Several L4 questions...

[Drjones]

Hi all. First, sorry for yet ANOTHER L4 thread, but I’ve read the current ones and I still have questions about it.

I *thought* I had my light situation all figured out: C3 + HOLA for blinding defense/nightstand emergency light, and was actually considering an E2e for EDC/utility light over the Inova X5T, as I wanted more throw and a brighter light.

- Does the L4 really compare to the E2e with regards to brightness? (I’ve read 50 lum for the L4 vs. 65 for the E2e)
- How does it compare to the E2e with regards to throw?
- What is the runtime on a single set of batteries?
- Does the Inova X5T even hold a candle to the L4?
- Here is the L4 on Tadgear: http://www.tadgear.com/x-treme%20gear/flashlights%20main/surefire_l4_digital_lumamax.htm
Just to clarify, is that the WHOLE light, or just the head?

- Is the L4 too bright for everyday stuff? Might an X5t be better suited to that purpose?
- I’ve read it has a “clickie” tailcap switch. What precisely is that?
- Anything else you can tell me would be much appreciated as I’m rather confused about this light.


Thank you!
Drjones

 

[paulr]

L4 total output is roughly the same as the E2e, but the E2e has more range because of its narrower beam. There are good and bad points to that.

Runtime is supposedly about 1 hour (?) on two 123's.

Inova X5T is far dimmer than an L4 or even an E1/KL1 or Arc LS or whatever. It's not remotely comparable to an L4.

L4 too bright for everyday stuff? Yeah, probably. Just like an E2e.

Clickie tailcap switch is what it sounds like, press it partway for momentary light, press harder til it clicks for constant-on.

 

[IlluminatingBikr]

Well here it goes. I hope this is helpful to you.

~The L4 is actually 65 lumens, compared to the 60 of the E2e. The beam on the L4 isn't as tight though.
~Because the L4 has a wider beam, it doesn't have as much throw as the E2e, but sure comes close.
~The runtime is 65 minutes of full brightness, followed by many more hours of "useable brightness."
~The X5T doesn't really compare, cause the L4 is a 5 watter and they don't compare fairly with 5mms.
~About the Tadgear, that price is for the entire package deal.
~IMO, I don't think the L4 is too bright. However, if you are at a party in pitch black and turn on an L4, you will really light things up.
~The Clickie can be pushed lightly for momentary, like the E2e's tailcap, but if you push it a little bit more, it clicks into on mode. It can be turned half a spin counter-clockwise for "lock-out" position.


I have an L4 and I really think it is a great light. It has the toughness and reliablity of a Surefire. It is a great EDC light, and comes in handy a lot. If you decide to purchase one, I think you will really like it. Good luck!

 

[IlluminatingBikr]

I have heard Tad Gear is a good company, but before you buy, you might want to consider Tactical Warehouse's L4. I got mine from them. Excellent service.

 

[Citori]

Just a note that TAD has them in stock, I just ordered one an hour ago. You'll also get free shipping and a SF shirt at that price (unless you want XL, which is out of stock).

Good guys every time I've deal with them.

 

[Drjones]

Thanks. Yeah, TAD is a first-class outfit. Plus they're very close to me so I barely have to wait at all for shipping!

What is the total runtime of the L4? I like th X5T because of its approx. 15-20 hr. total runtime. Does the L4 even begin to approach that? I mean total useable light...I know it is full-power for only the first hour or so.

If the L4 has anywhere near the total burn time of the X5T, I might be out $140 pretty soon. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[Sean]

[ QUOTE ]
Drjones said:
Thanks. Yeah, TAD is a first-class outfit. Plus they're very close to me so I barely have to wait at all for shipping!

What is the total runtime of the L4? I like th X5T because of its approx. 15-20 hr. total runtime. Does the L4 even begin to approach that? I mean total useable light...I know it is full-power for only the first hour or so.

If the L4 has anywhere near the total burn time of the X5T, I might be out $140 pretty soon. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

The X5 or X5T maintains a good level of diminishing brightness for a little over 5 hours, then brightness drops like a rock, giving you somewhat useable light for the remaining hours of battery life. The L4 runs a little over 65 minutes at absolute full brightness and then drops like a rock to a somewhat useable light for the remaining hours of battery life. The L4 is about 7 times brighter than your X5T.

Brock's web site has some useful info about this. Go there and look up the X5 brightness and run-time charts:

Brock's LED page & Brightness Chart

Brock's Runtime Chart


The run-time of the L4 looks like this:

 

[Drjones]

[ QUOTE ]
Sean said:
The X5 or X5T maintains a good level of diminishing brightness for a little over 5 hours, then brightness drops like a rock, giving you somewhat useable light for the remaining hours of battery life. The L4 runs a little over 65 minutes at absolute full brightness and then drops like a rock to a somewhat useable light for the remaining hours of battery life. The L4 is about 7 times brighter than your X5T.

[/ QUOTE ] Thanks for the reply and chart, Sean!

But what is the total run-time of the L4 vs. X5? I looked and didn't see it on the sites you linked.

EDIT: Or is that the total run-time of the L4 as listed on the chart; 240 min?

 

[RY3]

[ QUOTE ]
Drjones said:
If the L4 has anywhere near the total burn time of the X5T, I might be out $140 pretty soon. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

SureFire claims 15 hours L4.pdf

However, you are kind of comparing the gas mileage of a family sedan to a performance sport car. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

L4 is way way way brighter than X5, thus don't expect the same run time.

 

[Drjones]

[ QUOTE ]
RY said:
However, you are kind of comparing the gas milage of a family sedan to a performance sport car. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

L4 is way way way brighter than X5, thus don't expect the same run time.

[/ QUOTE ] Good point!

 

[Sean]

Once the brightness drops off to a noticeably dim level, most people change the batteries. There isn't much of a point in counting how many minutes your X5T or L4 will run when it's dimmer than an Arc AAA. When my light got that dim, why use it? Why not change the batteries? I guess what I'm getting at is once the light is so dim that it isn't useful for any practical application then why not switch batteries or lights?

Since both lights in question run off 2 CR123's and the X5T draws about ~250mA and the L4 draws ~1 Amp, you know that the X5T will run longer but dimmer, and the L4 will run shorter and brighter. Just like the race-car analogy. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

So it comes down to that. Brighter for shorter runtime, or dimmer for longer runtime.

To try and give a comparison (since I don't have an X5[T]) I took a pic of the L4 against both the A2 running on 3 LEDs and the opalec newbeam running on 3 lEDs. I overlapped the A2 (3 LEDs only) and opalec so you have the equivelent of a 6 LED light, so imagine this an your X5T.

 

[hawkhkg11]

Does anyone have a beam shot on white wall comparing the L4 and the E2e (MN03)? I just want to see how much tighter the E2e beam is compared to the L4, not really the brightness. Thanks.

 

[glen]

Is there a difference between the L4 and the KL4 ?

 

[B@rt]

The L-4 is a complete light, while the KL-4 is the head only (not available yet afaik).

Hope this helps,

 

[Sean]

[ QUOTE ]
hawkhkg11 said:
Does anyone have a beam shot on white wall comparing the L4 and the E2e (MN03)? I just want to see how much tighter the E2e beam is compared to the L4, not really the brightness. Thanks.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't have an E2e so the best I can do is the A2:

 

[hawkhkg11]

Hmm, I am rather confused...why did Surefire make the L4 beam wider than their incad. lamps like the P60 and MN03? Since the tightness of the beam only depends on where the LED is placed within the reflector, couldn't the L4 make a really good tact. light (better than P60), if it had the same tight beam?

 

[paulr]

The L4 emitter is much larger than the P60 filament. Because of its size there's no single point you can put it at inside the reflector--no matter where you put it, it's in a bunch of places all at once. The only way to get the beam narrower is with a bigger reflector and/or focusing optics, neither of which would fit in the KL4 bezel. The KL5 or KL6 might be more directional (and bigger) than the KL4. If you want a more directional 5W light, try the new McBulk PM6 mod, or a Space Needle II.

 

[McGizmo]

[ QUOTE ]
hawkhkg11 said:
...... Since the tightness of the beam only depends on where the LED is placed within the reflector......

[/ QUOTE ]

Simply put, this is NOT true. The relative size of the parabolic reflector to the source of light dictates the tightness of beam. The LED has a larger "volume" of light source or larger light "object" than an incandescent and requires a larger diameter reflector to achieve the same tightness in beam.

- Don

 

[hawkhkg11]

Ah okay, I understand now. Thanks for the explanations.

 

[Sean]

This is about as tight as Surefire could get it in this size reflector. That's why the additional 5W offerings from Surefire for the larger lights will have a larger reflector area and a larger heatsink area, resulting in a tighter beam.

Once you use an L4 you will wonder why you bothered with a tighter beam. Except for tactical operations were blinding someone at a given range is the goal, the L4 is superior. I didn't believe it until I used one. As Darell said:
[ QUOTE ]
Darell said:
You don't search for stuff with this light. You SEE it.


[/ QUOTE ]

Instead of having your pupils open just enough to see the hotspot of say the A2 were you can no longer see any useable corona, the L4 is much smoother, opening up your field of view to the point where you just point it in the general direction you want to illuminate and you can see much more than you can with a tigher beam of the same brightness.