Pros: Small, Lightweight, Bright and Dim settings, Tough, Simple, No need to replace bulbs.
Cons: Expensive, uses a less common battery type
The Bottom Line: Buy this if you want/need a small, high quality light with very bright and dim light settings, or you feel your ego will get a boost from it.
tysonson's Full Review: E1B Backup LED Surefire Flashlight
I am becoming a fan of the pricey Surefire brand of flashlights and I just bought my third, the Surefire E1B Backup. The E1B was designed with input from Law Enforcement officers and was basically designed for them, but its just as useful for the average person.
This little light packs a lot in its small size. At just four inches long and about an inch wide, its one of the smallest lights Surefire makes. It conveniently clips to edge of a pocket, waist band, or where ever you want it, with a 1.5 inch stainless steel clip. And at 2.8oz its light enough to ware on running shorts with out pulling down on them too bad.
The E1B uses a high output LED that sits behind a Pyrex window. This LED can operate at two settings, 5 lumen, for up close usage, or 80 lumen for distance/blinding use. Activation is done by lightly pressing a rubber switch on the rear cap for momentary activation, or fully pressing the tail cap button, it will make a clicking sound, for constant activation. When the light is off, the first click will be 80 lumen, clicking it off and on again within 1.5 seconds will turn on the 5 lumen setting. When the light is in storage or just not being used, it is recommended that you rotate the tail cap so the light cant activate, to do so, just rotate the tail cap about a full turn ( a quarter is probably enough.) The 5 lumen setting has a runtime of 37 hours and the 80 lumen setting has a runtime of 1.3 hours of peak light output. According to Surefire the circuity is designed to manage the battery voltage in a way that allows the light to perform at full output until the battery is almost completely drained, rather than a system thats light output diminishes continuously throughout the batteries life. Also worth noting is the fact that the LED can get quit hot when left on, so keep that in mind when using it on the 80 lumen setting. I don't think the 5 lumen setting is much of an issue here.
The light is constructed out of aerospace-grade aluminum and has Mil-Spec Type III hard anodizing. It consists of three main parts: the lamp head, main body, and tail cap. The lamp head measures a little over an inch and a half, and you cant access the LED or anything else in it, its all one unit with not parts to fall out and lose. The lamp head threads on to the main body, which is also a little over an inch and a half in length. The threads are coated with a silicon based lubricant and and there is an o-ring at the base of the threads to help prevent water leakage. This is also where you replace the single (included) CR123A type battery. Lastly the tail cap, which is about a half inch in length, and contains the activation switch and a battery contact spring. Like the lamp head, it threads on to the main body with silicon lubricant and an o-ring. The exterior of the body has three sets of 4 lines, cut longways into the side for a better grip. The tail cap has similar ones cut into it as well.
The beam the E1B produces is a smooth, tight, very bright spot beam surrounded by a much softer wide angle beam (estimate about 45 degrees.) This beam is also fixed like all Surefire flashlights that I know of, there is no focusing.
Looking at Surefire's website its clear they make high quality products primarily for people who are in the military or law enforcement. But the products can be just as useful for civilians and some Surefire flashlights are marketed for civilian users. Someone walking or running in the evening or at night might find a little more comfort in carrying this light. It can provide temporary blindness to an attacker or wild animal, and if that fails it can be held in your fist, lens side down, and used as a weapon to strike an attacker. On a side note blinding a hostile person is probably better accomplished by momentarily flashing the light on and off in the attackers eyes while moving away as fast as possible. This causes the attackers eyes to continuously have to re-adjust from light to darkness. Some people may think this all sounds ridiculous but I posted it for those who might find some value in it. If you don't think it works try it out. Its also better than no defense at all, especially for those who don't want to carry a weapon or cant.
All in all, at about $110, this light is a bit expensive for just a handy little light. But it is top quality and can have uses that other flashlights its size cant measure up to. So I would consider it worthwhile for people who might want to have it for a similar situation described above or guys who just feel the output of their light says something about their manhood.
Surefire warranty's this product free of defects for the lifetime of the original owner.
Package contains the light, a CR123A (Surefire calls them SF123A or just 123A) battery, and instructions.
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