YouTuber Makes the World's Brightest Flashlight

Canadian YouTuber "Hacksmith", whose real name is James Hobson, broke his second world record by building the world's brightest outsized flashlight torch, a post by Guinness World Records explains.

The creator, who previously earned a record for the first retractable proto-lightsaber, developed the "Nitebrite 300," a flashlight fit for a giant, with 300 LEDs.

Hobson and his team won the Guinness World Record after the brightness of the massive torch was measured to be 501,031 lumens.

As a point of reference, the most powerful flashlight on the market, the Imalent MS 18, contains 18 LEDs and shines at 100, 000 lumens. We previously also reported on a DIY water-cooled LED mega flashlight, rated at 72,000 lumens, built by another YouTuber called Samm Sheperd.

Football stadium floodlights are often in the 100 and 250,000 lumens range, meaning the Nitebrite 300 could conceivably be perched above a stadium with its focused beam — though it might be too blinding for the players.

Crookes Radiometer-shattering brightness

All of the unbridled brightness released by the Hacksmith team had to be focused into a beam to make it work as part of a flashlight. In order to do that, Hobson and his team used a fresnel reading magnifier to center and point the light in a specific direction.

Firstly though, they built 50 boards, each of which was secured with 6 LEDs. All of the boards are powered by a single battery.

The Nitebrite 300 has three different modes that can be toggled via a giant-sized button: low, high, and turbo.

The finalized flashlight, made partially out of a trashcan, was finished with black spray paint for a classic look. 

In order to measure the brightness of their outsized flashlight, the Hacksmith team used a Crookes Radiometer — a tool with a fan, inside an airtight glass bubble, that moves faster when exposed to intense light rays.

The light was so intense from the Nitebrite 300, it made the Crookes Radiometer explode. This, as well as the lit flashlight strapped above a driving car at night — possibly resulting in a few UFO sighting reports — can be seen in the video below.