Whats the brightest light bar available today?

Talltye101

New Member
Oct 10, 2020
8
Oklahoma
We are ordering a new brush truck. What's the brightest , best light bar available today? I haven't kept up with the current tech. Thanks
 

Carlos SpicyWeiner

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 3, 2012
5,233
Lakeland, Florida
is tomar even still around?! havnt seen their stuff in years
 
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Nolines

Member
Apr 5, 2018
1,678
Margate, FL
Tomar.... Don't they stand for let's put a bunch of lightheads together on some metal and power it up and we'll call it...." A Lightbar " ???
 
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Sparky_911

Supporting Donor
May 15, 2013
2,648
Central Illinois
Freedom has the taller footprint which equals more bang....my top 4 would be,

Freedom, Liberty, Feniex fusion, whelen legacy.
 

Carlos SpicyWeiner

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 3, 2012
5,233
Lakeland, Florida
Feniex only has the Fusion or quad lightbar... personally, the fusion will be brighter overall. If youre on a budget... go fusion. If not... whelen freedom
 
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May 21, 2010
1,256
Minnesota
I have not seen 3/4 of the newest bars in the market but have seen a lot of what came out in the last 5-10 years. I am a big fan of the Whelen Freedom. It has more lighting surface area with good lightheads available to populate it. In general they are pretty easy to work on/customize too.

I would think that the majority of current bars from major manufactures with similar options would be similar in light output. If I were to build another wrecker for roadside work I would put a Freedom on it.

As for the Tomar haters... IMO the Blade is a very bright bar. To add to that, thin and nice looking too. The early models had moisture issues and they are not that easy to work on but overall a very nice bar.
 
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Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
is tomar even still around?! havnt seen their stuff in years
I saw a Facebook ad for a tomar scene light.. I posted it looked just like feneix and was quickly told by a tomar rep no it wasn't and cost 2x as.much..
 

Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
Perceived brightness or actual?.I'm pretty sure they all use the same.leds it's just the reflectors that make them appear brighter...
 

JazzDad

Member
Aug 5, 2011
5,165
USA
Too bad you asked "available today"...
 

pdk9

Member
May 26, 2010
3,834
New York & Florida
I think the Whelen legacy is the brightest lightbar on the market right now. While the freedom is a great option for fire apparatus and has a nice large footprint, I think the legacy beats it in heads-on intensity
 

TroyBoy

New Member
Oct 11, 2020
6
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
federal signal vision slr or their new navigator bar are both extremely bright. The navigator provides both (LED) rotator pop flashes, and regular LED lighthead flashes. It combines both technologies to give you a really effective lightbar. And is extremely bright.
 

TroyBoy

New Member
Oct 11, 2020
6
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
yes but they are led, they are the same rotators in the vision slr. Fdny is using navigators on all their new trucks and ambulances. If you do a quick Youtube search, you will find video.
 

EMT-BLS

New Member
Oct 28, 2011
2,640
Waterbury, CT
The SLR isn't for everyone. The sizing is awkward, and all heads rotate, which isn't always great - but the output is truly insane. Best would probably be the Navigator, which utilizes regular and rotating modules - the output may even be better than the SLR.
 
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RyanZ71

Member
Jun 14, 2011
1,001
Denver, Colorado
Just make sure that with whatever you go with, it has a dimming/hi/lo feature. While very bright is great during the daytime, it is down right dangerous at night, last thing you need is someone plowing into the back of you because they were blinded by the things!
 

supraphonic

New Member
Aug 18, 2018
7
SoCal
Whelen and Federal Signal are tops in my experience. I haven't seen many agencies going with the Legacy locally (although it's going on the local parking enforcement Chevy Bolts) but as powerful as it is, I'm not sure it'd suit a brush rig, it's super low-profile.

For a Type 3 I'm not sure you can top the Whelen Freedom right now. For a Type 6, you could probably drop down to a lower-profile Whelen Liberty II or Federal Signal Valor as an alternative. I'd also recommend looking into the Whelen CenCom Sapphire system if you go the Whelen route to really sync up the whole rig – as nice as a bright bar is, nothing tops a fully-synced vehicle package, you can make a really big impact with only a few lights (and most importantly, prevent the Christmas tree effect.)
 

LED

Member
May 25, 2010
611
New England, MA
The SLR isn't for everyone. The sizing is awkward, and all heads rotate, which isn't always great - but the output is truly insane. Best would probably be the Navigator, which utilizes regular and rotating modules - the output may even be better than the SLR.
My local Fire Dept. just put a 60" full rotator Navigator on an engine.. thing is insane!
 
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Da-Sarge

Member
Feb 27, 2020
393
Canada
From experience seeing many bars in person the freedom is the brightest bar I've seen from any manufacturer the liberty also packs a monster punch for its size the legacy and even the whelen Ceridian are also great bars also the federalsignal legend/allegent are powerful bars though their amber is a bit weak avoid code 3 they are dim as all heck compared to whelen tomar is hit or miss

#1 bar for being stupid bright is the whelen freedom theres nothing that gives the output of a freedom plus it just looks great
#2 whelen liberty (the liberty 2 is crazy bright)
 

emtpals

Member
Apr 8, 2013
134
IL/WI
I am placing my vote for the Whelen Freedom, the code3 2700 bar, or the soundoff Nforce bar for the 360 customizable scene lighting.
 

Da-Sarge

Member
Feb 27, 2020
393
Canada
My Valor is insanely bright... Even after having it for 6+ years, still the brightest thing in my area...
I personally haven't seen the Valor in person but it shares its optics with its straight bar brethren the legend/allegent bars very bright but compared to the freedom it hasent got the punch but for side on warning I don't think the vallor or vector can be beat federal signal and whelen both have excellent offerings for powerful warning code 3 sadly fell flat on their face with LED bars
 

jonny521

Member
May 23, 2010
300
mass
We have the Liberty II bars on our cruisers right now. Great pop from the lights and footprint. If you are on a budget go Feniex. If you have the money go with Fed Signal or Whelen. I would say Valor or freedom. Also not only that but look at there overall customer service and NOW LEAD TIME. Cause you know Rona.
 

Mattdecker

Member
Mar 16, 2013
1,172
Barren County, Kentucky
Whelen Freedom, then Liberty II, then Valor

I was surprised on this. Hopefully my video turns out ok on here. I'll take another video next time I get a chance.

This is my Scorpion vs my departments Liberty 2. Side by side, in person, the Scorpion is brighter than the Liberty. Haven't done a distance video yet.

 

Da-Sarge

Member
Feb 27, 2020
393
Canada
Never seen the tomar myself but comparing the brands I've seen (D&R, SWS, star, federal signal, whelen, code 3/ecco, and STL) by far the best ive seen are whelen and federalsignal my choice would be whelen but federal signal is also great the best I've seen are federalsignal legend/argent, recently seen a Valor (cant be beat for its side warning its a beast) the vector and other arrow bars by federalsignal) the whelen freedom, liberty and the Ceridian is a very bright bar for its tiny hight its impressive sound off signal nforce is also pretty bright as well its very similar to federalsignals solaris reflector still the worst is code 3 and STL for the worst
 

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