My first Surefire: G3 Nitrolon, with beam shots

So yes, I was a Surefire skeptic in the past, and still am about some of their lights. But after being impressed by my buddy's G2 I decided to buy a G3 Nitrolon. I'm sure many of you will laugh, but I was so excited to get it in the mail today that I opened it and thought the tailcap switch was broken. Hmmmm... the momentary function works but it won't click to stay on. Then it hit me... DUH! It has a twisty tailcap. As for my opinion of the light, the quality is typical Surefire, good. The light output is great, as I figured it would be. I will say that the throw is awesome but I wish it had a little more flood. I guess you can't have the best of both worlds, as you will see in my pics. My WF-501D is, in my opinion, one of the best flood lights on the market. And while it has OK throw, it doesn't have great throw.

So here are my beam shots, comparing the Surefire G3 to the Superfire WF-501D and the Fenix P3D RB100, with one shot of a Mini Maglite thrown in for laughter's sake.

The Mini Mag at a wall about 20 feet away.


The Fenix P3D RB100 at the same wall.


The Surefire G3 at the same wall.


The Superfire WF-501D at the same wall.


The P3D at a tree about 40 feet away.


The G3 at the same tree.


The WF-501D at the same tree.


The P3D at a very tall palm tree.


The G3 at the same palm tree.


The WF-501D at the same palm tree.


I think the Fenix and Surefire are very close in output, but hugely different in color. I think the Surefire slightly wins in throw, although the Fenix is supposed to be twice the lumens. The WF clearly wins in flood, but lacks in throw.

While I love my WF, it is just a tad too long to EDC comfortably. The G3 is just enough shorter that it can be EDC'd just fine. So from now on, until I find something better, I will be EDCing the Fenix P3D and the Surefire G3.

KingGlamis said:

I think the Fenix and Surefire are very close in output, but hugely different in color. I think the Surefire slightly wins in throw, although the Fenix is supposed to be twice the lumens. The WF clearly wins in flood, but lacks in throw.

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The Fenix rating is at the emitter, while the SF is out the front. Also, the SF on fresh batteries is probably putting out 150+ torch lumens. The 105 lumen rating of the P90 lamp is conservative, an average of the output you would expect for the life of the batteries. I actually find the P90 to be a bit too floody. I run a Lumens Factory HO-9 in my G3 fed by a pair of AW 17500 cells. The HO-9 is a bit brighter with a 40 min runtime and more throw. I use mine outside so I want more throw. The li-ion cells gives me "guilt free lumens." I highly recommend using a pair of 17500 cells for your G3.

I love the G3. Mine runs an EO-9. The brightness and color are great.

actually, regardless of lumen output, incans usually have better throw for some reason..for true total output test, go with ceiling bounce!

Crenshaw

If you need some more flood... get surefire's FM34 wide angel diffuser lens slip-on, then your have 2-in-1: Spot and flood! :twothumbs Someone said the output is reduced with 10% useing the diffuser lens... :thinking:

Wow! Glad you put the stock Mini-Mag pic first. You can't even see the netting to the left, until the 2nd pic.

Thanks, KingGlamis. I've got a G3 and a P3D R100. The G3 with the Lumens Factory HO-9. I haven't tried the EO-9 yet, but the HO-9 is noticeably brighter, and longer runtime than the EO-9. The G3 is just a nice, simple light. I like the switch. I won't be getting any more clicky switches - unless it's a Surefire forward click, maybe.

cat said:

Thanks, KingGlamis. I've got a G3 and a P3D R100. The G3 with the Lumens Factory HO-9. I haven't tried the EO-9 yet, but the HO-9 is noticeably brighter, and longer runtime than the EO-9. The G3 is just a nice, simple light. I like the switch. I won't be getting any more clicky switches - unless it's a Surefire forward click, maybe.

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Don´t you mean that the EO-9 (extreme output) are brighter than the HO-9 (high output)?

I have a 9P which I run LF EO-9 (380 bulb lumen), thats brighter than the HO-9 (320 bulb lumen).

FlashSpyJ said:

Don´t you mean that the EO-9 (extreme output) are brighter than the HO-9 (high output)?

I have a 9P which I run LF EO-9 (380 bulb lumen), thats brighter than the HO-9 (320 bulb lumen).

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The EO-9 is the brightest lamp LF makes for the G3/9P/Raider. Only the SureFire P91 is brighter than that.

FlashSpyJ said:

I have a 9P which I run LF EO-9 (380 bulb lumen), thats brighter than the HO-9 (320 bulb lumen).

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Is the 380 lumen lamp the one intended for a Surefire M3?

Does it work reliably in your 9P?

Nice beamshots! :wave: That P3D R100 is very impressive!

Monocrom said:

Is the 380 lumen lamp the one intended for a Surefire M3?

Does it work reliably in your 9P?

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The EO-9 is a 9 volt P60 based lamp assembly designed for the 9P/G3.

Monocrom said:

Is the 380 lumen lamp the one intended for a Surefire M3?

Does it work reliably in your 9P?

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The LF lamps for the M3 are the HO-M3 (320 lumens) and EO-M3 (380 lumens).
http://www.lumensfactory.com/m_series_specification.htm

Thanks for the quick responses, guys.

Monocrom said:

Is the 380 lumen lamp the one intended for a Surefire M3?

Does it work reliably in your 9P?

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That will work in a M2, but not in the M3. You need the HO-M3 or the EO-M3 for the M3. And yes, the EO-9 or HO-9 work very reliably in the P9 or G3.

Any heat issues using HO lamp modules in a Nitrolon enclosure? :thinking: Nice pictures (oops, I mean beamshots), King. Thanks.

roymail said:

Any heat issues using HO lamp modules in a Nitrolon enclosure? :thinking: Nice pictures (oops, I mean beamshots), King. Thanks.

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Heat issues? Incans don't care about heat. It's not like LEDs modules. There wouldn't be a P91 available from SureFire to use in a G3, if heat was a concern. Even the P90 gets very hot after a minute.

Sorry, yes, I meant that the HO-9 is noticeably brighter than the standard G3 lamp.

Remember to subtract 35-40% from the LF ratings to compare to the Surefire ratings.

The heat concern is with the body. If I remember correctly, Lumens Factory caution against more than 10 minutes continuous, like Surefire with the P91.

One thing I noticed when I ran a higher output lamt from LF in a G2 was that the lens would start to show the effect from the heat. I exchanged the plastic lens to a glass lens.

The G3 and G2Z come standard with Pyrex windows.

Al

FlashSpyJ said:

One thing I noticed when I ran a higher output lamp from LF in a G2 was that the lens would start to show the effect from the heat. I exchanged the plastic lens to a glass lens.

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You can run a P61 or similar lamp in a stock G2. But it's not meant to be used with that type of lamp for long periods of time, or with constant-on mode. You did the right thing, exchanging the lens.