New to flashlight community, need help - DARPA Surefires

Thanks!

If they are DARPA Surefires, then they are worth a lot. Check out this thread, it might help you determine which models you have:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?380699-WTS-DARPA-DEF-1-and-DEF-2&highlight=darpa

Try searching for DARPA, because Surefire won't return useful results. You might post pictures here or in the Rare and Unusual Surefire thread and get more help.

Thanks for the reply.

hammerdelfuego said:

I found a couple heavy duty flashlights in a old antique store. Not sure if they are worth anything but they look really cool. Two of them have DARPA in all caps, logos made by Surefire. Any help in pointing a newbie in the right direction would be appreciated! Thanks!

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If they aren't asking for an arm and a leg, it is probably worth your time to pick them up and see what kind of interest you get after the fact.

I picked up the whole box of them! I figured it was worth it just to see if I found any hidden gems. Sometimes it pays off to go antiquing with the wife!

Sorry, trying to figure out how to post these pics...

1st pic

12345

What a score Hammer :thumbsup: Did you post on AR15.com ? Google alerts send me an alert about the post on there but I forgot to reply as I am moving house at the moment and it's the worst time of my life.

When I have some time I will reply to this thread with some more info for you.
By far the rarest Darpa light is the DEF 3D 5k very few of these come around.

If you are looking at selling any I would love to have first crack at your DEF3A. Every one I have come across has been heavily used not a fan of used lights for collecting purposes.
Back soon.


:wave:

Thanks man!

Lol - good find!

hammerdelfuego said:

Thanks man! I don't even know what AR15 is so it wasn't me. Not a whole lot of info out there that is why I posted here. The DEF3A is brand new from what I can tell. I can take some better pictures if you want. I am not sure what I want to do with these yet. I just thought they were tough/bad a$$ but then I showed them to a buddy and he said they could be industrial or worth something to hunters/gun enthusiasts. So I started looking around. Glad the wife dragged me out that day now. And yes moving sucks.

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Yes sorry the guy on AR15.com was selling a Darpa DEF 3C 5k I just checked.

First up your market will be Surefire collectors no hunter or gun enthusiast will pay the money these lights are worth as they can get much more powerful lights these days for a lot less.
To tell you the truth it would be a shame to see these light go to somebody who is going to use them if they are in mint condition. As the condition is what makes them more valuable. See most of these lights have been trashed by the military so mint ones are hard to find.

There are plenty of us here on CPF that would love some of these lights in there collection and would be willing to pay for the privilege.
These lights came out specially for military only never sold to the public. Similar lights were sold to the public but sold under the name PK Experimental Flashlights Limited Editions PKEF-A5K, A8K,B5K,B8K,C5K & C8K.

Example the DEF-3D was designed for use on aircraft carrier flight decks so a person using it could be seen from behind as well with the green LED tail cap lights. There is not that much info on these lights so we only really learn from what we are told by the service men who used them.
We (Surefire collectors) are lucky because a few of the military guys knew the value of these lights to collectors and never used the ones they were issued. I purchased three of mine from ex-military guys who did not use them all NIB.

The full list of Darpa lights are
DEF-1
DEF-2
DEF-3A
DEF-3B
DEF-3C
DEF-3D

As far as I am concerned the DEF-3D & the DEF-2 are the hardest to find. That is only my findings I have come across a few of the others models but very rarely do you see those two come up for sale.
It took me a while to find a DEF-1 but I did see a few just not in good enough condition for me. I now have them all bar the DEF-3A :naughty:

When you have time make us a list of what was in the box we all dream of finds like that.

Rat said:

See most of these lights have been trashed by the military so mint ones are hard to find.

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Occupational hazard. :nana:

You just found Surefire DARPA flashlights in an old antique store??? Did you also happen to step over the Ark of the Covenant while you were in that store????!?!?!?!

Seriously, awesome score. Those are prized by Surefire collectors!

I've got a couple of DARPA Def 1's myself. they're awesome and I love that they're so rare but I'm sure there are some folks out there that would covet them more than I do.

I didn't realize how rare they actually are.

Hey, hammeredfuego! What's up with editing all your posts?! :thumbsdow :thumbsdow :thumbsdow :thumbsdow :thumbsdow :thumbsdow One for each post you erased. Truly bad form.

~ Chance