who carries a Surefire?

This gets as bad as knives!

I have two Surefires (E2 and E1), and two Streamlights. All four of these have now been superceded for daily chores by some of the new LED lights because:

1. The LED lights have <i>enough</i> light for most personal uses other than having to light something at a distance.

2. The batteries last <i>much</i> longer, and the lamps last virtually forever, making these much more practical for a light that sits in a pack most of the time, is used only occasionally, and is counted on to work when you really need it!

To be sure, my E2 and Streamlights (which are basically identical in their main technology) are with me in my car when ever I have to find my way to unfamiliar country addresses at night. They enable me to read a street sign or house number from a considerable distance. When I want to read a map though, its the photon or AAA ARC light that gets the nod.
 
I carry a 9P with me everyday. A 12PM with 500 lumen lamp on the nightstand. Soon maybe a M4 to go with my M-3T also have regular bezel with the M3. Also have 2 Z3 Combat lights. Wanting an M6 but price is still too high.

Cool aren't they,

Mike
 
I;m a recent convert and have two, an M3 combat and a 9AN rechatgeable. They are incredibly easy to carry for the light they give off. A superb product. But you do pay for it.
 
just got a g2, the cheaper plastic housed version of the 6p, i love it. Its brighter than my 6d maglite and much easier to carry. Its perfect for edc, it sure packs a lot of power in such a small frame.
 
My E2 sans clip goes in my front left pocket all alone. I carry 2 Inova Microlights, one on my keychain, one in my right pocket or watchpocket if I'm wearing jeans. My E2 is the one I have in my hand when I'm walking where it might be sketchy. My Inova Microlights are the ones I use when I need a light around the office or the house for general illumination. I had Photon 2s, but prefer the protected housing, bigger switch of the Inovas. I know the 6P with the P61 bulb is better for 'stunning' someone, but since I never carried it because it was too big for my pocket, it didn't do me much good. "A .25 in your pocket is better than a .45 on your dresser at home" applies to Surefires too.


thinking about an E2e upgrade in a month or two.

if only they'd come out with a HOLA or Turbohead for the E2 series.
 
I use a G2 in a specopsbrand.com holster, and wear it under a BDU blouse when in uniform here in Cuba. 60 lumens is plenty when discouraging talk between certain guests, although the temptation of 120 and it's turn your face away power is pulling at me. It is a little bulky and has to be adjusted when slinging on a backpack for the short walk to work. The G2 has a grippy texture that probably doesn't need to be enhanced with sandblasting!
It's a very effective non-lethal force option. Batteries are not cheap here at 10 bucks the pair, so I definitely plan bulk purchases and the spares carrier.
I know Surefire made the market with machined aluminum lights but I still can't justify the extra expense - you can buy 2 G2's for the price of one M - series if you shop it.
I also carry a photon type keychain light to fill in the little jobs. I would like to hear a lot more about Petzl's Zipka.
 
Originally posted by armedcitizen
I use a G2 in a specopsbrand.com holster, and wear it under a BDU blouse when in uniform here in Cuba. 60 lumens is plenty when discouraging talk between certain guests, although the temptation of 120 and it's turn your face away power is pulling at me.
Click to expand...

I hope this doesn't burn too much bandwidth...

I've got a Pikka, which is essentially a Zipka with the strap instead of the cord. The two share the same basic LED arrangement, so other than the strap vs. cord, I can offer only my own general opinion of the Pikka/Zipka.

I was really pleased with how useful the Pikka was on two recent occaisions.

The first was a camping trip into the Smoky Mountains. Getting into a campsite late meant setting up in the dark, which was very nicely made easier by having a constant source of light, wherever I looked, which didn't bounce around like the juggling of a flashlight or holding a conventional light in my mouth, and gave a bit more up-close "flood" than most flashlights with their more compact beams. The softer light didn't seem as obtrusive, either.

The second was helping a friend with a clutch job on his car, which started later in the afternoon than I would have liked. ("Oh, you're here, great, before we get started, I need you to run me up to the parts store to get the clutch, throwout bearing, and pressure plate... What? Oh, yeah, I'm sure they have all the parts I need..." :rolleyes: ) No propping a flashlight into a nook or cranny, holding a light with one hand while working with the other, no burning yourself on a hot-as-hell shoplight, nor trying to aim the shoplight to get just the right angle to see what you're working on.

Having free hands and having light is a new luxury.

I used to think that headlamps were for mountain climbers or cave geeks, but I've changed my mind. I've found alot more use (and so far gotten more use) than I thought I would have.

For other headlamp suggestions, check out Candlepowerforums.com.

Other highly regarded LED headlamps are the Black Diamond Moonlight, and Princeton Tec's Aurora. In an incandescent, check out the Pelican Heads-Up, the Princeton Tec Solo, and some of the other Petzls. There are a couple of LED/incandescent combos out there as well, one being the Black Diamond Gemini, the Princeton Tec Matrix and Switchback.

Apologies for the digression.

Back to Surefires, I'm planning on a bulk battery purchase in the near future. I dunno how hard it is to find or get mail order companies to send orders in to Fidel's place (I'm assuming Gitmo), but if I can lend a hand by adding on to my order or sending a package by private mail, lemme know. I'm willing to help out if I can, especially for those who (by your BDU reference) are doing a tough job in these times.
 
'got an old 6P, a G2, and a 6Z.

I prefer this size as I carry daily. My fav is the 6Z in a vertical sheath on my belt.Not uncomfortable at all.
 
I have a few different SureFires. I like the 9volt 3 cell size I feel the the extra lumens and 60 min run time @ 105 lumens is great. I've been looking at the 2 cell lights with the hi-output Lamp Assy. In fact I have a NIB Z3 that I want to get rid of maybe this is the chance that I can go with a 2 cell light.

Here is a pic of it uncase any of you light nuts want to look at it.
fdbb1d5e.jpg


Here is a link to the trade thread.

Let me know,

Mike
 
The Surefire E2 is a good light, the E2e is better, with an even higher gadget factor.

But the Surefire Scorpion gets the nod for everyday work chores, despite the shorter burn time and larger size. I like the on-board spare lamp, variable focus (helps with close-up work), simple push-button operation, and rubber grip. The fact that the lamp is half the cost (as are the spares) compared with the Surefire is also a bonus, so I keep one in each car as well as in our emergency kits (with an Inova X5).
 
I carry an E2e every day, it is an amazing light. I also own an M2, it is a wonderful light but too big for EDC.
 
So... uhh... has anyone actually had a problem with an E2 coming on unexpectedly in their pocket? I'm trying to decide if the E2E is worth the extra bucks. And does anyone have info on an LED conversion for the E2?
 
I've never had my E2 come on in my pocket, in spite of climbing, cavorting, and crawling under injection molding and testing lab machines and equipment all day.

The three big changes with the E2e is the lock-out tail cap, the anti-roll hex bezel, and the pyrex lens. The tail cap and bezel speak for themselves. The pyrex lens is a bit more durable, I'd suppose, and is more heat-resistant. There was alot of speculation that the change to pyrex was in order to develop a high-output lamp assembly. Surefire's development folks have repeatedly said that for a number of reasons, there will be no HOLA. Conventional wisdom, IIRC, was that the E-series lights are just too small to shed the kind of heat that a HOLA would produce without thermal problems.

There is however, a lower output lamp sceduled for release supposedly late summer, early fall, by last guestimates. It doubles the run time and splits the difference between the E1 and E2 outputs.

There are LED conversions due out later this year as well for several of their lights. One will be for the E-series lights, another for the M3. I'm not aware of any others, but several new LED or LED/incandescent combos are on the way.
 
Thanks DonL. I think I got more information from your single post than in two days of searching on here, Candlepowerforums, and another place I found called the LIGHTsite. I really appreciate it.
 
Spidey, you can always check what's probably closest to the source, the Surefire Discussion Board at www.186thousand.com. You'll have to register, but it's specifically aimed at Surefires, and there's a wealth of info there.
 
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