Is there any love for the E1L??

I just recently purchased an E1L. I noticed that there was not a great deal of mention of it on the forums, some but not as much as the E2L. I was wondering how many of you out there are fans of either the E1L or the E2L and do you EDC the light?

It is a nice utility light for use around the campsite and for trekking. Run time is pretty long and beam is bright enough. I like it but I hardly use it since I have many other single CR123 lights that perform better and are equally tough. Looking at my sigline below would give you an idea what are the lights I am talking about. Many times I told myself that I am going to bring along the E1L, E2L and E2L AA for my camping trips but I ended up leaving them at home in preference to my high CRI lights. E1L is a nice and easy to use light and I would still recommend it to anyone else who is interested.

Absolutely! I love my E1L(as well as E2L AA and E2DL). E1L is my favorite 1xCR123 light. I love the design and the beam character is great for outdoors use. The brightness is more than enough for allround use out in the field, but still provides decent runtime even at high. There are brighter lights for less lost but I had never experienced such a high quality feeling as the day I received it, together with E2L AA. If I would lose it, I would get it again, no doubt.
The small size makes it great as an EDC light, I use to carry it now and then, it depends of the situation.

Regards, Patric

Years ago, feeling adventuresome, I EDC'd the E1L for a few months because I thought I needed to mix it up. It's a nice light - well built, nice throw thanks to the TIR optic, and brighter than advertised (The "45 lumens" of the E1L performed better on the ceiling bounce test than my Fenix LD01's "85 lumens").

Ultimately it left me feeling like I was missing something and I stopped carrying it. It would be nice if they included a E1B style pocket clip with it. I know you can swap them out but I'd rather just avoid the hassle. Bezel up carry of the E1L is definitely not recommended considering how bezel-heavy the light is - the clip is more for attaching the light onto the brim of your hat.

Besides I'm still waiting for the LX1

The E1L is a great light. Very long runtime on low and a good 4-5 hours on high. IIRC my E1L was putting out light levels on high comparable to my old-run Novatac 85T, which means it was pretty darn close to 80 lumens out the front. The ONLY reason I no longer have it is that never felt right in my hand; the head was just too large in comparison to the body tube and it felt awkward. Oh, and that short clip is virtually useless. These are not things that probably bother most E1L users. I will probalby pick up another one again someday, because they are just incredibly useful.

Be sure to get an F04 beam diffuser, and you will have a very nice floodlight.

Imon said:

It's a nice light - well built, nice throw thanks to the TIR optic, and brighter than advertised (The "45 lumens" of the E1L performed better on the ceiling bounce test than my Fenix LD01's "85 lumens").

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BigBluefish said:

IIRC my E1L was putting out light levels on high comparable to my old-run Novatac 85T, which means it was pretty darn close to 80 lumens out the front.
Be sure to get an F04 beam diffuser, and you will have a very nice floodlight.

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When I compare E1L with E2L AA both lights show EXACTLY the same lux value with ceiling bounce test with light meter. This confirms that your experiences are correct: E1L is 80 lumen, the same of E2L AA, despite Surefire claims only 45lm.
I agree about the useless clip, likely the only TRUE disadvantage I can see with this light! Also agree with the diffuser, it's very useful.

Swedpat said:

When I compare E1L with E2L AA both lights show EXACTLY the same lux value with ceiling bounce test with light meter. This confirms that your experiences are correct: E1L is 80 lumen, the same of E2L AA, despite Surefire claims only 45lm.
I agree about the useless clip, likely the only TRUE disadvantage I can see with this light! Also agree with the diffuser, it's very useful.

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Is that true?
I've actually owned a E2L for longer than I've had a E1L and I absolutely love my E2L as a outdoors light. I know there are slight variations between different flashlights of the same model and I haven't measured the lux difference between the hotspot of my E1L and E2L but my E2L appears noticeably brighter. Not to mention it has a better tint. My E2L is a creamy white color while my E1L is a horrid cool white.

I really think if Surefire was more selective about their LED tints and started offering warm white or high CRI CPF's collective head would explode.

I like the E1L but to be honest, the short body makes the pocket-clip pretty much useless.

The E1L is a very practical light for activities like hiking and camping. It's small and light enough that you'll actually carry it. If you are a dedicated Surefire fan, you should have one of these. The E1L is one of the Surefire unsung heros. You don't see many on MarketPlace changing hands. This light paired with an LX2 covers a very broad range of illumination duties.

The low volume of noise about this light may in part be due to the serious competition at this price and quality point. The HDS EDC, the Surefire E1B, the now discontinued Surefire L1, Peak lights and others. There are the high end customs like McGizmo, Milky mods, and even Malkoff VME Legos. There are also lots of competitors from Fenix, Quark, Zebra, JetBeam, and others that are lower cost alternatives. In a big crowd its hard to stand out.

I still love & use my first generation E1L (square beam, original click-switch). I've never felt the need to replace it with an updated version. It works just as well as when I first took it out of the box a few years back. I recently picked up a new E1E (on closeout), and I sometimes use that around the house, but the E1L is never far away.

I also like the E1L, newer 45/3 version and I have added a Z68 tailcap to it. This allows tailstanding although it does make the colors mismatched. Not that I care I kind of like it better that way. Also, If you can't track down the F04 diffuser a water bottle cap makes a perfect diffuser for the light. I carry my rotary but I make my girlfriend carry this one in her purse. She got good use of it on a trip to NYC last week using it around the hotel room at night with her sister. Simple enough to give to a novice and not have them screw anything up. She basically used it as a candle next to their bed.

The main problem I have with it though is that it cant use rechargables. Its not that Im cheap, its just that I hate the idea of not knowing how much charge is left in a battery when I take a light out. I also dont want to worry about carrying an extra battery. The HDS lights that can be had for the same MSRP as this one can run off of rechargeables, get run times on par, and are built just as well. I do like the clip on the E1L though, it works for me as I like wearing little lights like this on my baseball hats.

Imon said:

Is that true?
I've actually owned a E2L for longer than I've had a E1L and I absolutely love my E2L as a outdoors light. I know there are slight variations between different flashlights of the same model and I haven't measured the lux difference between the hotspot of my E1L and E2L but my E2L appears noticeably brighter. Not to mention it has a better tint. My E2L is a creamy white color while my E1L is a horrid cool white.

I really think if Surefire was more selective about their LED tints and started offering warm white or high CRI CPF's collective head would explode.

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Yes, it's true. When you describe E2L, do you mean 2CR123 model? I have wondered about what lux reading I would get with E2L. If the 45 E1L lumen is similar to 80 E2L AA lumen, what is then 60 E2L lumen?...
If it would be of interest the ceiling bounce lux reading of E2DL (200lm) is fully 3 times of E1L/E2L AA. The Defender is really much more powerful than the Outdoorsmans. On a large expense of the runtime, of course.
Anyway I have hard to justify getting also the E2L 2CR123 model, it feels a bit superfluous when I have E1L, E2L AA and E2DL.

I absolutely agree with your thought of warm white or high CRI Surefires. Even if all of my Surefire E-serie models have a nice cool white tint(E1L is just slightly warmer tint than E2L AA) I think a warmer or/and higher CRI options would raise the interest among flashoholics.

One of my favorites, use it at work daily.
Great for inspection of machine internals, small and bright.
If you drop it, no big deal.
Wish my LX2 had the same clicky.
It's my edc

Swedpat said:

Yes, it's true. When you describe E2L, do you mean 2CR123 model? I have wondered about what lux reading I would get with E2L. If the 45 E1L lumen is similar to 80 E2L AA lumen, what is then 60 E2L lumen?...
If it would be of interest the ceiling bounce lux reading of E2DL (200lm) is fully 3 times of E1L/E2L AA. The Defender is really much more powerful than the Outdoorsmans. On a large expense of the runtime, of course.
Anyway I have hard to justify getting also the E2L 2CR123 model, it feels a bit superfluous when I have E1L, E2L AA and E2DL.

I absolutely agree with your thought of warm white or high CRI Surefires. Even if all of my Surefire E-serie models have a nice cool white tint(E1L is just slightly warmer tint than E2L AA) I think a warmer or/and higher CRI options would raise the interest among flashoholics.

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The E2L AA and the E1L have essentially the same brightness (maybe the same head) since both are designed to run on a maximum of 3v. The E2L (2 x CR123a) runs on up to 6v. I'd found mine was equal to my Surefire L1 (current generation) rated at 65 lumens by Surefire. Which means the E2L on high really puts out about 100+ lumens.

The only reason to get the E2L, if you have the E2LAA would be if the langer E2LAA won't fit in some pocklet or pack your light just has to fit in, or you have a whole pile of CR123a batteries you are just dying to use up.

I've asked Surefire on several occasions to switch the E1L and E2L over to neutral tint emitters. High CRI emitters would be even better. They probably are just not able to source a sufficient number of either to meet their speccs, and/or they don't beleive most people want them.

It's weird. I have all 3 of the Outdoorsman series and the E1L runs dimmer than both the E2L and E2L AA. For those of you who claimed that the E2L AA is running at the same brightness as the E1L, I wonder if you have the E1L to really compare both with or do you say that based on assumptions since both are running at 3 volts?

BigBluefish said:

The E2L AA and the E1L have essentially the same brightness (maybe the same head) since both are designed to run on a maximum of 3v. The E2L (2 x CR123a) runs on up to 6v. I'd found mine was equal to my Surefire L1 (current generation) rated at 65 lumens by Surefire. Which means the E2L on high really puts out about 100+ lumens.

The only reason to get the E2L, if you have the E2LAA would be if the langer E2LAA won't fit in some pocklet or pack your light just has to fit in, or you have a whole pile of CR123a batteries you are just dying to use up.

I've asked Surefire on several occasions to switch the E1L and E2L over to neutral tint emitters. High CRI emitters would be even better. They probably are just not able to source a sufficient number of either to meet their speccs, and/or they don't beleive most people want them.

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Actually I tried to change the heads and they are interchangeable with same brightness. As I mentioned (the head of) my E1L provides slightly warmer tint(which I prefer) but it flickered attached on 2AA body after a while(I don't know why) so I changed it back again. None of my Surefire lights suffer from nasty blue or green tint, so I have no complaint in this case.
As the incurable flashoholic I am I have to confess I am a bit tempted(even if it's a bit hard to justify) to get the E2L CR123 version as well...

I love the E1L, although I had to swap to an E1B clip, and for a while I had a pile of them. Now down to one, I'll always have an E1L on hand and much prefer its low>high, not to mention the knurled body, when comparing to the E1B.

The E1L is a great light. Long runtimes and very dependable. I have one with the E1B clip attached but I don't really carry it with the clip though. The tint of the LED is on the neutral side of cool white and I like to keep the FO4 diffuser on it for a wonderful even spread of light.

Since my initial post in this thread, I have been playing with my E1L again which I said that I love but hasn't been using since I have got better lights. I couldn't help but feel that I am holding a piece of illumination device that was just made for simplicity and strength. I am sure that this is what I would be bringing if I am going to stay for a week in Borneo's rainforest. In environment like this, a simple fail safe light is what one would really need. The beam from the TIR makes it very useful for piercing a foggy environment at night. Like some of you, I have written to Surefire telling them they really need to get neutral white or high CRI emitters planted into these lights since it was primarily designed for outdoors use.

I was just thinking how much I love my E1L. Especially with the diffuser. It just does it all with low power consumption. Lately I find myself reaching for it more than any other light for edc. Especially with the Tenergy 3v rcr's. I have an HDS on my list, but then I pick up the E1L and say, "Why?".