Three years of using the ** SureFire L1 ** – A short history

[Black Rose]

At our local CPF meets, computernut's L1s are always the most tested Surefires at the meet.

 

[Lurveleven]

I have the L1 cree, a milky modded L1, a McGizmo Muled L1 and a LuxIII L1. The LuxIII L1 is one of my most used lights (the other L1s doesn't see much use). I use it with F04 and a sunscreen film to reduce the output even more, it is then perfect for use in the bedroom when I don't want to wake the baby and wife. With the sunscreen film the output is so low that my eyes need some night adaption before I can see anything with it. I never imagined this should be such a long lived light, I have had it since 2006, and I don't think I'll ever replace it with something else. But that doesn't mean I will not get the new LX1, it just means the LX1 will be used for other purposes.

Sigbjoern

 

[MarNav1]

I have (8) ML1 in various stages, all have the early head. My favs for sure, wondering how an XP-G will work in one. I bet pretty well.

 

[ninemm]

This thread inspired me to get an L1. How can you tell if the model is the older "low low" or the new 10 lumen low model? (Besides using the light) Thanks!

 

[milkyspit]

This thread inspired me to get an L1. How can you tell if the model is the older "low low" or the new 10 lumen low model? (Besides using the light) Thanks!

Ninemm, if the light has the shorter body it's almost definitely the 10 lumen low model.

 

[ninemm]

Ninemm, if the light has the shorter body it's almost definitely the 10 lumen low model.

Thanks Milky. Not sure if this is a faux pa but I'm specifically thinking of pulling the trigger on the L1 listed in this for sale thread. It looks short to me, but if someone could tell me whether it is the old or new version I would appreciate it. Thanks!

 

[milkyspit]

Ninemm, that is the shorter bodied one, with low beam of 10 lumens. The tailswitch can be modified to give you a lower low beam if it comes to that, so maybe it's not such a big deal either way. I'd say if you like the light, don't let that keep you from buying it. :shrug:

 

[kelmo]

My L1 is keeper and I really didn't fully appreciate it until I took it camping at Pyramid Lake NV. Pyramid Lake is mostly open fields and I thought the high beam would get swallowed up in the open plain. I was pleasantly surprised at its punch in those conditions. I also like the one celled format when I'm on the trail in case I goof up and get the spent cells mixed up with the fresh ones. I don't use it every day, but it is one of the 1st lights I pack when camping or hiking!

 

[angelofwar]

Here's a Pic of my 5th gen L1 (1.1 Lumens for 90hrs and 22 Lumens for 4 hours). I have a 6th gen on the way, but decided to keep this as well, due to the 90 hours runtime on a very useful 1.1 lumens (probably closer to 4???)

5th Gen L1 Nick Named "The Long Runninator"

I gave my first Gen 6 model to my brother candle when he had a bad year, and needed a good Christmas Present. While it didn't turn him into a flashaholic,he really loves it...hence why he won't let anybody touch it...I think when I told him it was a $165 dollar light, kinda made him be extra careful with it...

Seen here with a Pill FOB attached to the lanyard with a fresh primary...

6th Gen L1 Nick Named "Best EDC-inator...EVER"

My 2nd 6th Gen one is en-route...just had to get another one! In the mean time, I'll post a picture of my 1st L1...

Here's the supposedly rare(er) 4th gen L1, and the last of the Four Flat's version...I wasn't a full blown flashaholic at the time, and didn't know the significance of it, so I traded it up fail to fund a better light...my 3 flats C3, which I don't necessarily regret, since these are getting harder to find, and a relatively low serial number to boot. This L1 did throw though, for being such a low powered light, but this was the longest L1 in length. The head on this is shorter than current L1's (Gen 6) but the body is longer, so i was able to make the AOW L1 "Stubby" :naughty: (not pictured) by putting my 4th gen head onto my 6th gen body, making it about 2-3cm shoter than a stock 6th gen L1.

4th Gen L1 Nick Named "The Obnoxiously Longinator"

It's sad Kestrel...I typed this whole thing up with out referencing ANYTHNIG...I need to get a life...

Naw, this is too much fun!!!

 

[DHart]

AOW... you and Kestrel must be the L1 kings of the world! Isn't it great to find a light that you just love so much. Just one of life's wonderful pleasures.

 

[WadeF]

Mounted a small yellow trit vial in my L1's clip, and threw a GITD o-ring around it just for the heck of it:



I have a lithium ion in it for a little extra oommmff. If it ever goes it will end up with Milky for some modifications.

 

[DHart]

Wade... I run a li-ion in my L1 as well... thinking, as you do, that if it does go poof , it will be great for something custom.

It seems quite content with a li-ion, but I must admit that I don't use it a lot.

 

[WadeF]

Wade... I run a li-ion in my L1 as well... thinking, as you do, that if it does go poof , it will be great for something custom.

It seems quite content with a li-ion, but I must admit that I don't use it a lot.

Mine doesn't see prolonged use on high, but it doesn't seem to be drawling that much current. It doesn't seem to be driving the LED anywhere near 1A or more. If it was, I would expect a lot more light to be coming out.

 

[angelofwar]

AOW... you and Kestrel must be the L1 kings of the world! Isn't it great to find a light that you just love so much. Just one of life's wonderful pleasures.

Yep! The perfect UI...and with such a variety, you can always find one that will meet your needs with just the right amount of light....after thinking about it, I started looking at the AZ2...That would be like a black HA L1 on crack!!!

Kestrel,

Here's what I was able to gather after MUCH research...will try to get some more info to fill in the gaps, but if anyone knows off the top of there heads, please chime in.

1st and 2nd Gen:

-Hi: 20lm
-Lo: 13lm
600 Minutes (Average/combined???)

3rd Gen:

-Hi: 15lm/5hrs
-Lo: .7lm/50hrs

4th Gen & 5th Gen:
-Hi: 22lm/4hrs
-Lo: 1.1lm/90hrs

6th Gen (Current):

-Hi: 65Lm/1.5hrs
-Lo: 10Lm/16hrs


-------------------------
Updated (as best I could figure out) 24 Aug 10. I did verify the 22 Lumen/4 hours high runtime in the 2006 Catalog...but, the 5th gen never appears in any of there catalogs (scratches head). the Gen 3 pictured in the 04 Catalog had a domed lens, but I'm pretty positive SF doesn't verify the photo is necessarily those most current model when the catalog goes to press...so we'll need someone with a Gen-3 to chime in.
Edited 25 Aug 10 for clarfication.

 

[Kestrel]

Here's what I was able to gather after MUCH research...will try to get some more info to fill in the gaps, but if anyone knows off the top of there heads, please chime in.
3rd Gen: Square Body/Hexgonal Bezel/Domed Optics (unsure)/Lux I driven at 1 watt (?)
-Hi: 15lm/5hrs
-Lo: .7lm/50hrs

5th Gen: Round Body (Longer than 6th Gen), Round Bezel (Shorter than Gen 6 Bezel); Last Gen to offer the Domed TIR Lens. Lux III driven at 1.2 watts for more efficiency
-Hi: 22lm/4hrs
-Lo: 1.1lm/90hrs

Hey there, :wave:

Thanks for the info. A couple things, was that Gen3 5 hr 'Hi' runtime that long?? Also, I think I handled a Gen3 once and IIRC it didn't have the domed optics.
(Edit: 2 hr runtime on that 'high' and still had the earlier optic, reference provided below.)

Also, I'm pretty certain that the SF spec for the Gen5 22 lm high was originally for 1 hour - that L1 was my first ever SF and that is my recollection.

I'd suggest 5a & 5b generations - As far as I know, all of the initial Gen 5's were consistently a long clip. SF changed over to a short clip ~6 months or so before the Gen 6's came out, and quite often, subsequently broken Gen 5 long clips were replaced with the newer short clips by SF, from what I've read here.

Thanks again,

--------------------

Edit, after re-reading page one of this L1 thread.
From this thread:

Gen3: Like gen2 but emitter is Luxeon high dome. Note that optic is still NX05.

From this thread:

"The L1 LumaMax features a new single-die 3 watt Luxeon LED driven at 1 watt while the L2 LumaMax employs a four-die 5 watt Luxeon LED. The L1's light output is 0.7 lumens at low (50 hours) and 15 lumens at high (2 hours) [...]
The above info was kindly provided by another board member, and comes from the 2005 catalogue. Therefore it appears (to me) that not all L1's with TIR optic were created equal. (The current model is 1.1 lumens low @ 90 hours and 22 lumens high).

So it sounds like the Gen3 still had the oldest-style optic and a SF-spec 2hr runtime on high.


I really miss that ultra-low and the nearly 100 hour resultant runtime of the Gen5, though. What a perfect configuration.

 

[Ny0ng1]

my most used light, my first >$100 light, my first SureFire

long runtime, very useful low (even for battery vampire), instant high mode with intermittent feature, durability and quality of SF, creamy white tint, etc etc :thumbsup:

 

[Kestrel]

I'm doing 3 days of survival training in a few weeks. Thinking of what lights to bring, one that I'm definitely taking is the L1.

BTW I recently found out that my 'Cree' L1 will still operate in 'high' mode (w/ no visible difference in output compared to using a fresh cell) with a CR123 that can't sustain the ~70 lumen high of the SF T1A. There is a modest following for the SF L1 in the Battery Vampire thread. :thumbsup:

 

[angelofwar]

Sounds like the perfect canidate...along with an E2L and ???

I read a review on the 5th gen L1, and the author stated "And the 90 hour runtime on low makes this the perfect survival light" and, as others have mentioned, the lower low of this gen, makes it ideal for stealth applications, and is better for preserving night vision, where the 10 lumens of the newer gen might give away your psoition/ruin your night adapted eye's.

Are you going to Aircrew Survival Training??? Or is it a civilain/LEO "survival" school? Let us know which other 2 you end up taking and how they perform (pluses/minuses!) Very interested in hearing other peoples take on what really works when your in the middle of nowhere for three days with out the rest of your lights, or, God forbid, CPF!!! :shakehead

 

[SiliconCali]

:twothumbs Great story for a great light!

 

[milkyspit]

AOW, you've put a lot of work into looking through the various catalogs, but your generations aren't quite right. It's dangerous to rely solely on the catalogs themselves for information as SureFire has a habit of listing lights that sometimes are delayed or don't end up being released at all, and both product photos and specifications may well change before the actual light hits the streets. Better to use the catalogs for some supplemental information as needed but rely on the actual lights in folks' hands as your primary reference.

1st Gen: Reflector Based (The Real "Lumamax"; Had E-Series Styled Bezel with grooves about mid-way up). 1 Watt Luxeon driven at 1 Watt.

This may have been an early prototype that to my knowledge was never released... or you may be confusing the rev1 KL1 head with the L1 flashlight. The KL1 rev1 head had ribbing along its sides. Either way, these heads never used a reflector... they have all used optics.

2nd Gen: Same as gen 1, but with a newer bezel (ala Mini-Aviator style)

Sounds like you were looking at the oldest KL1 head for this entry and the KL1rev1 head in the prior entry.

3rd Gen: Square Body/Round KL style bezel replaces Aviator Style Bezel/Domed Optics/Lux 3 driven at 1 watt

This doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, and may have been another unreleased version or perhaps been confused with the newer KL1 head. BTW, all the L1 up to this point were driving 350mA to the emitter, which pegs output power in the 1.1A-1.3A range.

4th Gen: Essentially a 3rd Gen Body with a 5th Gen Head
This L1 was the transition point to the newer looking L1 that we're familiar with

This seems to correspond to the L1 gen4 from my list in the L1 evolution thread.

5th Gen: Round Body (Longer than 6th Gen), Round Bezel (Shorter than Gen 6 Bezel); Last Gen to offer the Domed TIR Lens. Lux III driven at 1.2 watts for more efficiency

The LED is still running in the 1.1A-1.3A ballpark as it has in all generations to this point.

AOW, you may want to reference "The Surefire L1 Evolution" thread over here for definitive information on the various revisions of the L1 including photos of the actual lights. There is a wealth of material in that thread from a number of folks. Among others, I posted my own observations based on firsthand experience with literally hundreds of L1 that have passed through the Milky Labs, many of which were new in package.

For example, from post #10 over here...

This is by no means an exhaustive list... and I don't have photos, sorry... but here's a start!

SureFire L1 Evolution

Gen1: Body has four flats. Head is short and tapered. Lens is flat. Bezel is plain (NOT scalloped). Optic is NX05. Emitter is Luxeon low dome.

Gen2: Like gen1 but bezel is scalloped. I believe some of these came with the SureFire lanyard and attachment in the box. Somewhere along the way the box style changed from cardboard box with lid to cardboard one-piece box with top and bottom flats, internal plastic tray, and clear plastic window through which the L1 is visible.

Gen3: Like gen2 but emitter is Luxeon high dome. Note that optic is still NX05.

Gen4: Head switched to larger, KL4-like head with TIR optic, domed lens, and Luxeon (III?) emitter. Body is still the four flats version. These seem to be relatively rare! Probably a short production run before switching to the newer, rounded body.

Gen5: Like gen4 but body is rounded (no flats).

Gen6: (shown at SHOT 2007) Body seems to be 25% shorter than gen5. Head seems to be a little shorter than gen5 head, with emitter switched to Cree XR-E and optic switched to something similar in appearance to a Fraen LP optic... it appears to have a hole in the center that goes all the way through, although that may not in fact be the case (looked like it did to me, but Size15s reports not)... one can look directly at the emitter dome through this apparent hole.

...and post #18 over here...

Some photos to go with some of the above...

Gen1 Box Front

Gen1 Box Back

Gen1 Box Inside

Gen1 Flashlight

Gen1 Angled with NX05 Optic Visible

Gen1 Look Into NX05 Optic

Closeup of 4-Flats Body (Gen1-Gen4)

Gen3 Flashlight

Milky L1 (Gen3 Host)

Milky L1 SEOULmated, Look Into Head (Gen3 Host)

Gen4 Flashlight

Gen5 Box Front

Gen5 Box Back

Gen5 Flashlight with Included Lanyard

Gen5 Look Into TIR Optic

Gen5 Closeup on Domed Lens

...and post #35 over here...

Here's a photo I'd snapped recently of various L1 bodies, along with a couple friends...

Note the gen6 (L1 Cree, #5) host and how it relates sizewise to its peers: it's essentially the same length as the gen1 host (#4), and markedly shorter than the gen5 host (#3).