Blog posts tagged with 'beam pattern'

As our selection of high quality LED light bars and pods continue to grow, we wanted to provide a few more details on purchasing.  

• Beam Pattern - We use multiple combinations of LED technologies, reflectors and lenses to get the best results for the installation.  This results in different beam patterns that vary by different product lines.

As a generalization the following terms are true across our products lines:

• Spot - Spot lights will throw a far narrow beam.
• Flood - Flood lights will have a wide beam that does not go as far as a Spot beam. 
• Combo - Combo lights have a combination of spot and flood technologies typically giving the furthest light toward the center of the bar or pod and the widest light toward the outside. 
• Scene - Scene lights are even more concentrated at close range than our flood lights.  Scene lights are great for work light scenarios. 

• Light Color - We use a combination of colored LEDs and colored lenses to create different lighting effects depending on the line of product you are interested in.  As a generalization, the following terms are true across our product lines: 
  • White (Clear) - Under normal conditions white lights are going to provide the brightest lighting experience. 
  • Amber - When there are particles in the air (dust, fog, rain, snow), white can reflect off of these particles making it difficult to see.  In comparison, amber will cut through the particles better.  
  • Combination - We provide a number of combined options in both our light bars and pods so you can switch to the most appropriate color for the occasion. 
  • Other Colors - Other colors of lights serve a number of purposes such as hunting at night and can be achieved by adding one of our lens covers to our white lights.
• Sizes - The named size of our light bars and pods is a general measurement of the size.  Depending on whether you are looking to put the light in a cutout or mount the light, the sizing charts for the light should be your primary reference to make sure it will fit. 

Spot, Flood, or Combo?

A question we get a lot is, "What beam pattern for my LED Light Bar should I get?". Well here is a little insight that we hope will help in making your decision.

Spot

• A spot beam has a narrow beam spread of only 8º. This is great for task specific lighting. For example when you want night time road or trail visibility you want the light focused and intense in a specific area. The spot pattern is great for that.

Flood

• Flood has a wide 90º beam pattern so the light is more spread out. When you want to more light up a certain area, like your camp site, or a work area, the flood is the right choice.

Combo

• When you want versatility, the Combo is a good choice. It gives a mix of spot beam pattern LEDs and flood beam pattern LEDs all within the same light. The trade off is that you are not splitting up the beams so neither the flood nor the spot beams produced are as bright as a dedicated spot or beam light.

The Best?

Well that all depends on your specific situation and budget. If you can afford it, a great combination to have is a dedicate spot coupled with a dedicated flood. For example, it is typical for us to outfit a Jeep Wrangler with a 20" spot LED light bar mounted on the bumper which is used for road/trail visibility. Then have a either a couple of 6" flood LED light bars mounted at the lower corners of the windshield or a really nice set up is a 40" LED light bar mounted across the top of the windshield.