Just Found My Long-Lost SF ORIGINAL 6P! What to do?

About 10 years ago, I misplaced my original (Completely round. No flats.) Surefire 6P. Today, while cleaning out shelving, it fell out of a diaper bag that I used to carry around in my car to keep valuables out of sight. The batteries still have enough juice to fire it up. I'm excited about finding it, and now have to decide what to do with it. Being an original 6P, I know it has collector value. I also know it should be a good host for a drop-in. I guess I'll have to see what's available for it.

Decisions. Decisions. Good decisions, though! What would you do?

Vintage lights have gone up in value this year, to the point of 2-3x that of a (stock) new model.

The choice is easy. If it means something to you (reminder/occasion, etc). If it doesn't, sell it and get a new one. They are better in every respect, save one, specialness. There are far fewer of what you have now.

Cool. Any photos?

It's kinda dirty and dusty. I suspect that once it's cleaned, it should look like new, as I never carried it. I'll see if I can get some pics.

Im with electronguru on this one! Unless there is some sort of emotional attachment to that particular light then I would sell it and buy a new one that is bored for 18mm cells and pick up a nice up to date drop in i.e. a Malkoff M61 variant a Moddoo/Oveready triple or a nailbender. You should be able to do it without that much cash outlay with the profit from selling the vintage light! Good luck and update us with what you end up doing.

Mallkoff has a M61 drop in for sale at $55 that's a steal

I've been watching the auctions on eBay for those things and it's jaw-dropping to see how they sold for. I think there was a brand new, still in it's shrink wrap 6P that went for $222.

Do nothing to it.

You could just replace the drop in with a Malkoff M61 or M61L and run it off CR123A primaries. The M61L will give you 175 lumens for 5 hours of runtime on primaries, the M61 gives you 270 lumens for 2 hours. I beleive you can also use RCR123A's with these Drop in's if you want to use rechargeables (they will have less runtime than primaries).

Either way, swapping out the drop in means you don't have to modify the light, so it will retain whatever resale value it has as a vintage light.

scott said:

What would you do?

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Ask a mod to move this thread from LED flashlights to Incandescent? :nana:

That's quite a nice find. Even if there's no particular sentimental value, so long as you're not hurting for cash, I'd recommend keeping it. The old non-lug 3/6/9P's really are lovely looking lights.

Hope you have fun with it!

Edit: General Flashlight Discussion is possibly an even better place for this thread!

scott said:

Being an original 6P, I know it has collector value.

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Seriously? I'm still using an original 6P (best guess, probably '91 or '92 vintage) with a Malkoff drop in on my rifle on a daily basis. It's got lots of battle scars and scratches on it. If it actually has collector value, should I replace it with a newer one?