Manufacturer:- www.surefire.com
Retailer:- www.lighthound.com
UK Distributor :- www.edgar-brothers.co.uk
Purchase Price :- $115 £67 http://www.xe.com/ucc/
Size:- 128mm (5.045 Inches) long, Body Diameter 25.4mm (1.0Inch), Head 28.1mm (1.106Inch) Diameter
Weight (With Batteries):- 3 1/4oz. 94g
Battery Type / Qty :- 1off CR123 Primary Cell (Surefire, Panasonic, Duracell or similar)
Battery Life :- 2 Hours (High) 90 Hours (Low)
LED Type :- Luxeon III
Rated Output:- 22 Lumens (High) 1.1 Lumens (Low)
Estimated LED Lifespan:- Over 100,000 Hours
Colour:- White
Reflector Type :- None
Optic :- Custom Surefire Design TIR (Total Internal Reflection) developed in conjunction with www.saic.com
Lens Material :- Pyrex Glass
Electronics:- Digitally Controlled power output, 2 different levels. Regulated for constant output.
Body Material :- Aerospace Grade Aluminium Alloy
Colour :- Anodised Natural Type III
Features:- Lockout Tailcap, Water Resistant
Accessories :- Stainless Steel Pocket Clip, Lanyard and attachment ring.
Water Resistance :- 10m / 33feet
Guarantee :- Lifetime (No quibble, If it breaks we fix it!)

I already have a Surefire L1 with a Blue LED in it, but that was an older unit and these are the new and improved Luxeon III powered L1's.

So this review is for the new L1 in both White and Red LED colours. They differ from the original L1s in several major ways.

Most of the changes are to the LED head design, Optics and the LED itself.

It is unclear if the regulation electronics have been modified. I could not find a definitive answer to this on CPF. If somebody does actually know for sure then I would appreciate a response.

I'll start with the general description of the light.

This is a single cell (CR123) light offering two fixed levels of light output via a two stage tail operated switch.

The light is machined to Surefire's typical super high standards from aerospace grade aluminium alloy. It is then finished the the very hard wearing Type III anodise in a Natural colour. This is a green / gray finish and you will see slight differences in shade between the different parts due to the variance involved in the process.

The torch is made up of three main parts of head, Body and tailcap. A spring stainless steel pocket clip is fitted and a lanyard retaining ring and lanyard are also supplied with the light. This is a great idea, why not include one with every Surefire light?

The tailcap can be unscrewed to load in the single CR123 3V Lithium cell that powers the light. It comes supplied already loaded with one. The positive end points towards the LED head.

Two stage pushbutton operated tail cap switch with momentary push for on low power or push harder for the second stage full power mode. The tail switch can also be rotated to turn the switch off altogether to prevent inadvertent operation. Or turning the tail switch the opposite way will cause the light to come on and stay on in first the low brightness then the high brightness mode.

The body of the light holds the battery and also contains the electronics that control the power flowing to the LED. As this light has regulated power output, it will always try to deliver the same level of power to the LED when in full power mode. As the battery voltage drops the electronics boost the voltage to the LED at the expensive of increasing the current draw from the battery.

According to Surefire's specs the light should run in high mode for four hours. But a few CPF members have found a more practical level measurement is to the 50% brightness position. If measured to 50% brightness the light runs for around 2 Hours. Still impressive for the rated 22 Lumens light output from a single CR123 cell.

In the low mode of operation the light is rated to about 1 Lumens of light output and should run for a quoted 90 Hours. I have not seen this confirmed by anyone yet though! There is also some doubt as to whether the light runs in regulation in low power operation. It really does not matter too much as the battery still lasts for an amazing amount of runtime.

Both ends of the body have O-rings which seals the light from dust and damp. I think the light is rated as waterproof to around 33feet or 10m, but it's not a dive light. These should be kept lubricated with silicone or another non O-ring damaging alternative. I believe Surefire use Nyogel products for this and the 779ZC and the 759G (Conductive) grease are the ones to use.

Moving on to the head of the light we can see the shiny new head design that is similar to the KL4 head on the Surefire L4. This new design contains a TIR (Total Internal Reflection) optic that was developed in conjunction with www.saic.com. The head also contains a Lumileds Luxeon III led that is considerably better in performance than in older Lux I based lights.

The new head is much longer than the original design. This is probably to accommodate the Optic and the Pyrex lens. I am not sure if this is one and the same thing. Or if the glass lens is just mounted in front of the optic?

The optic projects the light from the LED into a collimated beam that will throw a considerable distance. The beam has an unusual characteristic in that when you shine it into a wall at close (4 feet) distance it is square in shape. The reason for this is that this is the shape of the LED chip and the optic is simply projecting this shape. Kind of like a camera in reverse. The beam is even and very white in colour. The Red version has a few rings to it, put still throws a long way.

The very front of the light has five small curved cutouts. These allow light to escape when the torch is placed face down on a flat surface. Thus you can see you have left it switched on and take the appropriate action.

The head is completely sealed and probably not the best candidate for modding or upgrading. Not that this should be much of a problem as it is excellent as supplied and has that Lifetime guarantee!

I measured the output on my LM631 light meter for the white LED as 43 Lux @ 1m on Low and 1057 Lux @ 1m on high.

I think these lights are great for camping and outdoor activities. The low level works great for reading and wondering around dark rooms. The high mode projects a fair distance and is fine for lighting up the trail path or looking round the loft. It small and light so should be fine for most pockets. It only uses one CR123 cell at a time so that should cut down the running costs a little! Plus the low mode will effectively suck dry all the cells you have taken from your high power incandescent models.