I went to a Gun Show at the Pensacola Fairgrounds, and there was a light vendor there who had a GREAT selection of SF and SL lights! I got a chance to see and handle a lot of the lights that I've only had a chance to see or hear about here at CPF. My light collection has grown to about 85 or so, but I don't have a lot of "high end" lights, so this was sort of an exciting experience. However, I think I may have pissed off the vendor a little, because I knew considerably more about his "wares" than he did. Being a CPF member for around two years, I've picked up quite a bit of product knowledge. I don't have a lot of technical knowledge, but manufacturer's specs and ratings just seemed to flow...to the point that the customers gathering around his booth were asking their questions to me instead of him! I wasn't trying to upstage him by any means, it just sorta happened that way! In his defense, however, he WAS fairly knowlegable about his products. He did say something that was sort of troubling, though. And maybe someone with better access to inside scoop than me can clarify this...he told me that after Jan. 1st, 2004, Surefire was going to stop selling through most of their authorized dealers, and sell factory direct only, with the exception of only two other authorized dealers. He then proceeded to tell me that web dealers such as Tactical Warehouse, Meridian Tactical and others would not be able to carry SF products after Jan 1st. Personally, I think it's BS, but this IS what this particular vendor told me. (...incidentally, he said that his company was going to be one of the two authorized SF dealers after Jan 1st). I'm not trying to start controversy or breed an unfounded rumor, I'm just looking for clarification from someone with more access to SF info. Can anybody shed some light on this (no punn intended...)? Is SF going direct sales only, with the exception of a couple authorized distributors after Jan 1st?
PJD
PJD