Yes its allways nice to have a 500+ lumen light that can cook a turkey AND be used to slice it too but is that 500+ lumen light and its host reliable?
It seems that more and more often there are indeed companies who are producing very bright, very reliable lights. I think that most people who have been around for a few months would probably name 5-10 companies who have a good reputation around here. This doesn't reflect badly at all on Surefire, only to state observation. Additionally, some of these companies seem to build on their success and sometimes blow us away with great innovation and really trick stuff. JetBeam used to be garbage imo. They overstated performance, had more than there fair share of failures and there was a lot of grumbling about them when you performed a search. Now disappointment is nearly non-existent and some of their products leave me scratching my head thinking, 'that's a lot of light for the money.' It's not just JB either because there are many surprisingly good lights out there.
JNewell
I'd add that the company really stands behind its products. My daily carry 6Z is 10 years old but only because it has been repeatedly "rebuilt" by SureFire providing replacements for parts that were really just casualties of extended service and accidental damage, which most companies wouldn't consider covering.
I'm happy for SF and SF owners that this is still the case. It seems to be one of the main things that separates them from others. Thankfully we've got some great dealers that usually take care of issues right away whether it's a problem with a Surefire or Fenix. The question is what's the dealer and or Fenix going to do for you two or three years from now? With Surefire we already know the answer. They've proven themselves over the years and it's one of the reasons that I'm so confident in their products.
One final thought that I do have about Surefire being slow to release some of their long anticipated lights is that the longer it takes the more likely we are to default our money into other products. For example, I've had money put away in expectation of certain Surefire lights being released but when they don't come about I spend the money on other lights instead. Some have been pre-owned Surefires, while others have been lights like the Zebralight, Bitz, Lummi, JetBeam & Fenix. Now I've been happy with all of my purchases but if other choices from Surefire had been available I would have spent my money there first. Lights like the UA2, UB3, X400, ARC-2, & parts like the LUT10L have all been on my "to buy" list for 6-12 months.
Since I have spent money on other lights due to Surefire unavailability, when the new ones are finally released I'll probably have to settle for the two I want most like the X400 and UA2. I do not think this speaks poorly of Surefire but does point out a fact of life, at least with regards to my life, about how consumer's choose how/when to spend their money. Often when consumers can't get what they really want, for whatever reason, they'll get what they perceive is the next best thing. I see this as a loosing proposition for both parties. As the consumer I'd much rather buy Surefire but there is a limit to how long I'll wait. I'm also pretty sure that Surefire would rather that I spend my money on their products regardless of how many procurement contracts they already have.
It's been argued that it's not uncommon for Surefire to have products in their catalogs that never made production and that's true. It's also my notion that we might be seeing the end of this way of doing things. Look at it this way, every product that wasn't released for sale was and expectation that wasn't met from the public's perspective. That kind of history can also cast doubts on whether or not will see some of the lights promised last year and that's evident in many discussions here when the topic arises. In any case, I'm simply trying to convey that timely release dates are in fact important because everyone stands to benefit.
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