Milky L1 Information Thread

[milkyspit]

This is Part 1 of the Milky L1 Information Thread. Part 2 is over here.




Introduction

What's a Milky L1?

I've loved the old-style SureFire L1 for a long while now... love the overall design, the ergonomics, the compactness, the elegance of this package... not so crazy about the floodsy, not-so-bright purple-tinted beam though.

Solution: the Milky L1!

The Milky L1 started as my own attempt to improve on the original L1... then after literally YEARS of studying, and poking around, and tinkering... and tinkering... finally a few of the quirks to this platform started to sink into my overly dense cranium, and I started to get the hang of turning the little guy into IMHO a truly compelling light.

At first this was almost like a secret build I did... had only made a handful, and those went to various folks... Kevin at Battery Station... Steve at The Product Wizard... MSaxatilus... a few others (plus me of course)... in many ways this has long been my premier build in that there's a certain level of performance I've tried hard to maintain, to the extent that sometimes I wouldn't even build any because the emitters on hand weren't good enough! (All get hand-picked as outperformers in order to make it into an ML1.)

But what IS a Milky L1? Don't think I've ever actually posted on that! Oops.

This thread will hopefully shed some light on what this mod is all about, along with some photos, beamshots, runtime charts, and commentary offered by others too numerous to mention... but thank you to everyone for the info!

It's an upgraded (but brand new in box) old-style L1 with vastly improved performance...


Collected Milky L1 Info, With Updates (7/4/2007)

In this post I gather some tidbits from previous posts and update them to correct mistakes, add missing emitter choices, etc. Thought it might help to have it all in one place.


The Milky L1 Colorometer! (including Seoul and Cree)

(Italics mean I don't have that emitter on hand at the time of this writing... the info remains here for reference.)

Cree P4-WH (warmest: beige-white) - roughly 84 lumens
LuxIII UWOJ ("French vanilla" white) - roughly 50-60 lumens
LuxIII TWOH - roughly 45-60 lumens
Lux1W SWOH (rich white, hotwire friendly) - roughly 50-60 lumens
Seoul P4-USVOI - roughly 91-100 lumens
Seoul P4-USWOH - roughly 91-100 lumens
LuxIII UXOJ - roughly 50-60 lumens
Cree P3-WC (close to the Lumileds XO tint) - roughly 77 lumens
LuxIII UWAJ (pure white) - roughly 50-60 lumens
Seoul P4-U-6500K - roughly 91-100 lumens
LuxIII UYOJ - roughly 50-60 lumens
LuxIII TYAH (coolest: frosty white) - roughly 45-60 lumens


Milky L1 Selection Guide (second draft)

I can customize an L1 to your needs in a number of ways, but it really boils down to this...

1. Want longest possible throw from the L1 platform? Start with the new-style L1 with an IMS20 smooth reflector and flat ultra-clear lens installed.

1a. Want long throw with a ram-of-light effect? Start with the new-style L1 with the TIR optic left in place.

2. Want good throw in a smaller, more elegant version of the L1? Start with the old-style L1.

3. Tell me what sort of beam would be most useful to you: (a) short range mostly flood beam; (b) well-balanced all-purpose beam, useful for both close-range and moderately long distance use; (c) all-purpose beam with a little more intensity in the hotspot for a little extra throw. If you chose 'a', you want the ML1 Floodmaster Edition, featuring heavy stipple reflector. If you chose 'b', you want the ML1 Standard. If you chose 'c', you want the ML1 Smoothie. These choices don't apply if you're keeping the new-style TIR optic.

4. Do you have need for an unusually dim low beam? (Astronomer, photo darkroom, unusually good night vision, covert operations, etc.) If so, please request the ultralow tailcap mod.

5. If we aimed for a pure white tint but missed, would you rather miss with a beam that's a little warm (creamy) or a little cool (frosty)?

6. Is getting your tint preference so important that you're willing to sacrifice 15% of your runtime to get what you want?

7. Is a pure white tint so important that you're willing to lose 35% of the light's brightness to achieve it?

8. Is having a beam free of even minor artifacts so important that you're willing to sacrifice 15% of the beam's range to achieve it?[/QUOTE]


Keeping The New-Style TIR Optic

Some people have asked about the difference between the L1/KL1 with TIR optic, stock vs. SEOULmated. Here's a quick drawing that shows both the difference and my lack of skills in the visual arts!




Runtime Curve

Should be about the same as this, just brighter...

[/QUOTE]


Historical Info

Here are some quotes I grabbed quickly from Knight Lights' "Interested In Mods?" thread...

In no particular order...

Milky L1. What the L1 should have been! A two stage L1 built with an improved emitter, a reflector, and higher output. High in the 60 lumen range.

Milky L1 (a.k.a. ML1)

Front profile view.


Tail profile view.


Size comparison vs. some other SureFire LED lights. Milky L1 is on the left... the middle light is comparable in size to the current-generation stock L1... light on the right is the L2. Note how much smaller the ML1 is relative to the others... IMHO it's just right, a good fit for most hands while still being surprisingly light in weight and compact.


Side view with the Milky L1 activated.


Posterized beamshot to show uniformity of the beam, with no artifacts, donut holes, or dark spots. Color is uniform from hotspot to edge, too. Overall output slightly exceeds the current-gen stock L1, sidespill is far greater, and throw is darned close! Draws less current than current-gen stock L1, too.

Price List:
Milky L1 Complete Light $175-Includes Surefire old style packaging, Surefire cell, paracord lanyard, and all the appropriate Surefire paperwork.

Milky L1, modify your light $85 (includes premium emitter, tint of your preference if available.)

The Milky L1 outperforms the stock New L1, Old style L1, and most other lights it's size in output at ~60 lumens (dependant on your selection of emitter, desired run time, etc.) You get a premium reflectored light, with a beautiful smooth beam. These have been a Milkyspit special, and everyone that has seen them, or used them, loves them. It is smaller than the New L1 but has more output and a much better beam pattern due to the reflector. So far as I am aware, no one that has one has ever sold theirs. Milkyspit hand selects these emitters, and only the best and brightest make the cut!

These are truly handbuilt, handpicked lights. (You can beat the Luxeon Lottery, if you use Milkyspit to do it!!)

This is one of Milkyspit's favorites and his trademark light!!

(Actually, a couple people have sold theirs to raise funds, but nobody has yet returned one or sold because they were disappointed, as far as I am aware!)

Got the Milky L1 on Friday. Haven't put it down since. It really doesn't work as well as they say - in the noon sun . This really is a keeper. I got the UWOJ version. It is a little on the brown side at the low level, as expected. But on high, this thing is nice and bright. Hard to believe there is only one cell in it.

Milky does nice work. No dust or smudges. Clean and spotless. This is what I expect, and this is what I got. I do not believe anyone would be upset with this light. Form and function are top notch, but it is a little pricey.

It is worth it. Nice job, Milky.

I got my modded Milky L1 head today & it's a scorcher! Works great both on the L1 as well as on my Maxlite on direct drive with a Li-On 14500 cell (it does get a bit hot as expected so I might get a McR18 later to drop in in place of the plastic IMS17 reflector).

(The McR18 reflector is now standard.)

Received my first perfect light. My Milky L1. It is compact, bright, and has two perfectly chosen drive levels. Did I mention that its build quality is superb? This is truly the way SF should make the L1. If you have the money buy one now. It is worth every penny to a true flashaholic. Great workmanship, outstanding customer service, and fast shipping. Thank you Milky!!!

(Aw shucks. [rosy red cheeks])

In an unscientific evaluation this is what my eyes tell me...the ML1 on the highest level (with a Lux III UXOJ emitter) is brighter than my Amilite Neo, and brighter than my Fenix P1 which are both Lux III's as well. The ML1 is marginally brighter than the Surefire KL3 head and too close to call with the Surefire KL1 head.

In my first few hours of using the ML1, it appears more handy than my E2e and E2e with KL1, because it is the same size or slightly smaller with a low setting and the same level of brightness on high as he competition. My E2e with KL1 or L4 with the McE2s two-stage tailcap is considerably longer in length. The KL1 on the E1e with the McE2s is quite a bit smaller but not as easily activated. The McE2s on the E2e and E1e does allow the light to tail stand while the ML1 does not.
The ML1 is like having a smaller E2e/KL1 in a smaller package with the addition of a low mode. Or it is like having a two-stage E2e if you ignore the incandescent vs LED benefit arguement, or a smaller A2. My initial thoughts are that the ML1 is more handy for day to day tasks than an E2e, of which I have had lots of experience with.
I can't compare it to a recent production L1 but would love to see that comparison.

Got my Milky L1 today and it IS what an L1 should have been!

I did some visual, unscientific tests with my Milky ML1 tonight. Out of all my lights, the Milky ML1 (UX0J) is closest in brightness, beam and tint to my McLux Ti-PD (UX0J). I was amazed at how close they appear! While the Ti-PD is a slightly warmer tint the ML1 is a precise stark white. The beams on low and high are so close in brightness, I would be hard-pressed to find the difference. To my eyes, the ML1 has the same size hotspot, but with considerably more spill.

The Ti-PD is a little easier to operate one handed. To operate the ML1 one-handed, I have to point the head downward at my wrist. There may be a better way that I haven't found yet.

The ML1 is rugged to the max and fits my perception of a real work light. The ML1 is not inexpensive. However it is not expensive enough that I would go into clinical depression if it were lost or stolen - a point that keeps me from taking the Ti-PD in the field at all.

While there is no substitute for the ruggedness, beauty and engineering of the Ti-PD, the functionally the Milky enhanced ML1 is very, very close. As NotRegulated mentioned, my only regret is that I don't have a recent stock L1 to compare it to. For me the Milky ML1 is a total keeper which I would recommend to anyone.

Beamshot Comparison: McLux PD & Milky "ML1"

I posted some time ago that to my eye, the Milky ML1 is a close comparison to my McLux PD. My purpose in doing so was not to say one is better than the other or come to any conclusion - to me, they both just look darn close!

I had a forum member ask about throw. So, I thought I would just try some beamshots and let the viewer decide. Obviously, the spill on the ML1 is much larger, but to me the hotspots and throw are very close. Anyway, I hope this is at least informational.

Bill


Indoor (Below)



Outdoor (Below)

My Milky L1 SV1H arrived on Monday. I got the shipping notice Thursday 10 pm, light arrived Monday morning 11 am, that is fast international shipping!! And there were not many business days in there.

I haven't had the opportunity to properly test the light outside yet, but the impressions so far is that for indoor use it is much much nicer than the stock L1 since you do not need to use a diffuser on it and it has great spill. For indoor use I also prefer using it instead of my McLuxIII-PD, the switch is nicer to use and the beam profile from the McR18 is in IMO better for indoor use than the McR20 (but the McR16 is probably the best). When it comes to brightness, it looks equal in brightness to my PD with UX1K when doing a ceiling bounce test. The low mode is quite a bit lower than on the PD, so for reading it is better for night adapted eyes, but for other uses it may not be so useful. I doubt the low is useful for outdoor use, but I haven't tested that yet. I may make a mini review when I have had more time to test it.

So far the impression of it is very good and I like it a lot.

Sigbjoern

Next... Leef kindly did some runtime testing with his Milky L1, and the results were, uh, pretty much what was expected. At least I know I haven't been guilty of false advertising!

Thank you Leef!!

Some general commentary... Leef's lightbox seems to measure roughly 10 of his "LBU" for 1 lumen. The TWOH is not the absolute brightest emitter that could be installed in a ML1, but still it's a good performer, actually topping-out at roughly 62 lumens and spending most of its runtime in the 55-57 lumen range. Runtime defined as the time to 50% initial brightness appears to be roughly 120 minutes, with the first 90 minutes or so in very flat regulation... this is actually a better curve than I would have expected, and seems to validate the platform. Also worth noting: once the light begins to dim, it does so GRADUALLY, so one has plenty of time to change the battery, get back to camp, find some shelter for the night, or whatever. Even after 3 full hours of continuous runtime, the Milky L1 is still generating something around 7 lumens... not bad at all! And all this from a single 123 cell.

Milky L1 LuxIII TWOH runtime, linear scale (what the meter sees)...


Milky L1 LuxIII TWOH runtime, log scale (closer to what the human eye sees)...

[milkyspit]

FYI: There's a thread on old vs. new-style SureFire L1 over here... Flashdark has been providing some info on his own runtime tests, and his info will (I think!) include the Milky L1 as well in the near future.

[milkyspit]

The ML1 Can Tailstand.
(with a little help at least!)

Some props for Jim at OregonShooter.com, who I believe may also be a CPF member (though I don't know his username!)... he's fashioned both delrin switch guards for tailstanding, and delrin grip rings for cigar hold, that would be great complements to the Milky L1. His website is over here.

Some photos found on his product pages...

Closeup of the delrin switch guard


Rear view of an A2 with delrin switch guard mounted


Delrin grip ring on a couple lights



Kudos Jim!

[milkyspit]

Reserved for future info, beamshots, runtime results.

[rdh226]

Safe for use with RCR's 4.2V?

Available? Can you build me one with one of my UV0J emitters?

-RDH

[milkyspit]

Safe for use with RCR's 4.2V?

Available? Can you build me one with one of my UV0J emitters?

-RDH

Available? Yes... PM me or email at milkyspit(at)gmail(dot)com with interest... if you email, please include your CPF username or my little pea-sized brain might not realize who you are!

Build from a UV0J emitter? Yes... I can't guarantee the results, though, since I don't have the benefit of hand-picking from a batch of emitters, plus I have no experience with that specific tint in the ML1. It'll probably end up VERY warm in tint... if that's what you want, awesome! If not, I would humbly suggest either a LuxIII UWOJ or a LuxI SV1H.

...but can it be built? YES!

Use with a 4.2V RCR123? Actually, yes, though this gets slightly interesting...

The L1 body is precision sized to a primary 123 cell, and for that reason most rechargeables won't fit. However, I've done some tests on the circuitry itself and the ML1 does seem capable of running a rechargeable, and does what it should, namely draw less current due to the presence of higher input voltage.

One solution would be to bore out the battery tube a bit, or even work on it with a Dremel... some gentle widening of the inside of the battery chamber should do the trick, less than a millimeter of material needs to be removed...

Or use a cell known to fit! At present I've heard reports of at least one brand of protected Li-ion cell fitting but this was hit-or-miss: two samples of the same brand where one fit but the other didn't. The MP brand unprotected cell (I think AW sells these) is also known to fit. Here's a few photos of the cell...







While I haven't heard of any problems using one of these in the ML1, please be careful! These cells aren't toys, people... TREAT THEM WITH CARE AND RESPECT! I suspect SureFire may have sized the battery tube that way for a reason. (Not flashlight destruction, but rather user and property!)

[Phaserburn]

I'm the one that's been using the bare MP R123 cells, and have found out that some DLG protected cells fit; some don't. I've done a runtime test on the MPs, and got 60mins which took the battery from 4.09V down to 3.61V. The battery wasn't even as fully charged as it could be, and when done at 3.61, there was still a bit of useable charge left. I would expect that another 10 mins or so could be had from a single charge. I would definitely recommend using your R123 for an hour at a time before having to recharge. Of course, li-ions LIKE to be recharged frequently, so this should not be a problem either. My Milky L1 is just as bright on R123s as it is on primary 123s. The current draw difference is large; the R123 only draws 480ma, whereas a primary draws around 800ma.

Jeez, Milky, how come I don't ever get mentioned in these cool threads, eh? Ah, the inhumanities...



The Milky L1 is great. I was a skeptic, but am now fully converted. Best single cell light around, period. Get one! A minor caveat, or significant bonus, depending on your point of view: the low setting is now significantly brighter, around 35% of high, I'd say. Personally, I like that even better, as now low is useful for even more things. It's brighter because the extra voltage of the li-ion is punching more current through the resistor to the emitter.

[milkyspit]

The trouble with Phaserburn is that he keeps telling me about new lights... he's my eyes and ears on all the latest stuff... and the darned guy keeps convincing me to BUY it! Every time he calls me seems like money ends up falling out of my wallet! (That's when there's money there in the first place!)

Oh, oops... uh, back on topic: probably worth a mention that lately I've been building Milky L1's with hand-picked LuxIII UWAJ emitters, and so far the results have been FANTASTIC. Phaserburn can tell ya!

[DUQ]

That's some nice work Milky. Just a quick note that Dae sells those MP cells at ---> http://www.qualitychinagoods.com/mpr...mah-p-294.html

[milkyspit]

Thanks Duq!

[PJD]

I'm the one that's been using the bare MP R123 cells, and have found out that some DLG protected cells fit; some don't. I've done a runtime test on the MPs, and got 60mins which took the battery from 4.09V down to 3.61V. The battery wasn't even as fully charged as it could be, and when done at 3.61, there was still quite a bit of useable charge left (safely being able to discharge down to 3V). I would expect that another 15+ mins or so could be had from a single charge. I would definitely recommend using your R123 for an hour at a time before having to recharge. Of course, li-ions LIKE to be recharged frequently, so this should not be a problem either. My Milky L1 is just as bright on R123s as it is on primary 123s. The current draw difference is large; the R123 only draws 480ma, whereas a primary draws around 800ma.

Jeez, Milky, how come I don't ever get mentioned in these cool threads, eh? Ah, the inhumanities...



The Milky L1 is great. I was a skeptic, but am now fully converted. Best single cell light around, period. Get one! A minor caveat, or significant bonus, depending on your point of view: the low setting is now significantly brighter, around 35% of high, I'd say. Personally, I like that even better, as now low is useful for even more things. It's brighter because the extra voltage of the li-ion is punching more current through the resistor to the emitter.

PB...I agree with everything you said except "best single cell light around, period.". From a VERY biased point of view, I'd hafta say that the Milky "L2" is the best single cell light around...of which I happen to be the proud owner of ! Of course, "best" is purely a matter of personal preference; Keep up the FANTASTIC work, Milky!

PJD

[milkyspit]

The Milky L1 doesn't always drive an emitter at exactly its specified current... sometimes underdrives by a lot, sometimes by a little, sometimes not! It's a fairly complex combination of factors that determines this. Toward that end, here are some emitters I've got on hand as examples of the likely tint specifically in a Milky L1, from warmest to coolest white...


The Milky L1 Colorometer!

LuxIII UWOJ (warmest: "French vanilla" white)
LuxIII TWOH
Lux1W SWOH (rich white, hotwire friendly)
LuxIII UXOJ
LuxIII UWAJ (pure white)
LuxIII UYOJ
LuxIII TYAH (coolest: frosty white)

[Flashdark]

Scott,

I just posted a complete review of the Milkyspit ML-1 vs. the Surefire L-1 (old) & L-1 (new). I posted over in the "Reviews" section so that I would not clutter up your thread here. I can duplicate here if you like, or you can cut and paste the parts that you think are appropriate, or you can just link to it (I don't know how to do that).

In reference to your color chart above (which is great! information by the way), do you have an approximate power-output and runtime comparison also to go side-by-side with it??!! I'm thinking about a second ML-1, and I'm so happy with my current LuxIII/TYAH, I don't know if I would want to change to something else or not.

Hope this helps,
Flashdark sends.

[milkyspit]

Here's a link to Flashdark's review of the Milky L1 vs. SureFire L1 old and new generations.

Flashdark, as far as runtime and power output by bin, that's tough to pin down exactly because the Vf of the specific emitter will influence both. That's why I hand select the emitters for these builds!

Very generally, the LuxIII T**H bins would be slightly lower output than the others, but still good performers... and they'd offer slightly longer runtime. The other bins should all be pretty similar to one another in terms of output and runtime.

For reference, my personal ML1 for quite some time had been a spectacularly outperforming LuxIII TYAH... but just recently I switched to a UWAJ by virtue of its pure white tint on both high and low beams. I can't honestly say the UWAJ is any brighter though, and in fact might be ever so slightly less bright, a tradeoff I'm happy to make given the near-perfect tint. This may be the purest white light I have.

As for YOUR next ML1, if you like the frosty white, super cool tint, by all means go for another... if you could stand something with less blue in it, I would suggest you give the UWAJ a try.

[Flashdark]

Scott,

PM coming your way about another ML-1.

Flashdark

[KDOG3]

Sorry if this question has been answered already. Is it possilbe to mod the L1 so the low stays the same but the high is such that it would still provide a solid hour or runtime...

[milkyspit]

Sorry if this question has been answered already. Is it possilbe to mod the L1 so the low stays the same but the high is such that it would still provide a solid hour or runtime...

KDog, short answer: no. Won't get into the long answer right now, but the condensed version is that what you're asking would be an extremely labor-intensive adjustment for EACH brightness level (gotta address both)... price would be IMHO crazy expensive... there are probably more economical platforms to use for giving you what you want at a more realistic price. Heck, it would probably even be cheaper to have an L1 body bored-out and install completely new guts from scratch.

[milkyspit]

Alantch posted some GREAT comparative beamshots over in Flashdark's comparative review of the L1 old and new vs. Milky L1... brought the photos over here in the interest of gathering such info in one place, thought it would make life easier for folks trying to learn about the Milky L1. My hat's off to you, Alan! And you, Flashdark, for what's obviously a very thoughtful, in-depth (not to mention time consuming) review! Folks, you owe it to yourselves to read Flashdark's review, which I will not copy here due to length. Now if ol' Flashie wants to post pieces over here of his own accord, that's another story...

I thought I'd contribute to this thread by way of some beam shots, so today, with some time to spare, I took the opportunity to take some low and high beam shots of the ML-1 and the L-1 (new). All are taken with the same exposure settings. It can be seen that the ML-1 blows away the L-1 (new) in terms of spill and total output in both low and high modes. ML-1 is with UX0J.


L-1 (new) Low beam


ML-1 Low beam. Same exposure to show difference in beam intensity. Considerably more spill then L-1 (new), but does not show here.


L-1 (new) High beam. Absence of spill - all throw. Squarish beam profile. Notice the faint outer ring.


ML-1 High beam. Nice!


Left L-1 (new); Right ML-1. Both on high beam

[milkyspit]

BTW, just for the heck of it, I'd like to try a WEEK OF ML-1 BUILDS. Price is $175 plus $5 shipping to USA, $10 shipping international. Insurance extra. Default emitter this week will be UWAJ, but other bins possible... see the color comparison listing a few posts above this one! PM me or email scott[at]release1{dot}com with interest, or just send over the appropriate Paypal... put your CPF username in the comments section, please!
Cash (Preferred): ppcash(AATT)QuarryRun(DDOOTT)com
Credit Card: ppcard(AATT)QuarryRun(DDOOTT)com
This is an experiment to see if batching up the builds will make things more time efficient. Now's the time!

Hmm... experiment... okay, what the heck! Free shipping to USA, $5 international.

[milkyspit]

Just a quick mention... I'm starting to prototype a high output AMBER version of the Milky L1.

[flashlight]

BTW, just for the heck of it, I'd like to try a WEEK OF ML-1 BUILDS. Price is $175 plus $5 shipping to USA, $10 shipping international. Insurance extra. Default emitter this week will be UWAJ, but other bins possible... see the color comparison listing a few posts above this one! PM me or email scott[at]release1{dot}com with interest, or just send over the appropriate Paypal... put your CPF username in the comments section, please!
Cash (Preferred): ppcash(AATT)QuarryRun(DDOOTT)com
Credit Card: ppcard(AATT)QuarryRun(DDOOTT)com
This is an experiment to see if batching up the builds will make things more time efficient. Now's the time!

Hmm... experiment... okay, what the heck! Free shipping to USA, $5 international.

If anyone wants an ML1, you can also see my thread here. It will come directly from milkyspit & I believe the above 'promo' shipping still applies but for a short time more only.

[alantch]

Here's another shot showing the size comparison between the ML-1 and the L-1 (new).


Closeup view of the business-end of the ML-1 and McR-18 reflector.

[milkyspit]

Alantch, those are GREAT photos... especially the closeup of the head! Man, you can even see the bond wires inside the LED dome. How the heck did you get such great shots?

[milkyspit]

Milky L1 Amber Prototyped, Now Available

On a hunch, I sourced some LuxIII high brightness amber LEDs the other day. Today they arrived and I went to work building the first-ever prototype Milky L1 Amber... the results were so good that the prototype became my personal light!

Looks like this thing is pumping out at least 45 lumens and there's a good range between high and low beams. Current draw on a primary 123 cell would suggest the runtime will actually be LONGER than with the white ML1... estimated runtime for the ML1-Amber on high beam is 3 hours!

There's one other interesting characteristic... with an RCR123 cell, current draw actually increases and output brightens, which suggests the RCR123 kicks the light into overdrive... high beam output in that scenario increases... my guess is 80-90 lumens when running in overdrive.

Beam is gorgeous save for a pinpoint mark in the very center of the hotspot (all colored Luxeons tend to show that sort of beam pattern)... a light diffusing film removes the pinmark without noticeably reducing overall output. Reflector is McR-18, and the beam with diffusing film is drop-dead gorgeous!

Bottom line, the results were excellent!

[milkyspit]

One More Benefit to the L1 Amber Head...

On a whim I tried mounting the L1 amber head on an E1E body, running in direct drive off a single 123 primary cell. Turns out this works GREAT! A fresh cell delivered about 900mA to the emitter and output was superb! Of course, this combination falls a little short for extended use as the heatsinking is limited due to size of such a small light... plus you lose the benefits of the L1, including regulation, dual brightness, etc... it does look, though, like amber is the way to go if you want an emergency light capable of running, and running very well! on an alternative body if need be.

[nuggett]

Will a Cree work in this?

[milkyspit]

Will a Cree work in this?

Nuggett, yes, I'm condifent a Cree would work in this... the issue will be finding a really good reflector to fit inside the L1 old-style head. I'm working on it but haven't found anything up to the standards of the Milky L1 just yet... I get pretty particular about performance of this particular build...

[nuggett]

Thanks Scott
and BTW NJ huh? What exit? Formerly from Montclair myself.

[milkyspit]

Thanks Scott
and BTW NJ huh? What exit? Formerly from Montclair myself.

Nuggett, other end of the state... NW rather than NE. Almost all the way to PA. BTW, I believe you made a deal with Flashlight on a Milky L1? It's on the way to you right now... went out in today's mail.

[russtang]

PM sent.