Finally buying a light: SF L1 CREE, Fenix P2D Q5 or P3D Q5 - most votes wins!

[Fooboy]

Well - it has come time for Santa to bring me my first light. This light will just be for general bump in the night, emergency preparedness, infrequent carry. I've narrowed it down to these 3.

I gotta be honest, the SF looks awesome, but it is double the price for half the advertised lumens. But, it has a great warranty and reputation, better waterproofing.

The fenix seems like a sweet torch for the money with tons of lumens, but not a huge fan of reverse clickies. It is cheaper and seems to have a pretty flat regulation ...

Will the fenix blow the L1 Cree out of the water? But, this will probably be the only serious light I own, so maybe I should air on the side or reliability ...

All this thinking has hurt my brain. I've decided whichever gets the most votes will get my dollar!

Thanks.

 

[kfallscody]

Well I have a P3D CE which I EDC'd for a good 5 months. That was until I dropped the light and the head was damaged so the body can not screw in and out anymore, effectively disabling the turbo mode of the light. After that experience, I have a SureFire L1 Cree on the way.

Am really not impresed with the build quality of Fenix anymore so I would vote for the L1 Cree!

 

[Fooboy]

L1: 1
P2D: 0
P3D: 0

 

[Sgt. LED]

Vote for the L1! And when it gets old and outclassed, send it to milkyland!

 

[Fooboy]

Interesting point ... SF is more upgradeable.

How much does Milky charge / turnaround time to do his magic, and I imagine it voids the warranty?

 

[Sgt. LED]

Kills warranty so I would wait for the R4 bin to come out, takes almost month due to constant business, and price depends. He will do whatever you want to it including optic or reflector choice so the price varies greatly, think $80 average? Ask anyone on here, fantastic work and very worth it.

 

[Oddjob]

I'm not a big fan of SOS and Strobe being in the user interface. I like simple so I vote for the Surefire. Besides, I think the L1 looks cooler.

 

[ja10]

Get the L1 now. It is the kind of light that you'll want to hang onto for a long time.

If you want something brighter later on, you can always get the latest and greatest emitter in a Fenix.

 

[xmattyx]

I love my fenix lights but if your willing to spend the money get the L1. It's a great light.

 

[coloradogps]

L1...

:twothumbs

 

[Monocrom]

Out of those three, and considering what the light will be used for; I'd go with the SF L1.

 

[skalomax]

Surefire L1 :devil:
Great light.

 

[Tiny86]

Most anything that has to do with emergency, I vote for SF.
I say go for the L1

 

[adamlau]

Both :twothumbs of course!

 

[Monocrom]

Both :twothumbs of course!

Don't you mean all three?

 

[Snow]

I vote L1 for simplicity and durability.

 

[moses]

P2D

 

[PhantomPhoton]

L1 is a better light.
The Fenix will be brighter but the multi modes and reverse clickie just kill its utility as a bump in the night tool.
I'm not a particularly rabid fan of either company, but I'd rather get an L1 under my tree.

 

[quatra2008]

the fenix p3d comes on at the highest output when the bezel is screwed all the way down so it is not confusing what so ever to operate. the p3d is super bright and i dont own an l1 but my p3d smashes my sf e1l in the brightness department. fenix is reliable as well. i cant think of any complaints on the forums i have read lately and i own 3 fenix lights that have not failed me once where as i have had two surefire clickies fail in just a couple months. but just to be safe get both!

 

[da.gee]

If its really an infrequent use light why dump the change on an L1 that sits in the drawer? If you were using it more my vote would be for the new L1 but since you're not using it daily:

- the ultra small size of the P2D could be a negative if you want to find it easily in a "situation", could also be a plus if stored

- modes and switching could be a minus if not mastered particularly in a "situation", could be a plus if premimum on versatility required or for an actual emergency (e.g. strobe)

If you can master the modes, the P2D or P3D will work fine. Maybe pick one up used on Marketplace and have enough left over for the L1.

For an infrequent use light and a taste of Surefire why not a simple G2L? Single mode, 80 real lumens. Slight premium over the Fenix products.

Of course there's always the "buy both/all" theory.