Semper fi brother 2/9 fox 0300 joined in 2009. Been out for awhile now
Yea, some things are now impossible to source in the USA because we don’t make them.
I remember asking these guys “(First Light)”:https://www.firstlight-usa.com/products/tomahawk-gp-tactical-light about which LED’s and components they use on Face Book and getting and some generic response about then being the “best” and that they use ” The most efficient LED’s that produce the most light”
These are “Built in the USA”
Unspecified LED, that’s not a serious vendor.
Nothing about color temp. or CRI either…
Surefire disgusts me. They have so much bloomin’ potential, but literally the only thing they care to offer is durability – everything else is ridiculously overpriced garbage. It’s a scam almost as bad as the Shadowhawk bamboozle, except the SFs aren’t (necessarily) about to blow up at any second.
Not that I expect them to care, they’re far too happy gouging the US government to bother with smaller clienteles.
On that topic, has anyone ever seen a Shofaya being sold outside the US? Or users outside the US, for that matter? I know I never saw either, even amongst the snobbiest of torch snobs.
Any chance for a groupbuy :+1:
I am also wondering what LED’s are in this light, is it a flooder or a thrower?
I never owned a reliable light, what makes these lights to be considered reliable?
I kind of like the modes 5-100-600,
don’t you need an SOS strobe in a military application?
Armsunlimited, the desiginated distributor for this light has just dropped the price to $150 shipped. I may buy one tomorrow…
I’m in the same boat and think you nailed it 100%. One important note, I’ve never paid MSRP for Surefire—deals are out there.
Surefire keeps their products at a very high MSRP because they have a lot of government contracts. They are ripping of the government and ultimately the troops who are using these lights that are generally crap. I hate to think a $600.00 flashlight would fail at the moment of truth when that Marine kicking in a door needs that light to see what is waiting for him on the other side.
I saw an earlier post that there were some fellow Marines who couldn’t give them away. Maybe they should collect as many of them as they can and when returning from deployment sell them on eBay as a “used in battle and failed, or worked”
Streamlight is another high priced flashlight. However, in my opinion Streamlight is much more reliable that Surefire. Just my opinion.
Streamlight is also quite a bit cheaper than Surefire. Not as budget-friendly as the reliable Chinese brands that we’ve come to love in this forum, but still.
Aye, I find myself chuckling when I come across ads for a weapon mounted flashlight for $500. Bucks. Not just Streamlight, but many others. I think many are selling a name and not a reliable product. Just sayin’
No surprise there. That’s exactly what the big 3 (Mag-Lite, Surefire and Streamlight) have been doing for years now, banking on brand recognition and misplaced nationalism to keep raking in the Benjamins. Helps that the average joe thinks any LED light is the cream of the crop, no matter how outdated or inefficient the guts inside the host… :person_facepalming:
Not a fan of Surefire or any overpriced flashlight at all, but I think since these are for military or LEO usage they are trying to employ the K.I.S.S (keep it simple stupid) idea here.
Like my trusty ’502? 
Big triangular threads, but screws together like premium plumbing fixtures, smooth as glass and no grit. Simple D26 drop-in with XP-L and no-µC inside, just 7135s. Short of just a crappy array of parallelled resistors, it’s as reliable as you can get.
All premium parts, still probably <30bux.
All I’d need to do it pot the drop-in to make it all but bulletproof.
this 300 bucks light does basically same thing $20 convoy does. i have a feeling SF developed very friendly relations with defense dept, and have contracts with gvmnt who does not care much about price.
Close, very close. Convoy’s equivalent host to the overpriced junk in the OP is the M1, and you can get it in 7135x8 and 1A cool white for maximum luminosity AND the super-versatile Biscotti firmware for $21,66.
If you want an EDC flooder instead of a “P60 host”, you can get an S2 in this exact same configuration for $16,80. It does more than the SF, for less than a Jackson. And it’s brighter. :person_facepalming:
Oh you bet there’s some beak-wetting in there somewhere… :cowboy_hat_face:
Pfft, that’s nothing.
How is THIS a $1300+ light?
It has a fancy selector ring thingy, and built in charger, but $1370? Yeah, no.
I’d rather have my trusty Convoy L6 which was literally 95% cheaper, with 1400 more lumens.
For every required CR123 battery you can pretty much get a Liitokala 100 charger.
Eugh. If I want a fancy light with a fancy mode selector ring, I’ll just shell out the dosh for a big Acebeam.
So how many of you went with that budget Hi-point 9mm for self protection? Or a good Chinese pacemaker that works most of the time. Surefire and Streamlight make and sell the “IT’S GOT TO WORK EVERYTIME” stuff. I’ve seen gear used in methods not intended like as a club and still work. We are budget light as a hobby not for life and death situations. I enjoy my Convoy and Jetbeam but understand it’s Streamlight on the pistol because Olight has no proven track record for when it counts. Government agencies set up some pretty crazy abuse, shock and vibration test. Put your Acebeam in the dryer for 20 minutes and see if it still works. Try getting warranty repair while under fire or in a hurricane.
A little disclaimer I’ve carried some pretty questionable lights at work in the past. Now PFlexPRO is my carry light and back up light. Streamlight pro tac is in the car also.
Why so defensive? :disguised_face:
I’m not gonna put my torches through the wringer anytime soon, and even if I did, it’d be a Convoy. I’m sure it’d deliver beautifully.
And I don’t own any guns, gubmint won’t let me until the disarmament act is repealed, so the comparison doesn’t fit. And even if I did it wouldn’t be an American brand.
(Also I don’t own a dryer, way more than hot enough in the tropics for a clothesline to do the job in very little time )