Re: SureFire discontinued flashlights and bulbs
As Owen alluded to, if any flashlight/lamp is part of a government contract, there is usually a clause requiring replacement parts for the effective life of the item sold, usually at least five years from the date of delivery. Also, just because a light may no be available for commercial purchase doesn't mean SF isn't still making a few for parts or contract fulfillment. As an example, Digital Equipment Corporation, who used to make minicomputers before being bought by Compaq, used to sell a single-board version of their PDP-8 minicomputer for use by OEMs as controllers for things like X-Ray machines. They stopped selling the PDP-8 about 20 years ago, but at least as late as 1999, they would still get a bunch of employees together who used to work on that assembly line about once a year and run off a week or so's output to have available as replacements. The article I was reading about that stressed how hard it was for them to get enough employees together since so many had retired! Like the Energizer Bunny, some things just keep going and going and going....