E2e or L4 best for my needs?

Currently I work as a "Security Consultant" and have to assess people's vulnerability to security breaches. I often have to survey mansions with lots of wooded areas around the house. I'm often shining my light across the yard to the tree line or stone wall etc. to check stuff out.

Which light do you think would best suit this need? I'd like something that is small with a clip for EDC. Seems like E2e incandescent or L4 is best choices.

If you are going to use it often, the L4 might be a good light when you consider that you can easily use rechargeables.

Greetings!

I have the SureFire E2e now (E2E) and it's a great all around light with a decent enough spill and nice "throw" to it. I've had no issues with it what-so-ever. A friend of mine has the SureFire L4, and it is more of a Wall-Of-Light (wide spill) than in the "throw" arena. More like for short to medium range. That's my perspective of it.

Hope you find what you're looking for and Enjoy!

The advantage to the L4 is it puts out an awesome amount of light in a wide flood pattern. Good for close to medium range applications, and especially indoors. Lights up a whole room like daytime. Not so good for looking at the treeline across the yard though. E2e would be better for longer range applications, and outdoor lighting, as the incan gives better color rendition outside. The E2e cannot, however, use rechargeable lights. The L4 will easily take a Pila for an hour of full regulation. You might consider an E2e, and a KL4 head. Or even better perhaps, would be an L4 w/ a KL1 head. The KL1 head throws better than the E2e head, and can accept the same rechargeables as the L4. The L4 body will accept the KL1 head no problem.

Since you use the light so much, how about a Surefire L4 for short/medium tasks as said above (then again the beam is not that hot so it might not work that well in a wooded area, better color rendition with an incandescent light.)

A Surefire L4 or HDS series light for EDC (both can run on rechargables and be switched over to primaries if needed), and in the car keep either a Tigerlight 8 inch model FBOP, Streamlight Strion or Ultra Stinger, possibly maybe a Surefire 10X.

Jason

I have both Lights and enjoy them.

My quick, generelized, rule of thumb is this.

Between the two, the E2e is best for outdoor usage whereas the L4 excels indoors.

Depends on how far away those treelines are.. For all around use I'd prefer the L4, a little more throw with the E2e but neither one is going to shoot out *that* far..

How about an A2? Low light with LED's, throw with incan lamp. :devil:

I think an E2L would be perfect for him. Great beam. Not quite as tight as a KL3. Good for longer ranges. Killer runtime. Perfect!

Sounds like he needs a U2

For your requirements i'd go with a A2 or E2L. The E2L would be perfect with rechargable cels.

schiesz

For outdoors across yards I would hesitate to use the L4. You may be better off with a U2 for a concentrated beam and multiple levels. it runs on rechargables too once you remove the inner battery tube sleeve I believe. The L4 is an awsome flood but does not have good color rendition for far-away stuff.

THe Tigerlight could be a useful tool for you job as others have mentioned. It's not much more than the E2e(100 or so versus 85-90 for the E2e) with much better output and rechargablility. The E2l...well while I love my KL1 it still doesn't light things up far away as wells as the E2e.

I have all the lights mentioned above (HDS, E2L, E2e, L4, A2, Tigerlight, etc) and the one I trust for an out-doors situation at intermediate to far distance is the tigerlight, hands down. the others lights are nice pocket EDC lights but don't hold a candle to the Tiger.

To get the best of both, you should consider both the E2e and the L4. Fivemega makes a mod that you can modify your e2e to take rechargeable lithium batteries. That same battery used in that mod can be used in the L4. The battery i'm referring to is the 17670. The single lithium that goes into your light will be safer than using multiple lithiums, and the batteries wont discharge much at all over time.

I use the Pila 600s for the L4 from JSBurly. I know the 17670 is cheaper but the pilas in my opinion is a better built battery, and handles the L4 muc better.

Thx a lot for all the feedback guys. Sorry for late response, was out of town on business.


Sounds like for outdoor stuff, I should stick with an incan.

Can anybody comment on how HOT to touch the L4 runs? Does it run hotter than the E2e if left on while being held for several minutes?

The L4 with AW's 17670!

For outdoors go with a good incan. M2 M3 are great choices.

For a great LED I also suggest looking at the L5 and the Gladius (yes, I have both). Nice mix of hot throw and a good spill beam, yet small in a 2X123 format. Or Pick up an M2 and an KL5 head and have both by simply switching heads.

Outdoors, definately go with an incan. This is not to say that some LEDs can't match an incan in terms of throw or beam configuration, but when I am outdoors, I prefer incan because of the colour temperature and ease of depth perception. Yes there are LEDs that do provide lovely depth perception etc, but they are harder to come by than an off-the-shelf incan product.

Regarding e2e vs L4:
E2E:the term "hotspot" was made for the e2e in this comparison, the e2e's circular hotspot throws very well and complements the perfect, smooth spillbeam. Most of the light is focussed into the hotspot; the spill is much dimmer (but is still useable).
L4:is no slouch, in fact I would probably say it puts out more light overall than the e2e BUT the beam configuration is so different! The L4, as others have said, puts out a larger hotspot and not only that but it has a much brigher spillbeam. It's as though the light has been more evenly spread throughout the beam. Also consider the "luxeon lottery" when you're going to be buying a lux! I find that the white luxeons tend to "wash out" under ambient light. This might be a consideration for you.

If you need to use the light a lot I think that it would be worth your while looking at a Stinger, Tigerlight or one of surefire's excellent rechargeable lights. These incans throw well and when you are performing a medium/longer range inspection should serve you well. Add to that the lower ongoing running cost and you have a winner. Given my understanding of your situation, I would definately pick one of these lights as my main light. Even though they are larger than your desired format, they provide sufficient output that most medium-long range treelines should be visible.

I do think that you need to consider a smaller light to keep on your person at all times in case your "main" light fails. I would strongly consider an A2 for this purpose. The 2 levels are extraordinarily handy and have saved me much trouble in the past. I assume that you will be walking, making notes and performing other short-distance tasks. The lower level of the A2 is perfect for these tasks. The led only setting conserves batteries and is, relatively speaking, good at preserving your night vision.

edit: I noticed that you mentioned that you wanted a clip. Could you clarify this? Surefire's clips are not intended to secure a light to a belt: many people have lost their lights this way. The clips are intended to keep a light at the top of one's pocket so that it may be easily accessed. Is there a reason a belt holster would not suit your situation?

For extended run the L4 get too hot. I have had two, and it is no fun holding for 5-10 minutes. I switched to the L5, better hot spot, cooler, and excellent flood. Outside, my L5 (actually KL5 with Tranquillity Base 18650-Pila 600P body) does very well for distance, but an incan like the Surefire A2, or a E2Ee would be better.

Bill

Grox said:

edit: I noticed that you mentioned that you wanted a clip. Could you clarify this?

Click to expand...

Thx for the lengthy explanations Grox. Much appreciated.

I've been in the habit of wearing a Maxpedition backpack. On the front of the straps is a perpendicular nylon strap that I often slide my current light on as it has a clip. It seems to hold good. And it's basically used when I want ready access to the light while wearing a backpack. Absent the backpack, I prefer a nylon holster on my belt.