Surefire incan lamp assemblies

chillinn

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 19, 2014
Messages
2,527
Location
Mobjack Bay
What I have gathered is Surefire no longer supports any incandescent flashlights, and that there are alternatives in most cases for running incan lamps, at least for the time being.

What I am curious about is the existing Surefire lamp stocks out there... that stock seems be stretching longer than one would expect... more than a few years...

Is it true that these lamps were only manufactured by Surefire, and Surefire shut down their incan lamp assembly factory, and no new Surefire incan replacement assemblies have been manufactured since xxx date?

Or is it possible after developing and designing their famous lamp assemblies, Surefire outsourced the lamp manufacturing at some point, and while Surefire labelled lamp stocks may have run out, some third party manufacturing is basically selling the same lamps to replentish retail stocks?
And this is to support the vast existing reserves of incan flashlights still in military use?


Or is that fantasy and the NOS Surefire lamp assemblies are about to completely run dry, any month now... thus we can expect prices on remaining NOS Surefire label lamps to skyrocket... ?

Does anyone actually have the story about what Surefire did internally with their massive change in manufacturing? Just disassembled the machinery, sold off the factory, and fired the workers? What exactly happened, and when?
 

yellow

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Oct 31, 2002
Messages
4,629
Location
Baden.at
hmmm,
I think to remember, that the production site for bulbs + reflectors was situated in Mexico,
but never cared for if that was company owned, or a contractor
:thinking:

PS: maybe they (SF) simlpy had a look at their sales data and thus took action?
If they would still get money out of :poof:lamps, they would still make & sell them
:thinking: :thinking:
 

bykfixer

Flashaholic
Joined
Aug 9, 2015
Messages
20,352
Location
Dust in the Wind
What I have gathered is Surefire no longer supports any incandescent flashlights, and that there are alternatives in most cases for running incan lamps, at least for the time being.

What I am curious about is the existing Surefire lamp stocks out there... that stock seems be stretching longer than one would expect... more than a few years...

Is it true that these lamps were only manufactured by Surefire, and Surefire shut down their incan lamp assembly factory, and no new Surefire incan replacement assemblies have been manufactured since xxx date?

Or is it possible after developing and designing their famous lamp assemblies, Surefire outsourced the lamp manufacturing at some point, and while Surefire labelled lamp stocks may have run out, some third party manufacturing is basically selling the same lamps to replentish retail stocks?
And this is to support the vast existing reserves of incan flashlights still in military use?


Or is that fantasy and the NOS Surefire lamp assemblies are about to completely run dry, any month now... thus we can expect prices on remaining NOS Surefire label lamps to skyrocket... ?

Does anyone actually have the story about what Surefire did internally with their massive change in manufacturing? Just disassembled the machinery, sold off the factory, and fired the workers? What exactly happened, and when?

Valid questions others are wondering as well perhaps.
They made their own stuff 'in house' light assemble-wise. These days they do outsource certain aspects of production like coating the bodies due to super-tight California enviornmental regulations. US companies nearby that make their living coating SureFire products for example.

Cannot put a specific date on it but yes SureFire ceased light bulb assembly production entirely. It seems to have happened in 2015 according to previous discussions.

No need to fear though... they made a WHOOOOOOLE bunch. Well it really depends on the model. Ones like the military were issued should be plentiful.

Do you remember the $25 6P's last year about this time? That was rumored to be 1 container of them from 2009 or 10.
Container being those orange connex boxes you see on incoming and outgoing ships. No telling how many were made.
 
Last edited:

sgt253

Enlightened
Joined
Aug 17, 2004
Messages
877
Location
Chicago, Illinois
If I recall correctly, Carley was a major source of lamps built to Surefire's specifications during the incandescent "days". They had a couple of manufacturing plants, with one indeed being in Mexico.
 

bykfixer

Flashaholic
Joined
Aug 9, 2015
Messages
20,352
Location
Dust in the Wind
hmmm,
I think to remember, that the production site for bulbs + reflectors was situated in Mexico,
but never cared for if that was company owned, or a contractor
:thinking:

PS: maybe they (SF) simlpy had a look at their sales data and thus took action?
If they would still get money out of :poof:lamps, they would still make & sell them
:thinking: :thinking:

Good point Sgt.
I'll ask PK next time we talk. But it seems he is purjing his memory banks of all things SureFire to make room for new ideas. Being he is now entered his 50's also plays a role and as a friend said long ago "sometimes it's not the age but the mileage."
 

Timothybil

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 9, 2007
Messages
3,662
Location
The great state of Misery (Missouri)
There are other sources for P60 incan LAs. Lumens Factory is still selling their line of incandescent lamp assemblies. I know that before I switched to LED, I liked their HO-6 a lot more than the stock P60.
 

chillinn

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 19, 2014
Messages
2,527
Location
Mobjack Bay
Thanks guys.

One would almost expect Surefire to have a coffee table history book available. There's a story people are interested in.
I did come across this excellent product history thread
which is focused on product history, not company history. There are links to the product catalogs, which contain more information than just about the products. Their marketing literature reads like magazine articles.

Also, my Tad Customs E socket arrived today and with it reduced anxiety. So far as I can tell, Tad's socket and A3712 lamp is a worthy challenger to the MN01.
 

m4a1usr

Enlightened
Joined
May 4, 2013
Messages
884
Location
Washington State
Some interesting history here on CPF and the Surefire info seek.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...an-made-Surefire-incandescent-lamp-assemblies

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...e-are-SureFire-Lights-Components-Manufactured

There was a recent thread I ran across a couple days ago about Surefire Lamps and the debate or at least an attempt to corroborate the use of mixed gases in some of the SF Lamp Assy and ran across this one. Look at post #15. http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?59465-Surefire-Bulbs-General-Rule
 
Last edited:
Top