Ever since I got into decent lights I always wanted to start a Surefire collection. Slowly but surely I have started to build a good collection, but the one light I have always wanted was an L4 Lumamax and it always seemed to be beyond may grasp. When I heard Surefire was raising their prices I thought I would never get to hold one. But checking Ebay last week paid off and I got a brand new L4 for a fair price.
I have always heard about the L4s wall of light and wanted to witness this in person and I have to tell you guys, old technology be dammed I love the L4. The beam is so much different than the TIR optic beams of my other Surefire lights that are more throw orientated. Even my newer Fenix and Nitecore lights with there Cree-rings in the there beam can't touch the quality of the beam that comes from my L4. And the tint is a thing of wonder. A nice warm creamy white. I may be late to the party with my new L4 but I love it. It's what I always wanted in a EDC light. A great amount of light from a tough, small, package with a forward clicky tailcap, and good pocket clip. I took some beamshots of my TIR optic SF lights to show great flood capabilities of the L4.
You gotta love that L4 beamshot, I sure do. Throw isn't everything. Like I said old technology be dammed, I'm going to EDC my L4. Do any of you still carry yours?
I often do. I go on nighttime field biology walks, either in the country or in a potentially dangerous, wooded, dark urban park. In these situations, I carry two good lights: my faithful L4 to throw a blast of light at a broad area; and a U2 or (one of my new favorites) an EagleTac T10C2 for a hybrid spot/flood beam for greater throw but still quite good spill.
By the way, nobody has ever hassled me in the city park since I've been carrying and using tactical lights. Apparently the bad folks think you're quite possibly a cop, and they really keep their distance from me now, which suits me just fine:
Even cops have momentarily thought I was an officer, because I was using a tactical light in the more efficient LEO/Military manner. I do broad sweeps of very dark areas in and around the woods and trails. Though I'm doing wildlife surveys rather than looking for bad guys, the bad guys don't seem to want to take the chance that I might be a cop, and they take off long before causing any trouble. This secondary use of torches for self-defense seems a lot safer that waiting to shine a light into the face of someone who suddenly jumps out at you from the dark. Better to know that there's nobody hiding in the bushes in the first place.
