New Surefire EB1 Clicky (Beamshots added) - Review and runtime results

[N/Apower]

Re: Real life experiences - E1B vs EB1

The poor regulation has nothing to do with thermal step down or something like that. It is caused by pushing the battery to the limit. It simply can not keep up with the power demand. Regulation going south like this is the result of lumen wars. In the end regulation will have to suffer to produce lots of lumens. I rather have a smooth regulation chart with less lumens, but that will never win the lumen war Surefire is playing with this new light.

Realistically, though, the new light kills the E1B for the first 45 minutes of run-time, and on 1 battery, I will take a step back and admit that yes, this is impressive and a true upgrade. Still, if the extra size of the M600C over the M300A, or E2DL over EB1 isn't a big deal, they are vastly superior.

How does the beam profile compare to the E2DL? How is spill, comparatively?

 

[fresh eddie fresh]

Re: Real life experiences - E1B vs EB1

I have to agree, a lot of companies I like are trying to put out maximum brightness lights/drop-ins at the expense of runtime. Personally, I like to have just the right amount of light I need to get something done... anything more is sort of wasteful.

Of course, it is nice to have at least one (or four) supermegabrightomg light in the collection!

 

[Lodogg2221]

Re: Real life experiences - E1B vs EB1

So if someone bought the EB1 Tactical version, with the non-click 2 stage, is it possible to use the EB1 head on the E1B body/tailcap and have a shorter overall length but still have the dual function click switch? Then you could have both functions, but one head and swap depending on preference?

 

[Yourfun2]

Re: Real life experiences - E1B vs EB1

To me this light is a big bummer. Lousy regulation, longer at both ends and tailcap not interchangeable. Is Surefire going to go away?

 

[twl]

Re: Real life experiences - E1B vs EB1

Some people have very specific desires for long throw and a small body, and this is great for that use, as long as they can live with the run time and the sliding output.
This will be just the thing for some people.
Others will hate it.

If somebody really wanted to, they could put in a fresh battery every 15 minutes of use, to keep the max throw distance in demanding circumstances , and then use the partially depleted batteries for pocket light use in non-demanding applications later on.

 

[Vox Clamatis in Deserto]

Re: Real life experiences - E1B vs EB1

If somebody really wanted to, they could put in a fresh battery every 15 minutes of use, to keep the max throw distance in demanding circumstances , and then use the partially depleted batteries for pocket light use in non-demanding applications later on.

Surely you are not implying that SF is in the business of selling those pricey SF123A batteries?

Although I like the light, I hereby nominate the EB1 runtime curve for the King C. Gillette Marketing Award.

 

[fresh eddie fresh]

Re: Real life experiences - E1B vs EB1

Is Surefire going to go away?

Flashaholics were never Surefire's target demographic. They definitely have been going in a different direction the past year or two... it is not what we are familiar with, but they are putting out some stuff I am really interested in (DM2!!!!) It seems for the most part, they are trying to put out easy to use right out of the box lights, trying to keep prices down, but also fighting the lumens war with Chinese flashlight companies. IMHO, the Fury won on all accounts.

 

[Yourfun2]

Re: Real life experiences - E1B vs EB1

The DM2 may be a must have to replace my E2DL. Need to see some reviews first. Trying not to get my hopes up like everyone did for the EB1. It is looking like Lego ability is going away 4 Surefire and that makes me sad.

 

[Monocrom]

Re: Real life experiences - E1B vs EB1

The DM2 may be a must have to replace my E2DL. Need to see some reviews first. Trying not to get my hopes up like everyone did for the EB1. It is looking like Lego ability is going away 4 Surefire and that makes me sad.

Yup, I've said it before. Looks like we are now at the tail-end of the Golden Age of SureFire.

 

[880arm]

Re: Real life experiences - E1B vs EB1

has anyone measured the Area Under Curve comparison of E1B and EB1?

I'll give it a shot with the results through 3 hours. It should be noted that none of the lights were putting out anything remotely resembling their rated output after that time so I believe the results at 2 hours, give or take a little, are probably the most relevant. I don't know if this is the best way to present this information or if it will be meaningful.

The EB1 leads the pack up until the 96 minute mark when it is surpassed by the L1. As the test progresses to the point that the lights are more or less in moonlight mode the E1B continues to gain on the EB1 but never catches it over the 3 hour period. I cut the tests off at this point so I don't know how long the EB1 and E1B would have continued running but I don't think it would have ever caught the EB1.

The first chart just shows the cumulative readings over time (Reading 1 + Reading 2 + Reading 3, etc.):

The second chart shows the same results on a stacked area chart. If all three lights had identical results, the chart would look like 3 identical horizontal bars. Any variance from this results in bars of differing thickness (in proportion to the light's cumulative output at that point):

This chart highlights that for the first 30+ minutes the EB1 puts out nearly as much light as the E1B and L1 combined.

I hope this helps.

 

[Viking]

Re: Real life experiences - E1B vs EB1

If somebody really wanted to, they could put in a fresh battery every 15 minutes of use, to keep the max throw distance in demanding circumstances , and then use the partially depleted batteries for pocket light use in non-demanding applications later on.

That will I only recommend for other single cell flashlights.
Otherwise it could be quite dangerous.

 

[Flashlight Dave]

Re: Real life experiences - E1B vs EB1

To me this light is a big bummer. Lousy regulation, longer at both ends and tailcap not interchangeable. Is Surefire going to go away?

I believe that Size 15 once said that the Surefire L2 was a light that one should use on low with the occasional bursts on high. Perhaps we should look at the EB1 in this fashion. I am only referring to the tactical version which comes on low first. Most of people's use of the light will be with the low and any use of high will only be for a couple of minutes or so.

With that philosophy of use the lack of regulation on high should not matter. I do know that the light is not intended to be used in this manner but at least with the tactical version it should work fine. Most of us will use it in the role of an EDC light and not in its intended tactical light backup role.

 

[twl]

Re: New Surefire EB1 Clicky - Review and runtime results

That will I only recommend for other single cell flashlights.
Otherwise it could be quite dangerous.

I said it in the context of using it in the very same EB1, during use as a pocketlight.
I never mentioned it in the context of using in any other light.

I'm perfectly aware of battery safety issues.

 

[Swedpat]

Re: New Surefire EB1 Clicky - Review and runtime results

Can you lego the components with E-series lights. Would be nice to run the head on an E2D/E2DL body using 1x17670.

You can lego the head onto any other E-series compatible light but I don't think the 17670 will work for you. See Vox's informative post in the other thread.

I tried as well my E2L and E2DL with 17670. You can put in the battery a long way but not deep enough, the head can't be attached to the body. Too bad... :shakehead

 

[Machete God]

Re: New Surefire EB1 Clicky - Review and runtime results

Excellent review and tests, thanks for posting 880arm.

 

[Yourfun2]

Re: New Surefire EB1 Clicky - Review and runtime results

I tried as well my E2L and E2DL with 17670. You can put in the battery a long way but not deep enough, the head can't be attached to the body. Too bad... :shakehead

I'm running a 17650 Eagletac 1600 mah battery in my E2D. The 17670 is 2mm too long.

The 17650 is the same length of two CR123s and has the same capacity of a 17670.

 

[Swedpat]

Re: New Surefire EB1 Clicky - Review and runtime results

I'm running a 17650 Eagletac 1600 mah battery in my E2D. The 17670 is 2mm too long.

The 17650 is the same length of two CR123s and has the same capacity of a 17670.

Actually I didn't know about that size! Where to get it?

 

[RedForest UK]

Re: Real life experiences - E1B vs EB1

I believe that Size 15 once said that the Surefire L2 was a light that one should use on low with the occasional bursts on high. Perhaps we should look at the EB1 in this fashion. I am only referring to the tactical version which comes on low first. Most of people's use of the light will be with the low and any use of high will only be for a couple of minutes or so.

With that philosophy of use the lack of regulation on high should not matter. I do know that the light is not intended to be used in this manner but at least with the tactical version it should work fine. Most of us will use it in the role of an EDC light and not in its intended tactical light backup role.

But it would still matter, as the high output if the battery was half depleted would be severely reduced even from the point of turning on.


I get that the durability of the light is great, and the TIR optic with an XP-E gives a specific beam very well suited to a lot of purposes (although an XP-G2 would give more output with probably similar throw and XP-E2 should give more throw for similar output).


The main issue for me is simply it's size. I don't get why they make their 'backup' single cr123a light so long. For comparison, it's longer than the 750 OTF lumen (for over an hour) SC600.

In this sense circuit/emitter efficiency is secondary; a light could be only 1/3 as efficient as the EB1, the same size, and still beat it for output/runtime by taking an 18650.


I guess what I'm trying to say is that IMO size efficiency should be considered just as much as emitter and circuit efficiency, and this light seems to be very poor in that sense.

 

[Robin24k]

Re: Real life experiences - E1B vs EB1

The main issue for me is simply it's size. I don't get why they make their 'backup' single cr123a light so long. For comparison, it's longer than the 750 OTF lumen (for over an hour) SC600.

There's a point where small size becomes a drawback. Not only would it be more difficult to grip, but thermal dissipation would be an issue because of the surface area. I think you will want to use an oven mitt to hold that 750 lumen light that is smaller than the EB1...

 

[RedForest UK]

Re: Real life experiences - E1B vs EB1

There's a point where small size becomes a drawback. Not only would it be more difficult to grip, but thermal dissipation would be an issue because of the surface area. I think you will want to use an oven mitt to hold that 750 lumen light that is smaller than the EB1...

Yes, in a lot of cases a light can be too small. Though I'm not sure a 'back-up' is generally of these. Even if they did decide that making it smaller would not aid it's utility in any way they could perhaps have made a 2x cr123 light of the same dimensions, as other companies seem to do this very commonly. If they did so they could pack twice the watt hours of power in and I'm sure maintain flat regulation too.

With regards to heat dissipation it really shouldn't be a problem for an XP-E 200 lumen light to be even half of this size. The 750 lumen OTF SC600 is at the top of the output/size ratio but is actually fine, it hardly heats up on max at all when I take it out running (admittedly it is winter), and it can be left tailstanding for at least 10 minutes without getting uncomfortably hot (I would think this applies almost indefinitely as it didn't get noticably hotter in the last few minutes of that run). Zebralight did have to implement a thermal step-down to 500lumens after 5 minutes in case of unattended use, but if a 500 lumen light can run without overheating at the same size as the EB1 then I'm sure that a light much smaller than the EB1 could take the respective heat from a high bin XP-E driven at 200 lumens without breaking a sweat.


Too small is subjective, but personally I would say that the Nitecore D10 was ergonomically perfect. The EB1 is noticably larger than that.