PoliceScannerMan
Flashaholic
I know there is other reviews, but I worked hard on this and I deserve my own thread! 
The new L1 is nice, probably the nicest Surefire I have ever bought. And I have bought alot of Surefires. (L1,L2,L4, E1L, 5 E2e's, 4 A2's, U2, KROMA, KROMA Milspec, M2, M4, M6) Yes I have a flashlight problem.
No kidding, this is the nicest SF I have seen. The size is perfect, absolutley perfect. Its not to small or big. For the overhand grip, this light begs to be used. For underhand, you can wrap your pinky aound the TC and twist the head to activate the light w/o a problem. I have used it in dark areas of the house, I like what I see so far. The throw is impressive for a TIR light. The low is bright enough for most tasks, especially for night adjusted eyes. High is very bright, the 65 lumen rating is very conservative. My light is every bit as bright as my HDS U85. With 16 hours on one primary on low, its great! 90 minutes on high aint to shabby either. The new L1 on high is as bright as my PD-S and XR-19 doing the ceiling bounce test.
Forget about what you know with the old KL1, this is a different animal. The hotspot is big and round, not tight and squarish. There is a ghost like spill beam that is useful, you dont have that tunnel vision-like feeling using this light in the dark. I dont like TIR lights, but I do like this light. I hope that make sense.
The HA type III is perfectly matched from bezel to tailcap. (Tough to do) The scalloped bezel is nice and beefy, I suspect the light could take a lil abuse and keep on pouring out lumens. The activation of light via pressing the Tailcap is very nice. It feels very solid, not wimpy. The O-rings are nice and tight, not afraid to take this light Surf fishing at night.
One thing I did notice, there is a very light diffusion film on the pyrex window. The L1's @ SHOT (PK's party, and the SF booth @ SHOT) this year did not have this film. I suspect this film was used in production to smooth the beam out a bit. It costs a little bit of throw, but the benifits of a cleaner beam free of artifacts is worth it.
Overall I feel the light is priced very reasonably. I paid $130 out the door from my local dealer, it could prbably be had cheaper on line. I like to support my local mom and pop gun shop. SF has knocked the ball out of the park with this single celled light. If your looking for a one celled EDC, dont think about it, just get one and see for yourself.
PICS, my walls are desert sand colored, not white! Dont judge tint, these are for beam analysis/comparison only!!:
L1 with other popular lights.
Sorry about the blurryness, L1's bezel is more beefy than the PD Bezel rings!
Beefy aint it? Notice the Light diffusion film.
On low (L1 on right) vs. PD-S
On high (L1 on right) vs. PD-S
Trying to show the spill of the L1 beam, light is approx 5 feet from wall.
Beam of PD-S, same distance as above:
The new L1 is nice, probably the nicest Surefire I have ever bought. And I have bought alot of Surefires. (L1,L2,L4, E1L, 5 E2e's, 4 A2's, U2, KROMA, KROMA Milspec, M2, M4, M6) Yes I have a flashlight problem.
No kidding, this is the nicest SF I have seen. The size is perfect, absolutley perfect. Its not to small or big. For the overhand grip, this light begs to be used. For underhand, you can wrap your pinky aound the TC and twist the head to activate the light w/o a problem. I have used it in dark areas of the house, I like what I see so far. The throw is impressive for a TIR light. The low is bright enough for most tasks, especially for night adjusted eyes. High is very bright, the 65 lumen rating is very conservative. My light is every bit as bright as my HDS U85. With 16 hours on one primary on low, its great! 90 minutes on high aint to shabby either. The new L1 on high is as bright as my PD-S and XR-19 doing the ceiling bounce test.
Forget about what you know with the old KL1, this is a different animal. The hotspot is big and round, not tight and squarish. There is a ghost like spill beam that is useful, you dont have that tunnel vision-like feeling using this light in the dark. I dont like TIR lights, but I do like this light. I hope that make sense.
The HA type III is perfectly matched from bezel to tailcap. (Tough to do) The scalloped bezel is nice and beefy, I suspect the light could take a lil abuse and keep on pouring out lumens. The activation of light via pressing the Tailcap is very nice. It feels very solid, not wimpy. The O-rings are nice and tight, not afraid to take this light Surf fishing at night.
One thing I did notice, there is a very light diffusion film on the pyrex window. The L1's @ SHOT (PK's party, and the SF booth @ SHOT) this year did not have this film. I suspect this film was used in production to smooth the beam out a bit. It costs a little bit of throw, but the benifits of a cleaner beam free of artifacts is worth it.
Overall I feel the light is priced very reasonably. I paid $130 out the door from my local dealer, it could prbably be had cheaper on line. I like to support my local mom and pop gun shop. SF has knocked the ball out of the park with this single celled light. If your looking for a one celled EDC, dont think about it, just get one and see for yourself.
PICS, my walls are desert sand colored, not white! Dont judge tint, these are for beam analysis/comparison only!!:
L1 with other popular lights.
Sorry about the blurryness, L1's bezel is more beefy than the PD Bezel rings!
Beefy aint it? Notice the Light diffusion film.
On low (L1 on right) vs. PD-S
On high (L1 on right) vs. PD-S
Trying to show the spill of the L1 beam, light is approx 5 feet from wall.
Beam of PD-S, same distance as above:
