LED Lenser makes some sweet lights, and the new F1R is as lustworthy as it is expensive. If you buy your flashlights in three-packs at Costco – not that there's anything wrong with that – this is probably not your cup of tea. But if your tastes run toward Surefire, Pelican, Elzetta and the rest of the high-end tactical and tough crowd, read on.
The F1R is a 1,000 lumen light. Yes, you read that right, 1,000 lumens in a 4.2 ounce, one inch by 4.5 inch package, powered by a rechargeable lithium-ion battery that gives about three hours run time. The charger is USB, so get out your solar charging panels and bring on the zombies, we don't need no stinkin' batteries!
The HA III hard anodized aluminum body is extremely durable, and IPX8 waterproof to 2.5 meters. The light comes with a removable pocket clip, lens cleaning cloth, extra o-ring and even a soft bristle brush to maintain the integrity of the TIR optics. TIR stands for total internal reflection, and compared to reflector lenses TIR offers some key advantages: they are more efficient, have a larger hot spot, and allow a gradual fade instead of a hard edge to the beam. This last point is critical, because in high-adrenaline situations there is a tendency to get tunnel vision, and a soft edge can help work against that.
There are other nice touches to the F1R: the body has a hex ring to prevent rolling, it comes with a second bezel that is black and can also function as a glass breaker, and it comes with a lanyard. Out of the box the F1R has three lighting modes: light press for momentary on, rapid light press for three brightness levels, or click-press while on the desired brightness for constant on. By pressing lightly eight times and hard pressing on the ninth, you can reverse the order the brightness levels go through, to start in either brightest or dimmest. On bright you can throw out past 100 yards/meters, so there's plenty of reach.
The F1R has a very bright and very white light that works great outdoors. With all the extras and options, and especially the USB rechargeable battery, the bottom line is the F1R is a fantastic light and well worth the price of entry for a torch that is designed to serve on the front lines.