Surefire Stratum Review

[watchcollector1968]

Disclaimer: I am no reviewer and dont have all the tech knowledge so many here have. I have fun with my lights and carry one each day.

Ok, the light is 5.1" long, runs on 2x123 batteries. It has 3 modes which are accessed by pushing the button, letting it go and pushing again within 2 second to cycle through each one. Nice and easy to do. It has momentary and constant on capabilities.

One thing I like and others may not is that it comes on in low mode first (5 lumens for 75 hours)...medium (50 for 15 hours) and then high (160 for 2 hours).

Low is excellent for a dark house or just enough light outside for walking when you only need short range light.

Medium is a great all purpose outdoor light. With the throw and spill this light produces this mode should serve most needs.

High is a lot of fun for seeing how much you can light something up and impressing people when compared to there larger MagLites. For practical purposes I dont see a lot of advantage of the much higher output and shorter runtime. The medium is more than bright enough and has a far longer runtime.

The body of the light has a couple of flat surfaces (where all the writing is) and finger grooves. It gives a nice secure grip, although the feel takes a bit of getting used to. I would think that with slick hands the older style knurling might be better...that is just speculation on my part.

The bezel has some interesting "teeth". Im not sure if there is a reason these are there. They are not as aggressive as say the E2D strike bezel, not even close. Not saying they would not make an effective impact device if it came to that, I would not want to be hit with it although that pretty much applies to any flashlight. Cosmetically the teeth look a little strange at first, but they grow on you.

Surefire certainly likes to let you know you are carrying a Surefire...lots of writing on this light...makes you feel like you are holding a billboard. It does not look bad at all, makes a nice contrast to a black flashlight...they might have overdone it just a hair though.

The reflector is a little different...domed (right term?) and a flat area surrounding the LED...This might be why the combination of flood and throw is so good.

Im not very good at beamshots apparently. All were done on high, f5 and 2 second shutter...distance from light to target is about 50 feet.

This is the Stratum on high.

The second is a Fenix TK40-R2 on high at 240 Lumens.

The last is the Surefire BackUp on high, 80 Lumens.

Not sure how true these photos represent the difference in beams, but hopefully gives you some idea. The photos also dont show the spill that any of the lights produce...that is due to my lack of beamshot know how and something I am going to work on.

All beam shots were done with each light having a fresh set of Surefire batteries.

Hope this is at least a little informative...thanks for reading.

 

[tolkaze]

Not sure if your white balance is locked, but that Stratum looks like a nice tint

 

[watchcollector1968]

Not sure if your white balance is locked, but that Stratum looks like a nice tint

Never occured to me to lock the white balance...was set to auto. Still, the Stratum does have a nice tint...the shot is pretty accurate about that.

 

[SuperTrouper]

Thanks for the review.

Can I ask how far from the fence your lights were approx. for the beamshots?

 

[purelite]

good job Watch!! I like it simple!! good pics

Let us know what you think after using it for a bit of time in real world conditions

 

[watchcollector1968]

Thanks for the review.

Can I ask how far from the fence your lights were approx. for the beamshots?

About 50-ish feet.

 

[yalskey]

Thanks for the review. Good work.

My question is this: Why does Surefire need yet another 2xCR123A light? What does this offer that their many other similar models don't?

Also, why only 160 lumens OTF? Is that purposely throttled for run time sake? It's 2010 and we have lights putting out close to double that output or even more if you consider multiple emitters or high-power emitters (MC-E, SST, etc.)

Looks like a nicely made light, as always... but I just don't get it I guess.

Anyone able to teach me something here?

 

[ToddM]

To me the Stratus is actually a very useful new SF edition along with the G2D and G3D for people that actually use the light on a day to day basis. They are the first ones they've made in a LONG time I'd consider buying for day to day use. In low it is useful for close up work with massive run-time, the medium mode is more than enough light for 90% of purposes and still offers 5 hours of run-time, and the 160 lumen mode for occasional long reach with it still being a compact light package. The problem with previous 2 level SF lights was most of the time you needed to use the highest level so effective run-time just wasn't long enough especially if someone else isn't paying for the batteries.

Most people, light addicts excluded, would much rather have a 100 lumen light that ran for 15 hours than a 1000 lumen light that ran for only 15 minutes. Personally I'd rather see more lights that were concerned with higher efficiency and longer run-times using more variable light output levels than focus on just seeing how bright we can make lights with worthlessly short run-times.

What good is a light that only runs for an hour if you are camping, lost in the wilderness, or need to navigate along a trail in the dark, or are just using it on a frequent basis?.....unless you carry a bag full of batteries with you it's worthless. SF makes a great product but unless you are a tactical user or only use the light for seconds at at time for the most part it's not worth buying their products. My SF lights either sit on weapons, or they sit around the house because I know in both those situations I don't need long run-times and if I do I have other options close at hand. These new lights provide a light that has more versatility and usable run-time for people that actually use their lights on a regular basis for longer durations.

It's the same with cycling bike lights, all these companies build bike lights with massive lumen output but they only run a couple hours. I'd much rather have a 300 lumen bike light that ran 6 hours than a 900 lumen bike light that only runs an hour and a half because most of my rides are longer than that.

You also have to remember that SF is a large company, not some guy making lights in the basement. They have to design, build, and test lights for levels of abuse and durability that other light companies only dream their products would survive because their tactical users lives depend on those lights working and being durable. So they are naturally going to be a bit behind the curve as far as using the latest and greatest LED's that are out. They can't react with products as fast as the LED market evolves.

 

[richardcpf]

Most people, light addicts excluded, would much rather have a 100 lumen light that ran for 15 hours than a 1000 lumen light that ran for only 15 minutes.

Most people would want a light that can provide both 100 lumens for 15 hours OR 1000 lumens for 15 minutes. Well, most of the light addicts. Most people don't know what 1000 lumens is like.

But I believe surefire is designed for tactical/military use, where high output is needed instead of long runtime.

 

[Dan FO]

That emitter sure looks like a K2 TFFC, if so that is great and has my attention! That is probably the most bulletproof LED out there and I can tell it because the greens really look natural.

 

[sjmack]

Great review. It's nice to finally see some beamshots of the stratum.

 

[pjandyho]

That emitter sure looks like a K2 TFFC, if so that is great and has my attention! That is probably the most bulletproof LED out there and I can tell it because the greens really look natural.

I don't understand your definition of "the most bulletproof LED out there". Care to explain? I have no knowledge of the K2 TFFC emitters and don't own any lights that uses it.

 

[ss355]

Thanks for the review, WC.

From your pictures, it looks as if the Stratum has a diffuse hot spot with a nice, gradual spill to flood as opposed to the Fenix that seems to have a more defined hot spot. Am I interpreting that correctly?

Oh, and does the Stratum have a provision for a pocket clip?

 

[watchcollector1968]

Thanks for the review, WC.

From your pictures, it looks as if the Stratum has a diffuse hot spot with a nice, gradual spill to flood as opposed to the Fenix that seems to have a more defined hot spot. Am I interpreting that correctly?

Oh, and does the Stratum have a provision for a pocket clip?

The Fenix does have a bit of a tighter hot spot but not by much. The Stratum has a nice spot which is almost as tight, and far better spill as well. I think I need to practice on beamshots that more accurately show this.

I am going to try more shots this weekend using a different lens that will allow for covering a larger area.

Not made for a pocket clip...I wish it was. I did find a couple of nice belt pouches for it which is how I carry it on the weekends...will get some pics of that this weekend as well.

 

[dano]

Thanks for the review. Good work.

My question is this: Why does Surefire need yet another 2xCR123A light? What does this offer that their many other similar models don't?

Also, why only 160 lumens OTF? Is that purposely throttled for run time sake? It's 2010 and we have lights putting out close to double that output or even more if you consider multiple emitters or high-power emitters (MC-E, SST, etc.)

Looks like a nicely made light, as always... but I just don't get it I guess.

Anyone able to teach me something here?

SF desires reliability over maximum output.

 

[spyrish]

"The bezel has some interesting "teeth". Im not sure if there is a reason these are there. They are not as aggressive as say the E2D strike bezel, not even close. Not saying they would not make an effective impact device if it came to that, I would not want to be hit with it although that pretty much applies to any flashlight. Cosmetically the teeth look a little strange at first, but they grow on you."

In reference to the post in quotes, I was talking to a friend, the new teeth on the bezel are a just the design of the new part to secure the lens down. The older part that is found on the 6P's and G2's are more of a hassle to access, and this new part is suppose to be easier to access. At least that's what I was told.

 

[jimmy1970]

"The bezel has some interesting "teeth". Im not sure if there is a reason these are there. They are not as aggressive as say the E2D strike bezel, not even close. Not saying they would not make an effective impact device if it came to that, I would not want to be hit with it although that pretty much applies to any flashlight. Cosmetically the teeth look a little strange at first, but they grow on you."

In reference to the post in quotes, I was talking to a friend, the new teeth on the bezel are a just the design of the new part to secure the lens down. The older part that is found on the 6P's and G2's are more of a hassle to access, and this new part is suppose to be easier to access. At least that's what I was told.

The way the bezel ring is accessed looks to be very similar to the old version just that the 'teeth' allow you to see the light is on if the light is bezel down.

James...

 

[Sgt. LED]

I don't understand your definition of "the most bulletproof LED out there". Care to explain? I have no knowledge of the K2 TFFC emitters and don't own any lights that uses it.

I may be wrong but I think they can take the most physical shock before being damaged as well as being very heat tolerant.

Oh and might I ask, are those little teeth plastic? The same material they used before but with a different mold maybe?

 

[DimeRazorback]

Yes the teeth are plastic :thumbsup:

I like the new crenelation style.

 

[pjandyho]

I may be wrong but I think they can take the most physical shock before being damaged as well as being very heat tolerant.

Thanks Sgt.