Lighting

Off-road lights: beam pattern, not wattage

Nothing exposes a cheap light like a dark trail. Raw output is the easy number to compare and the least useful one. beam pattern is what decides whether you can see.

A spot throws a narrow column a long way and is close to useless at walking pace. A flood lights the ditch you are about to drop a wheel into and disappears entirely at speed. Most builds end up running both, which is why light pods and light bars usually get bought together rather than instead of each other. In dust, fog and falling snow, lens tint and color temperature will do more for you than any wattage figure printed on the box.