Surefire U2 Ultra or Leupold MX331

[short]

I everyone, newbie here, first post. I have $300 to spend, looking for my 2nd LED light. As an aside, I have a new surefire T1A Titan and love it, great for my keychain. This little light is as bright as my 3D Maglight.

Anyways, both these look good, judging by their respective website spec sheets.

1. The Leupold has a 175 lumen beam, and the U2 has a 100 Lumen beam. Winner Leupold

2. The Leupold is waterproof to 120 feet, the U2 is "weatherproof", meaning it should stand up to getting wet from rain, but do not submerge (that's what the surefire customer service person said to me today anyways). Winner Leupold

3. Both made in USA, (I have not set foot in a wallmart in 15 years) - tie

4. Threads on this site, or mentions of the product line. Leupold, very few or no mentions (based on me going thru 17 pages of the general forum before I joined here), surefire has many reviews, threads, and praise in general on this forum. Clear winner, surefire

There may be a few things I am missing, but I am interested in what you all will say. That I see little or no mention of Leupold on this forum speaks volumes allready. Unless you guys talk about Leupold all the time on this forum, then this whole post will speak volumes about my reading comprehension....

 

[steveG]

I don't know anything about Leupold, but I loooove my newly acquired U2A.

By the way, you can pick up a like-new U2A for at least a hundred dollars less than retail on CPF Market Place.

 

[iapyx]

I don't know anything about Leupold, but I loooove my newly acquired U2A.

By the way, you can pick up a like-new U2A for at least a hundred dollars less than retail on CPF Market Place.

+1
The U2 is a perfect light.
But I am prejudiced as I own two U2's (U2 and U2A) and never had a Leupold MX331.
What I can tell you is that the U2 feels very solid in your hand. And the UI is perfect. It has a very low low. All that compensate for the lower lumen it puts out compared to the Leupold.
Remember, it's SF lumen. So in a shoot out the U2 might do as good as the Leupold. Anyone know?

 

[leon2245]

I would like to hear about the selector ring, are there solid clicks into place you feel, easy to turn etc.?

 

[iapyx]

I would like to hear about the selector ring, are there solid clicks into place you feel, easy to turn etc.?

No clicks at all both my U2 and U2A. Nothing. Just smoothly.
Easy to turn, but the ring of my U2 tuns easier than the ring of my U2A.
Especially in the beginning in the first week(s) it (U2A ring) had remarbably more resistance. Now after a few month it turns easily with one hand though the ring of my U2 still turns easier.

 

[gswitter]

It seems like the price leads most to dismiss the Leupolds. It's too bad, the build quality of the Leupolds is unmatched, by anything else on the market.

I don't have an MX-300 head, but the output of the MX-200 head appears to be consistent with the specs. My only hesitation in recommending the Leupold would be the lack of user feedback here. They're built like tanks, but I have no idea how well they tolerate abuse.

 

[iapyx]

Had a look at their website and decided to post a pic of the MX331 (looks nice, but the MX431 looks even nicer) for those who are unfamiliar with the light (like me):

edit: just had a good look at their MX-431. Looks like someone gave me a new SF competitor. Very nice lights they make.

 

[leon2245]

Sapphire lenses too, nice touch.

 

[gswitter]

There are a LOT of nice touches on the Leupolds.

If the bodies could accommodate 18mm cells and the MX-100 bezel could accommodate non-Surefire P60 drop-ins (both of which can probably fixed with a lathe), I suspect the MX-121 and MX-131 combos would get a lot more attention here.

 

[dcycleman]

you can rest assured anything made by Leupold will be good stuff, just like surefire, benchmade, spyderco, ect.

 

[iapyx]

okay, nobody asked, so I will: anyone got beamshots of any Leupold? Preferably MX331 MX431...... I really got interested now.
Anyone who owns a Leupold at all?

 

[short]

Sapphire lenses too, nice touch.

Does he Sapphire lens really make a difference? SF has pyrex I think. My biggest question is in the waterproofing. Lets say you are hiking in the rain all day. This happened to me when I was hiking in the Andes Mountains down in Chile. Will the "weatherproof" surefire hold up to a steady rain? If I ever had to bug out in a SHTF situation, I think waterproof would be the most important feature. I do like how the SF has a lower low, while the 331 only has 10, 100, and 175 lumens. I would rather have a 50 lumen mid setting on the leupold then the 25 sos strobe.

And at just under $300, both lights (the 331 and the U2) are the same price. That said, I just won an auction on e-bay for a brand new U2 - the price (including shipping) is $200.

BTW, would any of you be cautious about purchasing the Surefire U2 from e-bay. The seller has like 10k sales and is a power seller. Is anyone hearing stories about chinese counterfeit lights being sold in the US via e-bay?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Surefire-U2-ULT...563505151c&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14#ht_1087wt_941

I won a U2 from this seller (seller name on e-bay is XOXMAS) the link above is for another one of his U2's - bid is currently at $150. Does this light look legit (at least from the e-bay seller's pic's)

 

[iapyx]

Does this eBay seller accept returns? Of not I'd be careful. If he does then he sounds ok.

Edit it sounds like a good deal:
Returns:
7 day*money back,*buyer pays return shipping*| Read details

 

[:)>]

Does he Sapphire lens really make a difference? SF has pyrex I think. My biggest question is in the waterproofing. Lets say you are hiking in the rain all day. This happened to me when I was hiking in the Andes Mountains down in Chile. Will the "weatherproof" surefire hold up to a steady rain? If I ever had to bug out in a SHTF situation, I think waterproof would be the most important feature. I do like how the SF has a lower low, while the 331 only has 10, 100, and 175 lumens. I would rather have a 50 lumen mid setting on the leupold then the 25 sos strobe.

And at just under $300, both lights (the 331 and the U2) are the same price. That said, I just won an auction on e-bay for a brand new U2 - the price (including shipping) is $200.

BTW, would any of you be cautious about purchasing the Surefire U2 from e-bay. The seller has like 10k sales and is a power seller. Is anyone hearing stories about chinese counterfeit lights being sold in the US via e-bay?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Surefire-U2-ULT...563505151c&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14#ht_1087wt_941

I won a U2 from this seller (seller name on e-bay is XOXMAS) the link above is for another one of his U2's - bid is currently at $150. Does this light look legit (at least from the e-bay seller's pic's)

Waterproofness is a big deal to me as well for the same reason that you listed and I have zero concerns and have had zero problems with my Surefire lights. I am a big fan of the U2A and Surefire in general and would recommend them wholeheartedly.

I don't have any experience with the Leupold lights but the one in this thread sure does look nice.

 

[Daniel_sk]

That's definitely not a fake U2. But I am not sure if this is the newer U2A version? (the only difference is that the newer U2A uses a more efficient LED, nearly twice the runtime with same output + lower low). The name "U2A" is probably not official, Surefire labels the newer U2 genaration as "U2" and not "U2A" on the bodies. You can tell if it's the newer version by looking at the LED (the old one is LuxV, the new is SSC P4 - if you take a picture of it we can tell you if it's the new one...).

Edit: It could be the newer U2A version, because it says "175 hours" runtime on the packing. I think the older version had a shorter runtime on the lowest setting...

 

[gswitter]

I have the Leupold MX-100 bezel and the MX-200 head, along with both the 2- and 3-cell bodies and a couple tails. I've commented on them in other threads, so I'll keep this brief...

• As I alluded to above, the overall build quality is better than any other light I've owned. The machining and anodizing is as good as I've seen. The design is very well thought out. Leupold probably didn't consult CPF for the feature set, but they clearly did their homework.
• The series is extremely well executed (all parts are interchangeable except the 6V- and 9V-specific incandescent lamps) and has a number of features that, while not necessarily unique, are rarely collected together into a single light.
• The MX-200 head houses a Cree XR-E with a fairly warm tint (~WG) and a deep textured reflector. It's not especially bright - spec'ed at 80 lumens, and that appears to be accurate out the front - but the beam is generally artifact free, without significant rings. (Incidentally, it looks like they rev'ed the MX-200 recently. It's now spec'ed for 95 lumens, and the runtime is now 6.3 hours on two cells and 8 hours on three - it was previously 4 and 6 hours respectively.)

 

[short]

Waterproofness is a big deal to me as well for the same reason that you listed and I have zero concerns and have had zero problems with my Surefire lights. I am a big fan of the U2A and Surefire in general and would recommend them wholeheartedly.

I don't have any experience with the Leupold lights but the one in this thread sure does look nice.

Thanks for this comment, this is a great forum. I was hiking in Chile for 8 days, on the 5th day, we did a 19 mile trek, it started to rain at noon, we got back to camp at almost 9 PM, it was pouring rain. When I pulled my light out of my pack, it was soaked. We walked by torchlight for the last two hours. Come to think of it, my maglight did just fine. I am only beating this whole water resistance against water proof to death because I heard that these lithum batteries get wet and they may explode. I should check out the sub forum on battery mishaps though.

 

[short]

That's definitely not a fake U2. But I am not sure if this is the newer U2A version? (the only difference is that the newer U2A uses a more efficient LED, nearly twice the runtime with same output + lower low). The name "U2A" is probably not official, Surefire labels the newer U2 genaration as "U2" and not "U2A" on the bodies. You can tell if it's the newer version by looking at the LED (the old one is LuxV, the new is SSC P4 - if you take a picture of it we can tell you if it's the new one...).

Edit: It could be the newer U2A version, because it says "175 hours" runtime on the packing. I think the older version had a shorter runtime on the lowest setting...

Daniel,

Thanks for taking the time to look at the e-bay pics from the link I posted. I would have reneged if someone here said that the light might be a fake. That said, I could still reneg, and purchase the Leupold MX331 from an approved online dealer like B&H photo - it would be here in two days.

What I don't get is that this seller has been selling surefire in volume, I saw a Titan T1A go for 168 (looks like they were BIN's at 168 - hello 8% microsoft cash back on those). Like I said, I won the U2 for 200 including shipping. How on earth can they sell these brand new lights for so cheap. The seller just answered a question I had about the U2 - assuring me it was a real 2009 version. Seller said it was new in box, the box still has the factory cellophane wrapping.

I may have to just buy this

 

[jp2515]

What I don't get is that this seller has been selling surefire in volume, I saw a Titan T1A go for 168 (looks like they were BIN's at 168 - hello 8% microsoft cash back on those). Like I said, I won the U2 for 200 including shipping. How on earth can they sell these brand new lights for so cheap. The seller just answered a question I had about the U2 - assuring me it was a real 2009 version. Seller said it was new in box, the box still has the factory cellophane wrapping.

I may have to just buy this

Who knows. If anything the seller could be a SF dealer or has a way to obtain them. If its legit and feedback is good, I'd say go for it!

 

[steveG]

I do like how the SF has a lower low....

The low, low is a great feature. In fact, I wouldn't mind one more, lower, setting on the U2A.