Is PK now working for Jetbeam?

[Monocrom]

Where did you find the discharge specs? I couldn't find it on the Amazon listing.

Forget Amazon. They always get the specs. wrong.

 

[letschat7]

Surefire should sell articles with those designs nowadays to profit off of that good design.

 

[Ocelot808]

Where did you find the discharge specs? I couldn't find it on the Amazon listing.

I went and got the cells and the continuous discharge spec is boldly printed on the cell label. 10 Amps CDR. While $19 a cell is silly expensive, it's a plug and play drop in solution that doubles runtime and avoids the wonky battery magazine. It's a vast improvement in the enjoyment of the M30.

It still completely stumps me that making the light just an inch longer would have made it compatible with a huge variety of cell size configurations, yet they chose the route they did.
The 26500 is the albino alligator of cell sizes.

 

[Ocelot808]

Surefire should sell articles with those designs nowadays to profit off of that good design.

The Surefire designs of the early 2000s were the best looking sculpted military grade flashlights of all time. The machining was impeccable, the form of a truly inspired original creation. They worked as bulletproof as they looked, worth every pretty penny. Without question SF had no equals at the time: absolute best you could get.

From my inaugural 2001 L1 Lumamax to my M6 and many models in between there was a common thread of a design aesthetic akin to exotic sportscars. They were all no compromise illuminators that were also works of machined art.

When I look at the entire current SF lineup it is screamingly obvious that the innovative unparalleled exotic design elements so abundant in the early 2000s have completely evaporated and really bland uninspired basic shapes have taken their place instead. There is nothing they offer now that can raise my pulse rate as far as handheld flashlights go, only pricing that raises my blood pressure. I concede their preeminence in specialty weapon lights.

Apparently it was PK that was the soul of the early Surefire and the origin of the secret sauce design cues. Apparently he has disappeared from the flashlight world after an attempt to go solo many years ago.

Some may harshly criticize Jetbeam for blatantly copying those classic SF design elements but I welcome it as a form of tribute to timeless works of machine art. I bought a Jetbeam M30 solely for the nostalgia I have for my long lost M6. I wish they would make an iteration of my beloved U2 Ultra. That brightness ring selector was genius! In a sense they have copied the design on a small scale with the long selling Jetbeam RRT01 Raptor. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Here's hoping that PK's spirit could return and knock our socks off with some wonderful extreme designs. That any of the manufacturers commit to some radical new forms beyond the aluminum tube.

 

[letschat7]

Actually at the time I feel that Streamlights were better and as such I have more Streamlights than Surefires. Of course other companies could take SF design and improve it: better style, cheaper, brighter, different batteries. They are like Glock sure they are great at what they do and they do it well but every one else is an improvement on erogonomics, trigger pull, accuracy, etc. Although Glock makes flashlights they fail to improve upon their design however they are the one hold out in making a CR123 powered incan that still sells .

 

[Monocrom]

Actually at the time I feel that Streamlights were better and as such I have more Streamlights than Surefires.

Have to respectfully disagree. The Flashaholic bug bit down HARD on me at that period in time. I was on a buying spree. (Helped by the fact that back then I had an excellent-paying job.) With the vast majority being SureFire and Streamlight models. No contest in terms of quality. Streamlight was good. SureFire was great!

 

[letschat7]

I liked Scorpions over 6P incan or LED.

 

[Ocelot808]

No contest in terms of quality. Streamlight was good. SureFire was great!

Early 2000s Surefire was absolutely EPIC! LEGEND!

I can still remember every vivid detail of my M6 experience. At the time it was one of the coolest things I ever owned, period. FIVE HUNDRED LUMENS with the MN21, it was perfection!

Second most beloved was the U2 Ultra with that ingenious brightness selector ring.

Everything LEGOed, endless possibilities.

Twas a Golden Age, the Era of Early Surefire....