How's the anodizing on the SF E1B?

I'm looking at the E1B and E1L right now, and I see they both say they have "Milspec anodizing", but there are multiple grades of milspec anodizing. I also see the E1B has a black version and a silver version, whereas the E1L has a natural olive-drab version. In my experience, olive-drab holds up the best, but the silver version seems like it would hide scratches pretty well too, assuming it's actually anodized at all.

I'm really picky about dings in anodizing; they're not the end of the world, but I'm endlessly touching them up with Aluminum Black or a Sharpie. Which one of these stands up best to getting scrubbed against jeans pockets and the objects therein?

(brightness is not an issue, it's going to be modded anyway.)

http://www.surefire.com/E1B-Backup
http://www.surefire.com/E1L-Outdoorsman

The only nicks I've got in my Surefire's anno is from concrete, ceramic tile, or from each other

I find Surefire's HA tough and only notice any wear on the sharp edges like bezels. I find wear on black anodizing looks a tad better than wear on green but that's just me.

computernut said:

The only nicks I've got in my Surefire's anno is from concrete, ceramic tile, or from each other

I find Surefire's HA tough and only notice any wear on the sharp edges like bezels. I find wear on black anodizing looks a tad better than wear on green but that's just me.

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Well, in theory "natural" anodizing only looks greenish because that's the color of thick layers of aluminum oxide, not because of any added coloring, so the natural film that bare aluminum develops when it's scratched should be closer to the natural anodizing's color than anything else. In theory, anyway.

I dunno; the contrast of bright aluminum spots on black anodizing bugs me. What about the silver E1B, though? Does anyone have one of those? Are they actually anodized, and if so, how durable is the coating? I'd think it would be the same as the black, but...all I can do is speculate.

Holy crap, what'd you do to that poor thing?!

How old is it?

~Brian

beach honda said:

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I keep seeing this and I want to get one, but can't find a place that does the work for you. E2DL head, E2DL tailcap, and what body? Is there any store that essentially does the swapping for you and sells these lights?

I ordered an E1B in silver a few days ago. I'll post back after I've pocket carried it for a month or so to test the durability :thumbsup:

One of the reasons Surefire uses 6020 UltrAlloy over 6061 is because it takes the type III anodizing so well.

http://www.alcoa.com/gcfp/en/product.asp?cat_id=969&prod_id=1711

TwitchALot said:

I keep seeing this and I want to get one, but can't find a place that does the work for you. E2DL head, E2DL tailcap, and what body? Is there any store that essentially does the swapping for you and sells these lights?

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thats a stock e1b witha defender tailcap. thats a e1b head. im typing this on an iPad and it sucks keeps changing everything to greek words

bstrickler said:

Holy crap, what'd you do to that poor thing?!

How old is it?

~Brian

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It's about 2 years of straight pocket carry. it's one of my five EDC lights

I have carried one just like that everyday for the last 16 months only a little wear on the corners and dings from dropping it on bezel. I also carry it in my pocket with other items.

my thighs are made of steel and i carry grenades in my pocket...

beach honda said:

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Now that's a well worn light! :thumbsup:

beach honda said:

my thighs are made of steel and i carry grenades in my pocket...

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Do the grenades sometimes go off??? That's what it looks like happened to the E1B! :laughing:

Thanks for the laugh beach honda!

Beaugrand, I bet your muyshondt and mcgizmos looks prettier. But that surefire has a good lookin patina goin on

mossyoak said:

thats a stock e1b witha defender tailcap. thats a e1b head. im typing this on an iPad and it sucks keeps changing everything to greek words

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Thanks.

ninemm said:

I ordered an E1B in silver a few days ago. I'll post back after I've pocket carried it for a month or so to test the durability :thumbsup:

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Cool, thanks.

fyrstormer...

Here´s my silver E1B review: https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/226777

I made it in 03/22/2009. Until now I still have the same silver E1B and it doesn´t have any mark on it! But I never dropped it on the floor (lanyard rules!). I carry it in my pocket almost every day. Anodization is still perfect with just a tiny mark where the clip touches the body.

Surefire silver finish in this light is HA, just like the others olive/natural finish SF lights.

:thumbsup:

My silver E1B is pretty resistant to wear too. After about 4 months of carrying it all I had was a tiny part of the tailcap being shaved off. I had left it in my back pocket bezel down and leaving the tailcap exposed. One night as I sat down on a rusted steel chair the tailcap got a good shaving but it still holds up pretty well. I would add that the ano is much tougher than the laser engraving though. Instead of black texts, I can see that most of which are turning to light grey.

Hi, thought I'd share what was once common knowledge on these boards.

Natural anodizing (as most Surefires come, greenish-greyish) is the strongest variant of hard anodize.

Colored hard anodize is weaker, because they must add dyes to the process.

Thus, if you want the strongest anodize you can get, SF HA-NAT is the better.