returned my Surefire T1A titan

after using it for a couple of days it went back to the store. The UI is amazing, I wish every flashlight could use the same UI as the T1A. The easiness of changing brightness is amazing. The beam is wonderful, no rings no dark spots, a great floody light, light is smooth as butter. The version that I had has no blue tint. So why did I return it at the end of the day? Well it is a flashlight and for the price of $250 70 lums is very low. It's great to light a small area but if I wanted to brighten up a larger space the throw and brightness doesn't work as well. If the lum was 120-140 I would have kept the light.

I really wanted to keep it but after agonizing over it for a few days I decided $250 was just to much for the amount of light I was getting considering what I needed it for. If you need to light up only a small area or whatever the T1A is a great light.

Maybe they have a $500 light that puts out 140 lumens.

Now go get a Quark mini, put in a RCR123 and prepared to be blown away.

*Just don't leave it on on high for too long.

After the build quality he had with the Surefire. I really do not think he will be happy with the sloppy threads, green tint, and mode bouncing of the mini. I would like the T1A myself. I just can't put that much money down for a flood light that only puts out 70 lumen's.

How was the tint of the T1A?
And get a RA clicky for that money

rolexconfuse said:

..... So why did I return it at the end of the day? Well it is a flashlight and for the price of $250 70 lumens is very low. It's great to light a small area but if I wanted to brighten up a larger space the throw and brightness doesn't work as well. If the lum was 120-140 I would have kept the light.

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Um... I'm a bit confused with this.

Considering that Sean's excellent review (with beam shots) here:
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/230576
says that its "Bezel switch provides continuous light output from 0 to 70 lumens."

You paid out $250 for a light that apparently you knew nothing about? Or did you consider that 70 lumens was sufficient as a spec?

Downunder, 250 bucks is considered a lot for an EDC, so I'm surprised you bought this baby initially. Unless I'm missing sumthin' here LOL?

— Cheers, Jack.

I remember your first thread when you were sitting on the fence about getting one (Titan).

Have you tried an LF2XT yet? If not you should, and get some 10440's to try with it.

The output, UI, beam quality & build quality will not disapoint.

Has a great feel in the hand that makes you want to play with it, on or off.

Jack Reacher said:

You paid out $250 for a light that apparently you knew nothing about? Or did you consider that 70 lumens was sufficient as a spec?

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Why so rude? I'm sure he was aware of the specs and he probably bought the light hoping that it would be brighter than the numbers suggest. Unfortunately in this case it wasn't. I bought a Ra Twisty 100ww despite worries that a 70 lumen high wouldn't be enough. Luckily for me the tint makes up for the lack of ultimate output and the 100 lumen burst gves you that bit more when you need it. Without the burst setting I might have the same complaint about the Ra 100ww that the OP has with the T1A.

It could be brighter, but I use my Titan more than any other light I have. I agree that it was too expensive but I'm not giving it up.

I knew what the specs were when I purchased the T1A but I also knew that surefire had excellent build quality in their products which was why I went for it. Intially I wanted to get the surefire LX1 but when the T1A came out it opted for that as the size really appealed for for me. I had an Olight T20 already so I sorta wanted something smaller. And surefire has a habit of under rating their lights a little bit so while it says 70 lums I was hoping that it would be a bit more. Besides there's was no way for me to really know if the light would work unless I tried it out for work which I did. The size was perfect and the weight was great, good enough to know that I had something but not heavy to bog me down or cause me discomfort with it sitting in my jean pocket. Again I really really loved the light and if the lums were at 120-140 I would have kept it.

I ordered the 4 seven mini CR2 lets see how that turns out. Hopefully it won't have a green tint as some has suggested here.

The light on the T1A was pretty much, no blue tint so I may have gotten bin

My favorite light that I've ever owned is a McLux Sundrop (original version). It was something like $400 or $450 and worth every cent. It has a butt simple 1-level clickie, no adjustments of any sort. I'd guess the total output is in the 35-40 lumen range but I've never bothered to check or ask. I love love love it. There is a type of perfection that transcends the quest for lumens.

Question for rolexconfuse - if the T1A had cost say $150 instead of $250, would that have changed your mind about it? Or was it purely the brightness? (i.e. if it had been 140 lumens instead of 70 would you have kept it.)

MrBenchmark said:

Question for rolexconfuse - if the T1A had cost say $150 instead of $250, would that have changed your mind about it? Or was it purely the brightness? (i.e. if it had been 140 lumens instead of 70 would you have kept it.)

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I bet it was the money difference. I would agree that at $150 it would be much easier to live with it's flaws (if you could call them that). That's how I would feel about it. It's a little overpriced and I usually never have a problem with Surefire's pricing (except their 1911 add-on rail at $160!!! ).

The UI is really nice though and maybe does warrant the money - but an incredible switching system only goes so far...

I went the Ra/HDS route. Overbuilt similar to the Surefire, nice HA, great beam smoothness, great tint, great UI.

My Titans, T1A, and Lunasol20 all have somewhere in the neighborhood of that 70 lumen figure, and I won't sell any of them. +1 on the Sundrop, too, although mine is a 3s. Different lights for different purposes, if I need more OTF, I grab something else. Not much beats the Titan UI, IMHO. Probably my most used around the house lights. Certainly once everyone else is asleep. It has the most useful low level, in my eyes. I agree that I would love to see a light with the Titan UI, and output from 0-120 or so lumens, but until then, I'll keep mine. :grouphug:

Well I just ordered one... can't wait!

Dang it, now I want one (somewhat). I never really felt the desire before, though it always seemed like a cool light.

70 is plenty bright enough for mine. I use it all the time and not that often do I ramp it to full anyway.

knightrider said:

I bet it was the money difference. I would agree that at $150 it would be much easier to live with it's flaws (if you could call them that). That's how I would feel about it. It's a little overpriced and I usually never have a problem with Surefire's pricing (except their 1911 add-on rail at $160!!! ).

The UI is really nice though and maybe does warrant the money - but an incredible switching system only goes so far...

I went the Ra/HDS route. Overbuilt similar to the Surefire, nice HA, great beam smoothness, great tint, great UI.

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you are right, if the price was 150 instead of 250 I would have kept the titan. I mean yes the UI is great but is it worth an extra 100 dollars? I mean the LX1 is a great flashlight with the same solid build but it's only $200. Take out the lum factor and you're left with the UI + size. And I just don't think the size + UI is worth the extra 100 bucks.

rolexconfuse said:

you are right, if the price was 150 instead of 250 I would have kept the titan. I mean yes the UI is great but is it worth an extra 100 dollars? I mean the LX1 is a great flashlight with the same solid build but it's only $200. Take out the lum factor and you're left with the UI + size. And I just don't think the size + UI is worth the extra 100 bucks.

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Well, it's perfectly normal to buy a light and realize afterwards that it's not what you were hoping for, or even that it's exactly what you hoped for but find you're not using it the way you expected. So I wouldn't worry that the T1A didn't turn out to be your cup of tea. But I think "lum factor" has never been a very important aspect of this type of light. "UI + size" comes closer. I'd say though that it's even more about uniqueness, technological innovation, engineering lineage, design taste, flashaholic spirit, etc. If you're into fancy watches it's kind of the same idea. I'd like to own a Speedmaster chronograph someday even though a Casio G-shock at 1/50th the price beats the Speedmaster in just about every specification. Buying a $250 1-cell light for "lum factor" is like buying a $250 single malt Scotch for the alcohol content.

rolexconfuse said:

after using it for a couple of days it went back to the store. The UI is amazing, I wish every flashlight could use the same UI as the T1A. The easiness of changing brightness is amazing. The beam is wonderful, no rings no dark spots, a great floody light, light is smooth as butter. The version that I had has no blue tint. So why did I return it at the end of the day? Well it is a flashlight and for the price of $250 70 lums is very low. It's great to light a small area but if I wanted to brighten up a larger space the throw and brightness doesn't work as well. If the lum was 120-140 I would have kept the light.

I really wanted to keep it but after agonizing over it for a few days I decided $250 was just to much for the amount of light I was getting considering what I needed it for. If you need to light up only a small area or whatever the T1A is a great light.

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That T1A cost $250??? For that little thing??? Wow! :duh2: