Surefire Flashlights: 2 cell vs. 3 cell

Hi everyone! This is my first post on this forum after finding out about you guys from bladeforum.com. I had know idea anyone else had my sickness for flashlights like I do.

Anyway, my questions are: I'm looking for a couple of new flashlights and have a few quick questions:

1: ARC LS vs. X5: Which would you guys recommend/prefer?

2: A friend of mine has a Streamlight Scorpion and although impressed, I was leaning towards a 2 or 3 cell Surefire instead. My questions are: A) How does the Surefire 2 cell match up to a Scorpion and B) is a 3 cell Surefire worth the extra bucks for the added brightness? or at this point (a 3 cell) do I just lean towards one of Surefire's rechargeable units.

Thanks for the help.

I have a X5-T. It's a very stylish/cool looking flashlight, someone refer it as a "Work of Art" . I don't have a Arc LS but I know it is brighter and give you more battery configuration option. It also cost more.

I also have a Scorpion. It is bigger and a bit brighter than my E2E. I like the E2E better because of it's considerable smaller size but you can buy 2 Scorpion with the cost of 1 E2E .

I believe the other 2 cells SF (6P, G2z, M2 etc) with P61 bulb will brighter than the Scorpion but you have much less run time.

Another thing you should consider/know about is the KLs that Surefire recently released. Check the LED section.

Hope it help.

Ron

Is bulb life a concern?

Scorpion has a 2-3 hour bulb life?
Don't know about E2E.

Any brand 2x123 light is going to use a bulb that is about 5 watts so brightness will be very close between them. So a surerfire will not be brighter with it's standard bulb. Now if you use a 2 cell Surefire with a P61 (120 lumens) you will get brighter light & a larger hot-spot but your run time will be cut to 20 minutes.

I would recommend the Surefire E2e (60 lumens). It's at the low end of 5 watts so your runtime will be a little over an hour, were most 2x123 lights have run times that are a little less than 1 hour. You will be sacrificing a tiny bit af light output but the E2e size is easily the smallest 2x123 light out there. Plus it is the only 2x123 light capable of using the new surefire MN02 lamp assembly (25 lumens & 2.5 hours runtime). And finally in a few weeks surefire will be releasing the KL-1 LED bezel that fits on your E2e and is fully regulated and runs for 5 hours (4.5 fully regulated) on 2 123 batteries. Find out more about the KL-1 here.

So the E2e & KL-1 can replace the need for buying a seperate LED light.

As far as a rechargeable goes, I would recommend reading up on Surefire rechargeables before buying as several people have had on-going problems with the battery packs.

See what people are saying about it here & here.

SureFire bulbs are rated for about 25+ hours.
They have invested a lot in getting a stable efficient bulbs. I have put many more then 25 hours of batteries through the vast majority of my SureFires and only two have died of old age (N2 & N62) It's worth noting that the MN Lamps are far newer technology than the N lamps.

Reports are that the Scorpion bulb is driven harder and less efficient giving it a 4-5 hour life.

Al

Originally posted by MSaxatilus:
jtivat,

So let me get this straight on your 6P... you normally carry the light with 2 cells, but if needed you can switch to a 3 cell configuration with rechargeable batteries, that in essence is equivalent to thier normal 3 cell lights?

That seems like the way to go if the rechargeable batteries give you the same output as the normal 3 cell SFs!

Thanks for the tip.

Click to expand...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Nope the A-19 allows you to add the third battery, however you then need the P90 or P91 lamp which are the 9v lamps. The rechargeable adaptor is only usable with the 6v lamps.

E2e HA !

Arc LS it is brighter and regulated. Also smaller with the 123 pack great for EDC.
I would say the two cells SF are very close to the scorpion as far as light output goes. But as far as the light itself the SF is much better and will last you forever. Now on the 3 cell yes the light output is great and worth it, but the 2 cell is much better to carry. For my use I like the P6 with an A-19 battery adapter and the P90 lamp this gives you the best of both worlds 2 or 3 cell depending on the application.

Get them ALL!

HI!

To answer your questions, the answer is that they are all good lights.

You really should use the search function, to read LOTS about all the lights that you mentioned, and others.

Here is one, very recient thread discussing SureFire vs Streamlight Scorpion:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=000031

ARC LS vs X5, well, they are both good lights, the ARC LS is brighter, and regulated, so that you have more of a flat run time, the X5 uses two lithium 123 batteries, and I think has a longer run time.

Now for "coolness factor" the X5T (new model) wins!

EDIT - OK, in re-reading my post, the ARC LS with the 1 cell, 123 battery pack is pretty darn cool too! Matter of fact, I think I wrote some where on here, that using the 1 pack 123 light was as close as I will come to a "Star Trek" experience! the X5, in the brushed aluminum also looks cool, so maybe it's a tie here!

And you have your choices as to what types of batteries to put in your ARC LS.
End EDIT

I own both, and like them both, matter of fact, the X5T is in my pocket right now, along with my ARC AAA.

You should go to the ARC web page and read about the arc, including this:

http://store.yahoo.com/flashlight/

Note: This is a limited production, early design flashlight utilizing the new LS technology. Bugs do happen with new designs so be aware you may have problems with the light. We do warranty all of our products with a 10 year warranty, so we will fix any problem you find. Your assistance in this matter will help us improve the product further. If you are looking for a mass-market, established product, do not buy the Arc-LS at this time.

Out of stock as of 8/2002.

BUT, please note, that I own one of their "Seconds" and their Quality is very high. Anything that might be wrong, or even need improving, would probably be fixed, no charge, if you bought a first.

Oh, one note about the Scorpion vs the SureFire lights, while there might be a debate as to what is better for the 2 cell lights, I really think the M3 would be a siginificant step up in terms of brightness. The M3 is on my "short list" of lights to purchase.

Sorry Wolfen, you are right I do not know where my head was. I second that GET THEM ALL!

jtivat,

So let me get this straight on your 6P... you normally carry the light with 2 cells, but if needed you can switch to a 3 cell configuration with rechargeable batteries, that in essence is equivalent to thier normal 3 cell lights?

That seems like the way to go if the rechargeable batteries give you the same output as the normal 3 cell SFs!

Thanks for the tip.

You might want to combine your options.

You could get a SureFire 6R which runs on either 2 lithium batteries or one rechargeable stick (B65).
When using the B65 you add an extension tube onto the body to get the necessary length and when you use the two lithiums you remove it.
If you leave the extension tube in place the light is long enough for 3 lithium bateries (a little too long actually -- you'll need to use a spacer).

That gives you 3 options:
6V lithium
6V rechargeable
9V lithium (you'll have to swap the 6V bulb for a 9V bulb).