Surefire Def 1 vs. SF G2 w/SKU1447

RS0802

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Hello,

This is my first post.

I recently was able to acquire a Surefire Def 1. I'm current military and was able to get this thing for free. Not to bad.

These lights originally made it to our unit in a strange way. Darpa(A cute lady) happened to be testing portable runway lights. My buddy was running the test for them and struck up a conversation with the Darpa lady. She showed him a Def 1 as he was running around with a G2. My buddy told her he wanted one.

She handed it to him and said, "It yours. What's your address?" Now get rid of the dirty minds. Darpa lady says, "I'll send you more for testing." Now this was the same test I'm sure you all are familiar with. The questionnaire is actually inside the box along with the instruction manual.

She sent him about 30 lights in all. They included Def 1, 2, and 3's. The only thing she wanted in return was the feedback. These lights were given to individual Marines and were used in a variety of countries both friendly and hostile. My buddy forgot about this one and recently discovered it at work. It's mine now.

Picture time.

DSC_0820.jpg


DSC_0829.jpg




G2 w/SKU1447. Notice the spill on this light. The tree on the left is 7-8 feet tall. Distance to the end of the culvert is about 40 yards.

eta: f3/5 .6s for both pics
DSC_0768.jpg


Def 1 on High.
DSC_0769.jpg


Box, Instructions, and questionnaire.
DSC_0799.jpg


DSC_0798.jpg
 
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Beastmaster

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Someone sold one for like $650 or so on BST.

It's just like the U2, 80 lumen max, and it's got optics rather than reflector, IIRC.

-Steve

Very cool. Any idea what the specs are? Is this a renamed U2 or something else?

This would go for a fortune on b/s/t
 

ugrey

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Great review, thanks. Congrats. on snagging a great light. If anyone runs into that Darpa lady again be sure to give her my adress. I will trade a review for a light any day. :)
 

Size15's

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SureFire, SAIC (works with SureFire on the TIR optics) and DARPA had a project to rapidly produce and then field-test a variety of experimental flashlights.
DEF = DARPA Experimental Flashlight
 

RS0802

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SureFire, SAIC (works with SureFire on the TIR optics) and DARPA had a project to rapidly produce and then field-test a variety of experimental flashlights.
DEF = DARPA Experimental Flashlight

Thanks for the info. I am one happy man.

Can you believe this flashlight was lost to all mankind? I mean how could you forget about a light like this? It was sitting all by itself in a pile of gear. It could have easily ended up in the trash with the rest of the crap.

Well, she has a new home and is a proud part of my growing collection.

eta: My buddy has his three original lights. Def 1, 2, and 3. I'll see if we can get a little shine off some day.
 
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Size15's

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Mewants one :drool:

I'm up for field testing SureFires :D

Regards,
Tempest
SureFire tends to concentrate field-testing to groups of [specialist] Military, Government and Law Enforcement 'operators' as well as groups in the other markets SureFire targets. Field-testers tend to be those who are more interested in the lights as tools and what they can be used to achieve.

Even though this tends to be the case one can 'get lucky' and end up helping SureFire - the trouble is that this can conflict with being a member of flashlight discussion forums when proto-types are involved.
 

Tempest UK

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Even though this tends to be the case one can 'get lucky' and end up helping SureFire - the trouble is that this can conflict with being a member of flashlight discussion forums when proto-types are involved.


I can only hope I'll 'get lucky' one of these days :eek: And if I started getting fed information on proto-types, the fun would lie in keeping such snippets of juicy goodness to myself :D

Regards,
Tempest
 

NoFair

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Maybe I should rejoin the army and send in an application:devil:

Congrats on a great light and welcome to CPF:D

Sverre
 

couglt

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this is way funny! i was given a def 1 along with about 50 others in my unit back in mar 06 when we arrived in afghanistan. immediately put it on my rifle and went everywhere with it. knew it was a great light as soon as i first used it but thought, hey, another free flashlight. used it constantly for killing bad guys and finding the crapper in the dark. was wondering what the thing was worth since i got it for free. knew it was an experimental light but just saw where dudes are selling these things for $600+. crazy!
 

greenstuffs

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I bet someone will pay over $1000 specially japanese collectors
this is way funny! i was given a def 1 along with about 50 others in my unit back in mar 06 when we arrived in afghanistan. immediately put it on my rifle and went everywhere with it. knew it was a great light as soon as i first used it but thought, hey, another free flashlight. used it constantly for killing bad guys and finding the crapper in the dark. was wondering what the thing was worth since i got it for free. knew it was an experimental light but just saw where dudes are selling these things for $600+. crazy!
 

SureAddicted

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The third last pic is unbelievable, and this is coming from a 80 lumen LED? So the U2 being 100 lumens has a bit more power, and could throw a beam like that in the third last pic? Im really impressed by it. If the U2's beam is anything like that, then I'd love to get one.

Steve
 

lightinsky

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I've got the G2 with the DX 1447 too. I really like the spill beam and hotspot on it. I have been trying to find out how many lumens the DX1447 produces. I know it is a cree p4 bin running at 900mA. I have read it is in the 140+ lumens range. Others claim it is near 200 lumens. Any ideas what it could be? I checked the cree bin numbers. They say that 350mA produce about 80-87 lumens. Since the DX1447 produces 900mA does that indicate it is around 140 lumens or more?
 

Gunner12

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Wow, nice light you've go there. Nice bit of Surefire history.

I can only dream...

(I wonder what it would sell for)

SureAddicted:

Notice there is very little spillbeam, most of the light is in the hotspot due to the reflector. The U2 probably throws less because it uses a reflector and much more of the light is in the spill. It would be more like the 1447's beamshot but with a wider beam.

lightinsky:

Grabbing info from this post, I'm guessing LED lumen to be around 165 lumen and out the front around 115 out the front.
 

SureAddicted

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Thanks for clearing that up Gunner12. Looking at the pic again you do notice there is very little spill. Its impressive none the less.

Steve
 
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