Nitrolon is underrated

I wish surefire - or anyone - made more lights based on nitrolon.

My only device is Surefire G2x Pro. I like it for 2 reasons. First, it's noticeably lighter than anything else I have metal-based.
Second, it seems to grip better. Just sticks to your hand.
Actually there is a third reason. In the winter, it does not get cold.

The only downside I can think of, the plastic threads aren't as smooth as the metal lights. I use the G2x Pro in the twisty mode. I don't ever use the clicky as intended. And yes it works that way. Just like Surefire 6P.

I wish surefire expanded the entire line to encompass nitrolon. And made Surefire G3x, G4x and ideally with 18650 support.

Actually there is yet a 4th reason for nitrolon. Maybe the most important one. it's cheaper. G2x Pro, you can pick up for a fraction of the cost of Fury. It's just cheaper to make and the savings are passed on to the consumer. You can get a used model for around 30-40 bucks any day every day. That's not expensive. That's maglite territory.

I usually EDC the G2x Pro but I wouldn't mind having the nitrolon version of Fury or such. Including its 3 cell configuration. It's tough as anything, maybe even tougher than metal in the sense that when you drop it, it does not deform as badly.

All good points. I would add a con, but only for high powered lights, that it is probably a poor disipator of heat.

MAD777 said:

All good points. I would add a con, but only for high powered lights, that it is probably a poor disipator of heat.

Click to expand...

Actually, that is true. To be completely fair, the G2x Pro head is made of metal. It's just coated in that paint that comes off if you drop it. It's metal and if you drop it, it does get deformed just like 6P. So perhaps I mean just the body, and the outer part of the bezel but yeah the insides have to be metal and heat-sinked. You know Surefire doesn't really heat any G2x - or anything for that matter, which is part of the reason it's light.

Nevertheless, I am sold on Nitrolon. My wish list would include an aggressive knurling pattern on a nitrolon body. G2x is not bad but could be better.

It's a cost-savings thing. And polymer can be really tough. They gotta add 18mm cell support. Theoretically Malkoff I think should expand his line to include nitrolon to bring down the cost of Hound Dogs and MD-whatever, so it's a win situation for the consumer. Of course I don't really know how a metal head would mate with a nitrolon body. Maybe it won't.

I too am a huge advocate of nitrolon and one of my most used and favored lights is my G2 with a sportac triple. You can run that drop in on primaries and I NEVER have had any issues with heat and it's plenty bright as well.
Although mine does have a glass lens, the lexan lens G2's may have problems running this same setup.
The nitrolon tho is rock solid and strong AF and I wish more lights would be availabe in this material.

The G2x Pro is just flat out a great flashlight.

If SureFire were to build one that ran on 2aa's and sold them at box stores they'd probably have to add a shift at the factory.
No joke.

Right now Pelican's 2360 can do 375 steady lumens, so if SureFire did the nitrolon at 350 lumens starting at the same low as the current crop of G2x Pro lights.... and sold them for about $40....
Hey, one can always daydream, right?

One of my favorite lights is a an old yellow G2. I'll never sell/give away that light! I have enough P60s to last a life time. Its ironic, I bought it for $40 and it commands more attention than some of my SF/Malkoff hybrids...

I'm pondering getting a G2 and, possibly, a G3. I like the idea of a light that I can give to one of the kids and not worry about the floor or the light being damaged if they drop it. I rarely use more than 100 lumens, so heat dissipation is not often a concern for me.

There are G2s on Ebay, but no G3s. I may have missed my chance to pick one up.

--flatline

As I am perhaps one of the most faithful bearers of the 'Z'-series banner; I do rather treasure my Nitrolon G2Z, and am finally moving again on my semi-secret Nitrolon 'Z' project, lol.

I tend to like plastic lights. Still don't have a G2 though. I guess because I don't want to buy any 16650 batteries

The Solarforce P1 has been wonderful though. It is my favorite 18650 light by a lot. The "plastic is cheaper" option doesn't seem to apply when the light is made in China though. The P1 is one of the more expensive "basic" hosts that Solarforce offers. Of course it isn't the most expensive. No carbon fiber or stainless bling. But it is 2x as expensive as the L2M which is arguably better since the L2M light comes with multiple battery tube options.

Between the Solarforce P1, the LRI Photon Freedom and the 9V Paklite some of my most expensive lights are made of plastic

A few others here on CPF were just discussing the NexTorch GT6A-S in another thread (which is one I was not aware of, but you might want to check out) ....

flatline said:

I'm pondering getting a G2 and, possibly, a G3. I like the idea of a light that I can give to one of the kids and not worry about the floor or the light being damaged if they drop it. I rarely use more than 100 lumens, so heat dissipation is not often a concern for me.

There are G2s on Ebay, but no G3s. I may have missed my chance to pick one up.

--flatline

Click to expand...

Exactly!! +1,000,000!

I have been using them from the get go for over a decade. My first were a pre lockout OD G2 then G2Z. Have a yellow and black lockout G2s as well. Got a G3 not that long ago for a great deal on the forums. They tend not to show scrapes and dings like anodized aluminum though that really doesn't matter IMO. Feels great in hand in extreme cold. Very UL so nice in the pack. The primary downside for LED is heat. I put an Al bezel on the G2Z and there is one on the G3. I use the all plastic lights mostly for low power requirements. They have the LLs

Also careful as on Fleabay for G2s. They're being counterfeited. You can find real G2s if yea shop around but watch out for fakes.

I am fortunate to have some G2s that I purchased on clearance but I wish they were still available. WW makes a good point about cold weather use,anything metal is uncomfortable to use with your hands once it gets cold. The lower power drop ins really don't require aluminum bodies so the nitrolon G2/G3 are as useful these days as they ever were. With all the wonderful options available in flashlights there isn't much comparable to the G2/G3 on the market. I think that many people are in the mindset that quality flashlights will be made of metal, at least here in the U.S. anyway. Probably due to the well known Maglite brand as well as earlier lights like the Ray-o-vac Sportsman.

bykfixer said:

The G2x Pro is just flat out a great flashlight.

If SureFire were to build one that ran on 2aa's and sold them at box stores they'd probably have to add a shift at the factory.
No joke.

Right now Pelican's 2360 can do 375 steady lumens, so if SureFire did the nitrolon at 350 lumens starting at the same low as the current crop of G2x Pro lights.... and sold them for about $40....
Hey, one can always daydream, right?

Click to expand...

Yeah, and if they kept the price similar to MiniMag ... which is actually not all that cheap anymore.

A huge plus, like mentioned above, if dropped, they are safer in a sense. I dropped one of the Hound Dogs and it created this sharp edge that had to be filed down with sandpaper, on the bezel.
Nitrolon doesn't have that problem. In a sense, it's more durable than metal.

Streamlite Polytac is pretty nice with a runtime graph that is flat as Kansas.

That's why I bought a bunch of G2s in yellow and tan to put different Drop-in LEs in them. Even running a Malkoff, you can run them quite a while and they are fine, however any extended legenth of time you better check.

Also the Waffle pattern is a great looking light!

Here's one for the mod squad who prefer sleeper mods...


Classic SureFire look (at a glance) with matching ano from the SolarForce metal head, smooth bezel and glass lens.

I used a Scout head adapter gasket by Malkoff up front to get the 85 lumen P60L (or any other drop in) to work all proper-like.

Kestrel said:

As I am perhaps one of the most faithful bearers of the 'Z'-series banner; I do rather treasure my Nitrolon G2Z, and am finally moving again on my semi-secret Nitrolon 'Z' project, lol.

Click to expand...

Quite like the G2,


But really like the G2z , the form as with the z series i love!


Having left one (or should i say accidentally activated) in my top draw in work, the OR mule(300 ish lumens) was on for 30 mins before i realised. The metal insert/tube transferred the heat nicely through the body from the base of the p60. It was actually quite strange to hold a very warm nitrolon light from head to tail.

Only slight issue is with weighty p60's, it makes the light quite top heavy in hand.