How narrow is a new-gen Surefire L1's beam?

I'm looking at getting an L1 as my next light but i'm torn between getting the new-gen or old-gen which has a floodier beam. I like the idea that the new L1 can throw a good bit, but i'm wondering is the neam so narrow it's nearly useless? I was going to get the new L1 and put an F04 on it to make the beam floodier for close distances so I could take it off to get throw, but if the beam is too narrow I might as well get the old-gen and not have a unit attached to the front of it.
Can anyone give me your experience with the new L1? A pic or two of the beam at a good distance would be even better.
-Andrew

Why not get the new L1 and an F04 beamshaper.
That way you get the best of both worlds, a really nice flood beam and a nice thowey beam.

The L1 without the F04 beamshaper is a very tight beam.

If you dont want to use the F04 and the older L1 has a flood beam, get that instead.

My EDC is the new L1 and an F04 i like it beacause ive got 2 output levels flood and thow.

Can you even get the old L1's anywhere anymore? Didn't know that you could...

www.lighthound.com still has some in stock. for $99.99

http://www.lighthound.com/sales/surefire_l1.htm

Hi Andrew,
As a real world example of how I use my L1 beam - and consider it a perfect light for this use, I use it while jogging at night. It easily illuminates the sidewalk 6-10 feet in front of me (what I need to see at jogging speed) in dark areas of the neighborhood on low. The high is then in reserve. I've only used that once when an ametuer garbage man (scavenger) was trolling the neighborhood with his hi beams in my face as he searched people's roadside trash (the next day was garbage pickup day). I lit him up in return when he was still 100 meters away, and he turned his lights down immediately. I'm sure he thought I was neighborhood watch (when I stopped jogging).
So I find the beam wide enough to illuminate my path on a sidewalk without any spill to call unwanted attention to myself, but I don't think it would work as well in rough terrain where you would want wider, brighter light. That is where the F04 diffuser would come in handy.
On high, it has enough throw to get you noticed at a distance if you want to be.

afultz075 said:

Can anyone give me your experience with the new L1?

Click to expand...

No pics, but this thread might help. The F04 is on my list of accessories to buy for the L1.

Thanks for the advice. Another thing I want to know, is say at oh, 50 feet, how big of an area does the high power illuminate?

Did you read my thread? there's a reference there comparing to the size of a movie theater screen.

Sorry, I think I skipped over your post. Thanks for the help! The "narrow" beam really doesn't seem as narrow as I thought. I think i'll be getting a new one, and pick up an F04 for fun. There's some new L1's in the BST, and getting one of those and an F04 should only be a few bucks more than getting an old one.