Can one light do both?

Partly. Some lights use multiple emitters with separate optics and let you switch or blend, which genuinely works. Zoomable lights that slide the head in and out do it badly — the zoomed-in beam usually shows a square image of the LED die and the zoomed-out beam wastes a lot of light. Enthusiasts avoid zoomies almost universally.

Is a thrower good for self-defence or security?

Not especially. At the distances that matter, a bright, wide beam that fills someone's whole field of view is more disorienting than a narrow spot you have to aim precisely. Most purpose-built tactical lights sit in the 10 to 20 degree range for exactly this reason.

What beam angle should a headlamp have?

Wide. Your head moves, so a narrow beam turns into a searchlight you keep having to aim. Most good headlamps are 30 degrees or more, and many offer a flood main beam with an optional narrower spot for looking down a trail.

Why does my thrower look dim indoors?

Because almost all of its output is in a small angle that is hitting one spot on a wall, and there is very little spill lighting the rest of the room. It is producing exactly as many lumens as claimed — they are simply all in one place. This is normal and is the point of the design.

Thrower vs Flooder: Choosing a Beam Type

Updated 2026-08-16

Short answer

Pick a flooder for anything within about 20 metres — walking, camp chores, working on something with your hands, any headlamp. Pick a thrower when you need to identify something far away across open ground. Most people are best served by a balanced beam, and anyone who needs both is better off with two lights than with one compromise.

What makes a beam wide or narrow

Beam shape is set by two things: the size of the emitting surface and the optic in front of it. A reflector or lens can only collimate light so well, and the limit is the physical size of the LED die. A tiny, intensely bright die in a deep reflector produces a tight hotspot; a large die in a shallow reflector produces a wide, even wash no matter how good the optic is.

That is why throwers are built the way they are. The Osram W1 and Luminus SFT-40 emitters that dominate long-range lights are prized for having very small emitting surfaces, and the lights around them have deep, wide reflectors, because reflector diameter directly buys intensity. It is also why throwers tend to be poor at close range: all that light in a small angle is glare when the target is two metres away.

Flooders go the other way. Multiple emitters, textured or 'orange peel' reflectors, and TIR optics designed to scatter all smooth out the beam deliberately. A good flood beam has no visible hotspot at all — you cannot tell where the middle is, which is exactly what you want when the whole scene in front of you matters equally.

Matching the beam to the job

Distance is the deciding variable, and most people overestimate theirs. Walking a footpath, cooking at camp, finding something in a loft, working under a bonnet, dealing with a power cut — all of these happen inside about ten metres, and all of them are better with flood. A tight hotspot in a confined space is actively unpleasant: it blows out your night vision and leaves everything around the spot invisible.

Throw earns its keep when the target is genuinely far and the space is open. Checking livestock across a field, spotting a boat or a channel marker, searching a hillside, identifying an animal at the treeline. In those cases nothing else will do, and a flood light of any lumen rating simply lights the air in between.

Everything else is the balanced middle, which is where most quality EDC lights sit at roughly 16 to 30 degrees. A defined hotspot for looking at something specific, and enough spill to keep your peripheral awareness. If you are buying one light and are not sure, buy this.

Reading beam type from a spec sheet

You do not need a manufacturer's beam-type label. Divide lumens by candela and you have the solid angle the light spreads over; that ratio is the beam's shape, and it is calculated for every light in this catalog and drawn to scale.

A quick shortcut using the numbers on the box: compare the beam distance figure with the lumens. A 1,000-lumen light with 200 metres of throw is a flood-leaning general-purpose light. A 1,000-lumen light claiming 700 metres is a thrower. A 1,000-lumen light claiming 90 metres is a dedicated flood or a headlamp.

The one thing specs will not tell you is beam quality — whether the transition from hotspot to spill is smooth or ringy, and whether there are colour artefacts at the edges. That needs a beamshot or a review. It matters more than people expect on a light you will use every day.

Common questions

Can one light do both?: Partly. Some lights use multiple emitters with separate optics and let you switch or blend, which genuinely works. Zoomable lights that slide the head in and out do it badly — the zoomed-in beam usually shows a square image of the LED die and the zoomed-out beam wastes a lot of light. Enthusiasts avoid zoomies almost universally.
Is a thrower good for self-defence or security?: Not especially. At the distances that matter, a bright, wide beam that fills someone's whole field of view is more disorienting than a narrow spot you have to aim precisely. Most purpose-built tactical lights sit in the 10 to 20 degree range for exactly this reason.
What beam angle should a headlamp have?: Wide. Your head moves, so a narrow beam turns into a searchlight you keep having to aim. Most good headlamps are 30 degrees or more, and many offer a flood main beam with an optional narrower spot for looking down a trail.
Why does my thrower look dim indoors?: Because almost all of its output is in a small angle that is hitting one spot on a wall, and there is very little spill lighting the rest of the room. It is producing exactly as many lumens as claimed — they are simply all in one place. This is normal and is the point of the design.

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