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You won't believe this, but there are at least two Doug Reeves in Dallas.  I got an email from......Doug Reeves......about his experiences with some of SureFire's LED lights.  I'm posting his comments here as the first data point in a long term review I and a couple of friends are doing on some of the lights.  dr

Surefire L2 Review
...by Ross 'Scorch' Burgess [ross 'at' vansairforce.net]

Krash,

I’m back off a three-day trip and had a chance to check out the SureFire flashlight you gave me to evaluate.  I gotta tell ya, I did think you were kidding when you told me about the “160-dollar flashlight.”  That’s a joke, right?  But now I’ve played with it, and now I get it.

I’ve got the L2 Digital LumaMax model.  It’s slightly bigger than a standard two AA-cell penlight, so there’s a tendency to think the performance might be similar.  Not even close.  It fits beautifully in the hand, and has Low and High brightness modes.  My First Officer had a two D-cell Maglight with fresh batteries, sort of the standard benchmark for a flashlight, so we had a good opportunity to do a non-scientific side-by-side comparison.  Had fun shining them around inside and outside our darkened Boeing.

Bottom line, the SureFire, at about a quarter of the size and weight, blows away the Maglight.  In both intensity and quality of light the SureFire is superior.  The Maglight has an adjustable beam; when focused at max brightness, it’s about equal to the SureFire in Low mode.  Shine the SureFire in High and it is far brighter than the Maglight.    There’s a marked difference in the light quality, also.  Side by side, the Maglight beam appears yellowish, while the SureFire is a brilliant white, almost bluish.  The Maglight’s beam also has dark spots or rings, depending on how it’s focused.  The SureFire has a consistent, brilliant center area, gradually morphing into a dimmer white area illumination on the outside of the beam.  It really is dramatically different from any other flashlight I’ve used.

As well it should be, for 160 bucks.  And there, of course, is the rub; why should anyone pay that much money for a flashlight.  To me, it’s kind of like tools – there’s nothing wrong with Craftsman, and they will do the job just fine, but if you work with tools a lot you want Snap-On.  Same thing here.  If you fly a lot at night, or camp a lot ( especially backpacking where weight is a consideration), you will want a SureFire. 

This thing is the perfect Guy Gift.  Every guy will love having one of these, but most of us (me) are also too cheap to spend the money.  My suggestion: print a page off the SureFire website and leave it laying around where your wife will see it before your birthday.

Thanks Krash, see you around 52F!

Scorch

Surefire A2 Review
...by Doug Reeves [fly 'at' dougreeves.net]


Hello Doug Reeves, it's ... Doug Reeves. Also in Dallas, TX. (Guess you were wondering who had dougreeves.net...)

Long time lurker at VAF.net. Got hooked on Van's designs when I took a ride in a RV-4 at Redlands, CA in 1990. The rest is history.

Anyway. Just saw that you were reviewing the SureFire A2 and wanted to forward my experiences.

I've owned an A2 for about 9 months. Purchased it from Cutlery Shoppe in Meridian, ID (good operation). Note that SureFire has changed their pricing policy and are cracking down on dealers that sell for less than MSRP. I got my A2 back when they could be had for $140.

Overall, the light is wonderfully built. "Solid" is the word that comes to mind when picking it up. SureFire also guarantees it for life. It's a little bigger than a "AA" Mag Light, mostly in diameter. Weight is ... just right in the hand.

It takes 2x lithium "CR123" batteries like many small cameras. Do yourself a favor and buy these online where they are cheapest. Even WallyMart costs more. Figure on $20/12 online and $3/ea at the store.

The light has a "low" mode, provided by 3x 5mm LEDs. You can get it with white, red or other colors, but I got white - I figured I can always get a red filter if I really want it. Light is adequate to find one's way around, read by in the dark, find the pen that you dropped.
The light seems to last .... oh, forever on low mode. I ran it for 24 hours and finally got tired and turned it off. The white LEDs have a definite bluish cast.

"High" mode is provided by a Xenon-filled lamp. It's a moderately-wide spot that is not adjustable. There's a good amount of spill light outside of the spot. "High" is sufficient to spot items at a distance in the dark or twilight. It won't really blind you (SureFire sells mostly to law enforcement, and one of the major uses of their stronger lights is to dazzle or blind the potential perp), but it will definitely destroy any thought of night vision. It's more than enough for pre-flight inspection.

The bulb is digitally regulated (constant voltage) so that brightness is constant until the batteries are depleted (note that the LEDs will run for many hours after the high mode gives out). It also offers a ramped voltage start to prolong bulb life. I can't say that it helps or not, but I'm on the same bulb after 9 months.

The switch is a little different. You push on the tailcap to turn it on. Soft push for low, stronger push for high. You can also twist the cap cw (a la vernier-style controls) and get either the low or high modes to stay on. Rotate ccw and you "lock-out" the bulb. Can't overstate the importance of lock-ing out the light when it's tossed in a bag. I didn't one time and went to pull the light out by the bezel. It had gotten mashed between a book and a water bottle and the xenon bulb had been on. Needless to say, the bezel was more than a little hot - ouch, burned fingers - and the batteries were almost dead. Needless to say, I now always carry extra batteries. (don't keep these loose, because it the terminals short, it could be ugly. Use a baggie or SureFire's very expensive SC3, a water-tight plastic gizmo that carries 4x CR123 and a A2 lamp. Old prescription bottles work well for 2x
CR123.)

Pros:
Good low beam, just right for most tasks
Powerful high beam
Regulated bulb (constant color, better life?)
Comes with sturdy clip and lanyard

Cons:
Lithium 123s are expensive, although worth it if purchased online.  Would be nice to have beam focus, but not necessary No headlamp strap; uncomfortable to hold in mouth (yum!) Expensive (more so now thanks to SureFire's pricing policy)

Bottom Line: Solid construction, good design, excellent performance, very expensive, and never left at home. Thumbs up.

Alternative: Take a mini-mag and add a LED emitter "sandwich" (LED plus regulator board) and "clickie" tailcap from http://secure3.dnsaction.com/~anlighte/shop/default.php. I recommend the "Madmax Lite WO" sandwich - about 3 hour run times, good brightness level, very good at getting every last electron out of alkaline batteries. (Yes, these people are serious about their lights; they build their own designs.)

Note: I picked the A2 over the L2 because of problems with the 5W LED in the L2 (might be solved by now, might not - there's a lot of discussion on www.candlepowerforums.com on 5W LED tint and life) and shorter battery life with the L2's "low" mode. I picked the A2 over the E2e because (1) lower lumen output from the E2e and (2) no low mode on E2e.

Hope this is useful.

Doug

FMI: www.SureFire.com