Sean's Flashlight Site

Surefire Titan T1A:


FEATURES

Pros: Comes in a box with a lanyard and instruction book. Smooth, continuously variable light output operation with a twist of the bezel with detent in off position. Light OP reflector. Beam is nice and diffused (kinda like a mini L4). Looks similar to an L1 with an F04 beam diffuser on. Tailcap lug for split ring attachment seems to be more reliable than original Titan attachment. My tests show that the T1A max output is 81 lumens. I was hoping for a bit more (like the 100 lumens the Saint will put out) but its still better than the 70 lumen spec. LED tint is pretty good. Only slightly blue. I was prepared for worse but it is pretty mild. The light output is diffused enough to where this does not matter much. That's saying a lot for someone like me who doesn't like blue LEDs. O-rings provide water resistance, but it is unknown how deep you can go.  The body is not knurled but fluted.  This seems to work well, especially on a light like this that requires the bezel to be turned.  The fluted areas dig nicely into your hand without being overkill.

Cons: Split ring is not attached already. Light powers off after 5 minutes if light is within 0-25% range of the bezel dial (not light output). This does not appear to be a major issue as I first though it would be, since 25% of the bezel dial seems to be less than 1 lumen. I've just finished doing a test with the dial turned at what I would say is roughly 25% and the light output does not even equal one lumen (but it's close). The result: the light did not turn off after >10 minutes. Maybe this should be a pro after all. I did a second test with the light at what I would consider slightly less than 25% range on the bezel dial and it did turn off. The nice thing is they inscribed caution HOT on the bezel so you can line up the hot wavy lines symbol, etc with the flutes on the body so you know exactly where your 25% cut-off is.  The bad thing is all the "Caution HOT Surface" is a bit unnecessary (the light gets warm but not what I would call hot) and clutters up the finish a bit.

Overall, I like it more than I thought I would. The beam reminds me of the original L4 The cons I had in mind are not the problem I thought they would be, and the nice diffused light output is exactly what I was looking for in a pocket light.

Run time test on high 1 hour & 48 minutes to 50% (Panasonic CR123A exp: 2018):
(hours):(minutes)-(estimated lumens)
00:00-81 lumens (estimated)
01:00-78
01:10-78
01:15-75
01:20-73
01:25-71
01:30-68
01:32-66
01:35-63 ~ 58 flickering/pulsing begins
01:40-53
01:45-46
01:48-40 (~50% output @ 108 minutes)
01:50-36
01:55-30
02:00-25
02:01-ended test


At the 01:35 mark the light begins to pulse, I would guess to notify you the battery can no longer maintain full power. If you dial back the brightness the light stops flickering and works normally. While I guess this could be annoying to some, I actually like the idea that it lets you know the light can't achieve full power. Hopefully this "feature" is on purpose. Battery life seems to be an par with other Surefire single cell lights. Unfortunately, it's not 4 hours that Surefire lists on their website (note: The enclosed instructions state 1 hour run-time on high).

Run time test #2 @ ~45 lumens. 4 hours & 54 minutes to 50% (Panasonic CR123A exp: 2018):
(hours):(minutes)-(estimated lumens)
00:00-45.5 lumens (estimated)
01:00-45.5
02:00-45.5
02:30-45.5
03:00-45.9
03:30-45.9
03:45-46.0
04:30-46.0
04:45-44 (light drops out of regulation)
04:46-42=>38
04:47-37=>35
04:48-34=>32
04:49-32=>30
04:50-29=>27
04:51-26
04:52-25=>24
04:53-23
04:54-22 (~50% output @ 4 hours & 54 minutes)
04:55-21=>20
04:56-19
04:57-18
04:58-17
04:59-16
05:00-15
05:01-ended test


T1A photos:














Titan T1A & Fenix P1D CE:





T1A on max vs Fenix P1D CE on medium close up (My tests show T1A is 81 lumens and the Fenix is 67 lumens on medium):


Titan T1A max output vs Fenix T1 on low (my tests show 48 lumens):


Titan T1A (on the left) set to 9 lumens vs Arc AAA-P @ 9 lumens (per my tests):



Here's some shots taken at about 20 feet (fixed exposure):

Fenix T1 on low:


Fenix P1D CE on medium:


Titan T1A on max:


Arc AAA-P:


Outdoor Pics (fixed exposure):

Fenix T1 on low:


Fenix P1D CE on medium:


Titan T1A on max:



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