Done with Surefire.

Lets break this down. What is a flashlight (or torch for those on the otherside of the pond)?

1. A metal tube
2. A lamp assembly
3. A power supply

I have 8 or 10 surefires now. I will be selling some off. While I will compare owning a Surefire to driving a Mercedes, there are other vehicles that perform just as well.

I have come to realize that a 1. Metal tube is just a metal tube.
2. I no longer feel like SF has the market cornered on lamps. Not with the GP, DigiLight out. I have digilight bulbs that make my SF's look sickly yellow.
3. While they do have good batterries the recent price increase does not put them at the top any longer. Titanium is a very acceptable subsitute.

I am finding that I use parts like tailcaps from Digilight because they work better. So why would I continue to pay more for the same thing. The new manufactures are doing a very good job with glass lens, whiter bulbs, good tailcaps, and reasonable water resistance with the O rings.

Digilight, Ultrafire, G&P, and Coast just to mention a few. I have found that while I EDC my Surefires in BOB, I don't edc in pocket because of the cost. It seems to make more sense to edc a light the performs just as well, is as well made, and cost 1/3 the price.

Anyone else feel like this or is it just me?

Bravo25 said:

While I will compare owning a Surefire to driving a Mercedes,

Click to expand...

if you look at the silly prices from the point of view of a common user it´s a Porsche!

lamperich said:

if you look at the silly prices from the point of view of a common user it´s a Porsche!

Click to expand...

make that ferrari! LOL

I'd have to say yes, Surefire is still king... at least for me. I want to have a McLuxIII-PD, but I wouldn't EDC it like I would a Surefire -- a Surefire is replaceable, but a McGizmo light, once Don stops building them, is not. (I do plan on owning a McLuxIII-PD some day.) With Surefire, as a commercial entity, you are assured that even if they discontinue a light, you will find a replacement that is close enough. On top of that, Surefire makes proven reliable lights that you can be sure will work, every time (I'm not talking about their more complicated models, like the U2). And just like owning a Mercedes, there is something special about owning a Surefire. It's a Surefire.

Yes, a commercial entity.

I love my hds light, but I know that it's tied to Henry's life.

So, even with their warts, I still vote SF at the "overall" top.

Either them or mag that is.

carrot said:

I'd have to say yes, Surefire is still king... at least for me. I want to have a McLuxIII-PD, but I wouldn't EDC it like I would a Surefire -- a Surefire is replaceable, but a McGizmo light, once Don stops building them, is not. (I do plan on owning a McLuxIII-PD some day.) With Surefire, as a commercial entity, you are assured that even if they discontinue a light, you will find a replacement that is close enough. On top of that, Surefire makes proven reliable lights that you can be sure will work, every time (I'm not talking about their more complicated models, like the U2). And just like owning a Mercedes, there is something special about owning a Surefire. It's a Surefire.

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Eventhough Surefire has the lifetime warranty, Don has the WORD. I feel good that he would make anything worng with my Pds right. He is a good man.

@ fire

good point

if you are looking forward to a TOOL with service like lifetime warranty
a higher price is ok.

civilian (like me) that never heard about surefire (before Cpf) and first see the price like M serie do this here:

but ok ok there is also g serie. ;-)

I'd say Surefire is still king, at least from a business perspective. What other company can sell $200-300 flashlights that are defective out of the box and keep folks coming back for more?

Bravo25 said:

Lets break this down. What is a flashlight (or torch for those on the otherside of the pond)?

1. A metal tube
2. A lamp assembly
3. A power supply

I have 8 or 10 surefires now. I will be selling some off. While I will compare owning a Surefire to driving a Mercedes, there are other vehicles that perform just as well.

I have come to realize that a 1. Metal tube is just a metal tube.
2. I no longer feel like SF has the market cornered on lamps. Not with the GP, DigiLight out. I have digilight bulbs that make my SF's look sickly yellow.
3. While they do have good batterries the recent price increase does not put them at the top any longer. Titanium is a very acceptable subsitute.

I am finding that I use parts like tailcaps from Digilight because they work better. So why would I continue to pay more for the same thing. The new manufactures are doing a very good job with glass lens, whiter bulbs, good tailcaps, and reasonable water resistance with the O rings.

Digilight, Ultrafire, G&P, and Coast just to mention a few. I have found that while I EDC my Surefires in BOB, I don't edc in pocket because of the cost. It seems to make more sense to edc a light the performs just as well, is as well made, and cost 1/3 the price.

Anyone else feel like this or is it just me?

Click to expand...

would you reccomend the digilite? Because I am this close to buying the TLX.

-David

would you reccomend the digilite? Because I am this close to buying the TLX.

Click to expand...

Ask me in a week. I just ordered a complete light. I have used their tailcap on my 6P, and I like it better than SF. I also think the bulb is much whiter than SF offers with just as much beam quality.

I voted yes. Surfire is still KING. Are they the only game in town? Nope not at all I have other less expensive and a few more expensive or close to the premeium Surefire commands. Surefire has a wide range of lights that have 1 thing in common...Lifetime warranty.. Lifetime is a long time. I think I have 20 or so Surefires so I am a fan but I got lots of other lights and none of them offer lifetime warranty; untill others do Surefire will always hold the advantage. Just my thoughts not trying to step on toes.
Topper

Bravo25 said:

Ask me in a week. I just ordered a complete light. I have used their tailcap on my 6P, and I like it better than SF. I also think the bulb is much whiter than SF offers with just as much beam quality.

Click to expand...

Oh... you ordered the TLX?? Hmm... do you have any other well known lights that you could compare it to? (that way I can have a rough idea of how bright it is)

-David

I love my SFs C3, G2. That PILA light looks VERY interesting. My C3 can crank out 200 lumens, G2 120 lumens:rock: There is a PILA that has 500 lumen capability on rechargable batteries

I still need to get an A2 as well as a SF LED

I am not done with surefire, i dont own one yet, but you'll see, they'll come out with a great light in the next few months, and you wont even see it coming

-David

The reason that SF is king is because they correct their mistakes. Do they have some things to work on right now? yup they sure do, but at least they fix their mistakes.

I got my U2 today and was so afraid that I would be one of the unlucky to have the clicky problems (only had it one day ), bad tint, or big donut hole. Luckily I won the lottery and am one very happy SF owner. I only own the A2 and U2 but know that when I look for another light SF will be the first place I go.

Yes there are other lights that are as good, but none that are better in my opinion. For me looks play a large role in the light, and not only does SF have amazing tools, but they're all very esthetic.

Not done through with SureFire on my end here. . .Still purchase them every chance I get despite the fact that I already own several of the same models.

I still like them. My SF M6 is still the one to beat in terms of a bullet-proof design and a light I know will work when I need it to work - no excuses. This is why I feel that although you can build a brighter light on a "D" size M*g host, it is not as robust and well engineered as my M6

And to further clarify, I don't have anything against the fantastic lights based on the M*g platform - I love the FM 700L 1.5D Host - fantastic!

Will

I currently use my SF M6 and U2. Those are my go to lights and they only accept SF 123's (will be switching the U2 over to a 18650 soon.)

Due to the SF battery prices going up; I am using my Tigerlights more and more.

I don't know of anyone else that makes a handguard system with 6 X CR123 cell light mounted on it for the M16 rifle. So $650.00 seems reasonable.

I definitely understand your concerns - Surefires are expensive when you view them only as the sum of their parts. You could piece together an *excellent* flashlight for much less by using other companies' bulbs and bodies, or have a modder build you a brighter/smaller/etc. flashlight.

However, I think the value in Surefire is its almost assured infallibility; if I was in an emergency and could have only one flashlight that absolutely *had* to work, I'd reach for a Surefire without hesitation. They machine each part carefully and test their products exhaustively. I know that with a Surefire, I'll get a high-quality flashlight that's more likely to work than almost any other brand, and will provide a powerful, uniform brightness in a tiny form factor. It's great to save money by building a custom flashlight, but for my "go to" light I have have no problem paying more to get the experience and guarantee of a company like Surefire.

And darn it, they look good, too. =)

That said, the "emergency" argument's really only a reason to buy only one or two Surefires. After you own those, you could definitely find other flashlights with the same capabilities as a Surefire - but cost a lot less.

Surefires are incredible torches, and I've never regretted a SF purchase - they're just great flashlights. However, there are lots of other options out there that have 90% of the quality for 50% of the cost. In that respect, I completely agree with you: once you own a single Surefire, you can easily be "done" with them.

The thing that makes me a Surefire fan, is the modularity, I love swapping all the parts around.

It probably took boldness and commercial courage to base the original P-series on a whole Lamp Assembly, much more expensive, but it fixes a boat-load of problems in one go.

I too like my G&P versions of the 9V lamp, but let's face it, it's not an original design, just a slightly improved copy.
The KL4 5W LED head is another example that's hard to beat, my favorite flood-light.

The current shape of Surefire combat lights is still leading the world too, love that skinny bit in the middle, makes a lot of sense.

Customer service to me has been excellent, replacement parts sent without any cost, accessible on the phone, what more do you want?