By this point its no secret that I am a fan of Surefire. So it should not surprise anyone that I have bought another. I found that my Surefire 6P was not really pocket sized and I needed something smaller. After doing a bunch of research I settled on the Surefire E1L.

The E1L is significantly shorter than the 6P. It is also narrower. You can carry it around in your pocket without giving up to much space. It has variable outputs. Low: 5 lumens and High at 45 lumens. On the low setting it has 45 hours of battery life! Surefire does make a similarly size flashlight that can match the 6P LED’s 80 lumen output, the Surefire E1B. And the E1B is actually the same suggested retail price.

I chose the E1L over the Over the E1B (B for Backup) strictly because I could buy the E1L at REI, thus taking of 20% (during REI’s fall sale).

The one complaint I have about the E1L is the clip. If the clip could be reversed it would be perfect for attaching to the inside of you pocket (think the clips on pocket knives). That would avoid the problem of feeling around in your pockets to find it, especially when you need it fast.

Overall I have been very happy with the E1L.