SUREFIRE Question (Removing the white product / U.S. Patent info on body of light)

Sunday, June 29th, 2008



Hello fellow CPF members ...


I am a newbie to this forum, so please pardon my question if it has been posted and answered elswhere on the site. I am interested in obtaining a Surefire "E2D LED Defender" for both personal use and as a defensive backup. The reason is that I run long distance (jogging) at night down here in hot and humid Florida and, in my opinion, nighttime is the best time to beat the heat. While out and about, I have had to be ever vigilant of individuals walking their dogs and / or roaming neighborhood dogs, nighttime thugs, and automobiles that tend to get too close with drivers that think that I am some type of pedestrian target (i.e. "Let's make that dude jump off of the road and into the ditch by driving straight at him"). Sad but true. Maybe I should invest in a smaller version of a Glock 9mm? :sick2:

So ... rather than carry some type of expandable baton (a Monadnock or ASP version), I decided on a Surefire flashlight. The E2D LED really stood out among the vast assortment of high-end flashlights on the market, and I think will suit my needs perfectly. It is small enough for me to carry in my hand without adding weight to affect my arm momentum as I run, and it provides a very mean kick of light to blind an assailant (or to light up a dark path that I may be on), and just in case, the crenellated strike bezel located on the head and base of the light are a great comfort to me if an altercation occurrs.

What I plan on doing is attaching a lanyard to the base of the light (near the tailcap switch) so I don't lose or drop it as I run. However, the one thing that I would like to do is possibly subdue or make "sterile" the white coloured Surefire model / patent number on the body of the flashlight. I'd prefer an all-black body with nothing to detract from the visual aesthetics or lines of this finely crafted piece of art. Has anyone done this before and if so, how would you go about it? I am not looking to cover over the white text with anything (such as black paint or black electical tape), but just lift off the white from the body itself. Can this be done without damaging the black anodization beneath it (or on the rest of the body for that matter)? Any imput / instructions would be greatly appreciated.

Below is an image of the closest pic that I could find on Photobucket of the Surefire E2 Defender (sorry, not the E2D LED, but practically the same thing). The white text inscribed on the body of the flashlight is what I am referring to and what I am wanting to have removed.

Thanks for taking the time to read my post everyone.

Sincerely,

ARCLITE242


http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u110/zx7dave/SureFire/SureFireE2DDefenderw-rareblackKL4Lu.jpg

Try a sugar cube.

:welcome: and adamlau is right. the sugar cube trick seems to work on most things. what part of florida? because i feel the same way about the nighttime thing. safety at night in FL seems to be a big issue.

Even if you do remove the white somehow, the lettering will still be there because it's laser etched into the body.

Here's a couple of my stripped & polished 6P's to let you know what I mean

Welcomed to CPF, ARCLITE242!

The sugar cube trick is described in this thread, but if that doesn't work, you may have to settle for using a black indelible (permanent) marker pen, or maybe some black tape or shrink tubing.

Could you resize your photo in post #1, please. It is 1023 x 584 pixels, and the maximum permitted is 800 x 800.

which by the way are absolutely amazing. as soon as i can spare some change i will be sending you a pm generic! :thumbsup:

DM51 ...

Thank you for the welcome to the CPF forum. Sorry about the large image size for the Surefire pic. I can't seem to get it to shrink down to the size limitations that you specified. I pulled this image from Photobucket after doing a search for Surefire, but I guess it sized itself after I posted the code to the post itself.

If you are able to resize or remove it for that matter, please do so. I tried to edit the pic by clicking on it while in the "edit mode", but to no avail. Sorry for my incompentence, hence, I am a posterchild of the typical "noobie".

Thank you for your kind suggestions on the Surefire question that I posed here.

ARCLITE242

I've replaced it with a clickable link, so members can still access it. I think photobucket has a facility to resize images if you want to do it. It has to be done via where it is stored. It's not a problem for now, anyway.

I run in a public park at night sometimes. My biggest concearn is another one: left side of the trail the dog owner, right side many feet in the front the dog... Between both of them a thin, nearly invisible dog leash! (You know this looong wind-up dog leashes for small dogs.)

I love my Gladius/Typhoon for this task. Low-light setting for checking the trail, pre-dialed for high to signal the dog owner... But, the 2-stage E2DL is an excellent choice as well. The E2D was my first running light as well!

I trained myself to run with a bottle or Gladius in one hand, and it works quite well.

:welcome:

loszabo ...

Yeah, I do know what you mean with regard to the invisible leash threat. In addition, I know firsthand about dog bites as I had one bite me on the inside of my upper thigh while running one day. Owner had dog on leash while approaching me on a sidewalk. Dog leapt at me as I did a high jump over him to avoid getting bitten, but he managed to nip me within an inch and a half of the family jewels. Still have the scar. Just glad that he didn't permanently damage them. Dog wound up being impounded, then released. Guess it was just spooked at someone moving so quickly towards it. Thanks for the advice and info on your use of flashlights while running and the additional tidbit on using a water bottle to train with.

Much obliged to you.

Take care,

ARCLITE242
Florida, U.S.A.

loszabo ...

Hey, I checked out your page. Good deal. However, on your top ten film list, I was shocked to see one film missing. Michael Mann's 1995 masterpiece "HEAT". Talk about using tactical weaponry (who could forget the post bank heist shoot-out on the streets of downtown Los Angeles). Probably my favourite film of all time. Good deal on your selection of books as well.

Take care,

ARCLITE242

Oh, before I forget, are you located in Austria currently, or are you in the States?

ARCLITE242 said:

In addition, I know firsthand about dog bites as I had one bite me on the inside of my upper thigh while running one day. Owner had dog on leash while approaching me on a sidewalk. Dog leapt at me as I did a high jump over him to avoid getting bitten, but he managed to nip me within an inch and a half of the family jewels. Still have the scar. Just glad that he didn't permanently damage them.

Click to expand...

Ouch, that hurts! Yes, some dog owners are really nasty. One woman let her big German dog run towards me (w/o leash; growling) and explain laughingly: "He doesn't like joggers, you know... But, don't worry dear!"

ARCLITE242 said:

loszabo ...

Hey, I checked out your page. Good deal. However, on your top ten film list, I was shocked to see one film missing. Michael Mann's 1995 masterpiece "HEAT". Talk about using tactical weaponry (who could forget the post bank heist shoot-out on the streets of downtown Los Angeles). Probably my favourite film of all time. Good deal on your selection of books as well.

Take care,

ARCLITE242

Oh, before I forget, are you located in Austria currently, or are you in the States?

Click to expand...

Thanks for the kind words. Yes, I've missed to add "Heat" to this list. I think the shoot-out in "Heat" was inspired by the infamous LA shooting portraided in "44 Minutes". I love Michael Mann movies!

I'm an Austrian citizen, but I travel a lot. I know Jacksonville in Florida a little bit. Spent there some quality time with my company. But, too scared to run to the beach on daylight as well! oo:

Speaking of running, you might be interested in my additional gear:

• iPod NANO plus Nike+
• Flashlight
• Folding knive (most of the time Emerson P-SARK)
• Atwood whistle plus keys
• Small USB backup of most important private data
• Cell-phone

Everything goes very neatly in my Maxpedition OCTA.

The best you can do is to remove the white color but it will be silver (bare aluminium color) behind. These marking are engraved in he flashlights. It means the anodizing is removed to mark them and a white color is applied. If you want them black, you'll have to use paint or a marker.

Birchwood Casey Aluma Black does a nice job turning those white laser etchings to black.

CM said:

Birchwood Casey Aluma Black does a nice job turning those white laser etchings to black.

Click to expand...

Thanks for bringing this up. Is it a liquid or paste to apply? I think I will give this a try myself!

ARCLITE242, welcome to CPF
I sized the image down for you...

and will add another image..


The following method might make the markings on the light less visible.
I've done this on items with deeper engraving with success.

Rub a black crayon over the engraving.
Wipe away the excess wax around the indented engraving.

The laser engravings on the Surefire lights are not deep so again, it might work, might not.
I like the logo on my Surefires so I haven't tried

nekomane,

Thanks for your help on the resizing of the Surefire image in addition to the tips on reducing the white colour of the patent / model info text on the body of the flashlight. By the way, what part of Tokyo do you reside in? I lived in Kobe and Tokyo way back in the mid 1970's as a kid and really enjoyed it. Beautiful country and a polite group of people.

Take care,

ARCLITE242

Pretty girls abound. Some to the point of smoking hot. That is all my memory serves me about Kobe and Tokyo (Chiba) .

loszabo ...

Thanks for the feedback and jogging equipment suggestions. Much obliged to you.

ARCLITE242

loszabo said:

Thanks for bringing this up. Is it a liquid or paste to apply? I think I will give this a try myself!

Click to expand...

loszabo ...

I did a little bit of searching here on the Internet (thanks Google!) and found some further info on the Birchwood Casey black colour paint. They just happen to have a small pen-sized version of this paint known as the "Birchwood Casey Super Black Touch-Up Pen" which comes in either a "Gloss Black" or a "Matte Black". Looks like the gloss black would do the trick on the Surefire markings.

Now why didn't I think of using this stuff? From what I gather, gunsmiths use it to cover up cosmetic nicks / scratches on the metal of pistols and rifles. Great idea!

Here is a brief link for it, and best of luck in finding some over there in Austria.

http://www.sportsmenexpress.com/Products/Birchwood+Casey/Super+Black+Touch+Up+Pen+(Flat)/5236.html


Take care,

ARCLITE242