2005 Surefire Catalog

I have only been in the flashlight hobby since November, so that leaves a lot to learn. Surefire, being my first flashlight purchase (L2) was an easy choice due to the quality and good reviews.

However, when I now look at their catalog, I come away really disappointed. Sure, it has good information on their history, what differentiates them from the competition, flashlight fundamentals, new product overview, etc…

But what I want to know (rhetorical questions coming, not looking for answers) is why do they show me depiction of the relative size of each light to another and not any kind of beam-shot comparison. What luminary difference is there between a two cell 6P, E2E, E2L, A2, U2, L2, L4, L5? How about three cell lights? Which throw, which flood, which have a combination of the two? How about some information on the Turbo Head conversions? What will they do for me… how about the LED conversions?

You pay a premium price for the lights allowing them to pay a premium for the quality of their catalog. It's too bad it is so hard to figure out more critical differences between their similar sized lights.

I was at REI checking out the Princeton Tec headlamps last weekend. Every package showed a depiction of range and shape of beam (flood vs. throw).

Has anyone else been bothered by this?


Maybe I'm just in a bad mood.

I share your feelings about the lack of a visual reference point
with which to compare the lights. I would think that could be addressed
on the company's website if they wanted.

My pet peeve is printed material that is rife with errors. Both Surefire
catalogs (2003 and 2005) I've read could have benefited from a keen-
eyed editor. Each has misspelled, missing, and/or misused words.
To me, that's like the lady in the ball gown with spinach in her teeth.

Bad mood or not, you make a very good point. Here's an upscale flashlight manufacturer, with some really nice lights, and their catalog basically focuses on the appearance of their lights, as well as the excellent features. I do not believe this is a bad thing, but they fail to include adequate information on the beams that their wonderful lights produce. Comparative beamshots would be an excellent idea. They don't have anything to hide as to the performance of their lights, so why not display this information in an open manner?