The SureFire LX1 Thread

[jonesy]

What's the beam pattern like with the XML? Does it still throw well with the stock optic?

 

[Sgt. LED]

It's not too bad really, not as tight as the xre though.
To get the most throw you need more distance from the emitter so the head gap is pretty blatant.
If you can solder the emitter to the heatsink without a board it helps. Even better would be if you could mill the heatsink down a mm or so then solder the emitter to the heatsink.

I just plunked it down on a board and went with it. I wanted a floodier aspect so I used thin LDF and tightened the head all the way down. It's a favorite house light now.

 

[Monocrom]

Sometimes you just have take over and make things happen yourself. Why wait LoL
Surefire won't take this one off the backburner for a very long time I'm guessing.

Sadly that guess sounds spot-on to me as well.

 

[chris23]

Not sure why it would still be in development, didn't they show it off at that shot show? or wherever those pics of it came from.

What a disappointment though for them not to release it, I remember last year sometime or before that they kept telling me it would release in
a month or two when I called or emailed them.

lol guess I stopped caring though, the lx2 is really my favorite light anyways.

 

[Size15's]

Not sure why it would still be in development, didn't they show it off at that shot show? or wherever those pics of it came from.

What a disappointment though for them not to release it, I remember last year sometime or before that they kept telling me it would release in
a month or two when I called or emailed them.

lol guess I stopped caring though, the lx2 is really my favorite light anyways.

Two important things to consider:

1) At SHOT Shows SureFire shows prototypes it aspires to release. Sometimes a 'new product' exists only as several samples. Other times SureFire have been working on a concept for some time and development is quite well progressed. Making prototypes is one thing - they've often individually handmade and assembled. Transforming a concept into something that can be 'mass-produced' is a different proposition.

2) SureFire are a small company with limited production capability. And yet SureFire has high-demand for it's products. Production schedules are complicated and there are pressures that compete that mean SureFire cannot achieve all it aspires all at once.

So it's not possible to say that the LX1 prototypes they showed off were production-ready designs.

Another issue that has been the case is that advances mean that some products are 'leap-frogged' and that the emerging situation means some concepts really need to be revised with these advances. If a project such as the LX1 was top-priority then it would be released with the 'technology' and LED it was developed for so that it could be manufactured and sold. It's a bit like getting a new smartphone, if you don't jump in and just get one, you'll be continually waiting for the next new thing and not have one at all.

 

[pjandyho]

Al,

I believe that if Surefire want to showcase their products during SHOT, then it has to be products that are ready to go into production or already in production. Otherwise it is only fair that they should state that those items on show are in the conceptual and developmental stages. Nowhere in the YouTube videos did Surefire reps mention that these products are in the developmental stages and that it may or may not be produced. They leave others looking forward to the said products and when all the anticipation ran high they drop a bomb shell declaring that the product has been taken off their production list.

You said that Surefire is a small company but is this really true? All the while I have been with the impression that Surefire is the mother of all companies when illumination tools are concerned. Well at least their price point seems to say so. In my impression, Surefire is a corporation.

 

[Size15's]

The whole issue over SureFire showing off new things at SHOT Shows and either taking ages to release them, or never releasing them at all, is an issue I think CPF members are getting used to, but also SureFire are taking more seriously. Trade shows are about show-casing new things. What it comes down to is setting expectations and not over-promising or over-committing.

One way to characterise SureFire is that SureFire is a 'small company with big ideas'. SureFire has earned it's reputation as the leader in illumination tool invention, innovation, engineering and by doing what SureFire does - make the finest products for those putting themselves in harm's way.

From what I understand, the likes of Streamlight and Pelican, for example, are larger companies. I wouldn't be surprised if Fenix and Led Lenser are larger that SureFire too.

 

[pjandyho]

You are right. I have reached a point where I don't take Surefire seriously when they mentioned about a new product. Enough of anticipating a vaporware for me. Show me the real thing and I will bite.

 

[Size15's]

I'm like a broken record when I keep saying this but the best way is to share your expression of interest in a 'new' SureFire product with your friendly CPF-supporting SureFire Dealer, and they'll contact you only when they have one in stock ready to ship.
Until one can be shipped out to you the 'new product' may as well not exist.

To be fair to SureFire, they've been releasing new products ready to ship without any 'public' forewarning.
I've always found it strange that many CPF members seem to want both the insider-info (which means hearing about stuff that may never happen), and also want to be treated like consumers (which means being able to buy stuff). There is a very big difference and a lot of energy and angst seems wasted by those who just don't seem to get it, or have to be reminded over and over and over and over again. And again.

 

[Viper715]

Surefire as of 2007, 500+ Employees, annual profit of $75 Million. Per Wikipedia

Streamlight as of unknown date, 100-249 or 240 employees, annual profit of $20-$50 Million per Manta

Pelican current employees 1377,
2007 Revenue $151 Million-2010 Revenue $327 Million, per inc.com
Wiki list over 1500 employees worldwide. This includes all pelican products not just lighting i.e. cases