Buying guide
Beam Patterns Explained: Flood, Fog, Driving, Spread, Combo & Spot
What each beam pattern is actually for, which ones your market buys, and how to spec a mixed container that sells through.
Beam pattern is the single most common reason a buyer returns a lighting order: the light works, but the beam does not suit the way their customers drive. This guide covers the seven patterns you will see in almost every off-road catalogue, in plain English.
Flood
Wide and short. Flood optics light up the area immediately around the vehicle — camp, work sites, trailers and reverse lights. It is the pattern fleets and farms buy, and it pairs well with a work light range rather than a driving bar.
Fog
Wide with a sharp top cut-off. The cut-off keeps light under the fog, rain or dust instead of reflecting back into the driver's eyes. In Europe and Australia this is a street-legal pattern; ask for the ECE / SAE documentation that applies to your market.
Wide-40
The hybrid: wider than a driving beam, tighter than fog. It fills the corners on gravel and winding tracks, which is why it is popular with touring and dual-cab buyers rather than rock crawlers.
Driving
A street-legal beam designed to supplement the factory headlights for road use. If you sell into Europe, the driving pattern should come with the relevant E-mark approval for the exact model — a mark is tied to the model, not to the factory.
Spread
Bright, wide and uncut. Spread is what desert and high-speed trail drivers ask for, because it shows what is beside the track as well as ahead. It is usually paired with a spot in a two-light setup.
Combo
Spot and flood optics in one housing: distance plus width. Combo is the default choice for LED light bars because one SKU covers the most use cases, which keeps your stock simple.
Spot
A tight pencil beam for maximum distance — remote country, high speed, and long straight roads. Spot rarely works alone: it is usually the outer light in a pair, matched with a spread or flood unit.
What should a distributor stock?
- One combo bar in two or three lengths (for example 22" and 42") as the volume line
- One round spot/flood pair for A-pillar and bumper builds
- One flood work light for fleet, agriculture and trailer customers
- One street-legal driving beam with the E-mark paperwork for road-use markets
That four-line mix covers most of the demand we see from 4x4 shops, UTV dealers and parts stores, and it keeps your minimum order quantities manageable.
Test before you commit
Beam patterns look similar in photos and completely different on a dark road. Before a full container order, take two or three patterns as samples and shoot them on the same wall at the same distance. If you are not sure which mix suits your market, send us the vehicle list your customers drive and the conditions they drive in — we will match the optics and send sample suggestions.