Love or hate the new Surefire melted design?

Do you love or hate the new Surefire melted design (E1B, LX1, LX2)?

I love them.

It's good to have the choice of knurling or a nice smooth body.

What does melted design mean?

It's the new smooth bodies that don't have the aggressive knurling.

Eg. The LX2 is a melted design, whereas the E2DL is a knurled design.

I consider the "melted" (or blended, smooth) style of the E1B to be different from that of the new-style (Design Patented) 'fluted' body and bezel accents of the Titan (T1-TI, T1A) and LX2, A2L etc.

The 'melted' style is removal of knurling whereas the new fluted style is a replacement (or alternative if you prefer) to traditional knurling.

The fluted style retains grip and retention characteristics.

I personally don't find the melted style of the E1B very useful whereas the new fluted style is. Whilst aesthetics are one thing, how well it works for each of us really has to be experienced to be determined.

I stand corrected!

:candle:

Size15's said:

...I personally don't find the melted style of the E1B very useful...

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Most people wont. However, most people probably don't know who helped create it and why it's designed that way.

While I don't hate the "melted" design, I prefer the knurled design. The "melted" design is a bit too slippery in my opinion. If Surefire had just toned down the knurling, making it similar to Maglite's knurling, it would be just right.

Definately prefer the knurling. The PD30 is already slippery as it is to me.

What Al said. The E1B is not comparable in design and ergonomics to the new SF design of the LX2 et al.
I really appreciate the LX2 design. Functional, modern and not destructive. Then again, I am a civilian, so what do I know

strinq said:

The PD30 is already slippery as it is to me.

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+1 to that.

I can get a better grip on my E1B than my GFs PD30. Then again, it does have an E2DL tailcap.

if the grooves are cut perpendicular to the body it will provide a little more grip compared to grooves cut along the length of the tube.

In my opinion I prefer the older styles, but in regards it does not change my respect for PK's designs

I dont know that I have a preference. I love the Surefire knurling but on the other hand the new design has a really nice look to it and its not hard at all to handle. I was expecting it to be slippery but its not :shrug:

Kiessling said:

What Al said. The E1B is not comparable in design and ergonomics to the new SF design of the LX2 et al.
I really appreciate the LX2 design. Functional, modern and not destructive. Then again, I am a civilian, so what do I know

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Agreed. I didn't find the LX2 slippery at all. Can't comment on the E1B. :tinfoil:

I generally prefer knurling on my lights, but its not a deal-breaker either way. More choices can't be a bad thing in my book.

I am entirely in agreement that the LX2 design is disctinctly different from the E1b. The LX2 has wide and sharp troughs that run the length of the body while the e1b has very small slits for traction.

Functionally speaking, the LX2 provides strong resistance to rotation but little resistance to axial movement. This allows the light to slide in and out of clothing easily while still maintaining excellent grip. The E1b (IMO) provides relatively poor roational resistance.

i wonder how much of the drive to switch to smooth bodies is because of cost cutting

I prefer the knurled design

outersquare said:

i wonder how much of the drive to switch to smooth bodies is because of cost cutting

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Supposedly from many aspects and various post's the non knurled bodies are more difficult to produce than the knurled.