SF - HF , Did I get a bargain or a pig in a poke?

Hi all new to the Hellfighter, I bought / traded for one recently and I am into it for about $1500 usd.

I got a complete light, 12v cig cord with battery pack plug and .50 cal handle switch UH-01D? pn maybe, and a spare head<---(doesnt seem to work).
Oh and a padded camo bag haha.

What say you?

Thanks - A

Post up the serial number. The serial number will give an idea as to how old the light is.

Don't understand the spare head comment. Are you saying you have a spare Hellfighter but with no cables?

Very clean Surefire Hellfighter lights typically sell on eBay in the range of $500-700. The factory battery cable provided it's got the cigarette lighter plugin is another $150. Real cables have a cloudy clear Tube covering the cable and a pistol grip switch.

In the pic is what I received.

SN H0504x

H0481x

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b83/OLDARMY45/Lights/photo10_zpsbez151vt.jpg~original

Not sure it helps, and not sure it even matters, but...

I turned down a set up like that with out the spare head, but had the Pelican box. Fellow was down to asking $800. Condition looked to be about equal to your rig. I thought he was high. I offered $600. He originally wanted $1200. That was a few months ago, he still has it. He too was in it for about $1400. That high Original MSRP and Surefire/Military aspect hooks a lot of folks.

I wouldn't be too worried, Like I told him, you paid $1400 for it, now you just have to find another you.

Well that makes me feel good lol.

This FFL swore up and down he
was giving me a smoking deal.

Will SF fix the dead head for me?

Trust no one, have a plan to, well nevermind

Based on serial number and overall condition with the items pictured, I'd place a value on what you have @ $550-650.

The IR filter is missing, the opaque cover isn't there. Can't tell the condition of the plugs or switch covers. Surefire will replace the switch cover and power connector under warranty, at least they did for me. They will repair the electronics inside but not sure if they will replace the tube for free. The missing filter holder and carry handle are very costly to replace.

The plus side of things is the Surefire power cord with cigarette lighter plug. The power cord on the used market can be worth $150-200 to the right buyer.

Can't see the engraved Surefire Hellfighter logo. The original Hellfighter was called Hellfire and used a flame logo. Neat logo.

Based on what I see and the serial number, it appears to be a second generation Hellfighter.

I've got two Hellfighters. One as the full kit consisting of the power cable with cigarette plug, the M2 machine gun mount, the light with the IR filter, field service parts and the wrench in a Pelican fitted case. The second is the light with IR filter, power cable for the BB5590 batteries and the Pelican case. Both light are above H13000 serial number range. The have the newest block lettering on the Surefire logo.

If you decide to sell off the light without the handle, I'd be interested in it for a project.

SF may help with repairs. I would contact them to find out. It couldn't hurt. They are still nice lights when working properly. Of course now a days for $100 and a few tweaks you can have a hand held light that is almost equal in performance. Of course its not as cool! lol

Those rascally FFL's! Have some fun with it. I would go back and tell them, thank you for the awesome deal! Tell him you listed it on Ebay and some poor sap gave you $2500 because it turned out to be a super rare model. lol Then walk out!

Seriously to be fair, most gun dealers really don't know the actually value of these lights. I am sure a few do, but not all. The story I told you was about a close friend of mine who is a gun dealer. Many would think he knows lights well, in reality he doesn't. But because he knows guns, people value his opinion on lights. After he learned his HellFighter lesson, he calls me on all SF trade lights.
Irony is, I double check here, sometimes I PM more knowledgeable members here, before I give him a number or make a offer. Even then its possible to value one wrong. But remember this, when in doubt, walk out!

Str8stroke said:

SF may help with repairs. I would contact them to find out. It couldn't hurt. They are still nice lights when working properly. Of course now a days for $100 and a few tweaks you can have a hand held light that is almost equal in performance. Of course its not as cool! lol

Those rascally FFL's! Have some fun with it. I would go back and tell them, thank you for the awesome deal! Tell him you listed it on Ebay and some poor sap gave you $2500 because it turned out to be a super rare model. lol Then walk out!

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I have to differ with you on one point.

I've got just quite a few high powered hand held Xeon lights being made today (Maxa Beam, Megaray, Nighthunter. The Hellfighter produces the most out the front lumens of any light. It doesn't project a beam as far as the Nighthunter or the Maxa Beam, but produces a lot more useable light out to around 500 yards.

The Vinh modified TK75vnKT, nor any other led light that I own produces the quality of light as the Hellfighter.

Of course the Hellfighter produces more Lumens than the Maxabeam and Megaray, they are Short Arcs - at somewhere around 40 Lumens per watt and the HF is a standard HID at around 95 Lumens per Watt. It's not an apples-to-apples comparison and the lights have different purposes. The NightHunter is not in the same class and is not a valid comparison. Compare the Hellfighter with a Polarion 40 or 50 Watt for apples-to-apples.

BVH said:

Of course the Hellfighter produces more Lumens than the Maxabeam and Megaray, they are Short Arcs - at somewhere around 40 Lumens per watt and the HF is a standard HID at around 95 Lumens per Watt. It's not an apples-to-apples comparison and the lights have different purposes. The NightHunter is not in the same class and is not a valid comparison. Compare the Hellfighter with a Polarion 40 or 50 Watt for apples-to-apples.

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Why do you say the Nighthunter isn't in the same class? I've got both the Nighthunter One and Two.
The Nighthunter Two looks like a Mag light on steroids.

Other than the crappy internal battery design, I like the Nighthunter. It doesn't project the wire like the Maxa Beam does. The Maxa Beam light is lighter in weight than the Nighthunter.

For customer support, hands down winner is Peak Beam Systems with the Maxa Beam.

NoNotAgain said:

Why do you say the Nighthunter isn't in the same class? I've got both the Nighthunter One and Two.
The Nighthunter Two looks like a Mag light on steroids. Other than the crappy internal battery design, I like the Nighthunter.

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The night hunter is also a short arc light, not many lumens per watt. Less than half of the lumens per watt of the Hellfighter or other similar HID technology such as the Polarion units BVH mentioned, or the XeVision New XeRayr models (about 110 lumens per watt at 70 watts). The efficiency of this technology increases with somewhat higher power. Short arc is not very efficient.

XeRay said:

The night hunter is also a short arc light, not many lumens per watt. Less than half of the lumens per watt of the Hellfighter or other similar HID technology such as the Polarion units BVH mentioned, or the XeVision New XeRayr models (about 110 lumens per watt at 70 watts). The efficiency of this technology increases with somewhat higher power. Short arc is not very efficient.

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Got to say that I kinda like the light output of the Nighthunter.

Not sure what tube they use, but it appears to my eye brighter than the Maxabeam.

I know that you have one of your lights based on the Supbeam K40 that produces over a million candela if I'm using the correct term. Also seen a few of the 925k units for sale here in the market place.

Whenever you start up production again, I might be interested in purchasing.

NoNotAgain said:

Got to say that I kinda like the light output of the Nighthunter.

Not sure what tube they use, but it appears to my eye brighter than the Maxabeam.

I know that you have one of your lights based on the Supbeam K40 that produces over a million candela if I'm using the correct term. Also seen a few of the 925k units for sale here in the market place.

Whenever you start up production again, I might be interested in purchasing.

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I never heard of a Supbeam, we have our units in production now, our new generation of XeRay. We did not copy any existing product. We make the ballast and igniters ourselves and use only real German made bulbs (special high power), no cheap bulbs or Chinese counterfeits.