Streamlight PT1L - a quickie review

Been a while since I've been on. I came across a Streamlight PT1L and I ended up getting it because of it's killer price.

Since it's a single 123a sized EDC light, I figured I'd throw up a quickie review and some comparisons with my Novatac 120p and Surefire Backup.

Background: the SL PT1L is a black anodized aluminum bodied flashlight that has a C4 LED and is rated at 110/12 lumens high/low and has a strobe function. It comes in a blister pack with a tiny holster, a 123a Energizer battery, a belt clip, and the light.

Some quick findings:

1) it's thinner and lighter than the Novatac. It's still big enough to fit my hands.

2) the reflector is deeper, giving it a good throw. The reflector is a bit 'ringy' where you get a central spot, then a shadow ring of sorts, then some spill.

3) the UI is interesting. You have momentary on, full on, then strobe, then low. I like it.

4) strobe is as fast as my Novatac.

5) it takes normal 123a, 3.0, and 3.7 rechargeable 123's as well. Regulated and unregulated batteries fit fine with room to spare.

6) unscientific testing with my Meterman LM 631 shows the output of the light is about 30% brighter with a 3.7v rechargeable. I packed away my light box, so I have no real way of testing it out in a more controlled situation until I unpack it out of my garage. Testing was done using a 48" long painter pole with the probe on one end and the light on the other.

7) 3.7v batteries screw with the UI. I can go from high to strobe easily. Going from strobe to low was far harder. Throw a normal one in and the UI works fine. I have another PT1L still in it's blister pack, so I'll test it out to see if I get the same results.

8) the light is sort of tail stand able. It will wobble a tad. The bezel in the front is really a minor scalloping.

I've been carrying this light in place of my well worn Novatac 120p for 2 weeks now. It's just as useful, far brighter (when using 3.7v rechargeable), and it still fits the hand well. Compared to the Surefire Backup? No comparison. The SL PT1L is far better.

For the money, and if you use or have rechargeable 123a batteries, this light is well worth it. It's going to take the place of my Novatac as my EDC light.

-Steve

Good to hear, I'll have to pick one up.

could you reiterate that the UI is high, stobe, low. That seems a bit odd to me. Other than stobe in the middle, it seems like a great light. I like EDCs that can make good use of RCR123s.

I have a streamlight PT 2L and yes, the UI is High, Strobe, Low.

Funny thing about this light though, it only has a one second memory for mode changes on any mode before it reverts to the default (high) mode. A minor gripe about it....

LED_Thrift said:

could you reiterate that the UI is high, stobe, low. That seems a bit odd to me. Other than stobe in the middle, it seems like a great light. I like EDCs that can make good use of RCR123s.

Click to expand...

Yep.

Click once or momentary on (press in Novatac's parlance) and you get high mode.

Click again or press again, you get strobe.

Click or press a third time, you get low.

I can see (since Streamlight is selling this as a pure tac light) why strobe is secondary.

Using RCR123a's definitely boosts output.

-Steve

Imon said:

I have a streamlight PT 2L and yes, the UI is High, Strobe, Low.

Funny thing about this light though, it only has a one second memory for mode changes on any mode before it reverts to the default (high) mode. A minor gripe about it....

Click to expand...

Imon, can you throw two RCR123's into the PT2L and does it work? The shop didn't have one in stock to play with.

Edit: I know the PT2L works with 3V RCR123a's. I would like to know if it works with 3.7v batteries.

Beastmaster said:

Imon, can you throw two RCR123's into the PT2L and does it work? The shop didn't have one in stock to play with.

Click to expand...

I have two Tenergy 3.0 volt RCR123s in my PT2L and it works fine. These are the shunted LiCO batteries, not the LiFePO4s. I got these because of the protection circuitry. Personally, I wouldn't recommend the full 3.7 volt cells. There is a notable increase in brightness with the shunted cells I am using now.

KLowD9x said:

I have two Tenergy 3.0 volt RCR123s in my PT2L and it works fine. These are the shunted LiCO batteries, not the LiFePO4s. I got these because of the protection circuitry. Personally, I wouldn't recommend the full 3.7 volt cells. There is a notable increase in brightness with the shunted cells I am using now.

Click to expand...

Hm. The protected and unprotected 3.7v units in the PT1L really crank. I imagine a 1.4v increase in a 6v circuit would not be a good thing. That's a tad over a 20% boost in voltage vs a hair over 10% boost in a 3v circuit.

Thanks!

Beastmaster said:

Hm. The protected and unprotected 3.7v units in the PT1L really crank. I imagine a 1.4v increase in a 6v circuit would not be a good thing. That's a tad over a 20% boost in voltage vs a hair over 10% boost in a 3v circuit.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

Well, a fully charged unprotected LiCO cell actually sits closer to 4.2 volts. Almost 8.5 volts in a light made for 6 probably isn't a good idea at all.

KLowD9x said:

Well, a fully charged unprotected LiCO cell actually sits closer to 4.2 volts. Almost 8.5 volts in a light made for 6 probably isn't a good idea at all.

Click to expand...

Some of the 2 cell SL lights run a buck circuit and can handle 9 volts ok. Several of the SF lights can do this too.

Regarding using an RCR123 3.6-4.2 volts in the single cell version. it is obviously overdriving the circuit. A current check at tailcap would show quite an increase of current compared to the use of a CR123. There would be no regulation for quite awhile using the RCR123 until the voltage dropped below the vf of the LED. The PR1L does not display the circuit characteristics of the buck/boost driven Novatac.

Bill

As a slight repost of what got put into ether, a few more things.

1) this definitely is being overdriven by an AW RCR123a. But it seems to work well. It throws a beam as good as my Malkoff in a 6P.

2) I will be doing some runtime tests with the rechargeable

3) when being overdriven, it really screws with the UI. I hauled out the other unit I bought and it does the same thing.

4) it definitely does not dissipate heat as well as my Novatac.

More as I play with it.

-Steve

Compared to the Surefire Backup? No comparison. The SL PT1L is far better.

-Steve[/QUOTE]

What do you mean by this ?
For half or less of the money paied for an E1B , the Streamlight PT1L is a better investment ?
BTW , does it throw better than the E1B ? Does it have HA ( TYPE III ) ?
How's the runtime on a RCR123 ? 40-50 min ?

Thanks for the quick review. I do find it a bit strange because I just read another review on this light which reads almost as exactly the opposite opinion!

radu1976 said:

Compared to the Surefire Backup? No comparison. The SL PT1L is far better.

-Steve

Click to expand...

What do you mean by this ?
For half or less of the money paied for an E1B , the Streamlight PT1L is a better investment ?
BTW , does it throw better than the E1B ? Does it have HA ( TYPE III ) ?
How's the runtime on a RCR123 ? 40-50 min ?[/QUOTE]

I'll cover the runtime in a different post in this thread.

HAIII is useless to me. I have a TW4 and a Novatac 120P as EDC flashlights and both are worn down a ton. It is an anodize, but not like a Surefire.

Throw is far better in both RCR and primary usage than the E1B. I've actually sold off or traded all my E1B heads. I also get the benefit of strobe vs the E1B.

I'll put it in a different way. I replaced my wife's E1B with a PT1L on a primary battery. I trust it to where I'm willing to equip my wife with it.

-Steve

SuperTrouper said:

Thanks for the quick review. I do find it a bit strange because I just read another review on this light which reads almost as exactly the opposite opinion!

Click to expand...

I read the same review. I think the poster on that thread got hosed with a bad one.

The UI takes a bit to get used to. But it's far simpler than my Novatac.

Okay, runtimes using a unregulated generic blue RCR123a and an AW RCR123a were within a minute of each other on average, so use of either cell made no difference to me.

I did not test strobe. Turning my office into a bad disco house without Studio 54's clientele makes for a bad experience.

High runtime: 23 minutes average, with the brightness dropping rapidly down to nearly zero 2:10 later (blended average).

Low runtime: 4:27. This had a similar quick fade out.

So, with RCR's overdriving things, we are seeing roughly 1/4 the runtime in high, based on Streamlight's charts showing 110 to 85 or so lumens in 1:25 of runtime.

Next up is doing the light on an icepack. The light got hot, but not so to where one couldn't hold it.

-Steve

Good review! :thumbsup:

Beastmaster said:

I read the same review. I think the poster on that thread got hosed with a bad one.

Click to expand...

That's what I told the OP in that thread. My PT 1AA has performed flawlessly so far.

I can't imagine he got one in as bad of shape as he says, but I guess things like that do slip past QC every now and then.

More medium term observations.

I'm getting an oddball issue with the PT1L. Sandwiching the light between two blue ice type cold packs, the switch starts to go south after 5 minutes...enough to shut the light down. Very strange.

Once I warm up the switch using my hands, things work properly again.

I'm going to take my other PT1L (still in it's wonderfully hard to open Blister Pack), and see if it does the exact same thing.

If it does, then this does have some effect during cold weather operations. What I may do is stuff the light into the freezer until it gets to freezing temps and then operate it.

-Steve

Beastmaster said:

.... Sandwiching the light between two blue ice type cold packs, the switch starts to go south after 5 minutes...enough to shut the light down. Very strange. ...

Click to expand...

Are you sure this is a switch issue and not a battery issue? Just curious.

Thanks for your testing efforts.