Surefire advice

OK. Been studying the Surefires. I want one with an LED, but I'm torn between the L1, L2, and L4. I read here that the L4 doesn't have much throw, and the L2 has a short runtime. The L1 I like because of the one battery and the two stage design. Is the low setting bright enough? What is everyones impression of the L1?

Hey Fiddleback,

I can vouch for the L4's lack of throw, however for up to 40-50 feet it throws out a nice wall of white light- no rings, etc. A lot of people really like this light but for 5 watts of power I want to get out there a bit.

Also, how can I tell the old L1 from the new L1 on ebay or such places. Where would you buy one if you were to buy new?

Have you been to flashlightreviews.com?? It should answer your questions on all 3..

Thanks Jedi. I'm more torn now than ever. I just read the L1 puts out 22 lumens on hi beam. Thats what my Fenix L1P puts out. Now I'm more than a little disinfranchised. You'd think for 3x the dollars you could get a BRIGHT two stage light that will hold its charge. Fiddlesticks. Anybody got any help?

What I've heard is that the Surefire L1 puts out more light than a Fenix L1P... but I don't have an L1 to actually compare with.

Have you seen my L2 thread? It may ease your mind about the "short" runtime. http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=104513

Thanks for the thread. That helps quiet my mind about the L2 somewhat. The reviews at Flashlightreviews.com are what inspired my confusion in the first place.

Does anyone know how to tell an old L1 from a new one?

Right now I'm kinda leaning toward the L4.

Edited to add I'm also considering a Peak Rainier, and a Pentagonlight L-2. They seem cheaper, and I'm starting to think maybe Surefire is just overpriced. Any opinions on those?

I have the L1 and the Fenix. Comparing lumens on paper is kind of like comparing audio speakers on paper.

The L1 beam is focused through optics and as such has considerably better throw but considerably less spill than the Fenix. It all depends on the requirements of your application.

You ask about the L1 "Is the low setting bright enough?" Bright enough for what??

The L1 is perfect for reading in a tent or the like. If your night vision is fully established, the L1 is fine for walking around on low, for example if you wake up in the night. I was kinda surprised at that the other night, as I had previously used low only when I had not fully established my night vision and it seemed very dim.

The fit and finish is superior on the L1; I have numerous scratches on my Fenix "HA" coating; zero on the Surefire and I have 'abused' it more.

However, the L2 is my "go to" light. It's a lot brighter on low than the L1 and on low has considerable run time. On high it is very bright. But, the L2 is a flood and the L1 is a spot, so it depends on your application of the light which will work better for you.

Thanks. You seem very knowledgable. Do you have an L4? How does it compare to the L2?

Anybody used that Peak Rainier?

I have an L1 and must concur with all of what magic79 said. I find that indoors, when you use the high setting, all the reflection from walls, etc. make up for the lack of spill and you don't have to move the light around to see the whole "scene".

I also like the smallish size of the L1 - a hair smaller than the L4, IIRC. Not much to make a real difference.

SF L1 has 3 generations. Most of difference can be tell by bezel heads.

Gen1/ no scallop on bezel. Looks similar to A2 bezel. 1W LED 50hours on low runtime. traditional pull out box. In silver, huge box. release before 2004

Gen2/ with scallop on bezel. Looks similar to A2 bezel. 1W LED 50hours on low runtime. New blister packaging. similar to current packaging. release before 2004

Gen3 (current gen)/ Brand new design bezel. Looks similar to E1L, E2L, L2 kinda modern looking bezel. 3W LED 90hours on low runtime. release after 2004

If on ebay, you can definately tell the current gen and gen1. simply, box just looks so much different, so does bezel. to distinguish gen2 or gen3, cuz of the packaging is a bit hard to tell. Ask them to show you actual product picture, you can tell easily by bezel. You can also ask them if the light is 1W LED or 3W LED.....but i do found some sellers have no clue what they have in hand.

Current gen has more focus light, no side spill, throw much longer, much longer run time than older gen.

Hope that helps.

Mine's Gen3. I like the design better than the other heads. The guts are what's important (so I appreciate the extra brightness and runtime) I consider looks as well.

Fiddleback said:

Thanks. You seem very knowledgable. Do you have an L4? How does it compare to the L2?

Anybody used that Peak Rainier?

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Yes, I do have and L4 too. The current Surefire website shows that both the L4 and L2 have 100 Lumens max. I was just comparing the two Monday night and thought that MY lights, anyway, have a slight difference in brightness with the L2 being the brighter. My wife was walking by so I asked her what she thought and she said the same. Frankly, the difference is negligible, and probably varies from light-to-light.

The L4 is indeed nearly the same size as the L1 (L4 5.05"/3.6 oz, L1 4.6"/2.9 oz.) The L2 is a bit longer and heavier (6.06"/4.2 oz.). There is an aftermarket 2-stage switch available for the L4 and there was a thread a month-or-so ago that described modifying the Surefire tailcap. With either, you lose the 'clickie' tailcap feature, making it a 'twistie' instead...if that matters to you.

The L2 is sometimes criticized for being too big, but I've seen some of the same people praise the U2 despite it being bigger (6.13"/5.7 oz and 1.5x larger diameter bezel), so go figure. I don't find the extra inch of the L2 compared to the L4 to be an issue...it still fits into my pocket using the clip.

Pretty much what Magic79 summed up here. I myself have the SureFire L2 and is the only LED light from SureFire that is in my arsenal of lights. Don't understand too much regarding the "short" runtime of said light though. :thinking:

I have the KL1 head and the KL4 head that I run on various 1 or 2 cell Surefire bodies. I typically use the KL4 on an E2e body with a Pila rechargeable battery and the KL1 on an E1e body with a rechargeable 123 battery. I have two stage tail switches added to each. I also have incandescent bezels for and spare bodies so I have an E1e and an E2e incandescent. Buying the incandescent flashlight lets you pay less and you can add the LED bezel if you want.

As stated above the KL4 and KL1 are very different beasts. The KL1 will throw a tight spot, the KL4 will light up the whole room or yard but not throw as far.

Having said all that, and not wanting to confuse you I would recommend that before buying any of the lights you mentioned you do some searches here and on Flashlight Reviews for the Surefire A2. Specifically the one with white LEDs. I would take it before any other Surefire without time to blink.

I just wish it (and the others) could be bezel-down carried..

I had an L1 and I own an L2. Apart from the switch they are different lights. The L2 is bright on low and will freak you out on high with all flood and heaps of lumens, don't know if I should repeat this but as others say it's a "wall of light" as for throw, not much there but on high it's pretty good. Not sure about the runtime on high as I have only used the light for about 15 min total on low mostly as its bright enough for my use. Don't know anything about the L4 but from what I hear it has a similar beam as the L2.



The L1 is only about .7 lumens on low and 15 lumens on high with a very tight beam, both levels are useful if you are after a tight beam. For EDC it's easier to carry than the long L2. I think you should do a search on the (TIR) lens on the L1 to see if it suits your needs, I don't mind the tight beam and throw on the L1 but the outer bright rings annoy me. As for quality both are 100% in my book. If you decide on the L1 you won't be able to use a rechargeable battery (from what I was told) so keep that in mind.



Happy hunting, I started of with one Surefire and then bought another. I also just ordered another 2 lights from Surefire, can't wait to get them.

Thanks for the advice gentlemen. I'll check out the A2. Thats the second piece of advice I've gotten on that one. I hadn't even given it a thought because of the incandescent, but I really don't have a problem with incandescent. Again, thanks for your time.

Fiddleback said:

Thanks for the advice gentlemen. I'll check out the A2. Thats the second piece of advice I've gotten on that one. I hadn't even given it a thought because of the incandescent, but I really don't have a problem with incandescent. Again, thanks for your time.

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The beauty of it is twofold, one that it is BOTH incandescent and LED and second that the incandescent (oops -edited) is regulated. So it doesnt slowly dim as you use it like other incandescents. It stays at the same brightness until the batteries are done. It cuts runtime a little, but it greatly enhances the quality of the beam foe the time it runs.

I have a Peak Rainier (CPF Special) and an L4. The L4 is significantly brighter, and throws a much wider beam. If you use primary cells (instead of rechargeables) in the Rainier, the L4 is WAY brighter. The Rainier is smaller and very pocketable--but no pocket clip. It's possible the Rainir throws further than the L4--but that's a subjective question.