Your first Surefire....

Monocrom

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Aug 27, 2006
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NYC
Tell us about your very first Surefire. Have you still got the light? Why did you buy that particular model? And any fond memories of said light.

Mine was the C2 model. Just seemed a more comfortable fit in my hand than the 6P or Z2. Wore it while taking a refresher course in firearms training last year. Ironically, it doesn't feel too big or heavy, clipped to the top of a pair of dress pants. Still have it.... Not likely to ever part with it. It was also one of the very first lights I bought after becoming a flashaholic.
 

TJx

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Joined
Oct 25, 2007
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143
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Northern KY
1st is on the way!
After 4 Fenix's, I have a Outdoorsman E2L (latest version) enroute.
I researched them all and this one seemed to to have a good compromise with runtime and output.
 

Chuck289

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Joined
Sep 22, 2006
Messages
243
Location
California
I only started my interest in flashlights about 1.5 years ago. First I had my Fenix L2T which I thought was amazingly bright. After that I bought my first Surefire, a G2, and that blew me away. I thought the throw was amazing. I was like "OMG this is like a car headlight!!" I now know that was just the beginning.
I still have it, its survived a lot.
 

flash_bang

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Nov 8, 2006
Messages
720
First surefire was a G2 I got last November. Very awesome light. I luv the little thing! Need to get a new LA since the one I have burned out. And I might upgrade to the 6PL or G3L or E2L if I can spend more than the 17 bucks on the new LA.
And yeah, I pretty much S#$* my pants when I lit the G2 up in the dark. Pretty much amazing to me, after dealing with my Mag solitaire all the time, lol.

HAGO,
Flash
 

mikehill

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Sep 21, 2003
Messages
221
Location
UK
L4 was my first ... as a poster above has said, I had only been used to Mags before. I was shocked for days after first lighting it :faint: Still regret selling it to be honest :(
 

ugrey

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Sep 13, 2003
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Dixie
Well, I had been interested in SF 6Ps since about 1993. But they seemed kind of expensive and the $4 to $5 each for the batteries was the deal breaker. I always said, "someday". So, in 2003 a Cabela's catalog showed up in the mail. The G2 was $36 and the price of batteries had been slashed to $1.25 each. Someday had arrived. On a monday I went to my local, favorite gun shop, but they were closed. I had forgotten they are always closed on monday. I was VERY disappointed. OK, so I would go back on tuesday. Tuesday morning about 6:15 AM a freak wind storm came through our city of nearly one million. Almost the whole city was out of power for 4 to 20 days. I had no power for 13 days. I wished I had that G2 every day and, especially, night of those 2 weeks. As soon as my power was restored, the first trip outside my neighborhood was to aquire a G2. As you can see from my list of lights, I will never ever, be without a SF again.
 

hanzo

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Joined
Sep 8, 2006
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61
The L2 was my first, followed by several G2's. I got the L2 because I wanted to be able to have a lower light setting and longer battery life than one hour, yet have the bright mode when I need it.

I ended up tossing the L2 in my daily EDC bag while I use the G2 with a Petzl Tikka XP for outdoor use. I just upgraded my G2 with the bugoutgear premium Q5 drop-in. Man that is bright!!

On my next camping trip, I will compare the G2 incandescent with the G2 with premium Q5 outside where it counts.
 

Crenshaw

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Joined
Sep 14, 2007
Messages
4,308
Location
Singapore
My first surefire was my G2Z, which is still my only surefire :(
on the bright side (ahem) it works as well as 2nd day after i got it

on the first day, i got it, i bought the p61 immediatly with it, got the whole outfit for SGD$204 (roughly US$145). First thing that happend was that the p61 blew, right out of the packet. Of course i was still at the shop, so the guy gave me another one. Then after i left, i discovered that the twistie didnt work. So the next day i brought it back to the shop, and they gave me the tailcap off a g2, cos they didnt have any g2z left.

Other then the initital failure, my only complaint it the low runtime, 20 mins! but other then that, cant ask for a better light..

Crenshaw
 

Valolammas

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Jul 1, 2006
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62.2ºN, 25.7ºE
My first Surefire was the A2. In fact, it's still my only SF. I wanted to try an expensive high-end light and the A2 was (and still is) well liked here, so it seemed like a good choice. I found one for sale at a pretty decent price, so I bought it.

To tell the truth, I wasn't particularly impressed at first. Yeah, it was bright, but not OMG! bright. The LED beam also seemed dim, it's about the same brightness as an Arc AAA-P even though it uses three LEDs. But after a while, it started to grow on me, and now I like my A2 and I'm glad I have one. It's a special light.
 

MarNav1

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Joined
Mar 27, 2006
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3,192
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Nebraska
E1L Lux Version. First time I saw it in the Surefire catalog I HAD to have it! Then I bought a beamshaper for it. Later after I was on CPF for awhile I contacted Milky for a mod. Now it has an IMS 20 Seoul w 50/500 piglet and Nekomane tail. Still have it, great light!
 

FlashSpyJ

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Jan 6, 2007
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910
Location
Sweden
My first was the L4. I bought it since I wanted a floody light. I got the tip from you guys to buy it! Still have it, dont actually use it much though, but it still makes me smile whenever I do! Not many of the new led lights I have can match it, even with their slightly greater output. The only thing I can say I dont like about it is that it gets really hot, hot like burn of your skin almost.. :)

And the runtime could be better, but I dont use that much anyway..
 

yaesumofo

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Jul 21, 2003
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Eastern Pacific, LAX DM03 sw actual
My first SureFire is a Green 6P. I run it with a P61 globe. It lives on my work belt and I still own it and use it after many years.

The 6P is a great flashlight.
I now own MANY surefires.
They are all great.
Yaesumofo
 

quokked

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Joined
Sep 20, 2005
Messages
498
E2e-SG I got it in HK when i knew about surefires.

Oddly enough my Aunt's Power went out that same night and the flashlight was damn handy. :)

Now I've got a few in my collection by my E2e-SG will always be my first surefire.
 

PhantomPhoton

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Jan 15, 2007
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3,116
Location
NV
Surefire 6P Laser Products Fountain Valley, CA
It is moderately used, still works very well for my Cree Dropins. Bought it from Law Enforcement Equipment Distribution (local LEO Brick and Mortar Store) back in 1999 or 2000. It has served me well over the years.
Only once has the light gone out... when I dropped it a few feet onto hard tile breaking the bulb inside. It has taken some slams against walls and doors, ground, etc while on my belt and survived many airplane rides in my checked luggage.
I only own 2 Surefires, but I like them both very much.
 

Mike 208

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Nov 15, 2006
Messages
223
Location
East San Gabriel Valley, CA
My first Surefire was a 6-R; I bought it on the recommendation of a long time friend who works at a police equipment store. This friend later recommended that I purchase a Streamlight Stinger to replace the 6-R. I sold the 6-R to another friend (who is a state investigator), and purchased the Stinger (which was a mistake). I later bought another 6-R (as well as several other Surefire models). BTW, my investigator friend still uses that 6-R, and won't part with it (can't say I blame him).
 

Tempest UK

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Joined
Aug 15, 2006
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1,692
Location
England
My first SureFire was an E2e I got for Christmas a few years back. I was really blown away by it. Although, having paid the UK retail price for it, I expected no less :eek: I still have it, sitting with my many other SureFires.

Regards,
Tempest
 

MikeLip

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Nov 27, 2004
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1,247
Location
Painesville, Ohio, USA
C3 Centurion - the beginning of the end for me! I've since had 2 L4s, an L2, U2, L1, and an A2. Still have the last three, and considering another L2 or L5, not sure which! :)
 

wishywashy7

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Oct 17, 2007
Messages
250
G2 was my first, couldn't affort the 6P on a starving-student budget. Carried mini-mags like a lot of others before. Then someone sold me a 6P in very good condition second-hand then I was hooked for life :grin2: Having a supplier of P-60 LED drop-ins made me a fanatic
 

22hornet

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Sep 15, 2006
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740
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Province of Antwerp / Belgium
Hello,

My first Surefire was an L2, in september 2006.
It think it is a very beautiful and sexy flashlight with a beam that is truly "a wall of light". That "wall of light" is difficult to explain to those who do not have an L2 or an L4, but it remains more impressive - at short distance - than a new Fenix L2D premium.
The only problem is that an L2 only runs about 20 minutes on 3.0v rechargeables (stripped from their outer foil), which renders it unpractical in a lot of cases. A bit like a Ferrari: beautiful, fast, but not "practical" to me.

I guess that with new leds, Surefire is able to make an L2 that runs on 2AA cells with a similar output (wall) and the same form factor. That should really be my ideal flashlight!

Kind regards,
Joris
 

Numbers

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Joined
Dec 7, 2001
Messages
659
Location
Long Island, N Y
My first SF was the L4, for the wall of light. It seemed the most useful to me of all the e series lights that were available back then (although some of the others followed very quickly). It's on my belt right now.
 
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