SUREFIRE E1L OUTDOORSMAN

SureFire E1L Outdoorsman, retail $99.00 (www.surefire.com...)
Manufactured by SureFire (www.surefire.com)
Last updated 07-06-11




Like all other SureFire products, the E1L is a very tough and bright little flashlight. Instead of just a bezel like the KL1 is, the E1L is a full fledged flashlight, that features what I believe is a Cree XLamp LED and a tailcap switch that lets you select momentary or continuous operation.

The E1L is a regulated light, in that instead of dimming slowly and insidiously from the moment you turn it on, it retains that "new battery" brightness for as long as the battery can deliver. That's about 5 hours with this flashlight.


SIZE



I believe the E1L comes ready to use as soon as you get it. If not, put in the battery (see below) and it'll be ready to use then.

To turn the E1L on, press the tailcap button in until it clicks and then release it, and the LED will come on.

To turn the E1L off, do the same thing again.

The E1L also has a momentary or signalling mode available; just push the tailcap button less firmly (before it clicks) and hold it that way for as long as you need light.

The E1L has a LOTC (Lock Out Tailcap). To prevent the light from coming on in your camping bag or in a box, you can unscrew the tailcap approximately half a turn.



To change the battery in the E1L, unscrew and remove the bezel (head), and set it aside. Dump out the dead CR123A cell, and dispose of or recycle it as you see fit. Insert a new CR123A cell in the flashlight's barrel, flat-end (-) negative going in first. Screw the bezel firmly back on. There, done with that.

Current usage measures 219mA on my DMM's 4A scale.



The SureFire E1L Outdoorsman is as tough as they come. It has a Type III hard anodized finish, and you can use it to saw through other flashlights - but if I need a saw, I'll go grab the one in my bedroom and use that. That's what it's for; sawing, not lighting things up. Besides, I'd hate to clean up that yucky gunk inside the batteries from the victimised flashlight as it gets all over my carpet.

The E1L has a stainless steel clip on the side that you can use to affix it to a pocket or belt. The clip also has a small loop in the end so you can thread a lanyard through it.

The E1L is extremely well-made and engineered. The same SureFire quality you've come to expect from their personal and tactical lights is built into this product. The exterior finish is a type 3 hard anodize ("HA-III" as us flashaholics know it), and there's a gold colored material (Chemcoat) inside the barrel to protect it against corrosion from water or bad battery juice.

One of the things I noticed quickly is that the E1L has a "scalloped" bezel, so if the light is set face-down while it's on, some light still escapes and you can easily tell it's still turned on, even if you set it down on a completely flat surface like a tabletop or countertop. No more ruined and wasted batteries from your setting the light down and not realising it's still on.
(Yes, I really did that - to a SureFire KL2 if I remember right!)

The E1L is at very minumum water-resistant, so you can use it in awful weather and not have to worry about it. I believe it is also submersible to 33'; if it's like most other SureFire products. When the tailcap was removed, the flashlight was relieved of its battery, and that dreadful suction test was performed, the flashlight held a vaccume (vacum, vaccuume, vaccumn, vaccuummnne, vacuum, etc.), so yes, both water-resistant and submersible.

This flashlight appears at least fairly durable, and it is!!! When I performed that terrible smack test on it (ten whacks against the concrete floor of a patio: 5 smacks against the side of the bezel and 5 smacks against the side of the tailcap), only very, very, very minor damage was found. There is some extremely minor gouging to the bare Metalflamedramon - er - the bare Metalpaildramon - um that's not it either...the bare Metalimperialdramon (fighter mode)...er...uh...wait a sec here...THE BARE METAL (guess I've been watching too much Digimon again! ) on the sides of the tailcap & bezel where it was struck.

This version has PK's (Paul Kim's) signature on the side of its bezel, but other than that, it is identical in all respects to the E1L without the autograph.

There is knurling (texturising) along the barrel and on the tailcap; this helps aid in retention (the ability to hold the flashlight when your hands are cold, oily or wet). This knurling is somewhat aggressive (sharp), so there is a very slight possibility it could eventually cut holes in your pockets if it's carried that way for an extended period. I don't think this will happen, but it's a remote possibility.

The beam this sample produces is a pure white in color, with none of that obnoxious purple, blue, yellow, or "rotten porpoise urine green" tint anywhere in it. Not in the hotspot, and not in the corona. SureFire uses the best quality LEDs in their flashlights, and that shows when you use an E1L.



Beam photograph at ~12".
Measures 1,107,000mcd on a Meterman LM631 light meter.



Beam photograph at 10 feet.

Those rectangular graphic things in the upper left quadrant of this photograph are marquees from:
Nintendo ''R-Type''
Super Tiger...er...uh...Konami ''Super Cobra''
Midway ''Omega Race''
Sega ''Star Trek''
Williams ''Joust''
Venture Line ''Looping''
Universal ''Mr. Do!'s Castle''
Jaleco ''Exerion''
Gremlin/Sega ''Astro Blaster''
Atari ''Tempest''
Gottlieb ''Q*bert''

upright coin-op arcade video games from the 1980s.

And that graphic toward the right is:
A "BIG SCARY LASER" poster sent by www.megagreen.co.uk


Spectrographic analysis
Spectrographic analysis of the LED in this flashlight.


Spectrographic analysis
Spectrographic analysis of the LED in this flashlight; newer spectrometer software & settings used.

USB2000 spectrometer graciously donated by P.L.



ProMetric analysis
Beam cross-sectional analysis.
Image made using the ProMetric System by Radiant Imaging.




TEST NOTES:
Test unit was sent by PK (Paul Kim) of SureFire on 07-16-07 and was received on the afternoon of 07-18-07.


UPDATE: 07-04-11
The person I had given this light to (my father) passed away on 07-01-11, so I once again have this product at my ready disposal.





PROS:
Insanely bright
Excellent construction & engineering; very durable and water-resistant
Excellent beam quality
Fully regulated


CONS:



    MANUFACTURER: SureFire
    PRODUCT TYPE: Small handheld/tactical flashlight
    LAMP TYPE: White Cree XLamp LED
    No. OF LAMPS: 1
    BEAM TYPE: Central hotspot with soft fall-off
    SWITCH TYPE: Pushbutton on/off/momentary on tailcap
    BEZEL: Metal; LED and optic behind pyrex lens
    BATTERY: 1 CR123A lithium
    CURRENT CONSUMPTION: 219mA
    WATER- AND PEE-RESISTANT: Yes
    SUBMERSIBLE: Yes, to 33 feet
    ACCESSORIES: Unknown
    LENGTH: 3.30"
    WEIGHT: 2.2 ounces with battery
    WARRANTY: Lifetime

    PRODUCT RATING:

    Star Rating





SureFire E1L Outdoorsman * WWW.SUREFIRE.COM...






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