What the hell is Surefire's problem!?

[Jambo]

Does anyone remember reading about the X200 weaponlight in any of the millions of magazines that were talking about? Does anyone remember reading that a remote switch would be available soon? The X200 came out towards the begining of the year and still no remote switch available. I called up Surefire today and it appears that no one knows anything about a remote switch. But if they were making one, why wouldn't they tell their customer service reps anything about it? That way, the reps could assure any concerned callers that the remote switch is just around the corner.

Does anyone know anything about Surefire's counter productivity?

[yovinny]

I dont know if this will help, but Pachmayr / Tac Star makes a remote pressure switch that fit's the Surefire P series. I ordered one on a whim, after using it for awhile I ordered 3 more. There very high quality for the cheap price and I've been very happy with them. I've got them on a few P6 & P9 lights and they should fit any ones with 3.V lithium batteries, rear button switch, 1" od. tube.

They look nothing like the drawing at this link, I believe the drawing is actually one for a mag light, which are also available along with one to fit the Tac Star.

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=101-1081206&fromsearch=yes&submit=GO

This is what the Surefire model actually looks like.

[JoeLad]

Thanks for the link Vinny.
I've been looking for a cheap alternative for a pressure switch.

JoeLad:D

[flight 556]

Why not save yourself the trouble and buy a Streamlight M3 or M3X? After Surefire stopped selling to distributors I stopped selling their products. If you deal in their gold plated stuff you can't adverstise on the internet, advertise a lower than retail price, sell at any location other than a physical store address, or complain that their sales reps at the shot show told you they were too busy to talk to you about becoming a dealer. Futhermore in their dealer sales contract, they want to tell you how to dress your employees and how exactly they want their products displayed. Needless to say, I sell ALOT of Streamlight products.

[Jambo]

I would, but aluminum is more rugged than plastic. At first I wanted to a Nitrolon P Series weapon light, but those are for pistols that don't have a light rail. But I guess I'll just wait it out and see what happens. I am getting a little imapatient, though.

[Blackmore]

Originally posted by flight 556
Why not save yourself the trouble and buy a Streamlight M3 or M3X? After Surefire stopped selling to distributors I stopped selling their products. If you deal in their gold plated stuff you can't adverstise on the internet, advertise a lower than retail price, sell at any location other than a physical store address, or complain that their sales reps at the shot show told you they were too busy to talk to you about becoming a dealer. Futhermore in their dealer sales contract, they want to tell you how to dress your employees and how exactly they want their products displayed. Needless to say, I sell ALOT of Streamlight products.

I knew Surefire had changed their distribution channels, but had not heard these negatives. From a consumer standpoint, however, I have nothing but praise. I bought a the +/- $30 Nitrolon as my first "bright" flashlight. The bulb was DOA in it. I emailed them and faxed the receipt. I had a new P60 bulb in less than a week. That was DOA, too. Wrote back, politely, again and had 2 new working P60 bulbs in hand in less than a week. Didn't have to return either of the DOA bulbs. At the time their batteries were $15/dozen which was much cheaper than even Wally World.

[Dr. Nick Riviera]

Interesting- I was just recently looking for a small tac light to put on my Christmas list.

[yovinny]

I'm not crazy about those all plastic Streamlights either. I've only had one of the small 2AA ones, but it only lasted a few years before the head cracked. Plus there quite a bit more expensive than a mini mag or comparably sized mag light.

I havent fondled one yet, but my next order from midsouth will include one of the Pachmayr/Tac Star TPL2000 lights.
It looks and "specs" exactly like a Surefire P6, except for the price tag.
1"od Alum T6 tube body, 15,000 candle power xenon bulb, adjustable beam head, takes 2x3.v lithium batt, water & shock proof, rear pressure switch and under $30. :)

[flight 556]

blackmore and vinny,

I don't carry any plastic streamlights other than the rechargables so I can't comment on those. If you are looking for AA small flashlight, look at the Luxeon Jr.. It's expensive, about $36.95, but run time is 2.5hrs. and the luxeon circuit that is the LED is 9X as bright as a standard LED.

I'm out on the 3V flashlights as far as zenon bulbs go. You just don't get enough time on the light for the battery cost. Streamlight's TT2L or TT3L luxeon is almost as bright but will last 20hrs according to the literature on the package using the same 3V batteries. The battery problem is really solved with the Strion as it is rechargable and about the same size as a 6P.

Replacement parts are where Surefire makes all their money. $25 for a replacement lamp, $27.95 for a charge cradle, yeah sure. I used to sell alot of replacement parts for Surefire. About half of the people needing replacement parts would look at the cost and then buy a Streamlight rechargable. Bet that doesn't show up on Surefire's marketing reports.

I'm not giving Surefire a hard time, I'm just pointing out that making it difficult for people to get their product denotes a bad decision on their part. However, they have military contactoritis similiar to what Beretta had before their contract with the Gov. was up. Then you'll see how friendly they get towards potential dealers.

Jambo,

Plenty of people use the M series lights from Streamlight or insight technologies which was bought by Streamlight. I have not had a single problem yet and my customers use them in their LEO duties.

[B Wood]

I would give Surefire a chance. They are a great company and will back up their products. Give them a call and ask for George in Customer service.

I had a problem with a Surefire rail.....they made it right. Very professional.

On that note...I have access to Streamlight at cost. I still choose to buy Surefire. Streamlight is largely made in China. If you want cheap...sure...go Streamlight. All the units I see are using Surefire.

[BroncoMafia]

Originally posted by Jambo
I would, but aluminum is more rugged than plastic. At first I wanted to a Nitrolon P Series weapon light, but those are for pistols that don't have a light rail. But I guess I'll just wait it out and see what happens. I am getting a little imapatient, though.

the P101 for glocks comes with an adapter to mount it on a non-rail equipped pistol, but the light itself mounts on any pic rail without the adapter.
I ran it on my TLE/RL2 for a while before trading it to someone who REALLY wanted it. NICE light.

Activation buttons take some getting used to though.

[SKS45]

I recently picked up one of the new Garrity aluminum lights for about 12.00. Seems to work fine for my needs. I don't know if it is a bright as a surefire or will last as long but for 12.00 you can't go wrong.

Brett

[B Wood]

Originally posted by SKS45
I recently picked up one of the new Garrity aluminum lights for about 12.00. Seems to work fine for my needs. I don't know if it is a bright as a surefire or will last as long but for 12.00 you can't go wrong.

Brett

You make a great point. Lights have been a hot topic...with some people saying they present a target, others saying they can blind and disorient a person that is "brighted".

Surefire lights are exceptional, but spendy. For a weapons light I want the brightest, most reliable light I can get my hands on. To light someone up in a pitch black darkness.....I can tell you they are very disoriented. I would be cautious about putting on a cheaper substitute and make sure the light has this effect before replying on it. I would also attach it to my weapon and test the ability to deal with shock in terms of reliability. Surefire lights are shock isolated, and hold up to the constant recoil. I have seen many substitute lights fail when the bulb bites the big one due to recoil. IF you are relying on a light for defending your or others lives....you may want to spend the extra cash.

Most of my weapons have lights, and all of the lights are Surefire. My Mp-5 has a Surefire light integrated in the front grip. My 2 Colt M-4's both have Surefires (962SU07 & 951XM07), and my Colt CAR-15 9mm has a Surefire 951XM07 as well. In each of my vests, a Surefire is tucked away. I know Surefire has come up here, and they are popular for one reason...they hold up, and the work.

Good Luck!

B Wood

[BroncoMafia]

Originally posted by SKS45
I recently picked up one of the new Garrity aluminum lights for about 12.00. Seems to work fine for my needs. I don't know if it is a bright as a surefire or will last as long but for 12.00 you can't go wrong.

Brett
My wife dropped one of her contacts on the bathroom floor the other day.
She looked all around and counldn't find it. It was gone.

I grabbed my surefire E2e and shined it right at her feet.
There it was, right in front of her, clear as day.
It was really kind of amazing. She had gotten down on her hands and knees and searched with all the lights on in the room.

The brightness of a tactical light like a surefire is completely different than a standard consumer flashlight.
It is a cool toy at the very least, and at $30 for a G2 nitrolon, I think everyone here should own at least one.

[Jambo]

well, I take it that no one knows anything about the remote switches for the Surefire X200. To answer the questions about "why not streamlight?" my answer is: I know streamlights are good. Before I saw the X200, the M3 is what I wanted to get. But now that there's something better on the market, the X200 is what I want. The X200 looks a lot better than the M3, in my opinion. Also, aluminum is stronger than plastic. About the cheap little $12 flashlights that require an adapter to mount to a rail: I...don't think so. They may wok for those of you that use them and that's all good and well, but I don't trust anything that's that cheap and is made in China. I put down $200 of my hard earned money for a good dedicated weaponlight, I know I'm not going to have any problems with it and if I do, I know Surefire will make things all better. $12 hunks of crap don't normally carry any kind of long term warranty. So for those of you that keep trying to convince me to buy a plastic Streamlight M3 over an aluminum Surefire X200, I say: you're wasting your time. I'd rather get an X200 and nothing will convince me otherwise. Not to sound like an asshole, but it's getting kind of annoying. And you can thank B Wood for his post because now there's no why in hell I'm not buying a Surefire.

[flight 556]

Jambo,

I was simply trying to point out that Streamlight had the configuration setup that you want available now.

[Jambo]

I know. I didn't mean to offend, if I did. It's just that it seemed like a lot of people were jumping on the Streamlight bandwagon, telling me to get an M3. It was just kind of overwelming. I guess I'll look for a Surefire X200 in Wichita this week end and the "Big Gun and Knife Show." Maybe I can find one for a good price. After that, I gues I'll just wait to see what happens as far as the remote switch goes.

[ikor]

SureFire has apparently had problems with developing these remote switches and they keep backing up their release date for them. Currently they say "within the next six months" but that is what they said a year ago also! They are actually bringing out a second model of the X200 with variable intensity soon...but no remote switch.

Still, I much prefer them to anything else out there.

[soflasmg]

Um, because surefire is still the best?

[jwaters]

I bought one of the single 123 battery executives several years back for around $35 at a gun show, new. Guess you can't do that anymore? This guy had great prices, and I don't think I've seen him since.

I actually bought it to travel with, like airplanes, trips, etc. It uses a small battery, is compact, and bright, and the battery is the same as many cameras so you can get it many places. I don't like going anywhere without a flashlight (guess I'm scared of the dark?!) because I've had too many instances where I needed one.

I would buy a plastic equivalent too for what I use it for.

For many years I carried a Tekna double N cell light in my jacket and that thing ate batteries.

It's been a great light, but I don't like companies that try to "price fix" to keep their product profit up.

[mparrish]

Streamlight is the distributor for the M series lights. ITI is the maker. That being said, the M#X series is a metal case. We have them on the patrol rifles. They work.

Surefire is a good company. I won't fault them for making a good product and I use their products on duty and off. However, they have been killing some of their market with high prices and replacement parts costs. There are makers out there that stand very soon to make dents in Surefire's market with comperable lights that are still US made but cheaper. Surefire has a massive pull with the military and as such, can limit themselves.

As the marketplace goes, when they begin to lose market share, they will change their MSRP issues.

On a side note, I am keenly interested in Ken Good's (former SF Institute director) new Night-Ops series of lights. Has some interesting technology.

[torque65]

I have a Surefire Z2 with the P61 bulb and I dearly love it!
You need to look at it this way - Yes, it's expensive. It's also the brightest and most reliable, and it will be there when your life depends on it!
I don't use it as an everyday flashlight, but as the weapon it's intended to be.
There are cheaper flashlights for everyday use.
(I have used the light alone as an effective weapon - it is absolutely amazing what 125 lumens in the face from six feet will do to some punk at midnight in the Walley World parking lot)!