Pros and Cons of the L4??

It seems the Surefire L4 is the "It" flashlight to own on the forum right now, and before I hop aboard the bandwagon, I wonder what the relative advantages and drawbacks of this light are? I intend to buy a KL4 and a Pila charger setup w/ 2 168s batteries for my E2e.

I love it for the "wall of light" it generates. We have 20x14 sized rooms and it really provides good illumination. The color is a lot less blue than my KL1.

Prior to getting the L4 I did not know we had so many cobwebs scattered around the corners of our home.

Now I gotta find something with more throw...

--Jerry

No drawbacks, just caveats. The L4 gets pretty warm when running. It also is pretty much all flood light, not much in the way of throw. The 168 will work fine in an L4. If you wait a bit, the L5 will be out, and word has it it will feature a tighter focus for a better hotspot. Also, there may verrrry well be some L4's appearing on BST when the L5 comes out. That is fairly typical; many Arc LSH's went for sale when the LS4 was to be released (which is still pending, forcing several dedicated CPF'ers to re-buy LSH's so as not to be Arcless!).

Do you guys really miss the long throw of the E2e, or prefer the large area flood of the L4??

for me the flood is more usefull, but this question is a verrry personal matter IMHO /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
bernhard

hmmmmm, I was thinking of getting the L4 very soon. Are you suggesting I wait just a bit before going after the L4. I am surprized that I don't have one of these. I usually am one to have what are considered the great carry lights.

Do not wait in getting the L4. You're missing out if you don't have one. If you're torn between and E2E and an L4, get the L4.

Is it getting close to time to sell my E2e. I have 5 168's and 8 150's on there way to me. I am thinking that I want all of my 123 lights except for my single cell 123 lights to be able to switch between 123's an rechargables. The E2e is not going to be able to do that. Hmmmmm, but then again, I could get that E2e head modded to something that could use both 123's and Pilas. The decisions are tough when yer a flashaholic.

I put a KL1 head on my E2e as a backup for my L4 and to give me four hours of light from one set of batteries should that be necessary.

The L4 is amazing.

Cheers,

Richard

The L4 is my all time favorite SF. I EDC it, because it is perfect for almost every task I have used it for. The last time was when a bunch of friends and I went to BJ's ( pizza place ), some of them had camera phones and it was too dark to take pictures. Out comes the L4, but smooth even lighting was too harsh for the camera. So I just made a softbox out of some napkins.

I have no complaints. I like the fact that it runs warm, so people that hold it know its a high output device!

You can also put a $10 beamshaper on your E2e and have a flood light too, that's what I usually carry. That way you have a good flood light and also a light with good throw when needed, both in the same light.

If I can be so easily satisfied with my KL3 on M2 Millennium and is happy with the Inova X5T, I should be in love with the L4 Lumamax.

I am a photographer and I occasionally uses my flashlight to light my pictures. It is really a useful device. Can't wait to lay my hands on an L4.

Regards,

Andy Ho
My Photo Gallery

Cons? What cons?

Just got mine, really superb and smaller than I expected.

If I was to be ultra critical, I would say that the carry clip needs to be a bit longer and higher up on the head. It feels a bit insecure when carried clipped into a pocket with a bit too much head sticking out.

The L4 is really nice, but is limited to pretty close distances, especially outdoors where there is ambient light. It really doesn't have much muscle in the way of throw, but it does put out alot of light. Wall of light is a very accurate description.

For those of you with an L4 and using rechargeable, CM came across the fact that you could swap the 5W for a 1W as long as you only drive it with either a singe rechargeable (like a Pila) or a single 123. It runs really well and has lots of throw.

BTW, don't wait, get an L4. You'll love it. It's really good at what it does. It WILL light up a dark room.

The L4 is a VERY well manufactured product and is typical of Surefire standards. It is however a mere milestone in LED flashlight evolution. Surefire is apparently developing other LED flashlight products that more accurately targets it core market: the tactical law enforcement and military sector.

Operators in this sector need the throw of Surefire's incandecent product line. The purportedly soon to be released items in this product line (the L5 and L6) should address this characteristic.

I tested a L4 some weeks ago and found the product's ability to project it's product light output in a concentrated spot a bit lacking. It also gets warm to the touch when operated for sustained periods. One of the strengths of a LED flashlight is its ability to minimize felt heat for prolonged periods of operation. This is one factor that has convinced me to carry the original Inova X5 and NOT seek a replacement.

The L4 also is testing the civilian market's response to a very expensive product that the average consumer does not consider to be a priority purchase. I took a quick and dirty poll in my workplace to determine any interest in this category of flashlight. Out of about 50 people that even cared to participate, NONE showed any interest in purchasing it. While this type of poll obviously does not merit any credibility, I largely suspect that its result might just be highly representative of the general public's consensus.

Nonetheless, it DOES NOT denigrate the L4's usefullness and practicality as a flashlight. The likelihood that the price will remain a premium because there will not be sufficient quantities sold to bring it down to the level where that average Joe will buy several is definitely a "con."

It is too bad because the general public is missing a unique, practical product that could likely compentently aid in an emergency.

The products available from Surefire, LLC, of late, seem to have too many contours on the external surfaces; angles that seem to have little purpose than to BE what they are. Someone has said that those angles aid during the manufacturing process. Fine with me, however, they do not belong there AFTER those processeses are completed. I carry a flashlight for ~16 hours a day. Those unnecessary contours become quite uncomfortable after a mere few hours.

I have not acquired a L4. I am awaiting the L7; a rechargeable variant in this product line.

KT

I really like my L4 but I don't EDC it as is. It DOES give off a wall of light and is very, very white(at least mine is). But mine gets way too hot after only a couple of minutes on for my tastes. Maybe it's because I live in a hot and humid tropical climate, but it gets too hot to hold after only a short time.

To solve this problem, I now run it on 1x123A cell with the E1e body and Z57 switch(the TW4). Now it doesn't get hot at all, and still gives off enough light for a nice flood beam. And the diminished brightness makes it more ideal as an up-close flood light. Runtime is kind of short, but I carry spare batts so this isn't a problem for me. Along with my W3T McModule as EDC, I have lights to suit any need I may have.

I took five lights with me when I went to Maryland to help clean up the flood damage after Hurricane Isabel at my Parents. I took the L4, C2, Arc LSH-P, Arc AAA and a Petzl Zipka along with batteries.

Two of the days I was there, we had only generator power and that was used to keep major appliances running so only a few house lamps were on, the rest of the lights in the house were flashlights and lanterns. The AAA saw the most use for navigating in the dark it was great. The L4 was turned on to help check out flooding damage in the basement and for clearing purposes, it ran for about 3-4 minutes before becoming too hot to handle comfortably. It was then shut off, put away and the LSH-P became the main bright light during cleanup I wore it around my neck on a lanyard where it could be lit then left hanging around my neck and aimed by hand or held in my teeth to direct light. After the lights were back on I could use the Zipka for light with not much of a problem, plenty of light.

I found the L4 rather impractical as an emergency light. My dad and I managed to light up the entire outside of the house with it on one of the blackout nights, which was kind of cool, when it's dark out there it is REALLY dark, he just shook his head like I was crazy though.

TSG /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

The L4's primary advantage, is that it won't suddenly leave you in total darkness, like incans are prone to do. On SF123As, you get 65 minutes full output, followed by 25 minutes of moderate output, and finally hours of minimal output. Full rated output is 65 lumens.

Don't knock its throw. When I got mine, I went down to the street to test it (residential neighborhood with typical light pollution). It lit up a full grown Oak tree all the way to the top, from about the length of that tree away from the base of that tree. Considering that there was light pollution, that ain't bad at all.

Remember that it is using a standard SF reflector, and the light source is a bunch larger than a surefire incan bulb's source. That makes for a much bigger hotspot. Surefire would have to totally rework the reflector geometry to get a much tighter hotspot. A 1 watt HD luxeon in the same reflector, would result in a hotspot 1/4 the size of the L4's.

It is well worth getting one. I plan to get a couple of Pila batts and charger for routine usage of this light.

This reminds me, of this weekend. I was over at a buddys house which just happens to be a great place to test lights because he lives out where there are no street lights and you cant see another house from his(kinda out in the sticks).
We were outside looking at his new tractor that he uses to cut his grass (He is into overkill) and he clickes on a 3C M@G light and was looking under the hood. I give a snicker and turn on my L4 and he looks at me and shakes his head and then turns off his M@G.
Afterwards We're standing looking into his backyard which is woods and he hits the m@g again and says "see, mines not that much dimmer than yours(he's kidding of course)" at which point I Fire mine up and light up his WHOLE BACKYARD.
Even I was impressed at the way my little L4 made his M@g's beam dissapear.
I used to have issues with the heat factor and the L4 but after I broke down and bought one and some Plias for guilt free lumens and now for some reason, the heat issues(which I always relate to efficency problems for some reason even though I know better) Dont bother me at all.
BTW I was also kinda amazed at the throw of this light when I first got it because I wasnt expecting it to have near the throw that it has after owning a kl1 and high dome arc and other 1 watters.
I'm pleased with it.