New guy, first post, bear with me...

Hi fellas,
I stumbled onto this forum after getting a Surefire as a gift. I had no idea that there was so much activity in the flashlight world! I have a LONG way to go on my learning curve, I have been looking at this site and Surefires also, going from one site to the other trying to figure what everybody is talking about.

In doing this I have come up with a couple of questions, first off I have a question about the following paragraph from Surfires site.

Lamp assembly/Runtime - SureFire MN02 lamp assembly with 25 lumens output and 2.5 hours runtime, also accepts optional MN03 xenon gas-filled lamp assembly with 60 lumens output and 75 minutes runtime.
When they mention 2.5 hours and 75 minutes runtime does that mean that's how long the batteries will last if it's in constant use or is that the projected life of the bulbs?

How fragile are the bulbs? I realize that it relative to how rough you treat it but in general if it's on and you drop it is the bulb likely to fail? How much better/worse are the LED lights? I know that they draw less power and the batteries last longer and they are generally brighter, are there other benefits that I haven't covered or don't know about?

Thanks for your patience and assistance, and I promise to see if there is a search feature before posting inane questions the next time. (I didn't think of looking for a search feature until I was mostly done typing this post, sorry!)

Mouse

mousezilla,

Welcome to CPF, hope you don't mind an ever thinning wallet. You'll find that happens mysteriously after you've been here a while.

Quick and dirty on your questions:

When they mention 2.5 hours and 75 minutes runtime does that mean that's how long the batteries will last if it's in constant use or is that the projected life of the bulbs?

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Constant runtime not the life of the bulb.

How fragile are the bulbs? I realize that it relative to how rough you treat it but in general if it's on and you drop it is the bulb likely to fail? How much better/worse are the LED lights? I know that they draw less power and the batteries last longer and they are generally brighter, are there other benefits that I haven't covered or don't know about?

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Not terribly fragile but depends on your use, some lights have shock isolated bezels to help but it looks as if you are looking at the E2E light. I've got several and have yet to blow a bulb but I don't really beat them either. Surefire has a LED head for that light that is brighter and runs longer than the MN02 IIRC. It makes a good match with the standard bulb, you can swap depending on what you need.

Others will likely chime in as well but that's the basics. Also like your handle, paints an interesting picture.
-LT

mousezilla said:

Hi fellas,
I have a LONG way to go on my learning curve

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And, as anyone here will tell you, an EXPENSIVE way to go.

mousezilla said:

When they mention 2.5 hours and 75 minutes runtime does that mean that's how long the batteries will last if it's in constant use or is that the projected life of the bulbs?

Click to expand...

How long the batteries last.

mousezilla said:

How fragile are the bulbs? I realize that it relative to how rough you treat it but in general if it's on and you drop it is the bulb likely to fail?

Click to expand...

Kind of depends on whether you drop it in the dirt or onto concrete. SF bulbs are fairly sturdy, but, like any incandescant bulb, they have a filament which is subject to damage with enough shock.

mousezilla said:

How much better/worse are the LED lights?

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LEDs aren't better or worse - they are just different. They are more efficient and not subject to breakage like incandesants, but you are certainly not going to light up a football field with one.

Greetings Mousezilla. There's a lot to know about lights - 90% of it I never thought of before joining the CPF.

Have fun, take notes...different lights and batteries for different jobs. Later!

Both led and incan lights have their pros & cons.

I recently acquired a Surefire A2 love it. The A2 offers a little of both worlds from the best company in the biz.

I'm still an amature so I will leave the rest to the experts here.

I would like to say welcome to CPF, And also ask what Surefire did you receive as a gift??

Welcome to CPF and congrats on your SureFire "gift"! You will not be disappointed in it because it only gets better the longer you linger around here.

As the others here have already stated regarding the SureFire E2e (I'm assuming that this is what you got as gift?) lamp assembly, they're built for what it was intended for.

Enjoy!

Gentlemen,

Thanks for the quick responses and all of the info, I'm looking at a few of the SF lights trying to determine what would be the most servicable for my needs.
I recieved as a gift a "G2Z Nitrolon in OD", I'm giving a hard look at the "E2O Outdoorsman" also, although I'm intrigued with the LED options.
Decisions decisions.......

Mouse

Greetings, everyone here has been very helpful in the short time I have been here. Be prepared to find yourself wanting to try every light you hear about in every post, a dangerous thing, lol. Almost as bad as a watch forum I visit, thank god flashlights are not as expensive as watches.

Your name reminds me of the old Battle Bots robot shows, I loved watching them and wish they were still on, it was fun to watch.