Am I crazy to want a Surefire L1 Red

As the title states.. I know these are discontinued but I really want one. I'm trying to figure out if it will be useful to me. I work as a K9 Handler (Security) at a University where I do a lot of checks of dark rooms at night and sometimes I don't like shining my 6PL/M60 because it destroys my adapted night vision.

Shawn L said:

As the title states.. I know these are discontinued but I really want one. I'm trying to figure out if it will be useful to me. I work as a K9 Handler (Security) at a University where I do a lot of checks of dark rooms at night and sometimes I don't like shining my 6PL/M60 because it destroys my adapted night vision.

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This is an old thread. But to help, I have a L1 Red and it is great. Better than any other red LED light that I have. Kroma red is fine for a nice general purpose light. But has no punch unless I use the full white LED of the kroma.

All the other red LED lights I have are mostly a 5mm or 3mm variant.

The Quark RGB has the MCE die that splits RGB and white per die. While insanely bright, it is all flood.

L1 Red punches thru the darkness. Highly recommended if you can get one for a good deal.

+1 to above.

Ditto...glad I was finally able to get one. Never realized HOW useful they really were until owning one. Wish other red lights had throw like this. Plus, it's an even better battery vampire than the white version.

The closest I have to a Red L1, is my E1L with the red filter (F05? I think).

The red really cuts down the overall output, but is so much easier on the eyes. Anyone know the stats for the red version?
Red is a great indoors light, never enjoyed them much outdoors.

And did the original L1's have the TIR (older versions assumed)?

I am usually not interested in SF LED lights as I prefer warmer tints than what they offer but I would like to have a red L1!

I want one too!

Wish I had bought one when they were for sale...

Retinator said:

The closest I have to a Red L1, is my E1L with the red filter (F05? I think).

The red really cuts down the overall output, but is so much easier on the eyes. Anyone know the stats for the red version?
Red is a great indoors light, never enjoyed them much outdoors.

And did the original L1's have the TIR (older versions assumed)?

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Not modern TIRS. The 4th and 5th Gen L1's had domed optics (which acted like TIRs), shaping the light into a tight beam. Old TIRs produced a square beam (pretty fugly), but you got more light out of them. This was solved by slapping an F04 on there.

I tried putting an F05 on an E1L, but you lost too much light, since the F05 only allows red light to pass through, and LED's already have very little red to begin with. With the Red L1, the Emitter is red, so you get the same brightness as a white LED, and all the throw that accompanied them. Pure, solid red. The best replacement for a red L1 is an E1e or E2e (w/ MN02) and an F05.

Is this the square beam Gen.? I do not really wnat the square beam. This is on eBay under Suerfire Red L1.

Yes Red-Led...very fitting light, BTW; unfortunately, the last two gen's (4&5) were. This was common of the tirs back then...but, it's only noticeable white wall hunting with the red, since on any other back ground, it fades away so fast, all you see is the red "spot". It bothered me on the white version, but the red square beam doesn't seem to bother me...maybe because you can barely notice it???

After a bit of searching, no one has ever had the patience to do a runtime test on the 4th/5th gen L1-RD...until I came along! Started it on a brand new SF CR123 at May 29th, @ 1526hrs, EST. I'll start a thread in about 4-5 days when it finally runs out of juice...I'll do the test down to "usable" light (can navigate in pitch black), but will also see how long it'll run after that to where you can still read, etc.

24 hrs and about 90% original out-put.

Wow that's impressive! Makes me want one too now

I love this thread!

Mainly, because I have the 2nd gen. red LED L1 which can go on for something like 90 hrs on low (a pretty useable low at that), with the TIR, so it even has decent throw on high.

Oh, and SF, in its less-than-infinite wisdom has discontinued the red LED version of the L1.

Every now and then I think I should sell it, but then another voice comes out from somewhere in my head and says NOOOOOOOOO...........

And even more rarely I think I should send it over to milkyspit for a mod, and again that voice comes back and stops me. That light is just fine like it is!

Even though I have plenty of red filters (both for the 1" and the larger "C" class heads), that red LED is still a class unto itself. Maybe if the LED died or something it would be worth it to take action, but then LEDs tend to last forever. At this point I would give odds this light will outlive me.

Going on 44 hours...about 60% of low...will still go into high (and rather bright). Took the battery out for about 5 seconds for a reading (1.83 volts). Can still navigate a pitch black room.

So, after running 44 hours non-stop, it still has enough juice to go into bursts of high...

If I was stuck in a cave, I would want one of these to find my way out with (although white may be preferred???...In a cave anyways).

Noticed a big drop (ok...big...relatively speaking) around the 50 hours mark...I can still navigate small house rooms, but that's about it...much longer, and it'll be limited to reading/looking through packs. The cell read 1.79, so it's basically considered dead for any other lights). Funny thing is, the high still comes on full blast. But, 58 hours and still going strong...

89.5 hours...I can still navigate a small room, but wouldn't want to use it out of the house, except for looking for something in a pack, etc.. Now it's pretty much limited to a "Real stealth light" (pitch black/moonlight, need to check a map real quick, etc.), a comfort light for kiddo's, or for reading. Great for use on a plane when a white light may disturb other passengers.

There was another significant drop around the 70-75 hour mark (or so it appeared). While not ideal, it is still providing usable light. if some one could do a "real runtime test" on a 5th Gen white head, it would be neat to compare the two side by side. You need less white light to be usable...if this was white and putting out the same lumens, I could still see it being used as a navigation light, the only advantage to red being 1) Stealth, 2) Night Vision Preservation, and 3) The extended runtime (how much remains to be seen) that is inherent of Red emitters.

Again, I'll put this in a thread of it's own so others who may be interested will be able to more easily find it.

Dang it, I so want one of these now and it's my fault for hesitating to buy one a few weeks ago. Grrrr....

I have owned a couple of these lights and in the end settled on a Nailbender red Diamond Dragon drop in, which is regulated with 3 levels of output. On high it generates far more light and throws better than the L1 and then you still have the lower power options. You should also find it a lower cost option than a red L1.

97 hours, output's now about useless...so I'll give it 95 hours "Useful Light" just to be on the safe side...but, it's still going. Oh, and the high quit coming on around 72 hours of continuous running on low.