SureFire Illumination Tools: the best and brightest in the industry.

 From left to right:  

The Sure Fire G2, E2E Executive and Z2 Combat Light.

Now you wouldn’t think a flashlight would cause so much excitement, but when you were a kid the uses for a flashlight were endless and those uses sure have changed with the times. When I was a kid, flashlights were all steel and used either D cell batteries or the chunky 9 volt. They came in two types, round or square and if you had one you were in heaven. My father had both models for his job in the Air Force and every chance I got I would steal them away and go play in the dark, in my room. Of course if I wore down the batteries my dad would not be happy, but I think he knew how much fun they could be. I didn’t know then, as he did, how useful a tool the flashlight was, but I sure do now. As with most things back then, I couldn’t even imagine where a simple thing like a flashlight was heading, but technology moves forward with or without us. I’m glad I went along for the ride, because I like where it’s going!

Sure Fire's Z2 Combat Light goes well with your favorite carry gun.

Flashlights have come a long way since my childhood and now they a referred to as Hand-Held Illumination tools, and the Illumination tool that started it all is made by the SureFire Company of Fountain Valley California. Their history is long but it all started with lasers not flashlights although it’s still based on light right? Well in 1969 a man with a Ph.D. in engineering by the name of Dr. John Matthews started to experiment with lasers for industrial purposes and through time and his love of firearms invented the weapon mounted laser sight. Laser products as they were called then moved on to accommodate law enforcement agencies with better equipment until the weapon mounted flashlights came on to the scene. With improvements to both lasers and flashlights, they eventually branched out to include more products. It was then that the name SureFire LLC was adopted and now they are a world leader in Illumination tools and other products that carry the SureFire name.

The Sure Fire's G2 makes a perfect work light.

I started to notice SureFire lights at local gun shows and a few gun shops that carried their products. Like most things I didn’t know how special they were, after all, they’re just flashlights and why would someone want to pay upwards of $50 for a flashlight that takes funny little batteries. The batteries were even expensive, I could buy a Maglite with double A’s or a 4 battery D cell for half that price and I did. But I started to realize that as well built as Maglite was, it was still not very bright. I heard from others who owned SureFire lights as well as through SureFire’s advertising that these lights were powerful. And to top that, the United States Military was using them on their rifles for low light operations. Well my curiosity peaked I had to find out what all the hype was about, so I visited my local SureFire dealer. I guess the rest is history since I own two, bought one for my wife and a few others as gifts for family members.

Sure Fires E2E Executive works with a purse or a suit.

My first SureFire was the Z2 Combat light with the standard P-60 incandescent lamp (a filament that glows white-hot when heated by a current passed through it) that puts out 65 lumens; it cost me about $95 when I bought it a few years ago. I know what you’re thinking, what the heck is a lumen. Well in its simplest term, a lumen is a way of measuring how much light gets to what you want to illuminate. It can get more in depth and I encourage you to look it up and read more on it. The Z2 like most SureFire lights is machined from high-strength Aerospace-grade aluminum alloy, although they do make the G2Z which is cheaper version of the Z2 and is made from Nitrolon, but in effect, it’s the same light. SureFire lights are very resistant to damage and have stopped bullets and saved lives in a few cases, and carry a lifetime warranty for the original owner. It has an anti-roll bezel so when you lay it down on a table or car hood it won’t roll off. It is designed to be held between your first and middle finger and the push button tail cap makes it easy to use your thumb to press for momentary on or you can twist it for constant on. The use of the combat grip insures it stays in your hand, even when wet, cold or using gloves. The length is 5.2 inches and the weight is 4.1 ounces, with batteries, so it fits in a small package and you will hardly know you’re carrying it all. 

From the left: the V82 Nylon QD Holster and V70 Speed Holster

The Z2’s primary purpose is to be used alone as a defensive tool or with a pistol using one of the many types of holds like the Rogers/SureFire hold technique. Of course you can use whatever hold you like as long as the end results are the same, you have temporally blinded your attacker and escaped or identified and shot your attacker. Now what makes all SureFire lights unique is the way they project light. Most normal lights have dark holes, rings, hot spots, or shadows, but SureFire has eliminated these problems with their uniquely engineered lamps and all the light is focused on what you want illuminated. It, like most others, uses the SF123A SureFire battery and depending on what lamp is used will dictate how long it will last. Mine will last 60 minutes with the P-60 lamp and 20 minutes with the P-61. Of course I know what you’re thinking, 20 or 60 minutes on two batteries that cost a $1.75 each, that’s crazy talk, more on that later. The light comes in black only but the G2Z comes in the Nitrolon and is a satin gray

The SC1 Spares Carrier holds 6 123A's and spare lamp

The second light I own is the G2 Nitrolon with the same P-60 lamp as the Z2 and this one cost me about $35 a few years ago. This is my primary light I use at work and it lights up everything just like the Z2.  Now this light is not aluminum, it is a material called Nitrolon and it is a proprietary, high-strength, non-conductive, impact-resistant, glass-filled polyamide nylon polymer. In layman’s terms it’s tuff as hell and is very light in weight although it is still 4.1 ounces the savings is in the fact that it is molded not machined. The length is 5.1 inches, a little shorter that the Z2, and has a deep grid pattern for a good grip. The bezel is molded into the body and is also anti-roll and employs the same style tail cap assembly as the Z2 and uses 2, SF-123A batteries. The G2 comes in 4 colors, black, yellow, tan and OD green. If you need more power there is the G3 Nitrolon and it uses 3 SF-123A batteries giving you 105 lumens for 60 minutes or 200 lumens for 20 minutes. Either the Z-2, G-2Z or G2 lights will also take the P-61 lamp which will give you 120 lumens, but for only 20 minutes constant run time. 

The V70 holds my G2 and Z2 as shown or bezel in

The last light is the one my wife owns and she didn’t want a twist type tail cap so I bought her the SureFire E2E Executive Elite. It is a small light that fits well in her purse and weighs in at 3.1 ounces and is 4.8 inches long. It uses the MN03 lamp which gives her 60 lumens for a 75 minute run time. It employs the same anti-roll bezel and the addition of a clip for use with a pocket or purse. It comes in two colors; olive green and satin gray. The tail cap assembly on this light is, push for momentary on, or push further and click for constant on. With this light you can opt for the MN02 lamp assemble and it will give you 25 lumens for 2.5 hours of run time. I paid $85 for this light, and she really likes it so it was well worth it.

Z2 bezel in carry with the V70 holster

With many of the SureFires, there are a lot of accessories to go with your lights. Anything from holsters, lanyards, filters, battery carriers and extra lamps, but when I bought my lights the one thing I couldn’t get then was LED lamps. LED or Light Emitting Diode extends your battery life a long way. Let’s take my Z2 and G2 with the P-60L (LED) lamp assembly, my lights now lasted for 12 hours run time and bumped my lumens to 80. The bad news is they are discontinued; instead you can now buy the lights with the LED lamps installed. The LED has no filaments to break or burn out so they last for thousands of hours and since they won’t break you won’t freak out when you drop them. I told you I would address the battery life issue later. Although some lights don’t have the LED option, so read the description carefully to see if there is a LED version of the light you want.  One thing to keep in mind, the incandescent lamps give off a lot of heat and will burn you and can set fire to clothes and paper while the LED runs cool.  

Sure Fire's 123A lithium batteries by the dozen

What makes the SF123A worth the $1.75 price tag is the engineering that goes into it. For the size and weight, it would take 2 regular alkaline batteries to compare to one SF123A. The SF123A generates 3 volts to the 1.5 volts of an alkaline and will deliver all its power over the life of the battery where alkalines will die slowly and fade out. And lastly Lithium batteries outperform alkalines over a wide temperature range, providing a working output from -76° to 176° F (-60° to 80° C). I always keep a dozen batteries on hand so I never run out and the SF-123A lithium battery has a 10 year shelf life, so you don’t have to worry about them dying in storage. They come in a convenient 12 battery box, but there are smaller packs available. The down side is like normal batteries will slowly fade out; SF-123A batteries just die in some lights. Some of the new lights with the power regulation circuitry technology will decrease the lumens to a lower setting. For example it will start as 80 lumens then as the battery losses power will go to 30 and then die. You can use other batteries that are not SureFire batteries and it will not void your warranty, these include; genuine Panasonic, Duracell or Energizer batteries. Be very careful when buying batteries as cheap types abound like batteries made in China or marked PRC. You paid a lot of money for your SureFire, don’t feed it inferior batteries unless you love paying for your mistakes. 

No lamps to replace when you get the lights with LED lamps

These lights are as high tech as you will get, almost bordering on alien stuff. You will never own a light as good as SureFire and you will pay for it, but as the saying has always gone, “you get what you pay for and you pay for quality”. This is the link to the flashlight technology page that will explain why these are the best lights in the industry and why thousands of police and soldiers trust their lives to these lights. Go to: http://www.surefire.com/FlashlightTechnology and read what makes them worth the price you pay. While you’re at the SureFire website check to see which light is right for you, and make sure you check out all the other products they carry. They include sound suppressors, edged weapons, pens, rails and pro ear products. I trust my life to these lights and when I’m carrying my Glock 27, I also carry my Z2 and when I’m working I carry my G2 to blind a potential aggressor. If you’re serious about your flashlights, then buy a SureFire Illumination tool and you won’t be disappointed, I guarantee it, or at least they will. Go to your local dealer and try one out for yourself, maybe they will let you turn the lights out!

On the left is a Sure Fire incandescent lamp on the right is Sure Fire LED lamp.

On the left is a Mag-lite on the right a Sure Fire LED, notice any difference?

SureFire LLC: www.surefire.com