (sometimes stats are reused despite different emitters being used, or the marketing never catches up to evolutionary editions of the same model…and some fudge upwards while some fudge downwards but usually not by a whole lot).
I watched their light videos. They did a pretty good job constructing their sphere (I was impressed that they even learned about those and made the effort to use one). Very rough testing, all things considered in the science of light measurements, but the dramatic results were almost ensured by the lights they compared. Their videos and testing approaches are so good I even watch ones that I may not be very interested in.
Koko The Talking Ape
I don’t think you had to ask Stuart if he is “new to Chinese marketing.” He obviously is not, so you come of as rude and sarcastic. No need for that here!
JR Ramos
That was a little tongue-in-cheek…mia culpa, however. I was surprised to see the rant/tone/content on this one, though, considering.
Koko The Talking Ape
“Is there a better flashlight for kids? I’m not sure. IKEA used to have a fantastic AA-powered flashlight…”
It looks like you are referring to IKEA’s KNÄRED flashlight. You can find them on eBay sometimes for somewhat more than original cost. But availability is limited. So what is an alternative?
Surprisingly, I can’t find safety standards for flashlight flux or intensity (the existing standards are about explosion-proofness and for lasers.)
But maybe the KNARED can be considered a safety benchmark. Online forums say the bulb consumes 0.2 watts, produces maybe 5 lumens (an eyeballed estimate), and according to a lux meter app, it produces 50 lux of intensity.
There are plenty of keychain flashlights that produce just 5 or 10 lumens, so maybe they’re as safe as the KNARED. But the intensity matters as well. If those 10 lumens are concentrated into a tiny point, that certainly makes the beam more irritating and painful to the eye. And I guess if the point is small enough, it can burn a spot in a retina, even if the spot is microscopic. That’s why even low-powered lasers can damage eyes.
So if I wanted a child-safe flashlight, I’d get a weak flashlight like the Olight i3E (90 lumens) and then put some sort of diffuser over the front, or maybe just frost the front lens. That would make it less concentrated and painful to look at.
OR I would give kids a lantern that casts a broad, wide glow. Black Diamond makes a little model called the Moji. And MPOWERED’s Luci Lux is inflatable, solar-recharged, warm-colored, and has a frosted vinyl envelope for a nice diffuse glow (they also make a flickering “candle” model, and one that shifts colors continuously, which kids will likely enjoy.) I think it would be really hard to dazzle a kid’s eyes with these guys.
Stuart
YES – that was it, the KNÄRED.
It was low-powered but in a handheld size without feeling or looking like a toy.
Jamie
100% agree with JR Ramos; this Chinese marketing has been prevalent for a better part of a decade and is nothing new. Massive cultural changes and societal changes have made this possible and regardless if I agree or not; this is the way.
Bluntly put we don’t need more regulation, laws or big brother creating anymore mandates; all that is needed is common sense, accountability and stop making excuses. Doesn’t take a lot of intelligence to understand light generates heat.
Didn’t grow up in a tinsel town or surrounded in the very best areas; I grew up in the projects in an extremely rough and very abusive environment. Yet even in my less than ideal upbringing even my Mother whom dropped out of junior high knew not to leave matches or anything that could be a danger to children around me or my brothers. Also my Mother worked 2 jobs and didn’t have any fancy degrees or “privileges”.
Yet even with the disadvantages I had in my life even I have common sense and I am but a simple contractor. No degrees, diploma’s or handout’s; school of hard knocks and ignoring people telling me I was a victim or telling me to embrace victimhood mentality.
Stuart
I have learned over the years that it is unwise to make assumptions about other people’s knowledge or experience.
Society has a responsibility to protect its people from potentially avoidable harm. This is why we have building codes, electrical codes, car safety requirements, alcohol age limits, and so forth. Everyone will have their own opinions as to how far this responsibility should go, and where the line should be drawn, but that’s a discussion better reserved for elsewhere.
Jason+S.
I’ve never heard of a child being seriously injured by a flashlight. Is this something new that I’m unaware of? There has to be more serious tool concerns – pocket knife, table saw, cordless drill, hammer… I don’t think flashlight would make my top 100 list.
BigTimeTommy
Safe to assume more people thoughtlessly give kids flashlights to play with than they do table saws and drills. Kids like to play with flashlights.
I’m guessing you know not to stare at the sun, same reasoning applies to ridiculous overpowered novelty flashlights.
Jason S.
I did some actual research. New England Journal of Medicine shows the highest injuries in adolescents is firearm related injuries followed by motor vehicles, drug/poisoning, drowning, fires, etal. Flashlight injuries didn’t make this list. We should be talking about firearm safety not flashlight safety. That would actually make a difference.
BigTimeTommy
Extremely pedantic but that’s fine. I’m guessing you don’t have kids?
David Z
Is this some form of whataboutism? First, this site talks about flashlights, not guns or drugs, or swimming or driving. So flashlight safety is relevant here.
Second, if society only spoke about dangers at the top of the list, we would talk about what – only one danger at a time until it wasn’t at the top? The top 2, 3, 5? Many safety topics are worthy of discussion, and no one list, situation, or person dictates what is relevant when, where, and to who.
Gun safety, for example, is not really relevant here, while tool safety is. A gun discussion site would be a good place for gun safety discussions, and not particularly relevant for tablesaw safety.
I humbly suggest you might skip over critiquing Stuart’s choice of editorial content and focus on the topics that interest you. It’s his site, and by definition, what he posts is exactly what’s relevant to the site.
Stuart, my apologies if this was too strong or offensive.
TomD
I’m sure if Stuart found an advertisement for a 10mm gun on Amazon that showed kids playing with it he’d also comment.
Or even kids playing with a bandsaw (I guess kids can play with the sawstop?).
Jared
If there’s something “new”, it’s probably that high power flashlights are cheap and ubiquitous these days. It’s no longer hard or expensive to find a flashlight pumping out enough light to damage eyes, hence it’s more likely a kid might find one of these to play with.
MM
I think there’s two things that are new. First, as you said, high power flashlights are becoming very common these days. Years ago when I was a kid you could stare straight into the average flashlight and there would be no harm at all. A flashlight powerful enough to blind simply didn’t exist, except for professional/speciality applications that a kid wouldn’t likely get their hands on, like a light for a dive camera. But today flashlights powerful enough to temporarily blind are everywhere.
The second issue as to do with batteries but it’s really the same thing: technology has changed. Batteries like AA’s, C’s, and D’s weren’t all that dangerous. Sure they could make sparks or start a fire in certain situations but most people didn’t really consider them dangerous, and like flashlights thought little of kids having access to them. Today’s lithium batteries are a totally different beast. They contain a lot more energy inside. And just like a bottle of gasoline or a tank of compressed gas: that’s a hazard. And the more energy the bigger the hazard. Lithium batteries can discharge serious amounts of current if short-circuited and in some cases can even explode. And even tiny lithium batteries can contain enough energy to injure. People have been hospitalized or even killed when E-cigarettes or vape pens exploded and a basic “edc” size flashlight has a much bigger battery than those.
So now we sort of assume flashlights and batteries are kid-safe since the ones we grew up with mostly were, but things have changed a lot since then.
Bonnie
I very nearly burned down my house as a child with a camping lantern. Those old bulbs got hot enough to burn blankets. I’ve seen high power flashlights literally advertised as firestarters.
AlexK
Stuart- can you do a post on proper use and safety concerns of lithium batteries? Is it just me that has never thought about or looked into this subject? Between phones, computers, flashlights and tool batteries, am I just lucky that I’ve never had an issue? I would like to know how to handle them safely.
TomD
Buy good batteries.
Don’t charge a battery if it is acting weird.
If it begins to swell (become a spicy pillow) put it somewhere fireproof and get away (outside on concrete).
Don’t by random chinesium e-bikes.
Do all the above and you should be pretty safe.
JR Ramos
That’s a pretty tall order even if Stuart were up to it.
I’d suggest looking around the pinned or “safety” posts on enthusiast forums like Budget Light Forum and r/flashlight (reddit)…possibly very old ones on Candlepower Forums if those are accessible still.
There is encyclopedic information on batteryuniversity.com which can be a bit overwhelming to sift through (they do have a couple of basic treatises). Much of their material is digestible but they also cover more tech levels on chemistry and such.
First thing to know is whether you are talking about lithium-metal (primary/disposable) cells or lithium-ion rechargeable cells. Very big and important differences. The majority of user accidents with flashlights have occurred with lithium-metal primaries (generally in series rather than single cell lights)…and the rest tend to be electronic devices with swollen pouch cells (and now a fair amount with drone or r/c crashes and the more recent fires with e-bike and scooter packs).
Basically with lithium rechargables you need to understand that you should never overdischarge them (call that below 2.7 volts to be safe…2.5 official datasheet info). Most lights will have protection built in to the driver to either warn you or cut off the circuit (or most cells with added protection circuits will do the same). If a cell is ever discharged lower than that and/or allowed to stay down there for an extended time, it’s best to send it for recycling – charging those up will often be damaging to the cell but can also result in thermal events of one type or another if a dumb charger is used or it’s put under strain (dendrites and piercing of the jelly roll foil inside, creating a short). Other than that, don’t knock them around hard or short circuit them in a pocket or whatever, and use a quality smart charger that will dependably stop charging at the right level. There’s just a lot more power density in li-ion rechargeable cells compared to all of the 1.5 volt types like alkalines or NiMH/NiCd, etc.
For single cell devices, the risk is pretty low but when a device uses one or more cells in series then some other safety aspects come into play in terms of cell health and such.
For disposable lithium-metal 3.2 volt cells (CR123, etc) I think the market is much better these days but there’s still potential for accidents. Most of the trouble was from really shoddy chinese cells/brands back in the day. So buy good ones of those. The 1.7 volt lithium from Energizer is much safer, no particular concerns (don’t eat them).
Stuart
Agreed – there’s a lot of info out there, as well as conflicting opinions.
Here are the 3 rules I try to follow:
1) Always read the manufacturer’s safety information.
2) Always buy UL-rated products, or at least from highly reputable brands. (I also avoid unprotected cells or unregulated flashlights.)
3) Never leave a charger unattended.
Some brands recommend storing batteries at 40% charge, many simply say don’t leave them fully charged or discharged for long periods of time.
Some brands, most notably Ego, discharge their battery packs after a month or so of disuse. You’ll see the charge indicator flash red periodically when it does this.
JR Ramos
I didn’t know that about the Ego packs…interesting. Does it discharge them to nominal voltage, I assume?
It’s temperature dependent, and it’s also based on efficiency/economics (maybe more important to certain manufacturers than to end users, flashlights especially) but yeah, somewhere around 40-50 percent of full/overcharge voltage is best for cycle life and capacity retention with li-ion round cells. In practice, unless they’re always in temps above 90°F (or higher) it makes little difference. With most cells. Some of the newer high capacity/high drain cells (like the Samsung 50S) have made tradeoffs in chemistry/anode such that they seem a bit more fragile but those are exceptions to what’s generally available. Very old cobalt chemistries were also a little more susceptible (you can still buy those). If they aren’t in semi-regular use some people will just drop them to nominal 3.7 and call it good. Over many years I’ve left all of mine other than those for tests at the full 4.2v-ish and have yet to see any meaningful deterioration (that’s a subjective observation, though….so erring on the knowledge and lab testing of the major OEMs, doing that 40-50 percent has its benefits if they are valuable to the user). This isn’t so much true for li-po and others. If a battery could speak, it would probably say that it’s happiest in a cool temperate relaxed state of existence…lazy. Haha.
+1 on being present while charging. Just a good general habit – I even do that with NiMH.
Information from manufacturers (of devices) is woeful – and it’s only gotten worse/more perfunctory in recent years. At this point Samsung prints totalitarian “do not use in any way” wording on their cell wrappers and they are not so free with their datasheets anymore. I would never give a li-ion device that uses replaceable cells (or even in-light protected or non-removable onboard-charged cells) to someone without teaching them about li-ion or being sure the documentation was sufficient (have yet to see something that is, though).
Between the OEM and device manufacturers, it’s an endless loop of pass the buck and very little real information. Seems like it used to be a little better but cost-cutting with “manuals” and fear of litigation has dumbed it down a lot, it seems. Olight feels that pain as do the cell manufacturers and they have all taken different approaches to keeping themselves safe (notsomuch the end users, though). It doesn’t help that so many DIY hacks are doing their thing(s), either…lots of misinformation or lazy attitudes are disseminated by them in various hobbies.
Stuart
The EGO self-discharge puts them into storage mode. I’m not sure about capacity, but based on the 2 out of 5 LED indicators, I assume 40% or thereabouts . This makes sense, as the tools are mostly used in a seasonal manner.
Charles
Here’s an interesting post and an imbedded video of a battery fire. It also speaks to thermal runaway – which is the issue with these batteries.
https://www.ifixit.com/News/69041/how-batteries-can-catch-fire-and-how-to-prevent-it
and here
https://www.nfpa.org/Public-Education/Fire-causes-and-risks/Lithium-Ion-Battery-Safety
NFPA also has a very decent free course on why lithium battery fires are so dangerous.
I got involved in this as one of our investigators had a phone catch fire while they were working on it.
Wayne R.
Kids can get by with the light a pack of matches puts off. Don’t need China for that.
Doresoom
Lights that powerful get HOT as well. I recently bought the 3000 lumen Nitecore EDC27 and definitely had the realization that I couldn’t leave it just lying around anywhere. It gets too hot to hold on the turbo setting.
My 5 year old loves playing with my 180 lumen keychain flashlight. I don’t want her getting ahold of the 3000 lumen light and burning herself.
Parke
Great reminder, and kids just want to go straight to the brightest setting. Olight Obulbs are great for kids and I’ve also passed down some older Mini Maglites to my kids as I’ve upgraded my collection to much brighter options.
It seems like a couple weeks ago Amazon took away the ability to filter by seller, on the android app at least. Even if you choose the product category first which used to work. I know you can add to the URL and still get around this but for the average user any search now produces pages of third party results like the flashlight mentioned and it’s hard to find things shipped and sold by Amazon these days which is pretty frustrating and helped filter through some junk.
nigeldh
The LED pocket lights for medical folks have a warning not to shine them into patient eyes. One place where the old incandescent filament light bulbs are still best.
Also many rescue folks hang a second headlamp around their neck for illumination without blinding folks. When using a headlamp one has to be careful not to blind folks by looking at them.
JR Ramos
There are several LED lights specifically for medical use – just have to purchase those. There are some that are only 2-5 lumen, others from 10-30 lumens. Welch-Allyn even sells them directly to medical professionals (theirs are crap quality, though…). I think EMTs usually prefer the brighter ones and that’s just for quick pupil checks I guess. The lower lumen models are for ophthalmologists and such. The old incandescents of this output were I think around 10 lumens (compared to a AA MiniMag which was 22 lumens).
carl
There’s even another level of fun danger involved with flashlights, especially if they actually can put out that much light. It’s not as bad as it was back in the old burning filament days and whatnot, but an intense enough LED beam can potentially set something on fire.
Bobby H.
Amazon sells a simple flashlight called the Dorcy 55 which is a 55 lumen, rubber armored flashlight that floats.
Great flashlight for kids.
They also have a higher lumen version but 55 is perfect until your kids get a little older.
J. Newell
I’d add lasers that are (or at least claim to be) very powerful to the list. It’s really easy to envision kids shining lasers at each others’ eyes (since we know that adults, who should know far better, shine these things at the cockpits of landing aircraft).
I have no idea whether the claims for these lasers on sites like Amazon are true, and there are reasons to doubt their truth, but I think the concern about stupid and illegal, or even uninformed, misuse of lasers is a big concern.
MM
This problem applies to all lasers. TTC tested several laser pointers from Amazon that were specifically advertised as pet and kid safe and the majority of them were more powerful than claimed. All were potentially dangerous. The pet/kid safe advertising was a flat-out lie.
Those that are really are high power are incredibly dangerous. Even without malicious intent it’s easy to cause permanent vision damage to yourself or someone else just from unintended secondary reflections, nevermind actually shining it on purpose into someone’s eyes. And I don’t mean reflections off something shiny like chrome or a mirror–the little bit that reflects off a brick wall is enough with a multiple watt laser.
JR Ramos
Most on Amazon, Ebay, and Aliexpress are not true but almost all of them are fudging descriptions and specs and really the US needs to get a handle on that asap. I have a low-power laser that…just wow. These can seriously be dangerous and I probably should not have been able to buy this so easily…and there are much more powerful ones available, also easily.
But even the wimpy keychain cat-play lasers can be harmful when misused…slightly less dangerous but still dangerous. There is a newer LEP (light emitting phosphor) group of devices that is somewhere between a powerful LED and a real laser…those are powerful enough to cause concern, too, but currently there is no regulation (too new, no attention yet).
Frank D
I doubt the flashlight is actually that bright; until somebody steps in with some kind of regulatory power, or there is legal action ( like how lawn mower HP kept getting inflated and my lawn mower lost 4 HP ? ) … and it would be nice if Amazon were to squash some of these vendors for their ridiculous claims.
I don’t know if anybody gets their TV over the air, and it seems every few years the range of the flat leaf antennas and various plastic ones keeps magically getting better … trying to outdo other vendors for sales. Which should backfire in terms of product returns and customer satisfaction. I don’t get it. Maybe volume masks the issue? Anyhow. A small value priced antenna in the family, that I know to work into the 50 mile range, keeps having “ newer “ versions, for each calendar year, despite being clearly identical … and now has 500 mile range. 500 mile OTA TV range?! With a small $25-50 antenna.
Rx9
Good advice. Lights that bright can be dangerous.
kent_skinner
“Fortunately”, Amazon has become a cesspool for fake products and bogus specs.
The Torque Test Channel has a number of flashlight videos and many of hem produce somewhere near 1% of the advertised values.
https://youtu.be/6q_0wxzClkg
Bob
With respect, an anecdotal claim of some clown letting junior play with a high lumen
flashlight does not show a common ignorance of the dangers of flashlights. Unfortunately there are ignorant and/or irresponsible people out there.
However, I give respect for erring on the side of caution and sending out the PSA to folks that are unaware of the dangers of flashlights.
Stuart has a platform and chose to try to help people avoid danger. Admirable intentions.
As I get older I try to see other peoples perspective. It’s easy to claim stupidity at others who don’t have your experience level. Let’s be honest, sometimes it is stupidity. But, sometimes it’s just life experience. A little bit of….wait for it….Illumination is good for everyone. Ya see what I did there 🙂
Here is a fun one. How many folks know an old tube tv has a $#!+ ton of electrical energy potential even after it is unplugged? Common knowledge to some older folks. But if you grew up with flat screens probably not. I’m sure there is tons of stuff that can kill me and I don’t know it. What’s it hurt to try to get the word out on “dangerous” stuff.
My only concern is the folks clutching their pearls might want to arbitrarily “ban” something because it’s “dangerous”. That I can and will not condone. Personal responsibility should trump regulation. There are a lot of “dangerous” things that are essential to our well-being, freedom, entertainment and lively hood. I despise government “saftey” intervention. PSA’s like this make if less likely. And, if you don’t know, now you know.
As an aside the old school 3 D-cell mag lights were extremely dangerous…..if you got whacked in the head with one. Genuinely the old incandescent mags were 100 lumen at best? We are so spoiled with new lighting products.
Stuart
Thank you, I appreciate it!
TomD
The 3,4,6 d-cell mag lights were so clearly designed so you could carry a weapon without being bugged about it. Nobody needed a 6-d mag light for light.
Andrew Hussar
I am the owner of a few high quality flashlights. Some are capable of extremely high power levels. NO WAY WOULD I LET A CHILD PLAY WITH THEM. They are tools that can burn eye retinas cause epileptic seizures if used in strobe mode. As with any tool use of common sense and caution is needed.
Andrew
For anyone that’s interested, it’s the luminous intensity of the light that causes the eye hazard (measured in candelas).
This consists of both the luminous flux of the source (measured in lumens) AND its angular distribution. The luminous intensity determines how much energy is emitted into a certain solid angle, and therefore how much energy your eyes can intercept from the source.
This is why lasers are generally much more hazardous than LEDs (for a given luminous flux): the energy is more concentrated into a small angle (‘the beam’), and the eyes can therefore gather more of the source energy, to potentially dangerous levels.
It’s a good topic to alert people to the potential hazards, including cell safety
Jace
I’m so glad I found this thread. I’ve been trying hard with my two kids to ensure they are safe. I never even knew of the dangers of flashlights. I’ve overlooked this topic completely. Thanks for bringing this serious risk forward to me and my family.
Jason S.
This is perhaps the stupidest thread I’ve ever read. No child has ever been seriously injured from a flashlight. Obviously Stuart didn’t receive a free product or something of the sort. So he made up a fictional concern of flashlight injuries (which no me in the world has ever dealt with). This entire thread is non-sensical. My brother is an optometrist and he’s never heard of this concern in his 20+ years of practice. This is a sad post.
Stuart
I’m sorry that you seem to feel so personally offended you felt it necessary to repeat yourself, and in such a manner.
https://toolguyd.com/dont-give-high-powered-flashlights-to-kids/#comment-1508454
Let me get this straight – you think that this post is motivated, not because I strongly disapprove of cheap high powered rechargeable tactical flashlights being given to small kids to use or play with – close-up or in general – but because I didn’t get one for free?
What do you hope to accomplish with insults and personal attacks? Did I hurt your feelings and this is your way of trying to hurt me back?
Get over it and move on.
Charles
I don’t normally reply to old threads, but I was expecting to see some sort of sarcasm emoji throughout your post.
Lacking that emoji, it is abundantly clear that you know nothing about this site and you know less than nothing about lighting. If you have a brother, if they ate an optometrist and if you actually asked him, then he needs to turn in any licenses he may have.
I’m not starting a war, so if you reply, then I won’t respond – but you’ll just be digging a deeper grave for yourself.
Charles
And that is “are”, not “ate” – although “ate” might actually fit in the context of this thread.