I received a new SL TL-2 LED in a swap with another CPFer (thanx, Scott!) this past Monday, and after a few days of use, these are my impressions.
First of all, the light I traded was an SF L4...I know, I know, that's SF BLASPHEMY /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif!!! I did receive a couple other lights in the trade as well. I didn't dislike the L4. It was a VERY beautifully crafted light, and the one I had was PURE white! It just didn't suit my needs...and for $140.00 I felt I should have a light that suits my needs. When I first received my L4, I thought I had achieved flashoholic nirvana! But the more I used it, the less satisfied I was with it as far as my particular likes/dislikes were concerned. Some of the things I didn't like about the L4:
Not enough throw. I know the L4 is designed to have more of a flood type beam, but I DID expect a little more distance. At anything beyond, say, 50 to 75 feet I found the L4 to be of little or no help.
In the two weeks I had the L4, the knurling on the barrel frayed the pockets on two pairs of Levis, even after loosening the clip a little. For a light that I planned on using as a front pocket carry EDC, this wasn't good.
Even though I had a pretty good Z57 on mine, I still found it a little too stiff for constant on, and a little too easy for intermittent/signaling. Unless I put it in the lockout position every time I pocketed it, it would constantly come on whenever I sat down.
Heat. One evening I was helping my father-in-law work on his car and as the sun went down I reached for my L4 for extra light. After about 20 minutes of being on, the bezel was damn near too hot to touch, and the barrel had reached the point of being uncomfortable to hold. Unfortunate, because the beam of the L4 makes it perfect for "under the hood" applications! Some times you need your EDC for more than just short durations, and for instances like this I found the heat build-up of the L4 to be a major annoyance.
Keep in mind, these are just MY impressions on the L4, and these are the things that lead me to want to try the TL-2 LED. I'm not a SF basher...I love their products! It's just that in this particular instance, this particular light had some shortcomings to ME...others are SURE to have different impressions.
Now on to the TL-2 LED...
Throw: For a 1 watt luxeon, I've found the throw of the TL-2 to be QUITE impressive. Mine (others may vary) EASILY throws twice as far as my L4 did, and damn near as far as my E2. On it's tightest focus at a distance of 10 feet the hotspot of the TL-2 is about 1/2 to 2/3 the size of the hotspot of my E2. For my uses, this makes the beam wide enough to be truly useful, but not too thin to be useless like a Stealth Light or similar beam light. And the pure white color of my particular TL-2 coupled with the smooth reflector seems to give the throw that much more "oomph". I was lucky enough to get a VERY white luxeon in mine. Upon CLOSE inspection on a white wall, I have virtually no green, blue or any other discernable colors in the beam. In fact, it's every bit as white as my L4 was, and that was the whitest luxeon I'd ever seen.
Corona/peripheral light: The peripheral light of the TL-2 isn't as bright as the peripheral light of the L4 by any means (1W vs. 5W...), but I was still impressed at how useful the peripheral light of the TL-2 is. The peripheral light of my particular TL-2 is slightly brighter than the light that immediately surrounds the hotspot of my SL 4AA 7 LED, and at a distance of 10 feet it's roughly 4 to 5 times as wide, and very smooth and even. In my back yard which is about 40'X 75' and very dark, the peripheral light of my TL-2 very usefully lights up the entire depth (40') of the yard with a light that is bright enough to clearly see small objects (ball, frisbee, Tonka truck) and walk a path by. VERY useful peripheral light!
Switch: Although not a clickie, and no lockout capability, the switch of the TL-2 still functions very nicely. Press the button at the tail cap for intermittent, and twist clockwise for constant on. The resistance of my particular light switch is just enough to keep it from twisting on by itself while being front pocket carried, but light enough to make one handed operation quite easy. The pushbutton is nicely recessed in the tailcap (not really recessed, but there's a guard around it), and mine has yet to activate in my pocket when I sit down. The TL-2 is about 1/4 of an inch longer than my E2(SG), and front pocket carries just as easily, even with the bezel being slightly larger. The pocket clip is very sturdy, holds the light in place nicely, and is removable. In fact, I don't have a holster to carry mine in at work yet (I'm a Corrections Officer at a state prison), so I've been using the clip to attach the light to my belt, and after 3 days the clip has not bent at all...very sturdy.
Fit and feel: The SL TL-2 LED feels VERY solid in the hand, and has absolutely no rattles, twangs, or any other loose sounds. The bezel is just tight enough to keep the selected focus from moving while still letting you change the focus with relative ease if you desire. The texture on the light's barrel gives a good grip, but won't fray your pockets.
I don't have a light meter for lux readings or digicam to post pics, but I still hope some will find my impressions of the SL TL-2 LED to be of some use. I find it to be a VERY nice mix of whiteness, brightness, throw and peripheral light, and I'm very pleased with it. It makes a great front or hip pocket EDC, and is bright enough for damn near any situation. IMHO, those of you that get one won't be disappointed. Since getting the TL-2, my usual EDC is now 100% LED; TL-2, Ultra-G, ArcAAA turquoise on keychain. The Ultra-G is gonna be replaced by the ArcAA as soon as they're available. I have a LOT of lights (somewhere around 75 I think...I've given away or sold quite a few of them over the last couple months), but these are with me ALWAYS!
PJD
P.S. JohnK...thanx for the recommendation! You were right on about this light!
First of all, the light I traded was an SF L4...I know, I know, that's SF BLASPHEMY /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif!!! I did receive a couple other lights in the trade as well. I didn't dislike the L4. It was a VERY beautifully crafted light, and the one I had was PURE white! It just didn't suit my needs...and for $140.00 I felt I should have a light that suits my needs. When I first received my L4, I thought I had achieved flashoholic nirvana! But the more I used it, the less satisfied I was with it as far as my particular likes/dislikes were concerned. Some of the things I didn't like about the L4:
Not enough throw. I know the L4 is designed to have more of a flood type beam, but I DID expect a little more distance. At anything beyond, say, 50 to 75 feet I found the L4 to be of little or no help.
In the two weeks I had the L4, the knurling on the barrel frayed the pockets on two pairs of Levis, even after loosening the clip a little. For a light that I planned on using as a front pocket carry EDC, this wasn't good.
Even though I had a pretty good Z57 on mine, I still found it a little too stiff for constant on, and a little too easy for intermittent/signaling. Unless I put it in the lockout position every time I pocketed it, it would constantly come on whenever I sat down.
Heat. One evening I was helping my father-in-law work on his car and as the sun went down I reached for my L4 for extra light. After about 20 minutes of being on, the bezel was damn near too hot to touch, and the barrel had reached the point of being uncomfortable to hold. Unfortunate, because the beam of the L4 makes it perfect for "under the hood" applications! Some times you need your EDC for more than just short durations, and for instances like this I found the heat build-up of the L4 to be a major annoyance.
Keep in mind, these are just MY impressions on the L4, and these are the things that lead me to want to try the TL-2 LED. I'm not a SF basher...I love their products! It's just that in this particular instance, this particular light had some shortcomings to ME...others are SURE to have different impressions.
Now on to the TL-2 LED...
Throw: For a 1 watt luxeon, I've found the throw of the TL-2 to be QUITE impressive. Mine (others may vary) EASILY throws twice as far as my L4 did, and damn near as far as my E2. On it's tightest focus at a distance of 10 feet the hotspot of the TL-2 is about 1/2 to 2/3 the size of the hotspot of my E2. For my uses, this makes the beam wide enough to be truly useful, but not too thin to be useless like a Stealth Light or similar beam light. And the pure white color of my particular TL-2 coupled with the smooth reflector seems to give the throw that much more "oomph". I was lucky enough to get a VERY white luxeon in mine. Upon CLOSE inspection on a white wall, I have virtually no green, blue or any other discernable colors in the beam. In fact, it's every bit as white as my L4 was, and that was the whitest luxeon I'd ever seen.
Corona/peripheral light: The peripheral light of the TL-2 isn't as bright as the peripheral light of the L4 by any means (1W vs. 5W...), but I was still impressed at how useful the peripheral light of the TL-2 is. The peripheral light of my particular TL-2 is slightly brighter than the light that immediately surrounds the hotspot of my SL 4AA 7 LED, and at a distance of 10 feet it's roughly 4 to 5 times as wide, and very smooth and even. In my back yard which is about 40'X 75' and very dark, the peripheral light of my TL-2 very usefully lights up the entire depth (40') of the yard with a light that is bright enough to clearly see small objects (ball, frisbee, Tonka truck) and walk a path by. VERY useful peripheral light!
Switch: Although not a clickie, and no lockout capability, the switch of the TL-2 still functions very nicely. Press the button at the tail cap for intermittent, and twist clockwise for constant on. The resistance of my particular light switch is just enough to keep it from twisting on by itself while being front pocket carried, but light enough to make one handed operation quite easy. The pushbutton is nicely recessed in the tailcap (not really recessed, but there's a guard around it), and mine has yet to activate in my pocket when I sit down. The TL-2 is about 1/4 of an inch longer than my E2(SG), and front pocket carries just as easily, even with the bezel being slightly larger. The pocket clip is very sturdy, holds the light in place nicely, and is removable. In fact, I don't have a holster to carry mine in at work yet (I'm a Corrections Officer at a state prison), so I've been using the clip to attach the light to my belt, and after 3 days the clip has not bent at all...very sturdy.
Fit and feel: The SL TL-2 LED feels VERY solid in the hand, and has absolutely no rattles, twangs, or any other loose sounds. The bezel is just tight enough to keep the selected focus from moving while still letting you change the focus with relative ease if you desire. The texture on the light's barrel gives a good grip, but won't fray your pockets.
I don't have a light meter for lux readings or digicam to post pics, but I still hope some will find my impressions of the SL TL-2 LED to be of some use. I find it to be a VERY nice mix of whiteness, brightness, throw and peripheral light, and I'm very pleased with it. It makes a great front or hip pocket EDC, and is bright enough for damn near any situation. IMHO, those of you that get one won't be disappointed. Since getting the TL-2, my usual EDC is now 100% LED; TL-2, Ultra-G, ArcAAA turquoise on keychain. The Ultra-G is gonna be replaced by the ArcAA as soon as they're available. I have a LOT of lights (somewhere around 75 I think...I've given away or sold quite a few of them over the last couple months), but these are with me ALWAYS!
PJD
P.S. JohnK...thanx for the recommendation! You were right on about this light!