Have you ever tried to buy a flashlight?  You walk into a store (or shop online) and scan the myriad of choices: LED, krypton, xenon (this one sounds cool - the light beam must reach all the way to Mars), as well as cheap and expensive. But how do you know that the flashlight will shine as bright as you want? Or last long enough? You don’t. It’s been mostly trial and error for me.

 

A change is coming. Fourteen flashlight manufacturers have decided that there needs to be a better way for customers to make informed choices about their products. Together, these manufacturers, with guidance from NEMA, have developed new flashlight standards for helping customers make the right choice. You’ll see new symbols on the packaging indicating the most important product specifications, so you can easily make a true comparison for each model.

 

It is still many months away for the new standards to show up in distribution, but at least there’s a brighter light at the end of the tunnel.

 

For more information, visit www.nema.org/stds/fl1.cfm

 

-John Sladek, MRO Product Writer