The P7 Flashlight Shop

A tactical torch is one of today's most advanced forms of personal light emitting devices, utilizing a high output LED and regulated circuitry to preserve battery life and allow for even light emission.

In the past, these high output LED flashlights were used primarily by law enforcement and military personnel for a few different reasons, the main one being the hefty price tag that came along with this awesome technology.

As the technology has become more available the price of these LED devices has dropped considerably and I will be the first to say, there is no reason NOT to have a flashlight that can light up your entire backyard.

As you can tell from the picture above, there is more than just one LED flashlight available on the market and each one has a plethora of pros and cons for any given application.

The one thing they all have in common though, is that they all throw a pretty bright beam of light.

Let's try to figure out which one might be the best LED flashlight for the every day guy (or gal) who just needs a good torch when the lights go out or simply enjoys going out and about in the dark.

So, what's so great about these little P7 Flashlights that cost anywhere from $40 to $200.

$200 for a flashlight?!

What's the big deal?!

It's just a flashlight, right?

...and why are they calling them torches?

That's exactly what I thought about 'em too, until I turned one on that is... and when I did, "Wow" was all I could say.

Until you actually have one in your hands and shine that little buggar in the dark, you really can't appreciate just how amazingly bright they really are.

How is it they can put out so much light with just a single bulb (in this case, a diode) and one or two batteries?

I know and understand that a lithium ion battery is not your ordinary, run of the mill battery but it is still 'just a battery'.

So, what is it that allows a P7 flashlight to throw a two hundred and fifty lumen
beam of light over 150 feet away, ?

Let's take one of these P7 torches apart and see what we can see, maybe we can find out what makes these little guys tick.

The P7 Diode (lamp) is the latest in a series of unique light emitting diodes or LED's that have been created by a company called Seoul Semiconductor (SSC) out of Seoul, Korea who are the country's leading LED producer and one of the ten largest in the world.

These SSC diodes have come a long way since their inception in the late 90's with a little fellow named Acriche, a 2W single emitter of octagon type that runs directly from AC power without converters.

In March of 2007, the company announced an improvement to the Acriche 2W single emitter, giving it a luminous efficacy of 48 lm/W, which is 20% brighter than the version the company began mass producing in November of 2006.

The level of brightness achieved with the improved diode is comparable to conventional LED's which report 57 lm/W but experience a 20% loss in conversion.

Seoul Semiconductor plans to increase Acriche's luminous efficacy to 80 lm/W in the fourth quarter of 2007, and to 120 lm/W in 2008.

They did indeed but they didn't stop there.