The Forlorn and the Sublime

I just ordered an AZ2. It's a little late for that, I know. But it was the unholy spawn of my two favorite Surefires and … it's perfect.

It's no secret that my flashlight hobby has … stagnated, in its own way. It's not because I love these little magic wands any less, but because I live in a treasurebox, amongst an embarrassment of riches.

These are dark times, surely, but my original call to arms was to find a thing about the size of a mini-maglite which could match the light output of a 60 watt worklight for a useful period of time, and now my biggest concern is which one do I strap on today?

Years have come and gone since I first arrived here, and my arrival was borne of anger and frustration going back… oof. It's been a long time. Hurricane Charlie. The Trifecta. My first decent LED flashlight was an Inova X5, with a pentagonal array of Nichia CS emitters. Wasn't my last Inova, wasn't even my last X5.

When entropy comes calling, it's always easier knowing I have a good flashlight on my hip. If knowing is half the battle, a good flashlight is half the toolbox.

I'd like to thank everyone here — but especially the moderators, owners, operators, and hosts. Your advice has made my life measurably better since I discovered this place.

So what do I go for next, a McGizmo?

Thank you for the report - I can relate!
Keep your batteries charged, download all your manuals, and maintain strategic ready placement of all your light instruments!!

There's a YouTube review from Marshall from going gear on the AZ2 where he explains his reason for loving Surefires if not flashlights was because of the AZ2. It is certainly an interesting light. E series head, P series tail cap - one of only 2 p series lights that had the tactical 2 position switch AFAIK. Cool looking light but painful to use with the cigar technique as it was intended.

This is a terrific light. I kind of regret giving mine away, but I know the owners appreciate it.

In fact the couple I gave it to recently divorced, and I was told they had a conversation about who would get the AZ2, as they divided up property like their four-poster, dining room table, and so on. So, yeah, I guess they appreciated it.

Once upon a time, when I was a wee little dragon and just getting into Surefire lego, my dream machine was a hypothetical "E2Z" and the greatest thing is that you all know what that is. An E head, a skinny body tube with one ring, and a Z52 tailcap.

(PS, all y'all Z52 fans better be buying Tacticians…)

But I looked back and forth at all this new kit, and …

But honestly, the AZ2 tailcap works beautifully with the incandescent head, too. It gives a really nice low low, and at full burn, an E2 is still perfectly serviceable for most indoor tasks across a room. I like this so much I'm going to have to try to figure out a two-stage tailcap for my E2E.

Crap. I thought I was contented, for a while there…

But yeah, I guess that was only temporary.