The SureFire L1 Lumamax Cree edition, neither here nor there....

[MacTech]

The SureFire L1 Lumamax Cree edition, neither here nor there....
I picked up a Cree L1 a couple nights ago, I've always wanted one of the new Cree L1's, I had high hopes for it, but I can't help feeling vaguely.....let down in actual usage .

yes, it's nice and compact, definitely shorter than the Gen 2 L1, but it's not as compact as my E1L-SR
yes it's got that wonderful two-stage SF tailcap, but so does my Gen 2 L1 and my Aviatrixed A2

Yes it has a usable low beam, but 10 lumens is neither here nor there, it's too bright for situations requiring night-vision preservation, but it's not bright enough for daylight use in dark corners, like inside the bowels of tower Mac computers, and if I need a 10 lumen general purpose light, I can use my Fenix L2T 2.0 or my Arc AAA-P DS, neither of which use expensive, "esoteric" batteries

It has a nice, throwy beam on both low and high, with usable sidespill, but I prefer floody beams for 90% of my use, and besides, the beam is a bit ringier than I expected, especially when compared to my single-level Cree E2L, which has an extremely smooth, flawless beam (thanks to the slightly frosted SF window), and a much longer runtime to boot

It has a somewhat cold white beam, leaning slightly to blue, the E2L has a nice, warm tint, as does the Fenix L1T 2.0

it's very bright on High, looks to be around 80 lumens, it looks just as bright as my E1L-SR, yet the E1L-SR has a smoother beam, thanks to the McGizmo McR-18S Seoulized reflector, *and* it can use RCR-123a's for Guilt-Free-Lumens

I really hate to say it, but compared to my current arsenal, the L1 Cree has very little going for it, *FOR ME*, it's main selling points are it's compactness and two levels of light, and it's single cell operation

the E2L Cree has a smoother beam, is just as throwy, and has a longer runtime in regulation on "high
the E1L-SR has an extremely bright beam (80-90 lumens, est..) a great reflector profile, with a smooth hotspot-to-spill beam *AND* can run on both primaries and rechargables
the A2 Aviator has the Aviatrix (2WH/1R) LED ring, and that wonderful *REGULATED* Incan beam, and the brilliantly simple 2-stage SF tailcap
the Gen2 L1 Luxeon has a much longer runtime on low, a low beam that's dim enough to not disturb dark adaption too brightly, and a usable "high" beam
The Fenix L1T 2.0 has almost the same output numbers (at the emitter, not actual OTF lumens) as the L1 Cree, *AND* has a smoother beam profile than the L1 Cree, *AND* does it with a common AA battery, yes the L1 has better fit-and-finish, and better anodizing, and a better low-high switching, but in comparing the beams from both lights, *I* prefer the reflectored output of the L1T 2.0

(NOTE, THIS IS *NOT* going to turn into another SF Vs. Fenix war, any attempts to do so and I'll ask for the thread to be closed, these are merely my observations, YMMV)

I'm really not seeing a place for the Cree L1 in my collection, sadly, at least I'm within the return period for it, because I don't see it filling a purpose for me, bear in mind, I'm not saying that the L1 Cree is a *bad* light, far from it, it's a great light, if I didn't have my E1L-SR or A2, I'd be very impressed and satisfied with it, as it stands now though, it just doesn't have any unique features that I don't already have, it has no niche to fill

I couldn't care less about the latest "Superemitter" craze, I see my lights as tools, and I already have tools that do what the L1 does better than the L1.... Sorry, L1, you're a great light, no argument here, but you don't stand out from the crowd

 

[KeyGrip]

Sell it! Quick! Then you're only $40-$50 from another A2. Or one of the new Spydercos that are coming out...

 

[Saiga]

You're WRONG !!!!! Surefire rocks !!! Fenix BLOWS !!!!!
No,wait,maybe it's the other way around ?
Gimme a minute.........

Ok, i'm just goofing off,but i know what you mean. The L1 is the best light i own, yet i just orderd the new E1L outdoorsman. Almost the very same light, but more practical IMO ( i didn't say IMHO, 'cause i'm told my opinions are seldom humble). I really like the LOW low (3 lumens,for some huge amount of time ) and 45 instead of 60 lumens on high, Big deal, still a ton of light.And, it's a whole 1/2 inch shorter. Maybe i'l carry this one more than twice a month.....

 

[Crenshaw]

i totally understand, its neither here nor there, i really like the form factor, the two stage switch, but the beam is killing me. almost no sidespill, even my dedicated LED thrower has more sidespill then the L1. not to do the fenix thing, but seriously, if the L1 has a beamshape more like a fenix..ie:traditional sidespill+ hotspot...it would be edc.

Solution- Milky!

if only he will reply my PM...but i know he must be really busy...:sigh:

Crenshaw

 

[MacTech]

Now that I've had another day or so to play with it (work duties aren't too condusive to fiddling around with flashlights) at night under quality darkness, and with my F04 beamshaper, it's not actually that bad, the F04 turns it into a nice little flooder, especially on high, I may have to give it a more honest chance, perhaps I judged it too quickly

the gen 2 L1, OTOH, will probably be sent to Milky to be reflectorized and given a better LED, I definitely want to keep the ultra-low low, but want a brighter high, *and* a reflector optomized for flood

maybe I'll keep it after all....

 

[BabyDoc]

I love my L1. It may be the luck of the draw, but my LED is quite warm. It has the most pleasing color of any LED light I own so far. Yes, the beam is quite focused with no side spill. I think that's what makes it seem so bright for a 65 lumen light; all the energy is concentrated in that wide, very smooth hot spot. I don't own a E1L to compare it with, but I did own an E1B for a short time. I returned it for the L1 because I didn't care for the clicky interface, which I would imagine is like that on the E1L.
Stick with the L1. It will grow on you, I think.

My only major complaint with the L1 is the clip. It is totally useless. The way it oriented, you must place in your pocket barrel up. It is too heavy to carry that way. I am not sure what SF was thinking when they designed that clip. The only use I can see for it is to attach the light to a cap.

 

[skyline_man]

The SureFire L1 Lumamax Cree edition, neither here nor there....

Precisely what i have been saying all along. It's neither an orange or an apple, neither an EDC or a throw light. Beats me why people rave about it so much??!!
Do yourself a favour - get yourself a Novatac 120P.

 

[Crenshaw]

L1 is much simpler by far to operate, thats why people bother getting it milked..

Crenshaw

 

[cv3po]

L1 is much simpler by far to operate, thats why people bother getting it milked..Crenshaw

Many lights are simple to operate. If you need to get it milked to be happy with it then how much $$ are you spending? I have been craving some recent SF single cell lights but the optics, instead of reflectors, and the use of less then the latest emitters has kinda put me off...............but not much.

 

[Crenshaw]

its gonna be expensive, but not as expensive as getting another light with similar form factor, etc. I particularly like that its so easy to hit the low mode, like in the cinema or something, if youre looking for something, you dont blow away eveyrones dark adapted eyes. After the shows over, and you still havnt found it, you can thump the 80 lumens (or 160 after milky) and then youre sure to find the solitaire you dropped.

i think ill consider just buying a L1 head with reflector from Scott..only thing is the tail needs to be tweaked in order for the Low to be low, and i have no idea how

Crenshaw

 

[BigHonu]

It is one of those lights that does everything okay, but nothing really well.

Nice overall size, but large for a 1xCR123.

A low that will kill your dark adapted eyes, but is pretty usefull in most situations both inside and out. I use the low most of the time with only quick bursts into high.

A beam that is not really suited for close up work, nor dialed in for distance spotting, but puts a lot of light in that spot.

It only has two stages, but one of the easiest to use interfaces out there.

Like the OP, I have grown to like this light the more I use it. Versatile enough to use in most situations, but not really the ideal light in any.

Still, I'd like a higher high.

 

[Zenster]

It has a nice, throwy beam on both low and high, with usable sidespill, but I prefer floody beams for 90% of my use, and besides, the beam is a bit ringier than I expected, especially when compared to my single-level Cree E2L, which has an extremely smooth, flawless beam (thanks to the slightly frosted SF window), and a much longer runtime to boot.

It has a somewhat cold white beam, leaning slightly to blue, the E2L has a nice, warm tint, as does the Fenix L1T 2.0

Well, yes and no.

My newer L1 is sort of like you say, real throwy, but I wouldn't call the sidespill terribly useable.
However, the beam on mine is really nice with no artifacts at all. It's a nice "glob" of even brightness.
I've found that the L1 is a really good light to have in fog because of it's beam properties.
And you might have lost on the LED lottery as well, because my L1 is actually a little warmer than my E1L or E1B which are both white with no off-color. My L1 is white as well, but compared side by side with the other two, it's really a little "yellow", and it's certainly not blue at all.

You'd think that manufacturers could achieve some kind of consistancy with something as simple as an LED flashlight. :scowl:
I'm willing to bet that if your L1 had a smooth, white beam like mine, you'd like it a lot better. :thumbsup:

 

[candlelight001]

I'm torn on this issue... comparing to my novatac 85p, the beam is narrower, and in a sense less useful, particularly on low.

However, I really like the way the optic makes the light just fade out at the edges. I find that the sharp drop from light to dark at the edge of the novatac beam is distracting after I've been using the L1.

Also, I find that there's lots more and brighter spill from the L1 on high. So in the end the beam pattern is mostly just a problem on low...

Of course the F04 diffuser takes care of that!

 

[Size15's]

SureFire's development of flashlights with a low output mode was to facilitate the concept of high contentrated beam and low wide beam.
The 9N (9AN), A2 and K2 are true to this concept.
The L1/L2 and others have drifted from the ideal.

One hopes that the A2 and K2 are not the last of their evolutionary lines in this regard.

 

[WadeF]

After hearing all the hype about the L1 I just had to get one. At first I was kind of disappointed, but it started to grow on me. The F04 makes it much more useful for close range tasks, although my F04 spends most of its time on my E1B. I still haven't had enough time to really see what the L1 can do. I really want to try it out in a foggy situation, as I think it would excell there. I'm also tempted to get my L1 modded by Milky. I'm planning on attending his PF10 event, so I'll have to see if he has an example of a modded L1 there, and what it would cost.

I'd like to try the L1 out in the woods as I think the tight beam and dim spill would be good for shinning through dense trees, brush, etc, helping to see farther ahead. I find a light with bright spill hits everything close by, making it harder to see into the distance.

Different lights for different tasks, and I think the L1 would perform great for certain situations.

 

[BigD64]

I just compared my L1 to my E1B. I love both lights the E1B has a tighter beam and the L1 a little floodier. Both have usable lows but I like the E1B's 5 lumen low a bit better. I love my old L1's 1.1 lumen low. I am going to order a couple of the new E1L 2 stagers and compare those too. I think that that combination will be about ideal for EDC.

 

[Size15's]

There is beam variation from light to light regardless of whether the light is an L1, E1L, E2L, E1B, X300 or E2DL. Just like tint there is variation.

Al

 

[MacTech]

After comparing the L1 Cree against my E1L-SR, the pendulum is swinging back towards the "dissapointed" side, the only advantage the L1 has *for me* is the two levels of light, a *great* high beam, and a too bright to be low "low", yes, I know the intended use of the L1 is on low with occasional blips to high when needed, just like the A2, but I just can't get past the ringy beam of the L1

No, the ringiness is not noticeable in actual use, but I prefer flood to throw anyway, with the A2, i get both flood and throw, with the E1L-SR, i get a nice balanced beam, leaning more towards flood, *AND* the ability to run off RCR-123a, with the single-level E2L Cree I get the same tight throwy spot and usable spill of the L1, but the E2L Cree has a flawless, smooth beam as the L1, but with no rings, thanks to the slightly frosted window in front of the optic, and the F04 works great with the E2L Cree

the L1 does nothing special, it does nothing I don't have already, in fact, it does some things *less* effectively than my existing lights, yes it's a nice light, if I didn't have an A2, a E1L-SR or E2L Cree to compare it against, I'd probably be a heck of a lot more impressed with it

from what I've read, the new E1L dual-level would be more in line with what I want, a useful, dim low, and decent usable high

problem is, I've been spoiled by the A2, the biggest issue I have with the dual-level SF Crees is that the low beam has the same profile (throwy) as the high beam, the A2 is the perfect mix, floody low, throwy high

I'm definitely leaning towards returning the L1, and either getting another single level E2L Cree before they dissapear, or perhaps one of the Novatacs, the Novatac uses a reflector, and I prefer the beam profile of a reflector

 

[russtang]

I like my L1 cree much better since Scott put in a Mcr reflector and UCL lens. You may try the same.

 

[merlocka]

I bought a L1 Cree. Everything about it was fantastic, and it was purposefully built. I love the way it looked, and it reeked with quality.

I always felt that if I was in an zombiemergency and could only pick 1 light, I would grab the L1 and a box of SF CR123's.

But, it was a little too big to pocket everyday... and a little too underpowered to grab when I went to "the shelf" for a light.

So I never really used it. I sold it in CPFMP, and bought an 85P (which I LOVE, and use everyday).