Tactical Flashlights: Definition of Cree LED

When buying flashlights you may have seen lights that either have Cree on them, or they say they have a Cree LED. Cree is a North Carolina-based LED producer that produces all types of lighting. They are not in to developing flashlights, however they supply exactly what looks like an integrated circuit chip that is actually a little LED (light emitting diode) array. These little chips output more light than you would envision from such a small unit, however they do not eat as much power as you would think something that intense would make use of. Cree LEDs allow flashlight producers to produce really small flashlights that output as much or more light than huge traditional flashlights you are used to seeing. For instance, a standard incandescent 2-D cell flashlight puts out around 35 lumens of light. A 230 lumen flashlight is equivalent to over 6 of those flashlights combined.