Flashlight

[furtech]

[Hey Jeff! You might be interested in this...]

After reading the rave-reviews on the Surefire flashlights, and needing good lumins nightly for dogwalks (and being a tech-geek), I ordered their model 6P. I'm amazed that flashlight technology has made such a recent leap: the LED lightsource is freakishly futuristic-- there is no dark spot and the light is eerily luminescent. I have no idea how to use a "kubaton" (hi, Jeff), but I may be going back to my reliable 3D maglight: I dropped the 6P on the ground tonight (asphalt) and it broke. Not into pieces, but it no longer turned on. The light would no longer go on in any of the positions and fiddling with it brought momentary light, but only after repeated bapping on my knee. Even then, it finally wouldn't turn on at all (good thing-- my knee was getting sore).

So I'm puzzled: *this* is supposed to be a military-grade light? My sympathies to any who would try to use this in a life-or-death situation (I just couldn't paint bunnies for Cody or find Frieda...erm). I'm sending this light back with a snarky note. Also disappointed that they don't provide a red filter or strap with this model.

Comments

[jonnywoof.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've seen the Surefire flashlights. they're nice and bright, but they're no where near as durable as the tried-and-true Maglites made out of aircraft aluminum. I wear a small one on my belt at work, and I also have the large "skull cracker" model which a 2 ton truck ran over at work and didn't break it!

[furtech.livejournal.com]

I've never had a problem with a maglight. I think the worst I've had happen was battery death, a couple of pop'd bulbs. I'm glad they won their patent battles: they deserve every cent!

[loriana.livejournal.com]

Urf... I would not be surprised if they used a circuitboard inside it. Sadly circuitboards are prone to cracking when subject to shock (especially when it probably had the weight of batteries behind it)

But yes.. I think like nearly everything else, quality goes out the window as products become more 'advanced' :P

[skorzy.livejournal.com]

The 6P is considered a "personal" flashlight, being the oldest product in Surefire's lineup. Its essentially a very bright, high intensity light. Though, I think you misunderstood. Its *not* a "military-grade" light! That is reserved for their higher end lights (weapon lights and special-ops lights) which you couldn't touch for under $100. Xenon lamps are fragile creatures when you're talking about a tiny flashlight, there's less protection in one compared to a cumbersome lights like a Mag. I've had Mini-Mag lights break after waist-high drops to a gravel driveway, but my big 3D Mag has survived many "roll off the table and crash to the floor" events.

The military grade lights have a specially buffered xenon lamp housing that will resist shocks of being dropped or from weapon recoil. They're also got the Type III hard-anodizing which make them extremely resistant to chipping, scratching and gouging.

The lower end models (G2, 6P etc.) aren't going to have these luxurys. But.. something you bought with the light that your Mag lite won't have is their warranty. Send the light back to Surefire and I'm sure they'll replace it.

Maglites have a crappy beam pattern in ANY size and are just too big to carry around comfortably. I'm much more a fan of small, powerful lights. One I'm getting is the L2 lumamax which uses a 5 watt LED. THOSE are tough to break (no bulb), have Type III anodization and the size of a Mini-Mag.

[furtech.livejournal.com]

My bad on the military-grade...but when I pay $65 for a flashlight, I expect it to survive normal wear and tear. A fall from pocket height to the ground shouldn't have done that kind of damage. And it did work intermittently after the fall: I suspect that one of the contacts got jarred. The thing is has a rugged look and is made out of a chunk of aluminum: the innards should be equal to the case's design.

I've had few problems with maglights, even the mini's. Dropped numerous times onto concrete, water, etc. with the worst result being a pop'd bulb or dents. The maglights don't have the cool military styling, but they're dependable workhorses.

As far as Surefire goes, I'm not to worried that they'll replace it-- but I'm now skeptical about using it for hiking/walks. In those situations, dependable is paramount. (I thought Maglight had a decent warranty...?). I do like the variable beam of the Maglight: sometimes a wide spread is more useful, sometimes a tight beam us good.

[skorzy.livejournal.com]

Sounds like you've might've gotten a bum one? I've never heard anyone really complain about the 6P before, and on flashlight forums I've read about people abusing the hell out of their 6P (or the G2) and they keep on working.

You drop a maglite and it breaks, they're not going to fix it. From what I've been told, Surefire will (unless, of course, you threw it against a wall!) you have a valid complaint and Surefire's warranty is very good that way, they treat their customers very well.

The only thing I dislike about those high intensity lights with fixed focus is they're too bright for "close" work. Its another reason I'm getting the L2 lumamax. Its low power setting is 15 lumens, perfect for close/general work.

I guess if you're okay with lugging those heavy maglites around, then its fine. That's a big reason I don't use mine.
The mini-mag lite is a joke, but hey.. its a $10 light, and *would* be a good in-car map reading light if it didn't have that dark donut beam pattern.

You can get Luxeon LED upgrade heads for most Mags now, which would give you a slightly brighter light with a more "white" light, and likewise a slight increase in battery life. The LED won't blow or break.

[furtech.livejournal.com]

Heya! Yeah-- it's possible I either got a bad one or managed to drop it *just* right. I guess it's the newness when it happened: if I'd owned one for ten years and it happened, I'd write it off as a fluke.

The fixed-focus property is a drawback: when I'm searching an area for, er... Frieda *spoor*, I need a wider beam. FYI, I also got the L2 (which might be used as a prop at some point). I may well use that as the emergency, extra trail light. The L2 is *very* cool to use. At the highest beam, I think it will go through a pair of lithiums in under an hour (the beam was noticeably dimmer after about 40 minutes). Very cool. (er, and *hot*)

What I like about the 3D Maglight: I can focus the beam to see coyote or cat eyes at 120+ yards...wide beam for poopage...TONS of accessories! And also as one of the few legal weapon-useful items a walker can legally carry. Donut beam is more annoying after seeing the bright spot of the Surefire lights!

Lights

[burrwolf.livejournal.com]

I've got a Surefire 6p myself and I love it. I use it only for work where I work the graveyard shift.
However, if your looking for just a dog-walking light. Might I suggest a new mountain-bike headlamp. The small, compact ones like Catseye put out insane amount of light for there small size.

Re: Lights

[furtech.livejournal.com]

I want my flashlight to be useful for more than just light: sometimes as a hammer, sometimes as a defensive weapon, sometimes as a dog-attack stick. A 2d or 3D Mag is perfect for that.

Re: Lights

[burrwolf.livejournal.com]

Oh well in that case yea, a Mag is fine. Surefire's defenatly arn't ment to be clonked over someones head, best you can do is blind someone :P

Re: Lights

[skorzy.livejournal.com]

Get a collapsible aluminum baton?

Re: Lights

[furtech.livejournal.com]

The other thing a 3D Maglight is good for is as a dog bite-stick. I learned this technique at a Klinghoffer session: you hold a stick (or other rigid thing about 14" long) straight out to a charging/attacking dog. The dog instinctively bites at the part of you closest to it (which it mistakes the stick for) and gets a nasty surprise when it bites the stick...and further shock when you don't react in pain.

It's a gutsy maneuver...I'm not sure if I have the canjones to pull it off, but I've seen demos and trust Klinghoffer's research.

Aluminum batons and anything defined as a weapon are likely illegal to carry/carry concealed in L.A. You'd be surprised at the list of things that are illegal to be caught with. Even a baseball bat can get you in trouble unless you have the rest of the equipment to go with it.

snazz

[c-eagle.livejournal.com]

I sure appreciated all the info in this posting and comments :>
Just as Burrwolf, I used to work an overnight shift for many, many years... and so everyone on the crew including myself were constantly evaluating flashlights, including the Mags, and also working on tweaks to regular flashlights to give them highly extended durability. Many a $2 flashlight got beefed up into a machine far tougher than ever intended!
I've seen some of these hi-power beam thingies, but haven't gotten into 'em yet... I hope ya find one that suits your needs!