First "serious" light

First \"serious\" light

Hi everyone! I've been lurking around these boards on and off for the past few years. On behalf of all the lurkers, thanks for the wealth of information, knowledge, and news about flashlights that you provide.

Maybe 2 years ago, I got my first LED flashlight, an ARC AAA. Like many of you, I've been C-ing it ED on my keychain, using it several times a week, and generally loving it to death. However, I'm finding that sometimes I just want more light. So I've been considering taking the plunge into the world of the Luxeon.

My primary requirements are a lot of light with reasonably small size, versatility, and reliability. With those goals in mind, I've come down to choosing between the SureFire L4 and the Arc LHS(-P). From the rave reviews on this site, I'm sure that I'd be happy with either but due to my budget, I must choose only one (to start out with /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif).

To me, it seems that the ARC LS is versatile in its interchangeable battery packs and exceptionally small "smallest size". On the other hand, the L4 is versatile in its greater light production, making it suitable for a wider variety of situations, and its support of screw-in filters.

At first, I was hoping to replace my Arc AAA with the new flashlight, but at an inch in diameter and three times the weight, I think the LS will be a bit bulky on my keychain (which only has 4 of so keys to begin with, so the difference would be noticeable).

At that point, the smallest possible size of the LS became less of a selling point, and now I'm starting to lean towards the Surefire.

I still have one pressing question though: I would probably be buying and using pila batteries in my L4 (should I actaully get one), but I'm wondering what the differences in performance are when compared with Lithium 123s. From torchreviews.net, I saw this graph that shows performance using standard 123s:



Is there a comparable graph for using the Pilas? If not, how have the Pilas fared (in terms of highest initial brightness as well as charge life) versus Lithium 123s in the L4? Even anecdotal evidence would be helpful. Do you get anywhere near the 80 minutes of sun mode that the 123 graph shows? I hope the significant voltage drop from 6 to 3.7 doesn't hurt things too badly. I did find this thread, but it dealt with another light head and "badboy converters" which I'm still unfamiliar with. http://www.candlepowerforums.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB6&Number=575292

Thanks so much for any suggestions or info you may have. First post! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

P.S. If any of you DO carry the LS around on a 'light' keychain and the bulge/weight hasn't bothered you, please let me know.

Re: First \"serious\" light

The L4 is a wonderful light. It is my all-time favorite EDC. I think a normal runtime with 123As should be about 60 minutes. I don't know anybody who gets too much more than that. (Not sure where the 80 comes from.) I think with Pila's you should get about 50 minutes of regulated night bright light. The runtime with Pila's is not about cost, and I think 50 minutes is a good enough runtime with the L4, so I would definitely go for it!

The LSH-P is a great light, if you are looking for something smaller and less bright. Personally, the size of the L4 is still quite small, and it is VERY bright.

Excellent first post; very well written. Welcome to CPF Curby!

Re: First \"serious\" light

Hello Curby,

Welcome to CPF.

Tough choices. I have both the ARC LSH-P as well as the SureFire L4. I prefer the beam of the ARC, but enjoy the vast amount of light the L4 puts out.

My L4 runs a little over an hour on 123's, and shuts off at 55 minutes on the Pila rechargeables. There may be a difference in light output as measured with a meter, but not to the eye.

Pila's are supposed to be good for about 500 cycles.

I think you need to save up a while and buy them both...

Tom

Re: First \"serious\" light

The Arc4 is a terrific light to carry around in your pocket all the time. But if you really wanna throw out a wall of bright white light try a Streamlight TL-3 LED, with a 5 watt luxeon this light has a very good beam and great throw.
Also highly recommended is any of the drop in modules from the Sandwich Shoppe.

Re: First \"serious\" light

Wellcome to CPF Curby, since I have both of the lights you want, I can offer my opinion. I find that I use the Arc LSH-P way more than the L4. The L4 is a great light, but I like the Arc because it will run cooler for extended use.

If you need a really bright flood light, the L4 can't be beat. Some CPF members run their L4's with 1 battery, instead of 2, and they say that it runs much cooler, and is still brighter than the Arc. You can't go wrong with either light.

Re: First \"serious\" light

I have both of these lights and love them both. But I don't think either the L4 or the Arc LSH-P is a keychain light. Certainly not the L4.

The AAA is a flashlight for when you don't know you're going to need a flashlight. The Arc LS series and the L4 are lights for when you suspect you will need a high-quality light and small size is important.

The L4 is awesome and it is a flooder. The LSH-P is more of a thrower, but not as bright as the L4.

But I would suggest you consider the Arc4+, which is much smaller than the L4 and only slightly larger than the LSH-P. And unlike the LS, the Arc 4+ has a clip which I think is essential for EDCing. Plus, as someone just showed me, it clips to my baseball cap so it doubles as a headlamp.

If a small but super bright flooder is what you want, get the L4. The Arc 4+, at least mine, is a little whiter and almost as britht as the L4. It is also much smaller and has multiple settings. That would be my choice, although for specific tasks (searching for a muffler leak under my car or going through a dark closet) the L4 is better.

Good luck. You're going to like any of these lights.

But the really big advantage is its multiple brightness settings. Although I think the Arc 4 is over belled and whistled, it is easy to get and switch between three light levels: high beam, an average beam something like the LS and very low.

I think we're to the point where all of the best lights will have multiple brightness settings.

Re: First \"serious\" light

Reading this post made me reach into my pocket and make sure my L4 with pilas was still there /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

I think my eye initially noticed a light output difference between 123's and pilas, but apart from my eye is a little crazy /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif I might have been just biased by my leaning towards surefire...

Now, I wouldn't use anything other than pilas in my L4, and i'm waiting on the u2 etc to do the same! And having sf123's in a spares carrier or match holder gives me total backup...

At the very least, when you use sf123's, the status of the batteries are always a bit of a question mark. With pilas, if your not sure, throw it on the charger and it tops them up, with no detrimental effects to the batteries due to the protection...

Hope that helps /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif

Re: First \"serious\" light

They're all great lights (Arc LSH, Arc 4+, and Surefire L4). Unfortunately, the Arc LSH is not for sale at the moment (at least on the Arc website).

That leaves the choice down to the Arc 4+ and L4. Either one will serve you well, but for versatility I'd give an edge to Arc 4+.

There is one more contender to consider. The Longbow Micra. IMO, the Longbow has Arc and Surefire quality, yet is priced more competitively. You can get a Longbow Micra OD Twist with type 3 HA for $79....much less than an Arc 4+ or Surefire L4.

Re: First \"serious\" light

So I decided on a G2 and L4 to check out the variety in technologies as well as SF's product line. Also got some pilas from jsburly's. The lights arrived yesterday, and the batteries today. Cheers to the vendors!

The L4 is kinda cute, until you turn it on. It's like a little kitten with the bite of a pit bull. Though I've seen countless photos comparing it to other lights, human hands, etc., it still surprised me with its size.

The beam was very bright and very white. As others have reported, putting in a Pila battery doesn't reduce the (initial) brightness. I haven't done runtime tests though.

Mine has a clickie switch with momentary pushbutton mode, and for my purposes, it's great. There is no conceivable way I could accidentally turn it on completely when trying to go momentary, and turning the tailcap 90 degrees is sufficient to lock out the switch.

The G2 was also a great product. The beam was considerably yellower, but that's to be expected and is not a complaint. The beam was quite a bit hotter as well. I could feel the beam on my face from three feet away, but I could not with the L4. I briefly tried a pila in the G2, but as I hear that underdriving xenons is bad for their health, I removed it and put the 123s back in.

Now I understand the bit of past confusion over the switch for the G2. The tailcap is a piece of Nitrolon with the switch inside. The key issue is that the switch is not connected to the Nitrolon cap. When you screw down the end, the tailcap pushes the switch into place. When you press down on the button, your finger pushes the switch into place. Since the two parts are not connected, unscrewing the tailcap just means you have to push a bit further with your finger, but the light will still come on. On the L4, the tailcap is one connected piece, so untwisting just a little bit is sufficient to break the circuit and prevent accidental activation.

I'm wondering how I can get these guys to stand up on their ends. Maybe a small portion of narrow pvc pipe or a bottle cap will fit around the rubber switch cap and support the base of the light, allowing it to stand.

I'm very impressed with everything I got. Thanks again for the help and advice!

Re: First \"serious\" light

I unscrew the bezel on my G2 to lock it out of inadvertent actuation that way you can leave the tail cap in its normal intermittent position and just twist the bezel to ready it for duty.