it's an absolute BARGAIN !!!

Xzn

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Why would someone buy that when they can get a maxabeam?

Im sorry... but this is like spending $80,000 for a top of the line honda accord EX while you can purchase a BMW 5 series for $50,000ish...
 

Bill97z

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Nov 15, 2006
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Agree'd...no way that light costs more than a few hundred dollars to build.....the markup is criminal.
 

D-Dog

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Nov 10, 2006
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Still, our government can afford that while the average consumer can't. I agree that the total cost of this light is probably less than $1000 by a fairly large margian, however, everyone has to make thier money somewhere and the government is a good place to start
 

seery

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Re: Surefire Beast II, it's absolutely worth the $$.

Thanks to a good friend (who is a military rep), I was able to run one of these
a few weeks back. We've had two units on order for a few months and are
anxiously awaiting delivery, even more so now.

The Beast II is an absolute wall of white light, amazing...amazing...amazing!!!
The included rechargeable Lithium Ion handle is a fine addition to the primary cell
handle which we ran.

But if you are all wondering what makes the Beast II worth the price of admission?
It's the quality of light, the incredible build quality of all the components, SF
customer support, and the R&D that went into this light.

Eords can't explain how this light felt in the hands.

You get what you pay for and the Beast II is no exception. If you need the
absolute best, spend what it takes and get it.
 

NAW

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May 18, 2006
Messages
739
When you really think about it, the Beast II is actually a very very weak light compared to the other HID lights out there on the market.

Those 2000 lumens is nothing compared to BarnBurner, Helios, X1, 50W Xeray, 35W Polarion, Rayzorlite, X990, Costco HID, Amondotech Illuminator, Rayzorbeam, etc...

If anything I would forget the Beast II and go straight to the Helios. The Helios is 1/2 the price, 4000 lumens, smaller, and lighter than the Beast II :drool:
 
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mtbkndad

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NAW said:
When you really think about it, the Beast II is actually a very very weak light compared to the other HID lights out there on the market.

Those 2000 lumens is nothing compared to BarnBurner, Helios, X1, 50W Xeray, 35W Polarion, Rayzorlite, X990, Costco HID, Amondotech Illuminator, Rayzorbeam, etc...

If anything I would forget the Beast II and go straight to the Helios. The Helios is 1/2 the price, 4000 lumens, smaller, and lighter than the Beast II :drool:

Surefire is claiming 2000 lumen light output not a 2000 lumen bulb.
There is a big difference.
None of the 35 watt lights above have any where near the 3200 lumens their bulbs are rated at coming out of their front ends.

This is also true about the 50 watt lights that use the lumens of the bulb to rate their light, ect..

The Surefire Beast I have seen holds it's own against any of the above lights when you consider it was designed more for flood and not to be a throw monster. I have never seen the new Beast 2 and do not know what it's beam is like. I do know that it will be very bright whatever beam pattern it uses.

Take Care,
mtbkndad :wave:

Added section: You are definitely right about the price difference between the Helios and Beast. I calculated before I could buy one Helios expedition package + I X1 expedition package for the price of a Beast.
 
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NAW

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mtbkndad said:
Surefire is claiming 2000 lumen light output not a 2000 lumen bulb.
There is a big difference.
None of the 35 watt lights above have any where near the 3200 lumens their bulbs are rated at coming out of their front ends.

Thanks... I realize the only companies that uses lumens out the front are Surefire and HDS (well thats my underststanding)

But when you think about it... with that being the case many of the other HID lights would still be able to be brighter than the Beast II because the Beast II doesn't use a SMO reflector as the rest of the other HID lights. Of course the Beast II is a flood light, but when you see spot compared to flood, you're going to want spot. :grin2:
 
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mtbkndad

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NAW said:
Thanks... I realize the only companies that uses lumens out the front are Surefire and HDS (well thats my underststanding)

But when you think about it... with that being the case many of the other HID lights would still be able to be brighter than the Beast II because the Beast II doesn't use a SMO reflector as the rest of the other HID lights. Of course the Beast II is a flood light, but when you see spot compared to flood, you're going to want spot. :grin2:


The Beast beam pattern is nice for lots of things. It is just a matter of preference. I personally like the Helios beam pattern more in a spotlight like this for it's balance of throw and flood from it's wide corona.
For $4807 you would think this light could have an adjustable beam like the XeRay, with a high efficiency reflector like the Helios and X1. I also think Surefire should have been able to loose the ugly square ballast behind the head. Maybe those are Really expensive LED's. :crackup:

I wish I were a purchasing agent for a government agency. I would love to just how low the prices go for the Beast, Hellfighter, Helios, X1, etc. when large orders are being placed.

Take Care,
mtbkndad :wave:
 

bwaites

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Let's see you take those other lights and throw them as far as you can, while they are lit, and see how many of them stay lit!

PK did just that with the Beast, and while I wasn't there, those that were said it went WAY up in the air and a LONG way down the street and kept right on running!

How many of you would be willing to do that with your Polarians, Costco HIDs, Xeray, Helios, Rayzorlites, Amondotechs, etc? I have two of those, and I ain't gonna try it with either!

The Beast is what it is, and cost what it cost, period!

No one else I know of makes a light that WE can buy that will take the abuse the Beast and Hellfighter can, at ANY price!

Bill
 

mtbkndad

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bwaites said:
Let's see you take those other lights and throw them as far as you can, while they are lit, and see how many of them stay lit!

PK did just that with the Beast, and while I wasn't there, those that were said it went WAY up in the air and a LONG way down the street and kept right on running!

How many of you would be willing to do that with your Polarians, Costco HIDs, Xeray, Helios, Rayzorlites, Amondotechs, etc? I have two of those, and I ain't gonna try it with either!

The Beast is what it is, and cost what it cost, period!

No one else I know of makes a light that WE can buy that will take the abuse the Beast and Hellfighter can, at ANY price!

Bill

I would be fine with doing that with BVH's Helios once it is fitted with the same type of monster playschool looking rubber baby bumbers that come with the beast.
:D (He may not be fine with it :crackup: ). I know about the demonstration. Mr. Ted Bear told me about it and he was there, I am under the understanding the beast had it's bumbers on. If I remember correctly, they were on a third floor balcony and PK threw it up as far as he could. The light did suffer some internal damage, I believe to the battery holder, but still worked. Mr Ted Bear or another person that was there is welcome to correct me if I got the details wrong.

It seems to me that is a better demonstration of Surefire's removeable shock isolation system then the light itself.
Sort of like Charlotte's web being a better demonstration of a brilliant spider then "some pig" .
Try that with a Beast without the rubber bumbers and I will be real impressed.
A fenix surived 10 story drop down an elevator shaft. That is impressive.
Let's also remember that was the original Beast not the Beast 2 with it's increased circuitry and LED's in the reflector.

As far as I am concerned the new Beast 2 needs to proove itself rather then rest on it's predessor's laurels.
The last time I saw a new in the case Beast on Ebay it went for just under $3,000.
Now apparently the new Beast has a Polarion X1 or two XeRays worth of improvements. :thinking:
Maybe the new rubber can handle being tossed from a six story building :D.
Have LED prices gone up that much since I have been primarily hanging out in the Spotlight Forum?
This is another perfect example of what Windstrings has been saying in the Helios thread. I will change the words to apply to the Beast 2
Okay the Beast 2 is an improvement over the Beast, please show me where the new improvements justify what seems to be close to a $2,000 price increase. Have materials really gone up that much?

I have been told there have been numerous versions of the Beast that never made it into the hands of the public. They were made for specific agencies with specific needs. That kind of custom work certainly does carry a price tag.

Aside from that, I still believe the main reason for the High Price of the Surefires and Polarions is to have the margins necessary for the agency and quantity discounts a company needs to provide to deal with the government or large corporations.
Surefire has other things that Polarion does not.
Size and a reputation.
A good reputation goes a long way to promote a product.
Just like you using a test of the original Beast to declare how tough this one is.
There just have not been years of Helios production to proove it's long term quality and reliability yet.
For that matter I do not know if enough Helios's and X1's have been made to get them out of the new product growing pains phase yet.
I am sure the Beast 2 is a wonderful light.
I personally think it is rather ugly with its square ballast box.
It is also not compact enough for my purposes so even if I had the money for searchlight purchases I would pass on a Beast 2 and buy an X1 expedition package, a 50 watt XeRay and have a custom high efficiancy reflector made for it like the Polarion reflectors, a X990 and still have lots of money left over.

Take Care,
mtbkndad :wave:
 

NAW

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bwaites said:
No one else I know of makes a light that WE can buy that will take the abuse the Beast and Hellfighter can, at ANY price!

Well unless someone goes out and tosses every HID light out there on the market, then we can't know for sure the quality of these other lights, thus we can't totally assume the Beast II is superior to all other lights in durabillity without a proper testing of all HID lights... (if you know what I mean) :)

Plus there are other factors like was the Beast II modified before the test to help its fall, how much feet did it fall, how did it land (landing on ballast, or straight on the rear, etc could yield different results), ...

I'm just saying unless someone can prove to me the Beast II has better durability, etc than all other HID lights out there, then I can't see such a high price tag justifiable.

But I sure would'nt mind owning one. :huh:
 
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LuxLuthor

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I get so sick of everyone justifying absolutely ridiculous prices for these high end SF lights by talking about throwing it off tops of buildings...like that is something that a military member will plan on doing. That is just completely stupid, unless the military is filled with morons as John Kerry suggested.

Stop and think about all the military hardware that is used...and it all has defined uses and procedures that must be followed. To use this SF durability logic to justify disgustingly high prices, you might as well say that an F-16 should also be designed to be able to fly straight into the ground, and suffer no damage.

The truth of the matter is that the military needs some radical oversight to stop them from wasting that kind of money on a light that can will work if thrown down a garbage disposal. As much as I think the Polarion lights are also way overpriced, I would prefer they use those and save a ton of money...or some other cheaper light....and demand that the soldiers take care of that affordable piece of equipment the same as a laser scope, portable radio, or any sensitive piece of electronics.
 

JasonC8301

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A flashlight for a few hundred dollars is something I will part with out of my OWN pocket to stay alive. If your life depended on it, would you mount a Mag-lite or a SF weapons light to a M16 in a harsh environment? Remember all those things are tools; designed to be used but not abused. I am glad I am still here and not risking my life to save a piece of equipment that can be replaced.

The hellfire light was designed to be mounted onto heavy weapons. I don't think any of the other HID lights can withstand the constant thumping of a E34 machine gun or .50 BMG M2.

Remember not everyone gets cool flashlights, only the SF guys.

The same can go for cars, why spend $500K-$1 million US dollars on high end car when a $10K Hyundai will do the same? Because people can.
 

LuxLuthor

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Testing a light on an M16 is not remotely the same as throwing it off buildings. Using an analogy of a $500K-1 Million recreational sports car toy for the ultra rich has nothing to do with using an affordable light that the taxpayer is buying, and that can be properly cared for with the appropriate instructions & guidelines.

You could make these same lame arguments about every piece of equipment that is ever used by the military...that it must be indestructible. Let's see....soldiers are instructed not to use their M-16 as a pry-bar...so somehow they manage not to use it for that stupid use. To follow your logic, why don't we have every Hummer now cost $100 million so none of the Iranian IED's can possibly damage it in any way, no matter the amount of plastic explosive used?

A better analogy of common sense affordable engineering is the AK-47....which became the weapon of choice throughout the world that is not being supplied by the "Cost Is No Object--USA" (aka: Taxpayers).
 
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