Is there a better flashlight than surefire?

[CachookinLA]

Is there a 6P without the terrible battery life?

 

[moshow9]

Customs and USA made are usually high price but high value.

USA made:

• Peak
• Elzetta
• Malkoff
• TorchLAB *(light engines come from Lux-RC)
• HDS Systems
• Prometheus (Dark Sucks)
• McGizmo
• Mac's Customs *(some light engines come from Lux-RC)
• Streamlight (manufactured in USA and China)
• Surefire
• Maglite

Russian made:

• Lux-RC

Canada:

• ArmyTek (USA and Japan electronics, assembled in China)

Chinese, other:

• Zebralight (USA company, TX based. Lighs/Headlamps currently manufactured in China but plans to open factories in the US and England on the horizon).
• FourSevens (USA company, lights manufactured in China)
• EagleTac (USA company, lights manufactured in China)
• Klarus (Chinese manufacturer)
• Olight/iTP (Chinese manufacturer)
• JetBEAM/NiteCore (both Chinese manufacturers are owned by Sysmax)
• Fenix (Chinese manufacturer)
• Sunwayman (Chinese manufacturer)
• Spark (Chinese manufacturer)

There are many others out there, however, the ones listed above are what I am familiar with. Just like with most guns or knives, you usually get what you pay for. That's not to say, though, that quality cannot be had at a lower price point. To help determine which light will be the right fit some questions need to be asked and answered:

1. Budget? How much are you willing to spend?​

2. What battery format will you be using?
​

• Primary batteries: AA, AAA, C, D, 9-volt, 12-volt (alkaline or lithium where applicable) / CR2, CR123A lithium
• Rechargeable (common): NiHM or NiCad
• Rechargeable li-ion (lithium-ion, specialty): LiFePO4, LiCo, IMR. The more common sizes are (but not limited to): 10440 (AAA sized), 16340 (CR123A sized), 14500 (AA sized), 17670 (size/length of 2 CR123A batteries), 18650 (bit wider and longer than a 17670).

WORD OF WARNING
If you are not familiar with lithium-ion batteries DO NOT BUY, CHARGE, or USE without proper knowledge and understanding of their dangers. Please read up on them here:

Flashlight Electronics - Batteries Included

Smoke and Fire, Hot Cells and Close Calls - The dangerous side of batteries

3. Beam pattern/Reflector Type?
​

• 
  [*=1]Do you want a light that will offer the most throw, sacrificing some spill-beam (beam to the side of the hotspot)? If so, a light with a smooth and deep reflector will enhance throw. Other options would include a light that utilizes a TIR optic (Total Internal Reflection) or an aspheric head (although this will only a pencil like beam). Some imperfections in the beam (dots and rings) may be visible when shown against a white-wall. This will depend on how well the emitter is centered and how well the reflector is fitted to it.
  [*=1]Do you want a light that offers a nice compromise between throw and spill? If so, a light that utilizes a Orange-Peel reflector would be a good choice. The term comes from the texture of an orange peel. A stippling is applied to the reflector which helps smooth out the beam. This increases the area and brightness of the spill-beam at a cost of throw. There are different variations that may be found such as: LOP- Light Orange Peel, MOP- Mild Orange Peel, HOP- Heavy Orange Peel. There can also be a mixture where the reflector has texturing at the base (the part which seats around the emitter) and only goes up to a certain point where it then transitions to a smooth reflector. This helps even out the beam but increases throw over a standard OP reflector.
  [*=1]Do you want a light that will be used mainly for uplose tasks? If so, you may want to consider a mule light or diffuser/frosted lens light. A mule light is a light that does not use a reflector and provides a nice even flood beam. These lights can be found by McGizmo, or offered as headlamps by Zebralight. A diffuser is a wand or cap (common colors are white, orange, red) that can be placed over the light and turns your light into an area light. A frosted lens is a lens that acts as a diffuser without needing to apply a wand or cap. Zebralight sells headlamps and flashlights that come with a frosted lens (non-removeable, although also available in a non-frosted version); Spark sells flashlights and headlamps that come with a frosted lens that is user replaceable.

4. Emitter type and tint.
​

• 
  [*=1]In the past two years there has been so much advancement, not only in flashlight designs and UI, but in led emitters. A number of Cree emitters are being used in many flashlights currently (common ones are currently: XP-E, XP-G, and XM-L). Each led has a color temperature and this is what we know as the tint of a flashlight. The ones that sell the most are Cool-White emitters which can appear from white to cool blue (some of the "more blue" tinted lights used to be known as angry blue). Some companies offer Neutral-White tints, these are more pleasing to the eye and allow for better outdoor color rendering (cool-white tends to wash out colors). Warm white is also an options sometimes, this tint is similar to the color of incandescent lights. There are also leds with Hi-CRI (color rendering index), so the higher the CRI the better color rendering it provides. Cree isn't the only party in town though as Nichia, Philips, and Seoul (to name a few) also offer quality choices.

5. UI type?
​

• 
  [*=1]Do you want a light that uses a clicky (rear or side) or a twisty (no clicky switches to activate the light)?
  [*=1]Do you want a light that uses both a clicky and twisty interface?
  [*=1]If clicky, do you want it to have a forward (momentary) or reverse clicky?
  [*=1]Do you want a light that starts off high-medium-low, or low-medium-high?
  [*=1]Do you want it to have strobe/S.O.S, and if so do you want those features hidden only to access when you want so not to have to cycle through it each time you want to get to another mode: ex, low-medium-high-strobe is the main sequence. The light starts in low and you advance it to medium to do some work that requires a bit more light than low. Later you need to dial it back to low so you have to advance through the mode sequence of high and strobe to return back to low. Personally, I hate having strobe in the main mode group. Some Fenix and FourSevens lights use to have a clicky light where if the head was tightened all the way you had access to Turbo or Max output. A half-press (or soft press) of the clicky switch accessed strobe (and another half-press took it back to Turbo/Max. With a slight loosen of the head on these lights a second mode group was available and it usually went: low-medium-high-s.o.s.-strobe. On the newer Fenix lights (ex. PD32/PD12) this is now different. The light(s) use 2 switches (a tailswitch and a sideswitch). The tailswitch offers momentary and constant on activation, while the sideswitch advances the modes. Strobe is hidden and the sidewitch must be held down for 2 seconds while the light is on to be accessed. Holding further while in strobe with advance it to S.O.S.
  [*=3]Do you want a light with mode memory?
  [*=3]Do you want a light that is programmable?

​

6. Do you want to buy a flashlight host?
​

• 
  [*=1]A host is all the components of a flashlight (ex. Solarforce, Vital Gear, TnC Products, Surefire bodies are commonly used as well) with the addition of a drop-in/module. A drop-in is a led properly attached to a MCPCB, seatted on a heatsink, wired to a driver, with a connection spring to make contact with the positive terminal on the battery. They "drop in" to the head of the flashlight host (sort of like plug and play) and are used by many as the choice for their flashlight needs as they can be contantly upgraded as new emitters come out.

​

As for the question a hand, there can be better but it depends on what you are looking for. Surefire lights are built like tanks and have a great warranty, but for a long time they did not keep up with new and improved emitters. I believe they are making steps towards improving this as I have read they have begun to utilize the XP-G and XM-L in a light or two. Another benefit for Surefire fans is they are now allowing rechargeable battery use via LiFePO4 batteries (these are the safest of the 3 types).

If you are comfortable with 2xCR123A use (or li-ion) I would personally recommend an ArmyTek flashlight. I have the Predator, it is fully programmable. Uses both a clicky (with momentary and constant on) and twisty interface. It is regulated on 2xCR123A, 2xLiFePO4, and 18650 use, and you can choose between 3 types of regulation. Comes in a variety of tints and options (different colorings on the strike bezel and pocket clip). They can take a beating too (latest version comes with a cigar/combat grip):

 

[Renegade]

My Fenix and my SolarForce lights are better than my Surefires and cost half as much.

SureFire is getting back in the game with more LED offerings though. When I switched to Fenix SolarForce LEDs SureFire pretty much had nothing.

 

[grasshopperglock]

Beamshot of 7 Fenix and 6 other lights, May 2011


Beamshot 8 18650 lights Juli 2011


Pretty hardcore comparisons

 

[shipwreck]

My Fenix and my SolarForce lights are better than my Surefires and cost half as much.

SureFire is getting back in the game with more LED offerings though. When I switched to Fenix SolarForce LEDs SureFire pretty much had nothing.

I agree. I like Solarforce, Fenix and Eagletac better. I still say they are made as well. Why pay that much for a surefire.