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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.
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.
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.
