SIEGEL'S Uniforms Blog

Modern flashlights are used in a multitude of professional situations. Different working environments can pose hazards, such as a potential for explosion or fire hazards. Flashlights come in various forms, prompting the National Electric Code (NEC) to create safety classifications for the different kinds of flashlight technologies available.

Any flashlight that could be potentially used in a dangerous situation or confined space should be adequately tested to meet or exceed all applicable safety standards for those locations. When choosing a flashlight, make sure it carries the appropriate approval ratings. Choosing the correct light for your application requires a careful knowledge of your working environment, and a accurate anticipation of how a suitably selected flashlight will function in those surroundings.

To understand the advertising about lights which claim “80 lumens” or “1,000,000 candlepower,” you need to understand what those things are. To put it simply, lumens are a measurement of how much light a device produces, and candlepower is a measurement of concentration of the beam a device produces. These are not the same thing.

When investigating modern flashlight technology, advances in bulbs and design are indeed revolutionary, but the most fundamental aspect of the flashlight, the power source, has also enjoyed the most remarkable change in design.  Indeed, in the beginning of flashlight history was defined by the challenging aspect of reliable power.  The initial flashlights used non-efficient carbon-filament type bulbs, "resting" was essential at short intervals. The name, flashlight, is in existence because, although a life-saving piece of equipment, the first design could only sustain its illumination in sporadic intervals… leading to the nickname highlighting a temporal ‘flash’ of light.

Flashlights have become so commonplace and are used in so many situations; it is easy to take them for granted. Initially, the “electric hand-torch” was developed using a relatively simple design, intended to run on the then common zinc–carbon batteries. The term “Flashlight” was coined because Conrad Hubert’s original design required intervals of rest after short periods of use due to its inability to provide a continuous current of electricity. Although Mr. Hubert’s design was comparatively simple, the invention was due, in part to the then recent inventions of the electric battery and the electric bulb, respectively.