Surefire LED Question

[GPB]

Hi everyone. I am a longtime light nut, but fairly new to the high end flashlight game ( for me, anything over 30 bucks is "high end" )

My current arsenal includes a Brinkman Maxfire and Legend LX, a 3-D Maglite with LED bulb, a Dorcy Super 3 watt Led, and a mini Mag with a 1 watt Nite Ize bulb conversion, and a few lights for diving. ( plus a bunch of non descript lights not worth mentioning). Its enough to make my wife think I have a problem, but not enough to stand out in the crowd on this forum.

I am about to pick up a Surefire G2 LED, with the plan to add a high power incandescent bulb in the near future so I have the option of LED or Incan. In looking at the Surefire website it looks like the G2 and the G3 have the same LED unit, and the only difference is the G3 has 3 batteries compared to the G2's 2 batteries. What confuses me is that they both are rated at 80 lumens, but the G2 has a longer run time than the G3 ( 12 hours vs 9.42 hours ) I could see if they were different companies and maybe measured their run times differently, but where both figures are coming straight from Surefire, it seems odd that the 3 battery light would have less burn time than the 2 battery light.

Am I missing something ?

Thanks. ( for both listening to the question, maintaining a great forum, and making me feel a little more normal )

 

[kongfuchicken]

Welcome to CPF! The surefire G2/G3L are pragmatic and high quality choices for your first picks.

The G3 led's runtime figure is accurate.
The older G2 runtime figures were prolonged due to poor heatsinking in the nitrolon bezel assemblies. The heat made the electronic thermal circuit throttle down on the current supplied to the led and gave a longer runtime at reduced output.

All new G2L and G3L are equipped with a aluminum bezel assembly which neutralizes the heat problem somewhat. The g3l won't be brighter than the G2l but it'll definitively run much longer.

 

[Outdoors Fanatic]

Welcome to CPF! The surefire G2/G3L are pragmatic and high quality choices for your first picks.

The G3 led's runtime figure is accurate.
The older G2 runtime figures were prolonged due to poor heatsinking in the nitrolon bezel assemblies. The heat made the electronic thermal circuit throttle down on the current supplied to the led and gave a longer runtime at reduced output.

All new G2L and G3L are equipped with a aluminum bezel assembly which neutralizes the heat problem somewhat. The g3l won't be brighter than the G2l but it'll definitively run much longer.

The g3l won't be brighter than the G2l but it'll definitively run much longer.

True, but he can run much brighter lamp assemblies in a G3 than in the G2. The G3 is the better buy, especially if we wants to run incadescent LAs as well. 9V is the way to go for wjen it comes to incans. The G3 also has Pyrex glass VS Lexan on the G2.

 

[Gunner12]

How much are you willing to spend? Also, what do you need the light for?

Performance wise, there are lights out there with decent quality that will easily out shine the G2L and G3L(the LED on those lights are driven harder, and some have a lower mode if you need more runtime, something like this).

:welcome:

 

[GPB]

What do I need the light for ? I don't really need it.....I just really like the idea of having a really bright light that fits in my pocket. Most of my light use is either checking on the kids while their sleeping, getting something in the garage at night, that sort of thing. I won't be using the Surefire for that. I do take a light with me when I go jogging mostly so that I can be seen more than to see other things and I may use the Surefire for that. Its definately overkill....but if you've got it, use it, right ?

I called Surefire to ask about the run times and was told that the G3L will give light at a "tactical level" for longer than the G2. It was nice to just call up and talk to a knowledgeable customer service rep.

I picked up the G2L and its great. My 3D Mag LED, will do better at longer distances, but that's probably more a function of the reflector than the bulb. Mag calls theirs a 3 Watt and Lowe's called the G2L a 5 watt. The Mag stays in the car though, as its too big to carry on a regular basis.

Thanks for the responses guys.

 

[Gunner12]

If you really want throw and decent size, the Dereelight DBS would be your best choice. 150+ meters of throw, will out throw the Maglite 3D. I'd suggest buying 18650 batteries with the light.

Maybe the Fenix Powerpack would be a good start, 1 CR123 and 1 AA option. Multimode so you can have bright and long runtime in the same light. 8% off coupon at Fenix Store is "CPF8".

Ignore the "watt" on the things. A current gen LED driven at 1 watt(a Cree XR-E, Seoul P4 U-bin, Or Luxeon Rebel) will out lumen the LED maglite is using(Luxeon III) driven at 3 watt.

Usually larger reflector = more throw

 

[GPB]

Thanks, for the link to the other lights.....the Fennix one got me thinking...

Since I have a surefire G2 LED, and will undoubtedly end up with multiple lamp assemblies for it.....is it possible to get just the body for the surefire G3 ?? Since I have the tailcap and head, the extra body would allow me to run 2 or 3 batteries without having to buy a whole new flashlight.

Has anyone done this and know where to get just the body tube for a SF G3 ?

 

[jugg2]

You might be able to find one on BST. You could just buy an extender for the G2 though, but I don't know if the make Nitrolon extenders.

 

[GPB]

Sorry....I am new around here...what is "BST" ??

Thanks

 

[Gunner12]

It stands for Buy/Sell/Trade

 

[GPB]

ahhh....that makes sense. The speed of the responses on this board astound me.....I love this place !!

 

[skalomax]

ahhh....that makes sense. The speed of the responses on this board astound me.....I love this place !!

But your wallet will hate It.

 

[angelofwar]

I have a 6-P and 3 G-2, with the stand alone LED Upgrade (P60L). I just got the G-3 with the P91, which gives me 220 Lumens...so, yes, it has replaced my 6P as my "night-stand-home defense" light. If I do go camping or whatever, I just drop the P60L/P90 back in it, and have a longer running light. I would go with the G3 now, for brighter output options, and then grab a G2 later, just to play around with.