Need surefire lumamax schooling

Can someone please school me on the difference between the Lumamax line
L1, L2, L4, Lx2, L5.... Was there ever a L3 or others that I missed? I'm not worried about prototypes and all. I'm more interested in lumens, run time, battery count and what people liked as there favorite. Thanks

I'm not trying to be smart, but you can probably find all this information on Google, unless some member here just knows it off the top of his/her head.

cland72 said:

I'm not trying to be smart, but you can probably find all this information on Google, unless some member here just knows it off the top of his/her head.

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Well ... since I was bored ... these might give you a start -

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...like-the-E4L&p=2901595&viewfull=1#post2901595

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...ire-L-Series&p=3945323&viewfull=1#post3945323

cland72 said:

I'm not trying to be smart, but you can probably find all this information on Google, unless some member here just knows it off the top of his/her head.

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I was more hopping to get member first hand experience with them, there opinions as well as what they know on them for I want to add a few to my collection. If there are no "addicts" or experts in this family of Surefires I will just google them. Thanks

Thanks Archimedes!

03jesse41 said:

I was more hopping to get member first hand experience with them, there opinions as well as what they know on them for I want to add a few to my collection. If there are no "addicts" or experts in this family of Surefires I will just google them. Thanks

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Jesse, I would say the responses have been limited so far due to this being in the incandescent section of the forum instead of the LED section. Perhaps you could e-mail a mod to have them move it for you.

The product line looked something like this:

1) L1 - A single cell light with two levels of output controlled by a two-stage switch. Press lightly for low, press all the way for high (momentary mode). Alternatively, the tailcap can be rotated slightly for constant-on low or rotated further for constant-on high. There were several "generations" of these lights with outputs increasing over its life cycle. Some of the later versions were capable of being run on rechargeable LI-Ion batteries for some truly awesome output. The L1 and L2 were different from the remaining L-series lights due to the electronics being packaged in the light body instead of the head. Utilizes TIR lens to focus output.

2) L2 - a two cell light with 2-stage output like the L1. Utilizes reflector instead of TIR lens

3) LX2 Ultra - The latest member of the L family and successor to the L2. Two-celled light with the same 2-stage switching as the L1 and also uses TIR lens. Still in production today.

4) L4 - 2 celled light based on the E2E body with KL4 head. Uses clicky type switch and has a single output level. Uses a reflector instead of TIR. Still in production.

5) L5 - 2 celled light based on the M2 (or C2) body with KL5 head. Was sold with clicky switch and has a single output. Uses a reflector instead of TIR.

6) L6 - 3 celled light based on the M3 CombatLight with KL6 head. Was sold with clicky switch and has a single output. uses a reflector instead of TIR.

7) L7 - Rechargeable light based on the 9AN with KL7 head. Uses a reflector instead of TIR

There was no L3.

The L1/L2/LX2 (along with the A2 and A2L) sort of form a family unto themselves as their bodies are unique. The heads are E-series compatible but their 2-stage tail switches will only fit lights from that group.

The L4/L5/L6/L7 are basically repackaged versions of existing (at the time) incandescent lights, upgraded with an LED head.

As these are all LED flashlights, I'm moving this thread to the /LED Flashlights/ subforum.

BTW most of these lights have been discontinued by now, but the L1 was the best of the line IMO; L1's are the only L-series light to have substantially increased in value after being discontinued - for good reason.

Jesse, if you were wanting more information on the L1's, I put together an older thread on these. That thread also links off to some older informational threads. The L2 (and LX2) also has a following, less so the other lights in the L series.

Thanks 880arm! Nicely put.

Kestrel thank you for moving it. It's probably easy to tell that I clearly know very little about these lights or understand them. Thanks for your input as well!

Are there others with insight and opinions?

03jesse41 said:

....I'm more interested in lumens, run time, battery count and what people liked as there favorite. Thanks

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My favorite of these is also the L1 .... AoW clocked the runtime of a red version at about 1900 hours

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...K-hr-Update*-L1-RD-(L1-Red)-vs-X5-Red-vs-24-7

The LX2 is a great introduction to Lumamaxosity. It is pretty bright, throws really well and can be had for a lot less than they used to go for... the L2 and L4 were "Wall of Light," type beams. I really liked my L2s, but they both made a high pitched noise when activated (I might be over-sensitive to those types of things, though.) The only L1 I ever had was red, but I really should hunt down a white one... those are sweet lights!

I loved my old LuxV L4, it's the one that got me addicted to flood beams. I was very dissapointed when the new ones went for more throw than flood.

Yoda4561 said:

I loved my old LuxV L4, it's the one that got me addicted to flood beams. I was very dissapointed when the new ones went for more throw than flood.

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I agree that the TIR lenses really limit the effectiveness of the light. I know you can add a F04 diffuser, but it makes it a little less pocket friendly.

Yoda4561 said:

I loved my old LuxV L4, it's the one that got me addicted to flood beams. I was very dissapointed when the new ones went for more throw than flood.

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+1 I have a black KL4 I will probably never get rid of.

Thanks for all the input so far!! Wondering did surefire ever make a L series manly a L4 in Tan? Or are they all just HA? Thanks

While outdated, but still VERY useful, the L2 is my favorite. The L4, when it cames out, was what started the term "Wall of light", as that's essentially what you got when you turned it on. It fixed the "pencil" beam light you got with the earlier L1's, and gave you a nice high powered floody beam. The L2 improved that by giving a hi and low beam option. The older Lux-V L4's got seriously hot though, something that was easily handled by the L2, by just switching it to low. The L4 was upgraded to a Seoul P2, giving it a little more light, but the heat problem was fixed. The L2 never saw that upgrade. If you get any, get a 6th gen L1 and an L2. The L2 was probably the most underrated flashlight SF ever came out with, but those who own them and use them know exactly how awesome a light is. For night hiking/walkign through the woods, the L2 is hard to beat.

angelofwar said:

While outdated, but still VERY useful, the L2 is my favorite. The L4, when it cames out, was what started the term "Wall of light", as that's essentially what you got when you turned it on. It fixed the "pencil" beam light you got with the earlier L1's, and gave you a nice high powered floody beam. The L2 improved that by giving a hi and low beam option. The older Lux-V L4's got seriously hot though, something that was easily handled by the L2, by just switching it to low. The L4 was upgraded to a Seoul P2, giving it a little more light, but the heat problem was fixed. The L2 never saw that upgrade. If you get any, get a 6th gen L1 and an L2. The L2 was probably the most underrated flashlight SF ever came out with, but those who own them and use them know exactly how awesome a light is. For night hiking/walkign through the woods, the L2 is hard to beat.

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Thanks for the info!! I am looking to get 2 or three lights from the "L" series for that's all my budget can handle and want to make sure I get the "right" ones. I'm glad you brought up night hiking/walking I do a lot of this camping as well as on patrol so it's good to know! Can you or anyone tell me what to watch for to make sure I'm getting a gen 6 L1 and L2. Thanks!

There's only one real L2. There were two differnet body styles, but the heads/emitters never really changed for the L2. As for the L1, you want the one with the the flat/TIR lenses. The 6th gen L1 is also the shortest and the brightest. It should have 10/60 for the lumens setting. The 4th and 5th gen had the domes lenses, had lower settings (2/22 or .2/22), and were longer. The only real advantage of the 4th and 5th gen was the crazy runtimes. I ran my 5th gen L1-Red for 186 hours...it was still producing light, but was unuable, so I ended the runtime test there. But, the white ones have like 90+ hours of semi usable runtime.

angelofwar said:

While outdated, but still VERY useful, the L2 is my favorite. The L4, when it cames out, was what started the term "Wall of light", as that's essentially what you got when you turned it on. It fixed the "pencil" beam light you got with the earlier L1's, and gave you a nice high powered floody beam. The L2 improved that by giving a hi and low beam option. The older Lux-V L4's got seriously hot though, something that was easily handled by the L2, by just switching it to low. The L4 was upgraded to a Seoul P2, giving it a little more light, but the heat problem was fixed. The L2 never saw that upgrade. If you get any, get a 6th gen L1 and an L2. The L2 was probably the most underrated flashlight SF ever came out with, but those who own them and use them know exactly how awesome a light is. For night hiking/walkign through the woods, the L2 is hard to beat.

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I agree that the L2 is underrated. The L2 was the first surefire light I ever purchased. I had no idea how perfect it was at the time. I complained about its length and got an L4 but it was eating by batteries. Did not do the rechargeables back then. I learned about Fenix and headed in that direction. Ultimately after six years of experimenting with lights I discovered that the L2 was just about perfect. Someone here on CPF mentioned how well the light fit in your hand. That got me thinking that the length of the light had its benefits. It really does fit well when gripping it and the length helps keep it upright in your pocket. I think I may have said all this before but still it shows my love for this light!

03jesse41 said:

Can you or anyone tell me what to watch for to make sure I'm getting a gen 6 L1 and L2. Thanks!

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There is actually two generations of L2. The first had the 4 flats on the body and the head was slightly shorter than the newer one. It purportedly had more flood than the 2nd gen. The newer one (2 gen) had the round body with 4 round flat spots on it with an increased length in the head (really the heat sink of the head). The older ones are harder to find and the remaining L2s in stores are most certainly to be the later ones. Sometime during the production of the gen 2 they seemed to change the reflector on the light which gave it a slight donut hole in the center of the hot spot. It also seems that the emitter was upgraded in its binning giving it a brighter output. The newer reflector had a tighter fit around the LED while the older ones had more of a gap. I think Milky has some more info on the light

Flashlight Dave said:

There is actually two generations of L2. The first had the 4 flats on the body and the head was slightly shorter than the newer one. It purportedly had more flood than the 2nd gen. The newer one (2 gen) had the round body with 4 round flat spots on it with an increased length in the head (really the heat sink of the head). The older ones are harder to find and the remaining L2s in stores are most certainly to be the later ones. Sometime during the production of the gen 2 they seemed to change the reflector on the light which gave it a slight donut hole in the center of the hot spot. It also seems that the emitter was upgraded in its binning giving it a brighter output. The newer reflector had a tighter fit around the LED while the older ones had more of a gap. I think Milky has some more info on the light

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So if I found a newer one I'd be in good shape.