The SureFire R1 Lawman is a flashlight designed for police duty use. It is exceptionally bright at 750 lumens, yet retains a relatively small size at only 8.1″ in length.
The flashlight has a tailcap switch and a second switch on the head of the light. The head switch can kock down the light output to 150 and 15 lumens. This allows an officer to work with close up things without blinding him/herself.
The R1 Lawman uses a rechargeable battery (about 1.75 hours run time), but can also accept CR-123A batteries in an adapter sleeve for those really long shifts.
I don’t care for the charging method of plugging a wire into the side of the light. I’m always cleaning dirt, sand, water and other debris out of all of my duty gear (hazards of working in Florida with winds, rain and sandy beaches). It seems to me that the receptacle on the flashlight would accumulate crud in it. I much prefer the various charging sleeves used by Streamlight and MagLight.
Few people doubt SureDire’s reputation for quality products, but one thing that gripes me about their products is the company’s decision not to test their products to the ANSI/NEMA FL 1-2009 standard (aka: FL 1). This standard has a precise way of measuring flashlight performance so consumers can better evaluate the torches prior to purchase. Other companies, such as Streamlight, 5.11, Pelican, MagLite and Fenix, all adhere to these standards.
One of the FL 1 standards that I’ve never seen SureFire measure is the peak beam intensity measured in candela. Peak beam intensity gives the buyer an idea of how much light is concentrated in the center of the beam. Lumens, the measurement normally given by SureFire, is merely a measurement of the total amount of light given off.
Think of it this way: a 100 lumen bare lightbulb and a 100 lumen spotlight both put out the same amount of total light. But one will be significantly better at illuminating an object down the hall or across a yard. That concentrated light beam is what SureFire does not give any information on. So, just how useful is the 750 lumens?
The R1 Lawman doesn’t come cheap. MSRP is $455. While there will be interest in this flashlight, I wonder how many budget conscious officers and departments will determine the extra lumens are worth the price. Bounce over to the SureFire site to see more on the R1 Lawman.
About Richard
Richard is the publisher of BlueSheepdog.com. In addition to writing here, he publishes GunsHolstersAndGear.com and is a regular contributor to places like Human Events, Police & Security News and The Firearm Blog.
I’ve always liked SureFire lights, but the prices do get ridiculous.
They’ve been behind the ball on new tech for too long. They always claimed it was because the tech wasn’t up to their standards. I always felt that was a cop out.
A Surefire rep told me that Surefire always determines that its products work before releasing them to the public. Their concern is their warranty would be financially catastrophic if they released an unreliable product,
While I applaud a company for ensuring their products will be reliable when they are released, there’s no reason why they’ve taken so long to release products, especially products that other reputable flashlight companies have had out for multiple years.
There are a lot of other companies that have picked up SureFire’s slack, and make great products. Even though I will continue to purchase SureFire products, their foot dragging has opened me up to looking at other companies.
Streamlight, UK, Insight, Laser Devices, and many others, have some great stuff. Fenix, while making great strides with hi-power LEDs, has some work to do in the reliability department.