I have not owned any before, but I recently bought 2 SF LI Lumamax lights (1 used, 1 new), mainly because they are being discontinued, and I am probably intending to have them modded (hopefully by Milkyspit) because I like the form factor, but it seems they could definitely use some upgrading. The used one is gen 2 (4-flats, yippee!), but the newer one that I bought on sale (L1-HA-BL), I would be tempted to describe as gen 5, from 'The Surefire L1 Evolution' thread. I am a little confused by the specs in the brochure in the box. The box is the 1-piece box with the clear front window. The led is 'blue' (cyan).The brochure says 'One-Watt Digitally Controlled LED Flashlight with Dual Output Beam' above 'Revision A 6-1-2003' on the front, and the specs say:
High Output: Maximum 15 lumens for 1.5 hours, then 1 hour of gradually diminishing light, then 2+hours of minimal light.
Low Output: Maximum .65 (not a typo) lumens for 25 hours, then 200 hours of gradually diminishing light.
The specs, I believe, for early gen L1's were 1.1 lumens for 90 hours, and 22 lumens for 4 hours. For the 'latest' (gen 6?) L1's, no longer produced, were 65 lumens for 1.5 hours, and 10 lumens, for 16 hours.
Is this a known brochure typo? '15 lumens for 1.1 hours' (when the 1st&2nd gen L1's had 22 lumens on high for 4 hours), and '.65 lumens for 25 hours' (when the 1st&2nd gen L1's had 1.1 lumens for 90 hours)? To my extremely untrained eyes, the low looks substantially brighter than '.65 lumens'. By the way, this L1 (thank god I was planning on modding it), has, without a doubt, the most godawful beam pattern I have ever seen, not only in a SF light, but in any led light. Not just a 'square hotspot', but 'four parallel hotspot lines' surrounded by a dimmer blue 'corona', then a large circular 'dead zone, with a large circular margin, then, on high, an even larger circular 'dead zone', then a medium circular 'border'. I am not SF-bashing; I've got as much of a SF monkey on my back as anyone, and I am bemoaning the current production changes. The finish on this light is 'dark-grey' HA type III - not dark black, but definitely 'blacker' than my 4-flats version. The led is cyan (in the turquoise range?) Could someone gently bring me up to date on this version? Thank you!
High Output: Maximum 15 lumens for 1.5 hours, then 1 hour of gradually diminishing light, then 2+hours of minimal light.
Low Output: Maximum .65 (not a typo) lumens for 25 hours, then 200 hours of gradually diminishing light.
The specs, I believe, for early gen L1's were 1.1 lumens for 90 hours, and 22 lumens for 4 hours. For the 'latest' (gen 6?) L1's, no longer produced, were 65 lumens for 1.5 hours, and 10 lumens, for 16 hours.
Is this a known brochure typo? '15 lumens for 1.1 hours' (when the 1st&2nd gen L1's had 22 lumens on high for 4 hours), and '.65 lumens for 25 hours' (when the 1st&2nd gen L1's had 1.1 lumens for 90 hours)? To my extremely untrained eyes, the low looks substantially brighter than '.65 lumens'. By the way, this L1 (thank god I was planning on modding it), has, without a doubt, the most godawful beam pattern I have ever seen, not only in a SF light, but in any led light. Not just a 'square hotspot', but 'four parallel hotspot lines' surrounded by a dimmer blue 'corona', then a large circular 'dead zone, with a large circular margin, then, on high, an even larger circular 'dead zone', then a medium circular 'border'. I am not SF-bashing; I've got as much of a SF monkey on my back as anyone, and I am bemoaning the current production changes. The finish on this light is 'dark-grey' HA type III - not dark black, but definitely 'blacker' than my 4-flats version. The led is cyan (in the turquoise range?) Could someone gently bring me up to date on this version? Thank you!
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