Rekindling the interest of a dormant flashaholic: Surefire's bumper crop

KevinL

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 10, 2004
Messages
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I searched, really! Google threw up a few archived threads with dead links, so I used a 'brute force' search loading the LED and General section by hand. Figured it would be in one of those, but didn't find either.

Yes I have been woefully out of the loop......again. Work does these things to you. That plus the lack of anything groundbreaking (that I can actually afford) for a while has kept me away. Last I looked the Nitecore was the best thing since sliced bread. It is, actually.

I just found and read Surefire's new catalog.. this year's upgrades are truly upgrades rather than the warmed over stuff I've been getting accustomed to over the past couple of years. It's really rekindled my interest. I could really learn to love the U2's designated successors - 400lu in a variable power U2 sized light with the same bezel-down clip!! The "Max Blast" tailcap adds a whole new dose of fun to the UA2/UB2.. now I can finally run them in less-than-full-power mode :D

A more efficient LED should help - I suspect the Ultramax series will no longer accept 18650's like my 'early adopter' U2 did, but the more efficient LED should milk more runtime out of 17670s. I am a big fan of multicore LEDs, after all my U2 and L4 are multicore. And that the Ultramax series has a combatgrip - that's awesome. I tend to hold my U2 that way, using the plastic ring for the clip, even though it's not meant for it, but I do that anyway.

The E1B looks superb, probably the designated replacement for my favorite E1e+KL1 that has been beaten nearly to death since 2004 and is still ticking. Looks like everything I wanted - a low stage with immediate high stage. Add bezel down clip and pocket-friendly smooth surfaces....AWESOME! It's interesting that the catalog shows it being worn on dress pants - some days I gotta dress up and this looks like the ticket.

The new dual-stage E1L looks like the end of the Surefire L1 as we know it. This is not a bad thing for me - I like the E1L :) (sorry L1 fans - better stock up).

The new P61L is more than what we dared hope for (125lu based on Q5 bin Crees according to my projection, SF came up with 200lu output lumens.).

The ArcLamp looks like a true monster.

For the first time in a long time, I've experienced the same feel that I did when I looked at the U2 in the 2005 catalog. My first words were "I want it".

GO PK!!!!! :D

As for the damage? Yeah.. I'll take a UB2 and an E1B and maybe a UA2 down the road. That's a lot of damage to my pocket.. but heck.. if the UB2 turns out to be anything like the U2, the power and the promise will long be remembered after the pain to the wallet has gone ;)
 

KevinL

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 10, 2004
Messages
5,866
Location
At World's End
DUDE! Of all things you have returned too..... really, it must be rekindling the MAGIC, not just the interest!! :D

Where have you been? I kinda know how you feel now with work, international postings, and whatnot keeping me out of the loop. Glad all of the crap is over, work is back to normal for me now.
 
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