NEARLY Bought A Surge Today...

...on the web, even put it "in the cart" before I chickened out. Two things made me hold off:

1) I am also waiting, like probably most everyone else here, for a truly bright LED someday, mebbe the 5-watt LS by the end of the year?

2) And the main reason, I am truly confused by the different brightness ratings used between different flashlights.

I have or had a couple of other bright lights already, like the SF P6, the TAC MIII, a couple of Pelicans (and the Hubbel 3003), a 4D MagLite with the RS xenon bulb, a Poly Stinger -- I know the PT Surge is supposed to be bright, but it has a Halogen bulb? I thought Xenons were brighter. Also, it is rated at like 7.5 watts? Yet some other lights are rated at less wattage, but seem to boast incredible candlepower and/or lumen measurements. How does a relative newbie like myself compare different lights, it all seems like so much apples 'n oranges.

Any help from the collective wisdom on this great board would be appreciated. I sure am glad I found this place (posted a few times on the led forum already).

And I will most surely still buy another incandescent flashlight even if the new leds are really bright. That's because I am, after all

a Flashoholic...

I was impressed with the Surge.
It was about as bright as a SureFire P61/P90.
This was based on a quick comparison at the SHOT Show 02.
No idea how it compares in the dark, or at longer range...

Al

You need to have a surge!Very close to a G2 with p61.Infact I did side by side testing and the surge reached farther than G2.The surge beam is ajust. to some degree but not like say a mag.Very bright white,good runtime,cheap to replace batteries,waterproof,easy to use one handed switch.Also beam is much smoother than mag without writerite.You may consider a tec40 with rechar. batts and 3cell bulb,should get about a hour runtime with this setup.

I found I was wanting for more textured or grip on the body as it felt kinda slippery.

I believe my Dealer is getting me one. This will replace a StealthLite for a lending out to my brother etc

Al

Hi Ryan and Size15,

I see I'm not the only one up at this hour -- then again Size15 is in England so I guess it's -- daytime there in Europe?

Yeah, I did a search and read up on the Surge, and then in fact ordered one Just Now -- from BrightGuy, like almost everyone recommended.

And then this panic buying attack suddently hit me and...I then went to Crawford Tool and ordered a Legend LX, too! Oh Nooooo...got to rush to the mailbox daily now, to intercept and hide the credit card bills from the wife...(actually I've been thinking about buying a light meter as well. When does this all end?).

Good Moring MR BULK

You'll not be disappointed with the SURGE, it is an excellent light. Even though it is only a 6 volt light, 4AA batteries in parallel with a second set of 4 4AA batts it is birghter than any of the popular 2X123 configuration light

Very non-scientific measurment of the brightness of a Surge...it lights up the whole side of the house ascross the street (150 ft) bright enough that you can see the colors of the brick! I got the yellow color body...boy is it a BRIGHT yellow!!!!!

Mr Bulk.....understand entirely! Someone asked me recently how many flashlights I had....total came to about 18!

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Roy:
Mr Bulk.....understand entirely! Someone asked me recently how many flashlights I had....total came to about 18!

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


Whoops, I better get going then, I don't have nearly as many lights.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Roy:
Mr Bulk.....understand entirely! Someone asked me recently how many flashlights I had....total came to about 18!

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

ONLY 18? You must not be a true flash-a-holic. I'd be scared to count mine, then I'd have to admit I have a problem.

Less than thirty functional flashlights... you are probally only in the early stages of addiction... perhaps someone will discover a cure before it's too late. But then again, there are probally more expensive things to be addicted to!

I guess I should consider myself fortunate, since with the Vector 1M CP rechargeable spotlight I just bought at Costco for $17+ (and charging up right now), I'm "only" at 17 lights.

I was "into" airguns for quite a while, gradually succumbing to the dreaded "airgunitis" (yes we even had a name for it) over a couple of years where it reached the point of dropping anywhere from $500-$1200 for an upper end gun.

Then I got into racing Mustangs -- had four of'em at one time, not older cheaper models either (2000 GT auto, 1999 GT stick, 1999 Cobra, and 1993 LX auto), and this was back in 2000 so most of these were newer cars.

THEN I got into my old but lifelong hobby of musicmaking, or more aptly, songwriting. At least this was something in which a person could hopefully achieve a payoff eventually, and as of right now I do have several songs signed to contracts (two on Gwen Howard's debut jazz CD coming out near the end of this year, plus a few publishing contracts -- meaning they are trying to place them with artists). But being able to do this meant investing in a couple of $1000+ electronic keyboards, a digital recorder, all the mics, cables, effects boards, computer interfaces, etc., needed for the home studio.

Of course all these hobbies necessitated selling off the old to afford the new -- but hey, we'll all be in the same place one day, and when I'm old and on my death bed, I don't ever want to say, "I wish I had tried this or that..." -- know what I mean?

Light the world...

Hay TedBear and Roy (as opposed to, "Sigfreid and Roy"?),

Thanks for all the encouragement on the Surge, so I ordered the dang thing! This was last night, along with a Legend LX, plus a couple of other lights already on their way from earlier orders -- I just pray for a big power outage now to justify all this stuff.