Anyone any experience of the SF 8NX?

Has anyone had a SF 8NX for a while? If so what do you think about it? Is it tough, How long does the battery life (after a charge) really last as compared to the 50 minutes of claimed useful life SF quote? How long in your experience do the bulbs usually last?
Any input would be appreciated as I'm thinking of getting one!

Regards

Doug

I've had mine a week now (from http://www.texastacticalsupply.com aka TTS) and so can only comment briefly.

I was shocked that the first full charge only lasted a few minutes; I mean two or three minutes at the most. The lamp dimmed and went out suddenly during my first real use, watching the dogs in the yard. How sad. But instead of calling TTS or SureFire, I put the battery back in the charger and let the red light change to green after a few hours. That same battery is in the lamp now and seems completely different. I have yet to use the thing for an entire hour, but there seems to be nothing wrong now. Somehow that first charge (yes, I did charge it before ever using it) was the only failure.

My comparison lights are E2, E1, 5D Mag, Scorpion, and 2MM candlepower LSI. Let's ignore the LSI, okay? The 8NX casts a very usable beam, with a decently defined hotspot
at 35 meters. You could use it to locate an animal in a large oak tree at 100 feet with the entire tree illuminated but the 10 foot animal area more brightly lit.

As a field search tool, for a missing child or dog or whatever, this would be more useful than even that big (50 watt?) LSI. The beam is wide enough to illuminate the periphery while the center spot is excellent.

Again, remember what I'm comparing this to. The M3 and it's ilk might be much better, but this 8NX is surely the best that I own.

Or, briefly, "I like it".

Personally, I like mine. The runtime appears adequate. I had a problem with my first set of batts and they replaced them. Now, I have what I think is another batt problem. I've read where others have also had batt problems. I'm sure they will replace my bad batt because their service is excellent.

I haven't had mine long, but I pretty much agree with Marc. My Ultra Stinger is a much better "reach out there" light; my M3 or 12P is much brighter; but I see the 8NX as being an excellent everyday utility light. It will probably be the one I use the most. I was going to get a Stinger, but ran accross someone on the SF board selling the 8NX at a price I couldn't refuse. I think the Stinger would be a good choice for a daily utility light also. TX

I have had the 8NX for about 6 months now. This is not the kind of light you can let sit for a week and pick it up to expect full batteries. You have to put in a fresh battery if it has been sitting for a while. When I first got it I used the light until the light dimmed, but it was not all in one sitting so I can't comment on the complete run time in the beginning. I did this a few times to "condition" the batteries. After that I used it daily at work (soundguy) and it got lots of use. I never left it on for more than a couple of minuets at a time and almost always put in a fresh battery every day. It's a tough light, although I have never dropped it on a hard surface it has been dropped from the top of my 5 foot dresser to thinly padded carpet several times by my cat and has suffered no damage to the lamp. Also carrying it on my belt in the surefire nylon holster it has been hit, scraped, and knocked around a good bit by out of control heavy rolling road cases ( some with enough force to knock me on my butt ) and no damage to the light. Recently I have used it for some work in the attic and had to leave it on continuously. It only lasted about 30-35 min before it got noticeably dimmer. I don't know if this is from not continuously running the battery down or a bad battery. Even with the shorter runtime it lasts at least a days worth of usage for me. Lately I have been carrying a smaller 2 cell lithium light because the 8NX is a bit too big and heavy when added to all the other things that are on my belt at work (multitool, cell phone, crescent wrench, gloves, etc...) And also the lithium batts will not discharge until used. The 8NX is now my around the house, and "what's that noise outside" light.

Just enter 8nx in the search field (search link found at the top of this page) with "General flashlight and headlamp discussion" and "subject only" selected and you will get several other threads on this subject.