Surefire L2

Greetings, I'm thinking of purchasing one of these, does anyone have any experience with them? I carry an L4 now I know the L2 is longer but is it that much brighter? Is there a way to make my L4 equally as bright? I'm new to the flashlight field so please bear with me. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/help.gif

I've got an L2, and I love it - but if I were in your situation, I'd invest in a McE2S dual level switch for your L4, and maybe the Pila rechargeable batteries. I don't believe the L2 is just massively brighter than the L4. If there is a difference (and I don't know for a fact that there is) I think it's apt to be not that huge of a difference.

Except I just told you how to make your flashlight dimmer (well, dual level so you can select the brightness you need), and you asked for more light. How useless am I?

I guess you need more light in a small form-factor?

Well I just love buying new toys thats part of it, but I am lookin for maybe a brighter light in a LED. I've got plenty of very bright incan's but I just love LED's. Where would I begin the search for the above mentioned items for upgrading the L4? thanks for your reply.

Hey, if money's no object, then the L2 is a really cool light - I love mine. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif Whether it's brighter or not than your L4 will depend a lot on the individual LEDs. LED technology is improving, and by this time next year I think it's fairly safe to assume you'll be able to get a much brighter, longer lasting LED for the same money. That's why I said what I did. Nothing against the L2, but the big difference in performance between these lights is the low level offered by the L2, not so much the difference in the high level output. (The low level on L2 is extremely useful!) So if more output is the main thing driving you to another light, I'm not sure the difference in performance between L2 and L4 vs. the cost of the L2 would be worth it to me. But hey, you're not me, so maybe it's worth it to you!

The McGizmo 2 stage switch is available from several folks here on CPF. The "McGizmo" forum tells all about them. You can buy them ready to screw on to the back of your L4 from "The Sandwich Shoppe". (He's got a forum here, too.) I believe Chop, and a couple of other very talented guys here on CPF assemble and sell these. (Other folks here know about 1000x more about custom and modded lights than I know - sorry!)

Hey, another light you might consider is an Aleph series light. Also a McGizmo creation. These are Luxeion III lights with exceedingly well made reflectors that can really throw. I've been considering buying one of these - they appear to be beautifully designed and crafted lights.

Oh, something else to consider - how about a SureFire U2? It's larger than the L2, but it offers 6 different output levels, which is pretty cool. It has more throw than the L2, as well.

OK, I'll shut up - I think I'm probably not helping... Best of luck whatever you choose!

Thanks!!

The L2 on high is a little brighter than the L4, but you have to look close with a ceiling bounce test to see the difference. The L2 on high is driven a little harder than the L4. In actual use I wouldn't notice any difference.

The strong point of the L2 is it's low beam. The low beam of the L2 is regulated and it's about as bright as a 1 watt at 400ma with a McFlood (not quite as bright, but close). If I remember correctly it runs in regulation for about 8 hours on low.

The L4 with a McE2S gives you a low beam by dropping it out of regulation. It will be quite a bit dimmer than a L2 on low and I assume the runtime would be longer than the L2 on low.

As to making your L4 brighter. You could have one of the modders change the circuit to drive it harder, but I don't recommend it because of heat. If you can find a "X" bin Luxeon V, you could have someone swap emitters with the one in your L4.

Other options are a Aleph 1 or a Aleph 3. These would fit your L4 body or you could use a Alepa body. The Aleph 1 would give you a little more throw than your L4 and the Aleph 3 would give you more throw than the Aleph 1.

IMHO each of these upgrades raises the level of light a little and by adding some of these together you can improve your light or tailor it to your needs, but don't expect to turn your L4 into a M6. For example I EDC a E2D/Z61 with a black PR head with a BB750 with a X3T bin Luxeon. The PR head is similar to a Aleph 1 and it gives a slightly tighter beam (it is between a L4 and a L5) and it still fits in the same holster as my L4. Then it has a "X" bin Luxeon, which puts out more lumens. I think the L4 is driven at about 660ma, so the BB750 is driving the Luxeon a little harder. This gave me what I wanted when I wanted to "improve" my L4.

I recently purchased the L2 and the amazing thing is walking outside with the low setting on. The low setting is surprising bright and when you need it turn on the high setting.....Whooooooshhhh!!. It is very impressive. A great light .

To my knowledge, the reflector in the L4 and the L2 are identical. You aren't going to get a whole lot more lumens out of 5 watt then what you are with these two lights. But the type of reflector can make a differace. This involves throw and perceived brightness. If all that flood light of your L4 were concentrated into a tight hot spot that could throw for a long distance, it may appear that light is a lot brighter though the lumens may be the same.

All that to say that maybe you should be looking for a light with a different reflector. In the SF line, the U2 or the L5 will throw further. As far as customs, the already mentioned Aleph series works well. There are also quite a few Maglite mods that do this very well. Check out Wayne's Sandwich Shoppe as well as the Homemade and Modified forum /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif