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Reviews > Lighting > Flashlights - LED > SureFire L1 LumaMax > Chuck Carnes > Field ReportSUREFIRE
L1 LUMAMAX  Field Report by Chuck Carnes Report Date: July 3, 2006
Name: Chuck Carnes Age: 36 Gender: Male Height: 6 ft. 0 in (1.83 m) Weight: 175 lb (79 kg) E-mail address: ctcarnes1(at)yahoo(dot)com City, State, Country: Greenville, South Carolina USA
I love the outdoors – I’ve spent time camping in the outdoors since I was born, and have been actively hiking and backpacking since then. I consider myself a lightweight hiker, usually carrying 20 – 30 pounds (11-13 kg) for hikes up to a week in length. I hike at an easy pace, averaging 2 mph (3 kph). I am a one-man tent camper for now. I like to carry a single trekking pole when I hike to help relieve stress to my legs and knees. I like to get out on the trail as often as I can.
 Manufacturer: Surefire Model: L1 Lumamax Year of manufacture: 2006 URL: http://www.surefire.com Listed Weight: 2.9 oz (82 g) (not sure what this includes) Actual Weight: 3.5 oz (99 g) (flashlight and battery) Listed Size: 4.6 in (11.6 cm) long Actual Size: 5 in (12 cm) long (from front edge of lens to end of tailcap) Max. Output: 1.1 lumens / 22 lumens (low / high settings) Runtime: 90 hours / 4 hours (low / high selections) Battery: One 123A Lithium MSRP: $135.00 USD Product Description (taken from the web site): Extremely compact (shirt pocket size) dual-output LED flashlight for backpacking and general use. Uses a virtually indestructible power-regulated light-emitting diode (LED) light source plus a two-stage tailcap switch for instant selection of desired output level — extremely long-runtime low beam for close-up work or a long runtime high beam with 1.5 times the light of a big 2-D cell flashlight. Small size, extended runtime, high output, and 10-year battery shelf life also make it perfect for disaster preparedness kits, and an excellent everyday-carry light. Product Features (taken from the web site):
This is a great little light for quick needs of high and low illumination. I like the way it fits in my hand and it's not too heavy to carry around in my pocket. So far, I am not happy with the small amount of burn time when it is on high. Also, I would like to see the solid beam, that the light puts out on high, a little bit wider or somehow to adjust the width of the beam. Below are my trip reports along with info. Trip #1: Location: Jones Gap, S.C Elevation: 1,500 ft (457 m) - 1,700 ft (518 m) Temperature: 80-90 F (26-32 C) day, 75-80 F (23-26 C) night Weather Conditions: Dry and hot in the day and night. No rain. Duration of Trip: 2 days, 1 night Length of Trip: 3 miles (5 km) Approximate Burn Time (plus/minus): 30 minutes total (not continuous most of the time, varying times of high/low on and off) Report: I used this light around camp doing odd and end jobs like cooking, going to the potty and cutting firewood. I mainly used it on the high beam setting. Most of the time it was only on when my thumb was depressing the tail cap for quick searches of things. The times that I had it on continually was on the low setting. It was very easy twisting the tail cap with one hand to keep the light on continually. Also when I had it on continually, I had it clipped to the bill of my baseball cap. In this position the light illuminated the area in front of me at a very good declination. It wasn't too far in front of me and it wasn't pointing straight down. This kept my hands free from having to hold the flashlight. I was, however, disappointed in the width of the beam. I would have liked for it to have been a little bit wider. During this trip I did not see any variance or change of light illumination as if the battery was going weak. Trip #2: Location: Old Mkushi Village, Zambia (Africa) Elevation: 3,600 ft (1097 m) - 3,900 ft (1189 m) Temperature: 85-90 F (29-32 C) day, 39-46 F (3-7 C) night Weather Conditions: Dry and hot during the day. Cold and damp at night. No rain. Duration of Trip: 8 days, 7 nights Length of Trip: 22 miles (35 km) total Approximate Burn Time (plus/minus): 2.5 - 3 hours (not continuous most of the time, varying times of high/low on and off) Report: Again, I used the light around camp doing various tasks. The first night the light did great. It still illuminated as bright and bold as it was when it was new. While I was writing in my journal I realized the with the light clipped to the bill of my baseball cap the beam was too far above my writing pad. It made me pull my head down towards my chest for the light to illuminate the writing area. I pulled the light of the bill of my cap, turned my cap around so that the bill is now at the back, and placed the flashlight between my head and the lip of the cap. This made the light shine directly on the writing area while my head was in the right position and not cramped down on my chest. The low setting here seemed to be a good setting for this task. The next night I was a little bit surprised when I was walking back from getting firewood and the light went completely out. It was on the high setting and it gave me no indication as to whether the battery was getting low or anything. It just went out like turning off a light switch. I removed it from my hat and removed the battery to check to see if it was a connection issue. Everything seemed to be working properly except, I guess, the battery. At this point I was disappointed in the length of time that it took for the battery to run out of charge. I did not carry a spare battery because I never imagined that the battery would go dead that quick. For the rest of the trip I had to use a back-up headlamp.
My test plan for the L1 will be to continue to use it for emergencies (when the power goes out), for camping, for backpacking and for general use around the house. I have two more planned trips before my Long Term Report. I will be heading to Lake Jocassee, S.C in the middle of July and I will be going to Great Smoky Mountains at the end of July. The following are questions that were proposed in my Initial Report; the answers are in red. * How well do I like having to hold the light instead of it being on my head like a headlamp? So far I really like the flashlight and all of it's features. Since I am able to clip it to my baseball cap, I like it even better. * Can the pocket clip be clipped on a baseball cap? Yes, as mentioned above. * Is it too heavy for a floppy hat? I have not used it on a floppy hat yet. * How comfortably does it fit in my hand? Very nicely, it's small but big enough to fit in the palm of my hand. * Will the clip be a nuisance on the side of the light? So far it is not. * Can I remove the clip? No * How well does my hand grip the knurled handle when it is wet? Very well, I don't feel like I have to grip it very tightly. * How useful is the lanyard? I have not used the lanyard thus far. * Can I find the same type of lithium battery at a store? I have had to buy a battery that is not made by Surefire.
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