Help w/ first 1x123 LED

Hammerhead · Nov 14, 2005

Howdy, folks. Long time, no visit. Finally going to pull the trigger on a 1x123 LED and need your help to clear up a few things before I make a decision.

I want to find a really good 1x123 light, and have my eye on the SureFire E1L. The last I visited here, it wasn't available in this configuration so my only option at the time was to buy the E1E and KL1, which was more or less a waste of money to me since I already own an M2 Millenium.

So, what I'm after is discussion on what 1x123 LED lights are out there (Longbow, Fire~Fly) and their relative pros/cons. They're all in the $100 or so price range, so that's not a problem.

Remember, this is for a 1x123 light. I'm after a more compact unit, and a 2x light is too large.

Thanks!

Flash_Gordon · Nov 14, 2005

Don't miss checking out the Peak Caribbean. It is an amazing little light.
Peak Caribbean
Review

The SF E1L is also great. I have one. Gives you the ability to use all of the modular pieces in the E series. You can add an incan head and a 2 cell body and end up with an E1L, E2L, E1E and E2E for under $200.

Peak makes several 1x123 variations, but the Caribbean is my favorite and perfectly pocketable too.

Mark

GadgetTravel · Nov 14, 2005

Not sure what you mean about the Surefire not being available. The model is the E1L. It is the one cell Surefire body with the KL1 head on it. Not sure where you are in Jersey but Paragon Sports in Manhattan (near Union Square) had them a couple months ago when I bought mine. Under $90 as I recall but if interested I would call and check on stock and price. They are available on the internet for a bit less.

I agree with the suggestion to go with the Surefire. That way you can add modules, change heads etc. It is a fantastic little light.

Hammerhead · Nov 14, 2005

Gadget, sorry. My post was lacking a little context. When last I looked into it, Surefire only had the E1E and the KL1 as separate units. To make an E1L, you'd have to buy both, which meant you were spending money on an incandescent head that you might not need, bumping the price up some $30++ more than it need be.

nerdgineer · Nov 14, 2005

I have a different opinion of 1xCR123 lights: most of them are way oversize considering the size of the battery. I still prefer the original Arc LS twisty (with it's 2.87" length) over most any light I see today. If I were going to spend a lot of dough on a 1xCR123 light, I'd look for something like this.

hacker · Nov 14, 2005

I've had many flashlights. This is the one I carry and use:

http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/nuwai_q-3.htm

The picture makes it look fat at one end. It's not. It's small, powerful, and cheap. You can find it for less than the price in the review.

My original was recently stolen. I like it so much that I ordered another immediately.

GadgetTravel · Nov 14, 2005

Okay, I thought that is what you meant. That is no longer the case as far as I know, unless it has changed back. I bought an E1L, which was a one cell body with a KL1 head at Paragon a month or so ago. Memory tells me it was $87 plus tax in that configuration but Im over 50 so not sure about that.

I just checked and Lighthound has them also: http://www.lighthound.com/sales/surefire_e1l.php

I think that you can get what you are looking for now without a problem.

Hammerhead · Nov 15, 2005

Thanks for all the help, guys. Here's my takeaway in the process so far. Let me know if I'm off my rocker.

Peak: A contender, but interestingly enough, more expensive than a Surefire. Go figure.
QuantumIII Nice light, but no HA3. That's a problem. I don't like HA2 finishes, so this one is out of the running.
AmiLite NeoT3 Interesting. I like the scalloped bezel so you can use it face down, but the price with shipping is so close to a Surefire, that I prefer to buy American.
Longbow? I'm surprised nobody has mentioned this one.
Arc? Isn't someone taking over for where Pete left off, but doing so under a different company name? For some reason, I recall seeing something in my travels about a 1x123 that looked very similar to his Arc4 work.

So far, it looks like the Surefire E1L is still the leader for overall value and utility. Although I don't intend to twaddle around with battery extenders and other heads, it doesn't hurt to have the option.

UnknownVT · Nov 15, 2005

I like single cell lights.

You may also want to look at one of my favorite 1watt Luxeon 1x CR123A lights -

S1801 1w Luxeon 1xCR123

It is a "cheap" Luxeon flashlight - but at a going price of about $20 including shipping -
you can get this in addition to your "ultimate" 1x CR123 light.....

compared to the popular Nuwai Q3 3watt -

compared to the current CPF favorite Fenix L1 v2.5 (Non-Premium)

PJD · Nov 15, 2005

Hammerhead said:
Thanks for all the help, guys. Here's my takeaway in the process so far. Let me know if I'm off my rocker.

Peak: A contender, but interestingly enough, more expensive than a Surefire. Go figure.

IMHO, if you ever get your hands on a Peak, you'll SEE why it's more expensive than a SF. As far as I'm concerned (...and MANY others on CPF) the output of just about any Peak 1X123 cell lux light is superior to that of an E1L. There've been virtually NO complaints about beam tint (...a common complaint with SF lux lights), it's type III HA, it uses a reflector for throw AND spill...the TIR optic of the SF E1L gives throw and NO spill. Overall output of a Peak Caribbean or Mediterranean is EASILY more than an E1L with at least equal the run-time. Once you get your hands on a Peak, it'll be EASY to see why it's more $$ than an E1L.

As far as the E1L being "the leader in value and utility"...well, all I'll say is I've owned both. As far as "utility" is concerned, the E1L's utility is limited. The TIR optic gives it a beam that is VERY limited. You basically see whatever the light is pointed DIRECTLY at, and not much more. As far as "value" is concerned, the Caribbean is only slightly more $$ than the SF E1L, and in MY past experience (...other's MMV) Peak's Customer Service is second to NONE. I had to e-mail SF at least three times over the period of a week before I even got a response from their CS.

With all due respect, you should probably take a LONG look through the forum before you can make a statement like "the E1l is still the leader in value and utility". There are MANY here who would disagree. SF is a top-notch product, but there are a lot of others that are just as good, if not better.

PJD

cognitivefun · Nov 15, 2005

The nice thing about the KL1 head in general is that it throws superbly. You can use the FM07 beamshaper to diffuse it and make it more of a flood. Having the throw when you need it is very helpful since you can in fact get the flood with the beamshaper.

Hammerhead · Nov 15, 2005

PJD said:
With all due respect, you should probably take a LONG look through the forum before you can make a statement like "the E1l is still the leader in value and utility". There are MANY here who would disagree. SF is a top-notch product, but there are a lot of others that are just as good, if not better.
PJD

PJD, there is no published "review" comparison of your recommended light to the Surefire - or any other one, for that matter. I can only go on the reviews that don't state any comparison between the Peak and the Surefire.

Since I know the quality of a Surefire, it's a given. Just telling me your recommended flashlight is better without telling me why, doesn't help. It looks cool, but I still don't know why I should buy the Peak as opposed to the Surefire.

As to looking through all the threads, the reason why I ask these questions here is to seek recommendations and plumb quantitative and qualitative comparisons of one to another. Furthermore, a search on the term "Peak vs. Surefire" yields zero results.

Outside any sort of objective comparison in the form of a synopsis to explain WHY the Peak is better, my statement stands given the field of contenders.

With all due respect, of course.

alberto · Nov 15, 2005

I'd recommend the Nuwai Q3 or the Longbow, both very nice lights.

Hammerhead · Nov 15, 2005

cognitivefun said:
The nice thing about the KL1 head in general is that it throws superbly. You can use the FM07 beamshaper to diffuse it and make it more of a flood. Having the throw when you need it is very helpful since you can in fact get the flood with the beamshaper.

Excellent point. Throw is important. I'm anything but an expert on optics, but I guess you can always make a flood out of a spot, but it's hard to make a spot out of a diffused beam.

Hammerhead · Nov 15, 2005

alberto said:
I'd recommend the Nuwai Q3 or the Longbow, both very nice lights.

Alberto, since I'm coming from the perspective of a current Surefire owner, can you comment on your views of the Longbow and Nuwai as compared to the EL1? Build quality? Beam quality? Endurance and electronics?

I guess what I'm after are observations of practical aspects that have meaning in a real-world scenario. My sense of it so far is that we're quibbling with "degrees of perfection" in that after a certain point, it's more about the nuance that appeals to "flashaholics" since we've gone WAY beyond just having a tube that makes light.

Thanks!

Roy · Nov 15, 2005

The FireFly II is hard to beat! Finding one could be a problem. Mine has a BadBoy circuit driving a Lux III at 650 ma. Check the B/S/T forums for availability.

Here is the runtime plot on my FF II:

http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=54704

...and here is the runtime plot of the FireFly mentioned in the thread above:

http://ftp2.itexas.net/Rbost/firefly.jpg

PJD · Nov 15, 2005

Hammerhead said:
PJD, there is no published "review" comparison of your recommended light to the Surefire - or any other one, for that matter. I can only go on the reviews that don't state any comparison between the Peak and the Surefire.

You won't find many, if ANY reviews directly comparing one light to the other. All you can do is look at the different reviews and compare the numbers and opinions of those doing the reviews. My point was simply this: you stated the SF E1L was still the overall leader in value and utility before having even seen, let alone used any of the other lights. I've not only seen, but owned all of the others. I consider myself to be a fairly objective individual when it comes to giving my thoughts/opinions on the lights I handle. You asked for opinions...I gave you one based on actual experience with all the lights you listed. The SF E1L sits at or close to the top of the heap in quality, but IMHO, NOT in value or utility. Most of the other lights listed perform as well, if not BETTER than the E1L at a lower cost (other than the Peak), making them a better "value". The E1L has virtually no spill light while ALL of the others do giving their useability a wider range, ultimately putting them...ALL of them...ahead of the E1L as far as "utility" is concerned. Since the E1l has come out, most of the negative comments towards it have been in the area of "lack of spill light" and "bad to poor" beam tint. Negative comments on the peak are EXTREMELY hard to find. The info is there...it's not just my opinion.

PJD

Hammerhead · Nov 15, 2005

PJD said:
The SF E1L sits at or close to the top of the heap in quality... Most of the other lights listed perform as well, if not BETTER than the E1L at a lower cost (other than the Peak)... The E1L has virtually no spill light while ALL of the others do giving their useability a wider range... most of the negative comments towards it have been in the area of "lack of spill light" and "bad to poor" beam tint... Negative comments on the peak are EXTREMELY hard to find.

There. That wasn't so hard, was it?

greenLED · Nov 15, 2005

nobody's mentioned the HDS...

beats all the others, hands down (and a leg tied to its back) :thinking:

joema · Nov 15, 2005

Hammerhead said: "...there is no published "review" comparison of your recommended light to the Surefire - or any other one, for that matter....I still don't know why I should buy the Peak as opposed to the Surefire...seek recommendations and plumb quantitative and qualitative comparisons of one to another...any sort of objective comparison...to explain WHY the Peak is better..."

Peak Caribbean pocket body: 0.78" x 2.88", 1.33 oz.
Surefire E1L: 0.78" x 3.75", 2.9 oz.

Peak Caribbean output: 2480 overall output units (about 35.5 lumens)
Surefire E1L output: 2000 overall output units (28.6 lumens)

Cost: both roughly $100.

Qualitataive reasons for Peak Caribbean vs Surefire E1L: the Peak is shorter, lighter, and brighter.

http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/peakled_caribbean.htm
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/surefire_kl1gen2.htm

Help w/ first 1x123 LED

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