Help Support Candle Power Flashlight Forum
Disclaimer, not for the easily offended or those that take things personal, like the world revolves around you
If you want to know why Surefire's are what they are, ask a soldier that uses them. I did, on Memorial Day.
They are designed to work under stress and not fail. Surefire catalogs show pictures of rugged ads, not taking the trash out and walking the dog to go poop, not their market.
I own over 70 lights, $10-$800, and when I fly and make a choice of what light carry, it's my L1 and ARC LSHP, because they don't fail. Price and lumen's doesn't concern me in regards to my life, and primary batteries are proven.
I love Surefire knurling, so I look at the cost of their knurling is the price difference
How many rich people say they won't buy a BMW or Mercedes because they are behind in technology from Lexus or Volvo. This is like people that don't like Caterpillar equipment because they can't afford it, though they call their John Deere or Case a Cat and it isn't in the same league.
So that is my reply to a question that shows a lack in ability to discriminate features and quality between something called a "flashlight" from different manufacturers with different mission statements. Newest isn't the best, that's a judgment.
You may read this as coming off gruff, I see it as the truth. Cheap people want quality for nothing. That's an illusion...
Russ
And the best argument for owning Surefires is because I can and you won't :nana:
Some of us have worked with the best and know why it has the reputation it carries. It is the men and women of the companies that put so much effort and love into the designs and manufacture and care about what the end users think of their creations.
Ask yourself this, if you won the lottery, you wouldn't buy Surefire?
I know the truthful answer, do you?
The subject of "If you life depends on it" seems to always come up in these threads. Yet there is no actual statistics to back it up.
Generalities don't mean much to me. I don't think being more expensive makes something better.
"Surefires are dependable and other lights aren't". "1911's all jam". "Glocks are not accurate, and blow up". In my experience, just a bunch of internet banter. My 1911's don't jam, my Glocks are accurate, never blow up, and I have a 30 year old Mag 6 cell that still works fine.
Where are the numbers. The clicky on a Fenix will fail after 2 million clicks, but a Surefire will last for 10 million clicks?
What's funny to me is that if reliability is the most important factor, why would anyone ever carry an incandescent flashlight? You never know when a bulb is going to flash. It may last 50 hours or 2 hours. Why does Surefire even sell incandescent flashlights at this point?
The point being, if you want me to believe that Surefire is somehow so much more dependable then Fenix, Olight, Tiablo, or a host of other quality lights, show me the proof.
I just don't buy into it.
As for military use, they replaced the 1911 and .45acp with Beretta M9's and 9mm. Not exactly what I call a good choice.
These Surefire threads are very entertaining. Very cult like.
I think the "statistics" do not exist as you want to see them -- but are more along the lines of the fact that Surefire has been battle tested for x number of years, while Fenix, Olight, Tiablo, Nitecore, Jetbeam, etc... have not been. When one of these companies has been around for 25+ years and have LEO's and the like backing them up saying "yes, I've used this companies product for my entire career and I trust them", then they can claim the same level of reliability.
That being said, I like lights in general, not just because I'm an LEO. I have Nitecore lights, a Jetbeam, Fenix, and even a Solarforce. But the only ones I use at work are Surefire and Streamlight. Why? Because I already know they will work. (I have taken my Jetbeam M III to work with happy results actually, but I still had a 6P in pocket
Maybe I'm a little nuts, but I don't feel I can completely rely on anything else while on duty, and I'm guessing others feel the same -- and THIS is where Surefire gets its reputation. Some will understand this, others might not. I don't knock anyone for it, it's just how I feel.
