What's so great about Surefire?

LEDBE
2Reason

2Reason

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Jan 31, 2010
Messages
55
Location
Hendersonville, NC
I'm new here and have become badly addicted after a seemingly innocent purchase of a Streamlight Scorpion C4, and the subsequent discovery of this forum. Now my propensity for incessant research has been focused upon flashlights and beamshots. :huh:

It never occurred to me that flashlights had the addictive quality of crack, but now I'm constantly chasing the acquisition of more and better lights. :eek:

Within days an Olight M21, Thrunite Catapult, and Malkoff Drop-In for a D cell MagLite have all been acquired as must haves. Thanks to this forum I made some terrific choices. lovecpf

The search for discretionary money is relentless... I'm thinking of selling some of my handgun collection... :faint:

I did my income tax over the weekend in search of new found cash. I'm encouraging my wife to buy kitchen gadgets, so she can't complain about yet another flashlight. :devil:

But, I digress... What I've not yet come to understand is the passion for Surefires. They seem overpriced and underpowered (sorry for my ignorance) :confused:

So what am I missing with Surefire and will the acquisition of one result in an exponentiation of my addictive disorder? :rolleyes:
 
It's better if I don't explain and you see for yourself. Surefires have an almost magical quality to them where handling and owning a few will instantly make you jaded and addicted to their high quality lights. Even then while I love their lights not many of them are stock as they have been modded and accessorized because they are an excellent platform to build on. For instance I have a Nailbender module in my 6P, a Malkoff on my E2E, a Milky modded E1L and a soon to be Mule L1.
 
A bit of a warning... these kinds of threads tend to get heated, so just beware.

IMHO...

I like the finish, feel and heft of their designs. Theres just "something" about SF typeIII. They just feels so nice in the hand... same goes for the nitrolon cheaper models. I also think Jetbeam and nitecore typeIII is very nice.

I like to support a local business. With companies flocking out of the state of CA, I get a sens of satisfaction owning one along side my other brands.

I like being able to call them up and get replacement parts if I ever do break something.

The CPF marketplace is ALWAYS brimming with replacement parts and WTB posts. More-so than any other brand IMHO. I can take my surefires to local CPF meets and use them to barter and trade for other stuff.

I also like how 3rd party companies sell compatible parts, that have been designed specifically for SF compatibility.

There you go... some cheap lights along side my better ones.
dscn6175qkiz.jpg
 
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carrot said:
It's better if I don't explain and you see for yourself. Surefires have an almost magical quality to them where handling and owning a few will instantly make you jaded and addicted to their high quality lights. Even then while I love their lights not many of them are stock as they have been modded and accessorized because they are an excellent platform to build on. For instance I have a Nailbender module in my 6P, a Malkoff on my E2E, a Milky modded E1L and a soon to be Mule L1.
Click to expand...

Wow, you have whetted my appetite with a very cogent explanation.

And, thank you for your very comprehensive guide to high end flashlights. It has been especially helpful in my preliminary study and it serves as a constant reference. I highly recommend it:
http://sites.google.com/site/cpfcarrot/flashlight_guide#basic_terms
 
2Reason said:
Wow, you have whetted my appetite with a very cogent explanation.

And, thank you for your very comprehensive guide to high end flashlights. It has been especially helpful in my preliminary study and it serves as a constant reference. I highly recommend it:
http://sites.google.com/site/cpfcarrot/flashlight_guide#basic_terms
Click to expand...

That is very informative and useful, but I doubt the statement that type 2 HA is no harder than bare aluminium. Both type 2 HA and type 3 HA create a layer of alumina, a very hard oxide of aluminium. Type 3 HA has a much thicker layer and hence is more durable. Bare aluminium is incredibly easy to scratch (as is my titanium watch). As an aside, alumina will form naturally on freshly exposed aluminium (a bit like rust), forming a hard but very thin layer.
 
only surefires for me...either their LED models or 6p type fitted with a malkoff...no interest in any other brands...and i concur that there are other brands equal or better, but only surefires for me...
 
Alberta-Blue said:
Go buy a Surefire and find out...
Click to expand...

That's exactly it.

If you're shy about the price there are used ones in whatever condition you specify floating around @ the marketplace.

Which, by the way, I'm looking for a new black C2 body.
Man, those C2 bodies are so hard to come by!!
Christo_pull_hair.gif
 
There is no doubt that Surefire lights are not the cheapest ones out there so if you've never held or used one, it would be hard to justify the extra cash needed to purchase one. I don't have any Surefire products, but I have held them and they are very impressive. They just *feel* like a high quality product, more so than other brands of lights.

Also, in my previous line of work I designed trucks for the US Army and Marines. They went out to the front lines of Iraq and every once in a while I used to read reports from the soldiers that used our products as intended. I used to see photos in those reports of trucks that had come face to face with mines and IEDs. I remember seeing a photo of a flashlight in the dirt by a road in Iraq after it had either been dropped by a soldier riding in a blown up truck when the IED went off or had been inside the truck. I don't know if it worked, but it at least appeared complete and undamaged in the photo, except for the usual scratches and dings from combat. Guess what brand it was that survived a truck being blasted apart...

Surefire.

Not Fenix, Jetbeam, 4 Sevens, Nitecore or whatever "tactical" brand of flashlight that you see highly touted here in CPF. It was a Surefire.

Now, does any civilian *really* need a flashlight that has the durability to survive a mine blast that would incapacitate an RG33 MRAP 6x6? Probably not, but in order to make it through such an explosive event requires a very high quality product and that quality comes at a price. You can't see that quality though through table top reviews on Youtube or even in video reviews of guys running around in the mountains with their lights mounted on shotguns. If you see photos of one actually in combat that survived an IED blast, then you see the high quality more clearly.

Oh, and the six Marines inside the truck detailed in that particular report all lived. The driver had a few broken ribs from being thrust into the steering wheel from the blast, but that was the only serious injury. The RG33 was totaled, but it did its job perfectly.
 
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sfca said:
That's exactly it.

If you're shy about the price there are used ones in whatever condition you specify floating around @ the marketplace.

Which, by the way, I'm looking for a new black C2 body.
Man, those C2 bodies are so hard to come by!!
Christo_pull_hair.gif
Click to expand...


A little off topic... battery junction has the C2-BK for $90 shipped. Keep the body and part out the parts + 10 primaries on the marketplace.

Neck Lanyard = $12
Z41 = $20
Z44 = $20
P60 = ~$7
10x SF Primaries = $20

Actually maybe this is a little on topic, being that the resale value of SF parts is one of my main attractions.

:thumbsup:
 
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My SureFires have been to hell and back, and work better afterwards. Other brands I've tried didn't have as much luck.

There, now lets wait for the 98457 SureFire thread.
 
kramer5150 said:
A little off topic... battery junction has the C2-BK for $90 shipped. Keep the body and part out the parts + 10 primaries on the marketplace.

Z41 = $20
Z44 = $20
P60 = ~$7
10x SF Primaries = $20

Actually maybe this is a little on topic, being that the resale value of SF parts is one of my main attractions.

:thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Battery Station has a C2L for 99 :)
 
carrot said:
handling and owning a few will instantly make you jaded and addicted to their high quality lights. Even then while I love their lights not many of them are stock as they have been modded and accessorized because they are an excellent platform to build on. For instance I have a Nailbender module in my 6P, a Malkoff on my E2E, a Milky modded E1L and a soon to be Mule L1.
Click to expand...
I agree with carrot. I do like my SF's, but I've also spent a fair bit of $ on upgrades for them - Milky, Malkoff, McGizmo. I feel comfortable spending money to improve/customize the SF's as I have 100% confidence in them, moreso than on other lights.
 
Welcome to CPF!

Don't listen to those knuckleheads (tongue firmly planted in cheek)!

The stock incandescents are perfect!
 
i too wondered about the hype regding surefire lights, i saw on the marketplace that there was a G2 on sale so i picked it up and was very impressed with it, even though it was the cheapest surefire among them all. Friend of mine has a 6P but i seemed to like the feel of my G2 more.

Lost that G2 in a taxi and immediately surfed around and got another! That was how much i liked it, i replaced the bulb with a lumens factory HO-9 and am using 2xRCR123s in it and really like the light.

Then i wondered if this is what the cheapest model is like, how much better can the others be? Surfed around for close to a year and finally decided on a Surefire A2 Aviator incand/white leds as i read i can use it with RCR123s (primary CR123s are dreadfully expensive where i come from).

When the A2 finally arrived, i was floored, the fit, the finish, the FEEL of the Surefire in my hand, it was amazingly tough and felt bombproof. i replaced the stock bulb with a Lumens Factory HO-A2 and wow, the output on the LEDs alone is more than ample for most uses and there is the great incand beam for longer range purposes.

IMHO, the A2 is a great user light and is the ONLY light with a regulated incand bulb meaning that you get constant output all the way unlike other incands where the light will get dimmer as the batteries drain.

Don't listen to anyone here, get yourself a surefire and see the difference for yourself, the 6P is a great place to start, oodles of drop ins and lego options available.
 
I too wondered what all the Surefire hype was about.

At the local CPF meets, there is always a table full of Surefires that we get to hold and play with.

There's no real way to understand what Surefires are about until you get one in your hands.

I bought a G2 with an aluminum head from a CPF member at the last meet and it's a great light.
It's the lowest cost Surefire light from a $$$ perspective, but it's not a cheap light.
 
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