why not in the USA?

I camse across these two lights again today and felt something was weird:

the A2 Porcupine

and

A2 BK

I have seen the A2 Porcupine before, but not the A2 BK for sale to the public. What's particularly disturbing is that the A2 Porcupine explicitly say "not available in US market"

Now correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the USA where Surefire is based and operated in? is there a reason why certain models are kept out of the US market? has there been laws and regulations that cause this marketing decision? Can someone give me a clue as to what is going on here?

Nick

Hmmm...

Given that it's a Chinese company, and the company webpage you get pointed to is 'Surefire.hk' based in Hong Kong, is it possible that these are counterfit 'Surefires'? Counterfiting name brand stuff is very common in Asia, and why would a premium flashlight like Surefire be immune?

There is little that Surefire can do about Asian's selling to other Asians, the legal bill would be a nightmare. But if they came into the USA, then I'd assume the legitimate company would (and should) be all over them. Assuming my guess is correct.
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Ahhh.. I looked further on their website, and it would seem my guess was wrong. They have the exclusive Surefire distributorship for Asia- which explains why the no USA sales. Outside their territory. So your question still stands as to why Surefire will sell these in Asia, but they seem not available here.

I believe Supremeco is a legit distributor of Surefire in Hong Kong/Asia(IIRC, PK visited the shop numerious of times).

As for why A2 porcupine or BK is not being sold in US, I have no real glue to that--except I have heard that it was being modified/requested in Asia. If you order them online via Supremeco/Asian SF sites, you'd probably be able to get one if they are avialible. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

There is a L2 Porcupine and U2 Porcupine too. Not that I care, look at the price. 1$ is about 110Yen.
web page

As to why they are only available in Asia, I used to think it had something to do with knife carrying laws in the US, but after the E2D's release I dunno. Some marketing scheme??

Most likely Asian market exclusives (the Porcupine series). I did order the A2-BK from Supremeco. It is based on the older 4-side body.