# Beam & Bezel — full reference > Published flashlight and headlamp specifications, compiled with their sources named and the arithmetic shown. Runtime, throw and cost-to-run computed from manufacturer ANSI/PLATO FL 1 figures. Site: https://beamandbezel.com Publisher: Slate Mill Group (https://slatemillgroup.com) Contact: info@beamandbezel.com Author of all content: Scooter M., an enthusiast who reads the manuals, compiles the published specs and does the math. No credentials are claimed and none are held. --- ## 1. What Beam & Bezel is, and what it is not Beam & Bezel is an independent publication covering flashlights and headlamps for a US audience. It exists because the specifications in this category are scattered across manufacturer PDFs, locked inside images on review sites, or simply never published — and nobody was putting them somewhere a buyer could read, sort and check. **It has not tested any product it covers.** It owns none of them, has no laboratory, no integrating sphere, no light meter and no measurement apparatus. This is stated in the first hundred words of the methodology page and on every buying page, not buried. What it publishes instead: - Manufacturer-published ANSI/PLATO FL 1 figures, each linked to the document it came from with a retrieval date. - Arithmetic over those figures — runtime from cell capacity, beam distance from candela, cost to run, lumens per gram and per dollar — with every formula published so a reader can redo any number. - Explicit statements of what is not published, rather than borrowed figures. - Live prices, or the words "Check price". Never a stale, remembered or estimated number. ## 2. Sourcing policy Preference order for any factual claim: 1. **Published standards.** ANSI/PLATO FL 1 for light output, peak beam intensity, beam distance, runtime, impact resistance and water resistance. IEC 60529 for IP ratings. 2. **Manufacturer documents.** Spec pages, manuals and official product pages, linked with the date read. 3. **The brand's own retail listing**, used only where the maker's own site could not be reached from the build, and always labeled as such in the spec table so a reader can weigh it. 4. **A live price layer**, for price and availability only — never for specifications. Never cited as a source of fact: another affiliate site, a forum post, a video review, an AI summary, or memory. Where sources conflict, both numbers are printed and the one used is named. Example carried on the site: the Petzl Actik Core is rated 625 lumens on Petzl's own US product page and 650 lumens on the brand's own Amazon listing. The site uses 625 and says why. ## 3. The formulas used throughout the site **Stored energy** Watt-hours = (milliamp-hours / 1000) x nominal cell voltage. Example: a 3,400 mAh 18650 at 3.6 V is 12.2 Wh. Nominal voltage: 3.6 V lithium-ion, 1.5 V per alkaline cell, 1.2 V per NiMH cell. **Runtime** Hours = watt-hours / power draw in watts. Power draw is estimated as output in lumens divided by roughly 100 lumens per watt for a modern emitter at moderate drive. Efficiency falls at high drive, so a turbo figure is worse than the linear estimate implies. These are estimates from published capacities, never measurements, and are labeled as such. **Beam distance from candela** Beam distance (m) = square root of (candela / 0.25). Example: 35,000 cd gives 374 m. Exact rather than approximate, because ANSI FL 1 defines beam distance as the point where illuminance falls to 0.25 lux. **Candela from beam distance** Candela = (beam distance in meters) squared x 0.25. Example: 1,300 m gives 422,500 cd. **Illuminance at a distance** Lux = candela / (distance in meters) squared. Example: 8,700 cd at 3 m is 967 lux. **Cost to run** Annual kWh = hours per year x watts / 1000. Example: 200 h at 2 W is 0.4 kWh per year — a few cents. For disposable-cell lights the meaningful comparison is cells consumed: the same usage burns roughly 30 to 40 alkaline AAA cells. ## 4. Ranking weighting, published so conclusions are predictable 1. **Specification completeness (heaviest).** Does the maker publish enough for a buyer to verify the claim? A light with a full per-mode ANSI table outranks a brighter light with a lumen figure and nothing else. This is the biggest driver of rankings on this site and the one most likely to differ from other publications. 2. **Internal consistency.** Where candela and beam distance are both published, do they reconcile through the 0.25 lux definition? 3. **Fitness for the specific use case.** Beam shape, energy, mounting. 4. **Serviceability.** A standard replaceable cell beats a sealed one. 5. **Durability, where published.** ANSI impact rating in meters; IP rating per IEC 60529. 6. **Peak output (lightest).** The number on the box, and the least connected to whether the light does the job. ## 5. The categories ### Headlamps — https://beamandbezel.com/headlamps Hands-free light ranked on published ANSI figures and the watt-hours behind them. Sub-pages: running, hiking, hunting, work, camping, backpacking, rechargeable, fishing, plus guides on red light modes and how to choose. Key finding published here: the Petzl Swift RL and Fenix HM65R-T carry roughly 9 watt-hours per 100 grams, the best energy-per-gram figures in the set, while the Petzl Actik Core and Fenix HM50R pay a real penalty for their hybrid and compact designs respectively. ### EDC flashlights — https://beamandbezel.com/edc-flashlights Pocket lights judged on what the cell actually holds. Sub-pages: under $50, under $100, keychain, rechargeable, high-CRI, what to look for, pocket carry. Key finding: two alkaline AA cells hold more energy (3.9 Wh) than one 16340 lithium-ion cell (2.9 Wh). The lithium cell delivers it faster and recharges; it is not more energy. ### Tactical flashlights — https://beamandbezel.com/tactical-flashlights Duty and defensive lights ranked on candela rather than lumens. Sub-pages: police and duty, self defense, under $100, throwers, and what "tactical" actually means. Key finding: candela per lumen varies by a factor of twenty across this category. The Acebeam L19 concentrates 256 candela per lumen; the Fenix PD36R Pro concentrates 13. That is why a 1,650-lumen light reaches 1,300 m and a 2,800-lumen light reaches 380 m. ### Work lights — https://beamandbezel.com/work-lights Trade lighting ranked on beam shape and color rendering rather than output. Sub-pages: mechanics, electricians, rechargeable, stands and tripods, and why color accuracy matters on a jobsite. Key finding published here: every work-light maker covered publishes a lumen figure and none publishes a CRI figure, which is backwards for a category sold to trades whose work is color coded. ### Emergency and home — https://beamandbezel.com/emergency-flashlights Outage lighting ranked on shelf life and findability rather than performance. Sub-pages: home use, camping, kids, flashlight vs lantern, and building an outage kit. Key finding: the failure mode in an outage is a flat or unfindable light, not a dim one. A mains-charged socket light that switches itself on outranks every performance specification on the page. ### Learn — https://beamandbezel.com/learn The reference section, written by somebody selling no lights. Guides on lumens vs candela, how many lumens you need, the ANSI FL 1 standard, flashlight runtime, CRI, 18650 vs 21700, throw vs flood, the Anduril UI, flashlight vs headlamp, and light types. ### Compare — https://beamandbezel.com/compare Brand comparisons made on published specifications and disclosure quality rather than on reputation: Olight vs Fenix, Olight vs Streamlight, Olight vs SureFire, Nitecore vs Fenix, Nitecore vs Olight, Streamlight vs SureFire. Key finding: Streamlight publishes candela, beam distance, per-mode runtime, weight, ingress and impact ratings for the lights covered, and its figures reconcile internally. Nitecore and Olight publish peak output and, sometimes, a beam distance. ## 6. What the standard specifies, and what it does not ANSI/PLATO FL 1 defines six measurements: light output in lumens (measured 30 to 120 seconds after switch-on), peak beam intensity in candela, beam distance at 0.25 lux, runtime from 30 seconds after switch-on until output falls to 10 percent of that value, impact resistance in meters, and water resistance per IEC 60529. **It does not require independent testing, certify anybody, or audit published figures.** Every FL 1 number published anywhere is self-reported by the manufacturer. That is why specification completeness and internal consistency are the heaviest terms in this site's ranking: they are the only checks a reader can actually perform. The 10-percent runtime rule creates a specific, legal ambiguity worth knowing: a light running 1,600 lumens for two minutes, then 400 for four hours, then fading to 160 over another hour can publish a five-hour runtime. Every part of that is compliant. What a reader concludes from it is wrong. Not covered by FL 1 at all: color rendering (CRI), color temperature, beam profile and spill, flicker or PWM, sustained output, charging time, cycle life. ## 7. IP ratings, per IEC 60529 - IPX4 — splashing water from any direction. - IPX6 — powerful water jets. Not immersion. - IPX7 — immersion to 1 meter for 30 minutes. - IPX8 — continuous immersion, to a depth the manufacturer specifies. - IP66 — dust tight, plus powerful jets. - IP68 — dust tight, plus continuous immersion. The water digit is not cumulative. An IPX6 light has been tested against jets, not against being dropped in a lake. ## 8. Commonly asked, with the site's answers **How many lumens do I need?** Indoors 50 to 200. Walking a path 50 to 150. Trail running 300 to 500 sustained. Close work in a panel or engine bay 300 to 700 diffused. Above those levels you are usually adding glare rather than visibility. **Do more lumens mean more reach?** No. Reach depends on candela, which is set by reflector diameter and depth and by how small the emitter die is. **Why does a flashlight get dim after a minute?** Thermal step-down. An LED converts most of its input power to heat, a small body cannot shed it fast enough, and the driver reduces current to protect the emitter. **Is high CRI worth it?** For any light used at close range, usually. Going from CRI 70 to CRI 90 is a bigger perceptual change than doubling the output, at a cost of 10 to 20 percent of the lumens. Not worth it on a thrower, where reach is what you lose. **What is R9?** The saturated red reference sample, deliberately excluded from the commonly quoted Ra average. A light can score Ra 80 with a poor R9 and still render red wire insulation as brown. **Rechargeable or disposable?** Rechargeable for regular use, lithium primaries for anything that waits in a drawer — they hold their charge for about a decade while a lithium-ion pack self-discharges within months. **How long do lithium-ion cells last?** Typically to about 80 percent of original capacity after 300 to 500 full cycles, declining after that. On a removable-cell light that is a few-dollar fix; on a sealed light it is the end of the light. ## 9. Photography Every photograph on the site is licensed stock, captioned as such. No product photography exists because no products are owned. A stock image is never arranged or captioned to imply first-hand possession. ## 10. Corrections Material corrections get a dated note on the affected page stating what was wrong and what it should have been. Figures are not silently edited. Reader-reported errors are verified against the primary source and corrected within 48 hours. Report to info@beamandbezel.com or via https://beamandbezel.com/contact ## 11. Review cadence - Prices: refreshed automatically and continuously; figures older than 48 hours disappear. - Roundups: reviewed every 90 days. - Reference guides: reviewed every 180 days. - All published specifications: audited against current manufacturer documents quarterly. - Methodology and editorial policy: reviewed annually. Published and updated dates reflect genuine content changes only. The automatic price refresh redeploys the site and deliberately does not move them. ## 12. Complete page index Headlamps: https://beamandbezel.com/headlamps https://beamandbezel.com/headlamps/running https://beamandbezel.com/headlamps/hiking https://beamandbezel.com/headlamps/hunting https://beamandbezel.com/headlamps/work https://beamandbezel.com/headlamps/camping https://beamandbezel.com/headlamps/backpacking https://beamandbezel.com/headlamps/rechargeable https://beamandbezel.com/headlamps/fishing https://beamandbezel.com/headlamps/red-light-mode https://beamandbezel.com/headlamps/how-to-choose EDC flashlights: https://beamandbezel.com/edc-flashlights https://beamandbezel.com/edc-flashlights/under-50 https://beamandbezel.com/edc-flashlights/under-100 https://beamandbezel.com/edc-flashlights/keychain https://beamandbezel.com/edc-flashlights/rechargeable https://beamandbezel.com/edc-flashlights/high-cri https://beamandbezel.com/edc-flashlights/what-to-look-for https://beamandbezel.com/edc-flashlights/pocket-carry Tactical flashlights: https://beamandbezel.com/tactical-flashlights https://beamandbezel.com/tactical-flashlights/police-and-duty https://beamandbezel.com/tactical-flashlights/self-defense https://beamandbezel.com/tactical-flashlights/under-100 https://beamandbezel.com/tactical-flashlights/throwers https://beamandbezel.com/tactical-flashlights/what-makes-it-tactical Work lights: https://beamandbezel.com/work-lights https://beamandbezel.com/work-lights/mechanics https://beamandbezel.com/work-lights/electricians https://beamandbezel.com/work-lights/rechargeable https://beamandbezel.com/work-lights/stands-and-tripods https://beamandbezel.com/work-lights/cri-for-trades Emergency and home: https://beamandbezel.com/emergency-flashlights https://beamandbezel.com/emergency-flashlights/home https://beamandbezel.com/emergency-flashlights/camping https://beamandbezel.com/emergency-flashlights/kids https://beamandbezel.com/emergency-flashlights/flashlight-vs-lantern https://beamandbezel.com/emergency-flashlights/outage-kit Learn: https://beamandbezel.com/learn https://beamandbezel.com/learn/lumens-vs-candela https://beamandbezel.com/learn/how-many-lumens-do-i-need https://beamandbezel.com/learn/ansi-fl1-standard https://beamandbezel.com/learn/flashlight-runtime https://beamandbezel.com/learn/cri-explained https://beamandbezel.com/learn/18650-vs-21700 https://beamandbezel.com/learn/throw-vs-flood https://beamandbezel.com/learn/anduril-ui-guide https://beamandbezel.com/learn/flashlight-vs-headlamp https://beamandbezel.com/learn/light-types-explained Compare: https://beamandbezel.com/compare https://beamandbezel.com/compare/olight-vs-fenix https://beamandbezel.com/compare/olight-vs-streamlight https://beamandbezel.com/compare/olight-vs-surefire https://beamandbezel.com/compare/nitecore-vs-fenix https://beamandbezel.com/compare/nitecore-vs-olight https://beamandbezel.com/compare/streamlight-vs-surefire Trust and legal: https://beamandbezel.com/methodology https://beamandbezel.com/about https://beamandbezel.com/editorial-policy https://beamandbezel.com/affiliate-disclosure https://beamandbezel.com/faq https://beamandbezel.com/contact https://beamandbezel.com/privacy https://beamandbezel.com/terms Machine-readable: https://beamandbezel.com/site-index https://beamandbezel.com/sitemap.xml https://beamandbezel.com/feed.xml https://beamandbezel.com/robots.txt https://beamandbezel.com/llms.txt