Surefire Kroma, good or bad idea?

First time posting here, been reading for a short while, but just recently decided to join. I just purchased a Surefire Kroma from the Surefire website. I'm an EMT, as well as a gadget freak, and have been needing a good light for some time now. I thought it had all very useful features, including a low white light for checking pupils and etc, bright white for general purpose, red for preserving night vision, and blue for looking for traces of blood. I thought it was a bit much for a flashlight, but from what I've heard, its not a complete waist.

Are there any other options I should consider before its too late to go back on the Kroma? I don't really know too many other high end light brands (I usually just use a Maglight) so I had a somewhat hard time shopping around.

Also, are there any options as to a Surefire holster and rechargeable batteries for this light? I took a look on the site and I didn't see any that were "approved" for the light, but I figured there must be at least one. Thanks.

You can use a 17670 in it. The light won't regulate, but you'll get two hours of slowly dimming output on high white.

Another to at least consider is the Streamlight Sidewinder, which will be out next month. It's not as bright, but it has a 1/2watt white (behind an optic) and red, blue and green 5mm - we assume - LEDs, all four with four brightness settings (5, 20, 50, 100%). It uses 2xAA side-by-side, so it's compact. The head is on a 90degree swivel.
http://flashlightnews.org/story829.shtml

The multi-colored multi-LED setup is truly a useful feature. I've put my Kroma into my ever changing EDC setup.

WELCOME to CPF.

From what you describe the intended use to be, the Kroma seems like a
very nice fit. You will make use of all the Kroma has to offer.

For the average person, the Kroma is a bit large for EDC. For professionals
like yourself, l wouldn't worry one bit about the size. It will fit perfectly into
a side pant pocket.

If you are after a holster, IMO the ONLY option is to have John Willis custom
make one to your specifications. John is the best in the industry for tactical
gear. Do a search and you'll find all you need to know to get in contact with
John.

As far as rechargeables go, I'm the wrong man to ask. I sold the last of my
SF rechargeable lights (9N's) and now use only Surefire OEM 123 cells in all
my SF lights.

If it's not to late, I'd highly recommend you get the Krom from the great folks
over at OpticsHQ.com. Top notch in EVERY WAY and it will save you around
$70.00.

Good luck and nice to have you aboard.

Happy Torching!

Thanks for all the replies so far. As for the holster, I was looking for something along the lines of the one shown here:

http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=166468

Would this need to be made or is there one that I can just pick up pre-fabricated?

seery said:

If it's not to late, I'd highly recommend you get the Krom from the great folks
over at OpticsHQ.com. Top notch in EVERY WAY and it will save you around
$70.00.

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Camhabib, welcome to CPF. While it used to be true that OpticsHQ had great deals on Surefire, now they have to sell them at MSRP. I just double checked this. The prices are the same logged on or not. They are the same prices listed at Surefire.com. You might think that this is illegal, but it is not. This week the Supreme Court overturned a nearly century old rule of anti trust law against retail price fixing. To some extent, we may have to say goodbye to brand name discounts.

Surefire does make hight quality flashlights, but LEDs have made a huge jump in efficiency and brightness. Surefire has not yet put these new LEDs in their flashlights. They have announced that they are going upgrade the flashlights in the 2007 edition. They said they are not even going to raise the price when they upgrade them. If you are going to spend $ 300 on a flashlight ,you should not have to settle for out of date LED technology.

Art Vandelay said:

Camhabib, welcome to CPF. While it used to be true that OpticsHQ had great deals on Surefire, now they have to sell them at MSRP. I just double checked this. The prices are the same logged on or not. They are the same prices listed at Surefire.com. You might think that this is illegal, but it is not. This week the Supreme Court overturned a nearly century old rule of anti trust law against retail price fixing. To some extent, we may have to say goodbye to brand name discounts.

Surefire does make hight quality flashlights, but LEDs have made a huge jump in efficiency and brightness. Surefire has not yet put these new LEDs in their flashlights. They have announced that they are going upgrade the flashlights in the 2007 edition. They said they are not even going to raise the price when they upgrade them. If you are going to spend $ 300 on a flashlight ,you should not have to settle for out of date LED technology.

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Does anyone know when these new versions will be available?

I don't know when they will be shipped. I would assume they would be shipped in 2007 because they are in the 2007 catalog.

If you like Surefires, you might consider an A2 or an E2E. Some people prefer the brightness an long runtimes of the new Cree \ Seoul LEDs to incans. I can understand that. However, incans do have a few advantages over LEDs. One advantage is is that skin tones of fair skinned people are more accurate with incans than with the LEDs. With the LEDs, it will be much harder to tell if someone is not getting enough oxygen by looking at them.

Art Vandelay said:

Camhabib, welcome to CPF. While it used to be true that OpticsHQ had great deals on Surefire, now they have to sell them at MSRP. I just double checked this. The prices are the same logged on or not. They are the same prices listed at Surefire.com. You might think that this is illegal, but it is not. This week the Supreme Court overturned a nearly century old rule of anti trust law against retail price fixing. To some extent, we may have to say goodbye to brand name discounts.

Surefire does make hight quality flashlights, but LEDs have made a huge jump in efficiency and brightness. Surefire has not yet put these new LEDs in their flashlights. They have announced that they are going upgrade the flashlights in the 2007 edition. They said they are not even going to raise the price when they upgrade them. If you are going to spend $ 300 on a flashlight ,you should not have to settle for out of date LED technology.

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opticshq lists the MSRP prices on their site, but if you contact them they will tell you otherwise. browse around on these forums the find out how.

and where did you hear they are updating their lights? i've only heard about a select few; the L5, L1, E1L, and E2L. the rest won't get updated for at least a while.

So does anyone know if the Kroma is up for an Cree upgrade?

Edit: Just what I have heard, upgrade for a few models, not the Kroma however.

Patrik said:

So does anyone know if the Kroma is up for an Cree upgrade?

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Not this year. There has yet to even be an announcement about an upgrade on the Kroma.

Honestly, I used the Kroma in store, and outdated or not, I was very impressed with its performance in the few minutes I played with it. I would have bought it right there but they were out of stock.

My main concern right now is just finding accessories for it (holster + rechargeable batteries if possible).

camhabib said:

Honestly, I used the Kroma in store, and outdated or not, I was very impressed with its performance in the few minutes I played with it. I would have bought it right there but they were out of stock.

My main concern right now is just finding accessories for it (holster + rechargeable batteries if possible).

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isn't it about the same as the U2 in outer dimensions? should be easy to find a holster then.
and you could always use 3.0v RCR123's, they might not be perfect, but they work. as long as you don't use high currents like with incan's, you should be okay. or maybe the protection circuit can even manage 3.7v batteries, but i suspect you might have difficulty finding someone willing to risk trying to see if it destroys it or not with a $300 light.

Welcome aboard CPF, Kroma is a good all around EDC light, I work on machinery and it spots trouble quick, I share my work duties between my E2L and my K2=MS.

defusion said:

isn't it about the same as the U2 in outer dimensions? should be easy to find a holster then.
and you could always use 3.0v RCR123's, they might not be perfect, but they work. as long as you don't use high currents like with incan's, you should be okay. or maybe the protection circuit can even manage 3.7v batteries, but i suspect you might have difficulty finding someone willing to risk trying to see if it destroys it or not with a $300 light.

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I just checked the pictures and it looks like it is. They recommended the V91 holster for the U2; anyone have any experience with the Kroma and the V91?

As for the batteries, I don't think I'd like to risk it. It sounds like the rechargeable batteries might blow the circuits on the light, and I can't really afford to have that happen out on the field when I'm really dependent on my equipment working 100%.

SureFire are preparing to release updated versions of the E1L, E2L and L1.
They have also confirmed they are going to release LED versions of the G2 and 6P - the G2L and 6PL.

They were planning to updated the L5 but this has been put on indefinite hold.

They have not shared any plans to update any other flashlights. The next we'll likely here of new new products is SHOT Show 2008.

The Kroma bezel diameter is the same as the U2, M2, L5 at 1.47".
However, the Kroma bezel is shorter than the U2 bezel (but the Kroma two-stage push button pressure switch TailCap is a bit longer than the U2's push button pressure click switch TailCap. Overall its about 15mm shorter.

Size15's said:

The Kroma bezel diameter is the same as the U2, M2, L5 at 1.47".
However, the Kroma bezel is shorter than the U2 bezel (but the Kroma two-stage push button pressure switch TailCap is a bit longer than the U2's push button pressure click switch TailCap. Overall its about 15mm shorter.

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So any holster that fits a U2 should fit the Kroma?

Anyone have directions on how to remove the clip from the barrel?

camhabib said:

So any holster that fits a U2 should fit the Kroma?

Anyone have directions on how to remove the clip from the barrel?

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I don't see why it shouldn't.

To remove the PocketClip you ease the black plastic clip cover off towards the TailCap end of the body and the clip can be removed.

I'm not at home so I don't have access to either one of my U2s, a Kroma or a SureFire U2 holster.

I have a Ripoffs holster - no idea which one to tell you, though - and yeah, it fits both the Kroma and U2.