# Any Dopers out there SureFire flashlight fans? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 9, 2005, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-dopers-out-there-surefire-flashlight-fans/334942 "2005-12-09T21:15:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-dopers-out-there-surefire-flashlight-fans/334942/1 "2005-12-09T21:15:41Z")
I just picked up a [SureFire 6P](http://flashlightreviews.com/reviews/surefire_6p.htm) as a companion piece to my Inova X0 and X5 (I wanted a pocketable incandescent with good throw and a beam you can actually _use_ as a companion to my long-running LED based lights…) dear OG is this light cool!, at just over 5" long and about 5 Oz. in weight, it’s so small and light i forget it’s in my pocket, yet it puts out a beam that’s just as bright (and more usable) as my 20" long, 3 pound [6-D cell Maglite](http://flashlightreviews.com/reviews/maglite_3d.htm) (the link only references the 3/4 cell Mags, the 6 is essentially the same, just longer and a little brighter) comparing the two side-by-side, the SureFire is just plain cooler, the Mag looks very basic, plain, and utilitarian, not that there’s anything wrong with that, it’s a good, solid flashlight, it’s not trying hard to be fancy, just a rugged, solid light… the SF, however looks, and _feels_ like a precision-crafted instrument, a fine quality tool, where every little feature has been scrutinized, analyzed, and optomized, it feels like a tiny, metal jewel, little details like the momentary-on reference dimples on the body and tailcap, the checkering that’s just right, a perfect balance between grip and smoothness, the scratch-resistant Pyrex glass lens, it’s hard to put into words the look and feel of a SF light, everything looks and feels just right when you light this puppy up, and see the blindingly bright, absolutely _flawless_ beam coming from a little 5" long pocket light, you’ll be stunned, the smooth, natural beam of light with a perfectly focused hotspot tapering off to a smooth, even spill light , it’s so much better than the artifacty Mag-Lite beam full of dark spots and anomolies and at 65 Lumens for the stock P60 bulb (120 Lumens for the P61), it’s bright enough to temporarily blind a potential assailant, be it of the two-legged or four-legged variety and the fact that all SureFire lights (from the entry level [G2 Nitrolon](http://flashlightreviews.com/reviews/surefire_g2.htm), all the way up to the [10X Dominator](http://flashlightreviews.com/reviews/surefire_10x.htm)) are built to withstand the shock of gunfire is just plain cool the downside? all this power in a tiny package comes at a cost, battery runtime (or lack thereof), with the P60 bulb, the 6P has about an hour of runtime on a pair of 3V CR123a cells, 20 minutes for the P61, this is one place where the 6D Mag outperforms the SF, total runtime, a 6D mag can run about 9 hours on a set of fresh D-cells, although most of that runtime is below 50% brightness, the Mag starts off bright, but rapidly dims to around 50% brightness, the SF stays above 50% for it’s first hour long story short, if the excrement hit the air circulating device and i could only choose _one_ incandescent light (and one LED light, my Inova X5), it would be the SureFire 6P any other Dopers fans of the SureFire lights? ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2005, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-dopers-out-there-surefire-flashlight-fans/334942/2 "2005-12-10T00:16:19Z")
Note to self… self, your scientific mindset can get you in trouble, don’t listen to yourself… i’ve read a lot about the infamous SureFire “Wall of Light” and how it can disorient a would-be attacker with dark-adapted eyes, i wanted to experience this “wall of light” myself…scientific curiosity i went into the bathroom, closed the door with the lights off, stood in front of the mirror and let my eyes adapt to the darkness, i turned the tailcap switch to “momentary”, raised the light to eye level, and “blipped” the tailcap button… Frakking OW!, that _hurt_! the light blipped on for less than a second and i was _blinded_ by a “wall of light” with a brutally nasty hotspot in the center, my eyes reflexively closed and my head turned away from the light… fascinating… i went up to “stage 2” testing, “strobing” the light… same setup, let the afterimage fade from my vision, align the light at eye level, and…“blip.blip.blip.bl…OW!” my eyelids reflexively _SLAMMED_ shut and my head rapidly turned to the left, away from the light, this time it actually _hurt_, a sharp ache at the back of my eyes (i still have a faint afterimage of the 3.5 blips in my vision now, but they’re fading fast)… so, the “wall of light” actually _works_, however, bear in mind, i was only using the _stock_ P60 65 Lumen bulb, and i was _expecting_ the light to flash/strobe, so i was a little more prepared than a would-be assailant who wasn’t expecting a blinding “wall of light” …thank Og i wasn’t using the 120 Lumen bulb for this test. i’d probably be sitting on my ass, stunned from the intensity… hmm…now i want to pick up a G2 Nitrolon and slap the P61 in it, to keep it as a defensive light… the things i do for my fellow Dopers, all to help fight ignorance… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Quint](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/76d3ee/32.png) [@Quint](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quint)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2005, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-dopers-out-there-surefire-flashlight-fans/334942/3 "2005-12-10T06:38:19Z")
Didn’t want to let this thread die without throwing in my admiration for these flashlights. The 6P with the 120 lumen xenon bulb is a light of beauty. LEDs are the future of flashlight technology, but I doubt they will ever match the majestic intensity of that PL123 powered beam. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2005, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-dopers-out-there-surefire-flashlight-fans/334942/4 "2005-12-10T06:44:53Z")
Buy your batteries in Bulk. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2005, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-dopers-out-there-surefire-flashlight-fans/334942/5 "2005-12-10T06:57:29Z")
> [@MacTech](#): > > Note to self… > self, your scientific mindset can get you in trouble, don’t listen to yourself… > > i’ve read a lot about the infamous SureFire “Wall of Light” and how it can disorient a would-be attacker with dark-adapted eyes, i wanted to experience this “wall of light” myself…scientific curiosity > > i went into the bathroom, closed the door with the lights off, stood in front of the mirror and let my eyes adapt to the darkness, i turned the tailcap switch to “momentary”, raised the light to eye level, and “blipped” the tailcap button… > > Frakking OW!, that _hurt_! > > the light blipped on for less than a second and i was _blinded_ by a “wall of light” with a brutally nasty hotspot in the center, my eyes reflexively closed and my head turned away from the light… > > fascinating… > > i went up to “stage 2” testing, “strobing” the light… > > same setup, let the afterimage fade from my vision, align the light at eye level, and…“blip.blip.blip.bl…OW!” > > my eyelids reflexively _SLAMMED_ shut and my head rapidly turned to the left, away from the light, this time it actually _hurt_, a sharp ache at the back of my eyes (i still have a faint afterimage of the 3.5 blips in my vision now, but they’re fading fast)… > > so, the “wall of light” actually _works_, however, bear in mind, i was only using the _stock_ P60 65 Lumen bulb, and i was _expecting_ the light to flash/strobe, so i was a little more prepared than a would-be assailant who wasn’t expecting a blinding “wall of light” > > …thank Og i wasn’t using the 120 Lumen bulb for this test. i’d probably be sitting on my ass, stunned from the intensity… > > hmm…now i want to pick up a G2 Nitrolon and slap the P61 in it, to keep it as a defensive light… > > the things i do for my fellow Dopers, all to help fight ignorance… 😉 Yeah, but you tested that from arms length. At further distances, the light would be less intense and hurty. ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2005, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-dopers-out-there-surefire-flashlight-fans/334942/6 "2005-12-10T16:01:04Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > Yeah, but you tested that from arms length. At further distances, the light would be less intense and hurty. no, i stood in front of the bathroom mirror, more than an arms length away, probably 3-4 feet away when i blipped the light… and it still frelling hurt to look at i’d hate to be on the wrong end of a Dominator or Beast, if 65 Lumens is painful, i don’t want to even contemplate 500 Lumens… i just wish those mega-SureFires weren’t so bloody expensive, like the [M6 Guardian](http://www.surefire.com/maxexp/main/co_disp/displ/prrfnbr/419/sesent/00#), the one with the scalloped Impact Bezel just looks plain _mean_ [lets not even bring up the really cool one-off custom SureFires, like this one](http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=95022&highlight=Pork) that wouldn’t seem out of place in the hands of a Klingon warrior… ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2005, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-dopers-out-there-surefire-flashlight-fans/334942/7 "2005-12-10T18:50:37Z")
I carry my Defender with me everywhere. It’s attached to my keychain and I feel much safer with it. I use it daily when I take the dog out or when I’m walking from my detached garage to my house. It does eat up batteries like there’s no tomorrow, but it’s worth it. I’m a fan. ---
**Author:** ![MikeG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikeg/32/4329_2.png) [@MikeG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeG)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2005, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-dopers-out-there-surefire-flashlight-fans/334942/8 "2005-12-10T18:54:47Z")
I’ve got a Streamlight Scorpion lithium flashlight. It is a little less powerful than the 6P but I love the rubber coating, it’s very slip resistant and just feels right in the hand. I can light up a street sign in the middle of the night from a block away. ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-dopers-out-there-surefire-flashlight-fans/334942/9 "2005-12-14T00:15:36Z")
I made a couple of [videos of “The Wall Of Light”](http://homepage.mac.com/mactechg4/.Movies/Walloflight.mov) as produced by my [4 EDC (Every Day Carry)](http://homepage.mac.com/mactechg4/.Movies/walloflight2.mov) flashlights in the first linked movie, i’m standing about 3 feet away from the iMac, second movie, around 6 feet (even though i say 5 feet for the SF’s, it’s the same distance as the other lights), there’s a minor error in the second movie, when i say the X5 has 5 “5 watt” LED’s i _MEANT_ to say “5 millimeter” the lights are, in power from least to most; Inova X1 (1 5MM LED, single AA battery) Mini Mag Lite (2 AA, Nite Ize 3 LED upgrade) SureFire G2 SureFire 6P and bear in mind, the SureFires are running on their _stock_ 65 Lumen P60 bulb assembly, there _is_ a brighter (120 Lumens) P61 available (bigger hotspot, mainly) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-dopers-out-there-surefire-flashlight-fans/334942/10 "2005-12-14T01:33:04Z")
The wife got me a G2 last year as a stocking stuffer. I love it. It has survived two ranbuctious cats, who knock it off the bedstand and bat it around the floor constantly. Any other light would have broken by now.