Wow. Just....wow...
This thing is amazing. Got it off a fellow CPF'er (thanks!) and love it.
Man this thing is TINY, and MAN does it put out a LOT of light.
Whoever said this said it best; you don't look for things with the L4, you see them.
Bottom line; if you want to SEE things, rather than LOOK for them with a flashlight, get the L4. It truly lights up a room. Throw isn't too bad either and it has a very large, but not overly intense, hotspot.
Quality is superb overall. Thing is built like a little tank, yet it is very light and compact. Knurling is nice and grippy, yet not overly aggressive, IMO. It is a bit rough on my leather wallet that it sits next to in my pocket, but oh well...
The whole thing is the same color, except for the part of the bezel that has the scallops cut into it. (not the very end, the part right below that that you are supposed to grip when twisting the bezel off the body.) It is a lighter, more green color than the rest of the body. Doesn't bother me. I think the contrast is actually kinda neat.
I'm not sure about the quality of the Z57 though. (Surprise!) It has what I guess is SF’s loc-tite compound (black in color) that leaked out on the very end seam of the cap around the actual rubber switch, and there is a dab on the knurling itself. It isn’t that smooth when clicking to constant-on and requires thumb tip pressure to click through fully. There is a replacement on the way from SF, so we’ll see how that one is. I may try the mod that one of our esteemed members was so kind as to post.
I say that I’m not sure about it because there are sometimes when it doesn’t really bother me that it is stiff or it doesn’t seem stiff. Besides, momentary-on gets the majority of the use anyway. Every other click or so, it emits a faint, tinny “sproingy” sound which *really* bothers me because it sounds cheap. Oh well…
I think that the switch problems really are a big deal, since they are the mechanism that turns the light on and off. It would be like GM shipping cars with faulty starting mechanisms. Not good at all…
The thing that really did impress me was the pocket clip; I was expecting it to be far weaker based on what I’ve read here. That thing is STRONG. I’m not sure if the length is good or not; the longer one from the E2eO might be better assuming it is as tense as this little guy. Regardless, the L4 is compact enough to stick in a pocket, so the clip is moot anyway. I don’t use it. I actually may remove it since it gets in the way of my grip sometimes. How do you remove it, anyway?
Back on to the light itself, I’m VERY pleased with it. I did an informal side-by-side test (sorry, no digicam so no pics) and it is brighter than my 3 D-cell mag with better spill as well. Oh, no hole nor rings in the beam either, not to mention the FAR superior white color, compared to the sickly gold of the mag.
As to the color, well…I can’t really tell. Sometimes I think I see a *very* slight green tint, but when I shine it on white paper, it looks pretty pure white. I would really have to compare it to other L4’s to get an idea. Regardless, there is no wild tint of any sort that I can see, so I’m happy with it. Did I mention how much light this thing puts out? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Is the L4 too bright for everyday carry? It depends. It’s not blindingly bright; it has such a nice, broad, pleasing beam with a nice large hotspot (which again, is not too intense). Again, you just SEE stuff with this thing. So it depends if you need/want that or not. I happen to want a lot of light, so I like it. But its not as if I turn it on and “OMG I’m blind!” It’s not like that. But flick it on in the middle of a dark movie theater and you’ll turn more than a few heads. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Overall, I’d say the L4 paired with something longer-running like an X5, AAA or CMG Ultra is a pretty hard combo to beat for most people’s lighting needs. For me, the L4 is probably overkill, but I don’t care because I love it so much.
This thing is amazing. Got it off a fellow CPF'er (thanks!) and love it.
Man this thing is TINY, and MAN does it put out a LOT of light.
Whoever said this said it best; you don't look for things with the L4, you see them.
Bottom line; if you want to SEE things, rather than LOOK for them with a flashlight, get the L4. It truly lights up a room. Throw isn't too bad either and it has a very large, but not overly intense, hotspot.
Quality is superb overall. Thing is built like a little tank, yet it is very light and compact. Knurling is nice and grippy, yet not overly aggressive, IMO. It is a bit rough on my leather wallet that it sits next to in my pocket, but oh well...
The whole thing is the same color, except for the part of the bezel that has the scallops cut into it. (not the very end, the part right below that that you are supposed to grip when twisting the bezel off the body.) It is a lighter, more green color than the rest of the body. Doesn't bother me. I think the contrast is actually kinda neat.
I'm not sure about the quality of the Z57 though. (Surprise!) It has what I guess is SF’s loc-tite compound (black in color) that leaked out on the very end seam of the cap around the actual rubber switch, and there is a dab on the knurling itself. It isn’t that smooth when clicking to constant-on and requires thumb tip pressure to click through fully. There is a replacement on the way from SF, so we’ll see how that one is. I may try the mod that one of our esteemed members was so kind as to post.
I say that I’m not sure about it because there are sometimes when it doesn’t really bother me that it is stiff or it doesn’t seem stiff. Besides, momentary-on gets the majority of the use anyway. Every other click or so, it emits a faint, tinny “sproingy” sound which *really* bothers me because it sounds cheap. Oh well…
I think that the switch problems really are a big deal, since they are the mechanism that turns the light on and off. It would be like GM shipping cars with faulty starting mechanisms. Not good at all…
The thing that really did impress me was the pocket clip; I was expecting it to be far weaker based on what I’ve read here. That thing is STRONG. I’m not sure if the length is good or not; the longer one from the E2eO might be better assuming it is as tense as this little guy. Regardless, the L4 is compact enough to stick in a pocket, so the clip is moot anyway. I don’t use it. I actually may remove it since it gets in the way of my grip sometimes. How do you remove it, anyway?
Back on to the light itself, I’m VERY pleased with it. I did an informal side-by-side test (sorry, no digicam so no pics) and it is brighter than my 3 D-cell mag with better spill as well. Oh, no hole nor rings in the beam either, not to mention the FAR superior white color, compared to the sickly gold of the mag.
As to the color, well…I can’t really tell. Sometimes I think I see a *very* slight green tint, but when I shine it on white paper, it looks pretty pure white. I would really have to compare it to other L4’s to get an idea. Regardless, there is no wild tint of any sort that I can see, so I’m happy with it. Did I mention how much light this thing puts out? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Is the L4 too bright for everyday carry? It depends. It’s not blindingly bright; it has such a nice, broad, pleasing beam with a nice large hotspot (which again, is not too intense). Again, you just SEE stuff with this thing. So it depends if you need/want that or not. I happen to want a lot of light, so I like it. But its not as if I turn it on and “OMG I’m blind!” It’s not like that. But flick it on in the middle of a dark movie theater and you’ll turn more than a few heads. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Overall, I’d say the L4 paired with something longer-running like an X5, AAA or CMG Ultra is a pretty hard combo to beat for most people’s lighting needs. For me, the L4 is probably overkill, but I don’t care because I love it so much.
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