Does anyone like Surefire anymore?

[IMA SOL MAN]

Hey now, don't knock the government... Their lack of preparedness was the cornerstone of a branch of the security company I worked for. We made millions advising companies on how to prepare and sold them ready made disaster kits for when the government would fail them. The sad part is no one really thinks about it until it is too late.

Not knocking your company, but I think it is just downright sad that companies are so incompetent that they have to hire outside consultants to advise them on emergency/disaster preparedness for their own company.

 

[Monocrom]

They don't.... They're just too lazy to look it up online.

 

[chainsolid]

I have a lot of surefire ( 6P, G2ZX, E1D, E2D, A2 Incan, EDCL1-T,X300,
Today I carry surefire Vampire

 

[jz6342]

My first "tactical" light was a SureFire 6P (which my son has and still uses). But I got over them when their prices went through the roof and other manufacturers started building lights as good, if not better, at prices an average Joe like me can afford.

 

[nosuchagency]

for lights that i can rely upon, begins with surefire, then couple of malkoff & pelican products. any china lights are relagated to house or non-primary use.

 

[SCEMan]

Not knocking your company, but I think it is just downright sad that companies are so incompetent that they have to hire outside consultants to advise them on emergency/disaster preparedness for their own company.

I built & managed the IT BCP/DR department for Southern California Edison for almost 20 years and in my experience, it's not just company incompetence, it's cost. Allocating a budget to a department that isn't part of the core business or that doesn't generate revenue is a tough sell. Only by routinely conducting BIAs on critical business processes and exposing the impact of their failure, along with DR tests showing the unrecoverability of their essential IT resources, were we able to gain senior management buy-in.

 

[Bob A]

I haven't read the entire thread, though I did the first 2 pages and the last 2.

I wasn't an early adopter of Surefire lights; I thought you'd have to be insane to drop $80 on a flashlight, though of course I couldn't afford it, so obviously those grapes were sour.

Eventually it happened that I got an E1B Backup, way back in the day. Must be rather more than ten years ago. It was everything I wanted: small, bright, narrow spot beam with serious reach (for the time), and, ideally, the switch default was high/low. I could access either with a push (or 2, for low) and lock on with a click. Perfect for what I wanted.

Eventually it was lost, and replaced with another. Subsequently two more were added, because it had become apparent that nothing you really like in the marketplace will be available forever.

After a while the lumen wars got to me, and I started accumulating more powerful Surefires. Some I liked, some I didn't care for - mostly because of the switching methods.

I have to say that the newer lights have both surprised and delighted me. I got the Fury Intellibeam solely for the lumens, but didn't care for the spill, nor did the throw leave me impressed. Over time I realised its true worth was as an everything light; the auto adjusting made it useful in a variety of settings, and I've come to value that.

Last year I fell prey to the EDC1-DFT; again, not perfect, but one can live with the splashback in exchange for the throw. Useless in the woods, but just the same it's an excellent general duty light for the urban/suburban scene. Despite still appreciating my Backups, I'll probably pick up duplicates of the latter two, lest Surefire chooses to DC them. (OK, maybe I'll get the EDC2 DFT instead, just for the variety).

Some guy on a gunboard listed an old Titan -ndunno which model, just says Titan patent pending - for 50 bucks, so I grabbed it for the keyring. Wish I could find a half-dozen more for the price.

So the glory days passed without my notice, though I can't say I miss any incandescents except my 40, 60 100 watt screw-based bulbs whose warmth so pleases me around the house. Damn govt needs to get out of the way of people's preferences with its bogus green bullshit. Let the marketplace alone, as it seems the people with the money know what they want, the dotGovs only know what they think we should need, and they're usually wrong.

Oops, ranting again. Pretty sure they're planning internment camps for people like me.

Hard to imagine Surefire would come up with a light that I don't know I really need again, but they keep doing it, so I'll wait and see what comes down the pike . . .

 

[ampdude]

Nothing they made after 2012 or so.

 

[rwolfenstein]

I have used surefire lights since 2004 when I was a police explorer in the PNW. Was it the brightest? No, Was it the cheapest? Not really, it was 35 bucks for a G2 Nitrolin and 12 bucks per P60 bulb. I think batteries were 3 dollars for two of them. However, the reason I kept buying them was because on the off chance I broke one, I called their customer service and told them what happened. I sent it back and they fixed it with no charge other than shipping cost to send it to them. Have there been other companies that can provide brighter, longer lasting battery set ups that are probably just as tough? Maybe. However, their customer service reels me back in. I have narrowed down many of my lights, but I am still using the G2 Nitrolin that I bought back in 2004.