LED Lenser includes a warning with its X21 flashlight: “Do not shine the light directly in someone’s eyes. If the light beam does shine directly in your eyes, look away immediately.” That’s because the four D batteries in the X21 put out 1,100 lumens through seven large LEDs.
Is it bright? Perhaps too much so. Just the reflection of the X21s beam off the carpet in the Wired office was enough to cause us to flinch.
There will always be an arms race in flashlight lumens, and many flashlight companies claim to sell the brightest light. But lumens by themselves aren’t a useful measure. A lights
