A couple of weeks ago I wrote about flashlight specifications. At the end of that post, I mentioned there was a standard for flashlights.
I was curious. I went looking for a standard described as ANSI NEMA FL 1. ANSI is the American National Standards Institute. NEMA is the National Electrical Manufacturers Association. I assume FL 1 means it was flashlight standard number one.
Searching for “flashlight” on NEMA’s site brought up the result “Flashlight Basic Performance Standard.” That link takes me to a page which says ANSI/NEMA FL 1-2009 (ID: 100237) has been rescinded and is now held and maintained by the Portable Light Trade Organization (PLATO) and is no longer for sale on the NEMA site.
(PLATO is a catchy acronym, but I’m not sure where the A comes from. There’s no “a” between the L of Light and the T of Trade.)
Now I go to PLATO’s website. This standard appears to be the only standard they issue and it’s now called the revised ANSI/PLATO FL 1 2019 standard. Their first edition of ANSI/PLATO FL 1 was released in October 2016, with a revised edition issued in 2019.
And it costs $500.
The website says it is provided free to PLATO members. The cheapest membership on their member dues page is $1,000.
I don’t know what is in that standard that it costs $500 per copy, but I hope it’s something pretty impressive. No, I am not going to buy a copy to satisfy my curiosity.
PLATO’s site includes a list of seven icons (after I scrolled down the page a bit) included in the standard for use with flashlights, and an explanation of each icon. I did find that to be useful.