Surefire AA Outdoorsman low/3 Lumens vs Maglite XL200 low/14 lumens?

Received my Surefire AA Outdoorsman yesterday.

Thought I would post that in the other topic I started about the Outdoorsman, but I see it has been closed.

Anyway, last night I was playing around with it and notice how much whiter and brighter the low (3 lumens) setting is on the Surefire Outdoorsman is compared to the Maglite XL200 (14 lumens) setting.

I can't find a official low setting on the maglite site, but this review shows it as being 14 lumens.

http://www.led-resource.com/2011/06/maglite-xl200-led-flashlight-review/

I also thought my Maglite XL200 had a nice white output of light, but it don't look as white as I thought compared to the Surefire AA Outdoorsman.

In any case the Outdoorsman low setting of 3 lumens is much brighter then I thought it would be and seems perfect for navigating around the house after dark when everyone is asleep. The 3 lumens also seems just right for looking around in a dark car at night without blinding the driver.

Surefire quality powered by AA batteries. What more could I ever want in a flashlight?

Ok a Surefire AA Outdoorsman in black or camo would awesome.

Maybe even a 1xAA Surefire.

The Surefire 3 lumens is more like 10! They tend to under rate their lights. Also being that it uses a TIR it makes it seem brighter. Very nice light and I also wish fo a single AA Surefire.

Welcome another enlightened Surefire user. Many people here would just condemn Surefire based on paper specs without having use one themselves. They may cost more but they also deliver more than what they "preach". Love the E2L AA and all the Outdoorsman series, and I too would love to see an E1L AA.

While it may be better to underrate than overrate, it's still annoying how SureFire does not use ANSI specs...one thing I can say for sure is that the E2L AA's low is not 3 lumens! It's almost as bright as the Pelican 1910 (37 lumens).

I calculated the figure of 14 lumens from the same spec as the XL100, 8% for the lowest mode. Now that you pointed it out, I'm not too sure if that figure is correct...I'll have to double-check on that. It could be a different %, since the XL200 is driven harder.

Robin24k said:

.... it's still annoying how SureFire does not use ANSI specs...

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I understand surefire's position.....ANSI specs just commoditize the product...A company like surefire is asking for a premium and must market itself away from the commodity market

Glad you like your outdoorsman appliance junkie. Also sorry the thread got shut down we all know that some people just enjoy being arses. Are you pleased with your first Surefire?

Acid87 said:

Glad you like your outdoorsman appliance junkie. Also sorry the thread got shut down we all know that some people just enjoy being arses. Are you pleased with your first Surefire?

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I like it a lot. I kind of had a idea of what to expect from Surefire though as it's not my first ever Surefire flashlight. I just have not owned a Surefire for around four years or so.

The only thing I did not care for about Surefire flashlights in the past was the use of CR123 batteries and the runtimes. Neither will be a concern with the AA Outdoorsman.

appliancejunk said:

I like it a lot. I kind of had a idea of what to expect from Surefire though as it's not my first ever Surefire flashlight. I just have not owned a Surefire for around four years or so.

The only thing I did not care for about Surefire flashlights in the past was the use of CR123 batteries and the runtimes. Neither will be a concern with the AA Outdoorsman.

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My bad I remember you saying that in the old thread. At least your pleased with your purchase. This may have to be my Christmas present anyone fancy making a boys Christmas????

I used to be into car stereo's in high school. It is the same analogy. Good quality components would always grossly underrate their wattage. There were two reasons for this. 1. it would allow companies to enter competitions which were organized by wattage or db level, and then their components which were rated low could win these competitions. 2. They were sustainable and sounded good when pushed hard.

Its similar with lights. There are always the cheaper Chinese stuff that can advertise higher outputs but in the end, the quality just isn't there. Surefire stuff is similar. However I have still preferred modding all of my SF's with Malkoff stuff. I wonder how an E2L AA would be with a VME head and an M31 in it. That sounds lovely. Would lose the dual output though. Maybe not such a great idea. I dont know. Anyone try that out yet?

dd61999 said:

I understand surefire's position.....ANSI specs just commoditize the product...A company like surefire is asking for a premium and must market itself away from the commodity market

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You realise that SureFire helped write ANSI/NEMA FL 1-2009 and were one of the first flashlight manufacturers to start using it right?
I see there are two issues at play here: 1) even though mentioned it's easy not to realise just how good SureFire's TIR optic is as making use of light.
And 2) there's going to be variation from light to light and SureFire is going to be sure it's ratings aren't 'optimistic'.

The time of dramatic underestimation has been past for several years now. I've see various output/runtime charts SureFire produces for it's products using it's calibrated equipment and I doubt given the other factors at play (including the human eye) people could tell the difference between the rating and the actual output.

appliancejunk said:

I also thought my Maglite XL200 had a nice white output of light, but it don't look as white as I thought compared to the Surefire AA Outdoorsman.

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Having gone through so many comparisons of various flashlights (I am a 38 year old with a ~25 year FanBoyDom of Maglite), and most of them deriding/junking-altogether Maglite, I am still going for it, which shall be in a fortnight or so.

I started with a Mini Mag and then there were some!

I am posting this from India and CR-123a is rare and SureFire is rarer still.

This post tells me that this particular light is AA powered and that is the good part. However, the $250 tag makes me reserve this as my next purchase AFTER I get the XL200 from my local foren merchandise store.

Shall post my feelings soon, probably within a month! :-D

rahul_does said:

Having gone through so many comparisons of various flashlights (I am a 38 year old with a ~25 year FanBoyDom of Maglite), and most of them deriding/junking-altogether Maglite, I am still going for it, which shall be in a fortnight or so.

Shall post my feelings soon, probably within a month! :-D

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Lost! Got lost 4-5 times, in taxis but always got back.

Maybe, Baby! I have accepted that Maglites are not in my destiny! I have been getting Maglite, as gifts, since I was 13 and recently purchased XL200!

None, except for a trusty 3D, have lasted with me for more than a year! Lost, stolen, damaged! 3 2AA, 2 Solitaire, 2 2AAA and one XL200!

Let me check more for 3AAA/AA models for my EDC.

Have zeroed in on J5 Tactical and J5 Hyper.

Let us see how they go.

6 posts since 09, two of which in this thread and they are back to back. lol funny stuff.

I like my Outdoorsman too. I have a few and have had them years. I run Eneloops and or Energizer lithiums in them.

Hahaha. That's funny and cool, in a way. I use my Outdoorsman AA every night. Great light.

Well, isn't it time for an update for the E2L-AA?
Keep it at 5(or is it 10actual lumens?) and 120 for output but take advantage of 219C or XPG3 for even longer runtime.

That won't happen as lumens ratings sell lights, but boy it would be great for E2L-AA fans.

rahul_does said:

Lost! Got lost 4-5 times, in taxis but always got back.

Maybe, Baby! I have accepted that Maglites are not in my destiny! I have been getting Maglite, as gifts, since I was 13 and recently purchased XL200!

None, except for a trusty 3D, have lasted with me for more than a year! Lost, stolen, damaged! 3 2AA, 2 Solitaire, 2 2AAA and one XL200!

Let me check more for 3AAA/AA models for my EDC.

Have zeroed in on J5 Tactical and J5 Hyper.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00V7T1YRQ/?tag=cpf0b6-20

Let us see how they go.

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Order cancelled! Got myself a Maglite XL-200 with Tactical Pack in RED! Red is the colour, Baby! @#FanBoysNeverDie!