surefire best product that money can buy?

H

hannibal lecter spyderco

Joined
Mar 29, 2001
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1,236
My Mag lite just died out on me and needless to say that manufacture warranty went down south rather quick when i called them up. So, I'm looking to purchase another flash light. An friend suggested surefire even though its a bit pricey I like how much light it gives off in such a small package. Anyone out there have an opinions on the best flashlight money can buy I be grateful. However lets not pick some huge one that you have to be a body builder to lift around or one that the batteries are going to last only half an hour.

Thanks ahead of time
 
Good post Dr.Lecter! I've been wondering the same thing. They look cool, look tough, and seem to be very bright (according to opinions I've read). What I really want to know is how long the batteries and bulbs last? That's more than likely where they'll soak ya.:cool:
 
According to the running times listed in a catalog Surefires run for times below 1 hr (!!!). Therefore, they might not be the best for longer time use during emergency. In that regard, Maglites do quite well. According to an old comparison chart (maybe at Equipped to Survive) I saw years back, Mini Maglite had a longer battery life (~5 hrs on 2AA if I remember correctly) than many other brands. So I bought one and still use it.
Talking about running time, that is where LED flaslights come into the picture. And that is going to be my next purchase....
My humble expectations from a flaslight: durable, reliable, long-lasting, waterproof (not the Maglite), and VERY energy efficient, possible field servicable.

HM
 
now this really sucks I would think they would figure away to adjust the power levels on these things like adim switch. Non of the surefire are waterproof. from what I read on their website. I was thinking buying one of their high end ones but with a runtime of an hour I'm a bit worried by such a short runtime.

Does anyone know how good are led compared to regular bulbs?
 
I often use a Mini-Mag along with a CMG Mini-Task. The Mini-Task blows away the Photon2 in every way, and the batteries seem to last eternally, but it doesn't illuminate like a Mini-Mag. The Mini-Task is great for putting light on a project, but I would use it to walk through the woods under a new moon.

The Mini-Task is somewhat waterproof and has a nice soft body for when you stick the flashlight in your mouth. Hmmmmmmm..... That didn't sound right. You know..... When you need both hands free, so you hold the light with your mouth? I didn't mean when you get tent happy and start trying to shine the light through the side of your cheek.

Now the CMG Infinity Task Light....... That could be the Mini-Mag slayer!!!
 
I have CMG Infinity lights (both white and red) and are pleased with them. They're as tough as a Maglite but not quite as bright as a Photon. Infinity's take one AA and run 40+ hours on alkaline. Imagine the performance boost of a lithium AA! As for other LED's, I have yet to own anything else besides the Photon and Infinity.:cool:
 
From my experience with surefire I know that thay last only 40-45min. If you want a torch to go camping buy a water proof headlamp and get it in some bright colure so you can see it if you drop it in the dark but if you want something more tactical mag light is fine just mace or buy a rubber grip for them as thay are slippery when wet, and practically impossible to hold on to. :D
 
Originally posted by hannibal lecter spyderco
now this really sucks I would think they would figure away to adjust the power levels on these things like adim switch. Non of the surefire are waterproof. from what I read on their website. I was thinking buying one of their high end ones but with a runtime of an hour I'm a bit worried by such a short runtime.
Click to expand...

First, to correct some misconceptions, the E1 and E2 both have >1 hour runtimes. All surefires are water resistant -- I've taken them out in drenching rains with no problems. The M-series Surefires are "waterproof", in the sense that you are thinking of. Many of them are waterproof enough to be useable as divelights, although surefire wants you to ask them for a pre-tested light if you're going to take your m-series light underwater for diving.

All the SureFires have pretty good shock resistance, something that was not true a few years ago, but they've improved a ton. The M-series lights are astoundingly, amazingly shockproof.

Surefires having world-class-best well-focused, smooth, bright beams.

With runtimes of 1.5 hours or less, they are not the best choice for long-runtime applications like being the primary light for emergency lighting or camping, although as a secondary emergency ultra-bright searchlight they still can play an important role. More importantly, there is a rumor that the E2 is going to get a lower-power, higher-runtime lamp. If so, that will let you use your E2 as both a 1.5-hour blindingly-bright light, or a (hopefully) 3+ hour light.

3+ hours is still not a lot of time, if you want 20 hours or more on a set of batteries, you're definitely looking at LED lights.

The batteries that surefire takes, the 123A types, can be had at good prices if you buy the Surefire hurricane lamp, which is basically a cheap plastic lamp wrapped around 12 123A batteries, so primarily serves as a way for surefire to sell you 123A batteries cheaply, to make running their lights more affordable.

Joe
 
Thanks J.T.! Could you tell me a little something about bulb life? Is the 1.5-hour time in reference to bulb or battery. Sorry... I didn't understand.:rolleyes:
 
First decide what you want the light for? If you need to have a bright waterproof light,try a sm. dive light from the local scuba shop. Or get one on=line. The Princeton lights work well. I would go for the 4xAA models. Burntime is OK,3hr I think. Batt.s are cheap,bulbs are not! Remember with any of these Hi energy bulbs,never touch the bulb with bare hands,use a tissue. Something about the oil on your fingers make a hot spot on the bulb and will cause it to burnout quickly!!
Cut to the chase,,If you want a rugged light with decent burn time check out the dive lights.
If you just want a light for the trail and gen use look at the L.E.D. lights. I have the CMG,Photon,& P.A.L-light. They all work well.
the one I take in my bag if I only have 1 light is the PAL. If I can I will take all 3.
Also remember that some lights now have LED modules to change between Reg. bulbs and LED's. Princeton are some of my favorite dive lights.
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Originally posted by Gatekeeper
Thanks J.T.! Could you tell me a little something about bulb life? Is the 1.5-hour time in reference to bulb or battery. Sorry... I didn't understand.:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

You know, I don't know much about bulb life on my SureFires. Even on the Surefires I use a lot, I tend to swap back and forth between the high intensity and low intensity bulbs. I know that a bulb will easily take 2-3 battery changes, but beyond that, I don't know. You might want to ask this question on www.candlepowerforums.com , someone there will know.

I was talking about battery life ... again, this is for the E-series.

The 123A batteries are still expensive, but at this point it's not too difficult to find Duracell DL123As for around $3.00 per battery, and lesser batteries like Sanyos for much cheapers (Sanyos won't have equite the runtime of the Duracells, but are so much less expensive that they're still the better value).

Even at those prices, SureFires are not viable "light up the house all night" flashlights. More like emergency high-intensity lighting when you need it.

Joe
 
I have gone with a 2 or 3 light system, depending on where I am. I always carry a small LED with me. Depending on what I am doing, I may also carry a Pelican Stealthlight and/or a SureFire 6P with me.

Of the LED's, the Pelican (about $11) puts out the brightest white light I've seen, so far. It's a bit bigger than the Photon II's, but with over 100 hrs of bright white light, well worth it. It puts out enough light for all close-in tasks. The Stealthlight puts out even more light, at more distance. It has over 4 hrs of run time (might be 6) per charge, and is waterproof. The SureFire is the best when you need a small, high volume light source. One can tailor to one's needs by changing the lamp assembly from 60 lumens (standard) to 120 lumens, IIRC. Going to the higher output assembly will reduce run time to only about 20 minutes though, but DAYUM! is it bright during that time! :)
 
I don't know if anything's as bright as a Surefire, but the 1 hr runtime coupled with the cost of the light and batteries convinced me to look elsewhere. I needed a replacement for my mini-Mag, just because it wasn't bright enough and didn't last long enough. After a little bit of searching I decided on the NightBuster 4X Ledda. It's almost identical in construction to the mini-Mag, except it takes 3 AA's so it's a bit longer. It still fits in my mini-Mag sheath (open bottom type). It has 4 LED's which makes it way brighter than a mini-Mag, even with the Nextar Brinkman bulb. Run time is reported to be 20 hrs on one set of batteries. I've been carrying mine for about three weeks, using it at least once a day, and have not noticed any dimming so far. Solid Al construction with the added length makes it more efficient than a mini-Mag for kubotan use. Clean, LED beam has no circles or hot spots, just clean white light. Two drawbacks as compared to mini-Mag: it is a bit longer so it's a tad less comfortable on the belt; non-adjustable beam, has worked perfectly for whatever I've needed it for, but won't project as far distancewise as the mini-Mag will when focussed to. I'm not a flashlight nut, I just wanted a good flashlight and I'm happy with this one. $39.50 shipped from http://www.glow-bug.com/products/fl_ledda.html I probably won't check back with this thread, but feel free to email me at medusaoblongata@hotmail.com if you have any questions.

Oh, also wanted to add: I was also considering the Lightwave 2000 and I emailed one of the more knowledgable people on candlepowerforums to ask for a comparison and he recommended the 4X Ledda over the Lightwave because it's brighter and more solidly constructed.
 
I have a SureFire M6 that I consider my first line home defense tool. One blast in the dark and whoever the intruder was is now blind for enough time for other tools to come into play. I certainly don't have Joe's experience with one, but mine is built like a tank. And it is waterproof. I'm not sure how it performs in the woods. Fact is, it might be brighter than I'd like, even with the low bulb. But as an adjuct weapon, it's first rate.
 
Ive owned a Streamlight Scorpion for about 3 yrs now,its a good solid reliable little flashlight,i also own a Surefire Z2 combatlight.I thinkthe Surefire may be the brightest flashlight ive ever owned,bar none. Both these flashloghts are great,big light in a very small package,they are so compact you can have them w/you all the time if you want.The only downside is the batteries,around $10.00 for 2 3volt lithiums and they both only have about 45 to 50 minutes runtime.The lamp assemby for the Surefire costs about $25.00,i believe,something to think about if you're considering buying one...I have 3 basic 3-D cell Mag-Lites that i keep in both vehicles and in the house..If one of these bites the dust i can replace the whole light for what i would pay just for the lamp assembly on my Surefire.
 
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