New Surefire E1L - First Impressions

AngryFish

AngryFish

Joined
Sep 27, 2004
Messages
692
Well I just got home and ripped open the packaging for my new Surefire E1L Outdoorsman and i've gotta say its an awesome little light.

Here is a picture of the E1L with my current favorite EDC. :)
HPIM3754.jpg


Now for my first Impressions.

Fit & Finish
The usual Surefire quality here. Extremely solid light. Excellent milspec hard anodized aluminum construction. Deeply knurled for excellent retention in a variety of grips.

Brightness
This light uses a high quality single-die 3 watt Luxeon LED producing 25 lumens of regulated light. This is no small feat when you consider that it is running off a single 123a lithium battery. The E1L purportedly will run for 1 hour at peak brightness followed by 3 hours of useful light. After about 10minutes of runtime the head of the light gets a lil' hot, but comes as no suprise since it is clearly marked with a symbol indicating this.

Durability
So far the only thing I have done was to turn the light on and drop it into the sanitary tub in my basement. it was submerged at a depth of 3 feet for about 10minutes and upon examination appeared fine. No water inside either the lens or barrel of the light. as this will be my EDC i will post updated information on durability soon.

Value
I paid $81 shipped for this light making it a little on the expensive side. I definitely think surefire is a quality company but there may be other options out there in a cheaper price range with similar quality. Surefire's lights just feel like a precision crafted tool which makes the high price much more paletteable.

/signed
James M.
(AngryFish)
____________________________________
If you like my review maybe toss me a chicklet if you feel like it :)
 
AngryFish said:
Value
I paid $81 shipped for this light making it a little on the expensive side. I definitely think surefire is a quality company but there may be other options out there in a cheaper price range with similar quality. Surefire's lights just feel like a precision crafted tool which makes the high price much more paletteable.

/signed
James M.
(AngryFish)
____________________________________



You can't go wrong with Surefire quality. Paying nearly a hundred bucks for a torch kinda sets you back on your heels first time you do it. But, when you get that Surefire light in the mail, it's apparent that they are worth it and you find it easy to do it again. I have three now, and love them. Don't care for the single cell lights much though, so I stick to the two cell models.
Click to expand...
 
I love my E1L with the KL4 4 die Lux V powered by a 3.7V R123 LIon cell! You can also shell out another 15$ for the beamshaper that gives a nice soft smooth spot for closeup use
 
Gotta say, I'm feeling a bit of an addiction coming on. Just ordered a nitrolon to give as a gift to my boss.
 
There is a company called Delkin which makes single rechageable 123a batteries for Cameras but they do not recoomend using them in surefire or streamlight flashlights.

Pila makes a rechageable pack which will work in many surefires. It will not work on the single cell lights though. Review Link
Here is the Rechageable Compatibility List

:D woot! my 100'th post! :D
 
AngryFish said:
Well I just got home and ripped open the packaging for my new Surefire E1L Outdoorsman and i've gotta say its an awesome little light.
Click to expand...

How does it compare with the E1e for throw, illumination, and all that?
 
www.batterystation.com is where I get my rechargeable 123s. They are rated at 750mAh and 3.6V nominal, but actually charge up to 4.2, and don't drop to 3.6 until they're about dead.
Should give you a bit over an hour runtime in your KL1 (think I read these new ones have the current set higher than the old ones, and are getting ~5000mA to the LED).
 
5000mA is 5A. I believe you mean 500mA compared to about 330ish on first release.

If/When SureFire release one at 900-1000mA I'll get myself another KL1!

Al :D
 
cardimon said:
How does it compare with the E1e for throw, illumination, and all that?
Click to expand...

Cardimon,

I havent personally handled a E1E but most reviews i have read say that the E1L which is basically an E1E with a KL1 head is brighter. I believe the E1E puts out 15 lumens compared with the the E1L's 25 lumens. the beam on the L is very tight and has good throw. the light output is a slightly purple tinted white, and as is usual the shape is very uniform.

I purchased the E1L over the E1E primarily because of the greater output and the longer runtime. (I would reccomend getting a beamshaper for the light because at close range it seems extremely bright for tasks such as reading a map, etc.)
 
i bought a KL1 head from SF, had it on my E1e first, then put it on my E2e, the brightness is about like the incandescent on both imho, i really like the LED heads myself, IIRC the E1L and E2L is the same thing, a std E1e or E2e with the KL1 head. batt life is really extended with the KL1 head, IIRC they say 6 hrs, i think its probably longer than that.

i dont think ya can beat surefire, kinda high $$ but well worth it imho.
 
The HDS lights are much brighter. I had the opportunity to borrow a friend's hds EDC ultimate 42. I can honestly say i like the construction of the surefire better but that is probably just personal preference.
 
The HDS also has some sidespill, making navigation easier.
There are 2 types of Rechargable 123s, protected and unprotected. They are 3.7volts, so they'll blow bulbs, BUT the LED head of the KL1 has a buck circuit to kill voltage and convert it into current, so you can pop one in there. Unprotected means, that you can overdischarge and kill the battery. Protected protects the battery against that and also protects it against too much current from being drawn.

A favored set up is the 1x123 body with an R123 and the KL4
 
GarageBoy said:
The HDS also has some sidespill, making navigation easier.
There are 2 types of Rechargable 123s, protected and unprotected. They are 3.7volts, so they'll blow bulbs, BUT the LED head of the KL1 has a buck circuit to kill voltage and convert it into current, so you can pop one in there. Unprotected means, that you can overdischarge and kill the battery. Protected protects the battery against that and also protects it against too much current from being drawn.

A favored set up is the 1x123 body with an R123 and the KL4
Click to expand...

The KL1 that comes on the E1L is also the same one on the E2L so having a higher voltage (single 123 rechargable) would be fine. A definite improvement over the E1E!

John
 
GarageBoy said:
The HDS also has some sidespill, making navigation easier.
Click to expand...

I would definitely reccomend that people who get an E1L also purchase a beamshaper. it creates a smooth wide beam instead of the blinding spot which is produced without diffusion.


garageboy,

So people are using the E1 series body and tailcap with a rechargeable 123a and a KL4? what kind of runtime? I havent seen much information on candlepower about this mod.
 
I recently got an HDS EDC 42. I prefer the aggressive texturing on the Surefire, but the HDS is much brighter (in brightest mode), has more spill and is more versatile (I like the 10 lumens mode for most uses). The clip on the HDS is a bit too long and not very "clippy," but otherwise the HDS is a good package so far.
 
Yes, I know the KL1 is fine with R123s, I've been using TWO in the L4 body. (should be safe up to 9V)
The F04 beamshaper smooths out the beam, but it's still not a great area of light.

The E1/Vital Gear 1 cell body/McGizmo's Aleph body + the KL4 with the rechargable should give 20 min in regulation and some light afterward.
On CPF, search under TW4 (tactical warehouse sold KL4s and E1s together before SF stopped them)
 
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