This is an update to a post a did a while ago about the differences between a standard Surefire lamp and a LED Surefire lamp. A friend of mine bought the Surefire LED Conversion and I filmed the process from start to finish. All 1:10 of it. I think the Surefire LED Conversion set him back around $30. If he uses and abuses this flashlight for years to come, he will more than make that up in batteries.
Archive for the ‘Flashlight’ category
Surefire LED Conversion
December 24th, 2009Cool New Stuff from Surefire
November 10th, 2009M300A Mini Scout Light: looks like by Surefire E1L but brighter (110 Lumens), comes with a remote grip switch and mounts to a rail.
E2D LED Defender in now 200 lumens. 
I wish Surefire would provide an upgrade path for product like the E1L to take advantage of the brighter E1D or M300A LEDs.
Surefire Outdoorsmen E1L
October 21st, 2009
By this point its no secret that I am a fan of Surefire. So it should not surprise anyone that I have bought another. I found that my Surefire 6P was not really pocket sized and I needed something smaller. After doing a bunch of research I settled on the Surefire E1L.
The E1L is significantly shorter than the 6P. It is also narrower. You can carry it around in your pocket without giving up to much space. It has variable outputs. Low: 5 lumens and High at 45 lumens. On the low setting it has 45 hours of battery life! Surefire does make a similarly size flashlight that can match the 6P LED’s 80 lumen output, the Surefire E1B. And the E1B is actually the same suggested retail price.
I chose the E1L over the Over the E1B (B for Backup) strictly because I could buy the E1L at REI, thus taking of 20% (during REI’s fall sale).
The one complaint I have about the E1L is the clip. If the clip could be reversed it would be perfect for attaching to the inside of you pocket (think the clips on pocket knives). That would avoid the problem of feeling around in your pockets to find it, especially when you need it fast.
Overall I have been very happy with the E1L.
Surefire Standard Lamp vs LED / Aluminum vs Nitrolon
September 29th, 2009I have now purchased three Surefire flashlights. First I purchased a Surefire 6P LED for myself, mostly to see what all the hype was about. Because my wife kept stealing my 6P, I bought her a Surefire G2 LED. Then last week for my buddies birthday I got him a Surefire G2 Nitrolon.
While I am to some extent spreading the Surefire love, there is also a method to my madness. Basically buying Surefire’s for my friends gives me a great excuse to play with them myself.
» Read more: Surefire Standard Lamp vs LED / Aluminum vs Nitrolon
SureFire V25 Holster
July 6th, 2009
This was totally a weekend impulse buy with shaky justification.
I have been looking at the pyrex lens on my SureFire 6P and really hoping that I don’t one day scratch it. Not that a scratch our reduce its performance in any meaningful way. Additionally, Its not the sort of thing that really comfortable in your pocket.
» Read more: SureFire V25 Holster
Putting Surefire Flashlights to the Test
May 7th, 2009For a longtime I have been skeptical about Surefire’s claims of general awesomeness. I have checked them out at Sportsman’s Warehouse and was generally not impressed. My feeling was; why buy a flashlight when my Petzl Myo XP headlamp (topic for another post) was just as good, if not better. As much as I tried my inner gear geek could not resist. So when I spotted one at the GI Joe’s going out of business sale I had to buy it.
I purchased the SureFire 6P LED (6P at REI). Normally its around $80 but because of the sale I got it for about $60. Generally Surefires, like many other name brands, don’t go on sale (sign of the times I guess). To do some comparison, I put fresh batteries in my Petzl Myo XP headlamp and headed outside with a camera. It is hard to get accurate representations of what you actually see when using a camera in the dark. But in comparison you can definitely tell the difference.
