Surefire L1 Question

I tried this in the LED section and did not get any takers, so I'll give it a go here...

What would be the difference between a SF L1 (latest gen.) and an EL1 with a McE2 tailcap? Does either set up have a real advantage over the other? From what I have read, the latest L1 has a beam similar the the latest KL1... all throw with little to no side spill??

Are the L1 owners out there happy?

Thanks,

Yup pretty happy with my L1. When I want throw I have it. If I want smooth flood light either at low or high (great at either level!) I use my Beamshaper F04 cap.

I ordered a ArcAAA Premium. Can't wait to see if I'm going to use it more in camping than my L1 Low beam. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif The L1 low beam last forever, wich is hard to beat. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

MelloJello,

Do you find the low setting to be useful, do you use it often? (With or without the F04?)

Thanks

Well, if you put the mcGizmo two stage tailcap on, the low setting wont be regulated, only the high will.

-David

In my experience, the button is better on the L1 than the McE2. It is wider and easier to operate.

The E1L setup will be smaller and you have you get to choose the "low" setting.

Note, there are various styles of McE2. I filed the shroud off of mine to make it into a "trim" version and smaller, more like the "normal" tailcap.

The beams of the new generation L1 and the beam of the new generation E1L should be the same.

I have the "old" version of both and perfer it that way (prefer flood and more spill).

I have both and carry the L1.

-john

I didn't know that both settings on the L1 were regulated, that is a real plus!

Thanks for info...

No, only the high beam is regulated. I found out the hard way, I popped a depleted cell into a brand new L1 for use as a battery eater and low beam was so low I had to look directly into the front end to determine if it was on. Yet if I pressed the button all the way down high beam would come on blindingly bright (if I didn't aim it away from my face /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif)

Substituting a brand new fresh SF official 123 cell, low beam was impressively bright while high beam remained the same. It can't be that low is regulated but running in direct drive if high still has enough power to run in full regulation. So it's pretty much that low must be DD/resistored.

Now the HDS Basic 60, that is a regulated low. When high drops out of regulation (or rather, drops to a lower level of light) plenty of power remains to power low in regulation.

[ QUOTE ]
J_Roc said:
Do you find the low setting to be useful, do you use it often?

[/ QUOTE ]

I use it on low most of the time, and because my sleeping patterns are weird, I use it several times each night. It's perfectly fine for navigating around a dark house/apartment/hotel room with dark-adapted eyes.

High is good if you need to go into the dark from the sunny outdoors but I'd have no problem finding the circuit breaker panel on low if I waited 30 seconds to gain some dark adaptation.

[ QUOTE ]
J_Roc said:
Do you find the low setting to be useful, do you use it often? (With or without the F04?)

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes I find it usefull. I use the low beam for totally different reasons. In camping if I don't want to blast myself with higher then needed light when I'm searching in the car trunck, fixing tent poles, walking near camping neighbors... I use the low mode. I kick in the high mode at those time to see if more light is better and I return back to low mode most of the time. But when I arrived and put the tent up, I was using the high beam (with beamshaper) I had to see farther and max brightness to see the terrain, tent, tarp and my girlfriend trying to help me. I had the flashlght snapped on my baseball cap.

At home I use only the low mode when going to bathroom, looking if the cats have enough food, taking out the trash, going to sleep late at night and not wake up my girlfriend (damn usefull here lol!) No real need for high inside my home. I live in downtown so I don't need a light outside my house really for walking, it's bright enough, everywhere I go.

I must say that I rarely use the low mode without the beamshaper.

EDIT: And no the low mode is *NOT* regulated.

I didn't like the L1 (I had the old model) I found the low beam to be too dim even for reading, and the high beam to be too dim for finding stuff outside the tent.

[ QUOTE ]
J_Roc said:
Do you find the low setting to be useful, do you use it often? (With or without the F04?)


[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, I find the low mode very useful and use it all the time. I think the output is about perfect. Good for all around (close) task lighting, navigating around indoors, etc.

Note, in this price range consider the HDS EDC products. They would be better than the L1 in all cases IMO.

-john

[ QUOTE ]
KevinL said:
No, only the high beam is regulated. I found out the hard way, I popped a depleted cell into a brand new L1 for use as a battery eater and low beam was so low I had to look directly into the front end to determine if it was on. Yet if I pressed the button all the way down high beam would come on blindingly bright (if I didn't aim it away from my face /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif)

Substituting a brand new fresh SF official 123 cell, low beam was impressively bright while high beam remained the same. It can't be that low is regulated but running in direct drive if high still has enough power to run in full regulation. So it's pretty much that low must be DD/resistored.

Now the HDS Basic 60, that is a regulated low. When high drops out of regulation (or rather, drops to a lower level of light) plenty of power remains to power low in regulation.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm pretty sure that the low beam is too, hmm, I'll have to look into it.

-David /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

There was a post with an email from Surefire mentioning that the L1 is regulated at both levels, but I am quite sure they mistook that one for the L2. The L2 has two driver boards for that purpose, the L1 only has one driver board. Both levels of the L2 are regulated.

Try the battery test with a depleted cell to see if your L1 regulates on low. If both a depleted cell and a fresh cell are equally bright, that means it is regulated (the purpose of regulation being to maintain constant output despite partially drained batteries). Let us know how it goes /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I edited this post to let you know that KEVINL is right about the low not being regulated, my fault. sorry.

-David /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

Thanks for all of the info, guys! I think I'll pick up a L1 in the very near future.

Final question, will the newest version of the L1 be noticeably brighter than an Inova T1?

Much brighter it is.

-David