watchcollector1968
Fanatic
I will take a stab at a light review. I have had this one for several months now and have used it extensively. It has not been used in any harsh conditions or anything, just night time outside, EDC and tossed in the car type of use.
First off, it is typical SF construction, solid as can be and you would be hard pressed to find any flaws. The threads are beefy and you would have to be really determined to strip them. The clicky switch is quite firm and will no doubt hold up for a lifetime. And you also have Surefire's NO BS warranty...more on that at the end of this review.
First of is brightness levels and runtimes as stated claimed by Surefire.
160 lumens high, 2 hours tactical runtime (until output drops below 50 lumens)
50 lumens medium, 15 hours total runtime
5 lumens low, 75 hours total runtime
I have found their runtimes to be probably about what they state, no problems there...I have not done a formal test myself on this one.
As for brightness levels, I think Surefire tends to be very conservative in their claims. Granted I dont have the equipment to say for sure, but I suspect by eye balling it, they tend to run a good deal brighter than what they say.
The 5 lumen low? Ok, if they say so...15 at least IMO.
Medium of 50? I have compared it to other brands with stated 70-80 lumen output and the S2's 50 clobbers them pretty darn good.
160 high? Call it 200 or a touch above and I believe it.
When you ask about lights and somebody tells you SF is old news with poor output compared to the newer wonder lights in the same class (think SF Vs Fenix)...compare side-by-side and you will probably see that Fenix might stretch the claim a hair and SF understates theirs a bit...usually no contest, SF is brighter. Not to say Fenix does not make a good light...I think they are superb in every way.
One thing that struck me about this light at first was the beam. Some lights are used for amazing throw and some for their flood and covering a wide area. There are some lights that are trying to do both and only do a fair job at that. This is the best of both worlds. It has a pretty tight center with excellent and impressive throw. Really a well defined spot that gives up very little to nothing compared to "throwers" in the same size/power range. The flood will also rival dedicated "flood" beams again in the same size/power range. The flood brightness also does NOT taper from fairly bright to very dim as it reaches the outside of the circle...very consistent actually and very well defined circle. It covers a very large area but when it ends at the edge of the circle, it ends...like night and day. Does that make sense? You really have to see the beam to appreciate it.
One thing that might be a drawback to some is that the light comes on low first, then medium then high. This does not bother me as most of the time the low setting is more than accurate. If I need more then I have messed with this thing more than enough that I can cycle to the brightness I need in no time. The switch can be partially depressed for momentary, or clicked for constant on...a little practice and you can cycle to its brightest level in a blink.
Surefire has some new lights out like the 6PX that look very similar to this and are quite a bit cheaper. I have not tried them so I dont know what the major differences are. I do know that this S2 has a HA-III finish vs the HA-II of some of the newer models like the 6PX, other than that, anybody know the big differences that would justify the price differences?
The heads of these style of lights do not have the large teeth like striker bezel like the Defender series, and they are not perfectly smooth like the old 6P style, instead they have little micro teeth like a hacksaw or something. In a pinch the light would make a good impact weapon to buy yourself a little time to get away, but I doubt the micro teeth would contribute much to that...I have a hard time imagining why they are there, but nevertheless there they are.
A few pics.
The S2 Stratum:
The little teeth:
Beam Shot. Camera was set on auto and I dont really think the shot does justice to the light.
---I said at the beginning I would mention the warranty here. My wife has an L1 Surefire that is probably 3 years old or so and it stopped working on high. I emailed Surefire telling them I thought the tail switch was bad and they asked for my address and said give them a few weeks. As it turns out a new switch arrived in less than a week with a little note apologizing for the inconvenience and thanking us for choosing Surefire. Never had to show proof of purchase, never had to send it in and had never registered any type of warranty.
This post has been promoted to an article
First off, it is typical SF construction, solid as can be and you would be hard pressed to find any flaws. The threads are beefy and you would have to be really determined to strip them. The clicky switch is quite firm and will no doubt hold up for a lifetime. And you also have Surefire's NO BS warranty...more on that at the end of this review.
First of is brightness levels and runtimes as stated claimed by Surefire.
160 lumens high, 2 hours tactical runtime (until output drops below 50 lumens)
50 lumens medium, 15 hours total runtime
5 lumens low, 75 hours total runtime
I have found their runtimes to be probably about what they state, no problems there...I have not done a formal test myself on this one.
As for brightness levels, I think Surefire tends to be very conservative in their claims. Granted I dont have the equipment to say for sure, but I suspect by eye balling it, they tend to run a good deal brighter than what they say.
The 5 lumen low? Ok, if they say so...15 at least IMO.
Medium of 50? I have compared it to other brands with stated 70-80 lumen output and the S2's 50 clobbers them pretty darn good.
160 high? Call it 200 or a touch above and I believe it.
When you ask about lights and somebody tells you SF is old news with poor output compared to the newer wonder lights in the same class (think SF Vs Fenix)...compare side-by-side and you will probably see that Fenix might stretch the claim a hair and SF understates theirs a bit...usually no contest, SF is brighter. Not to say Fenix does not make a good light...I think they are superb in every way.
One thing that struck me about this light at first was the beam. Some lights are used for amazing throw and some for their flood and covering a wide area. There are some lights that are trying to do both and only do a fair job at that. This is the best of both worlds. It has a pretty tight center with excellent and impressive throw. Really a well defined spot that gives up very little to nothing compared to "throwers" in the same size/power range. The flood will also rival dedicated "flood" beams again in the same size/power range. The flood brightness also does NOT taper from fairly bright to very dim as it reaches the outside of the circle...very consistent actually and very well defined circle. It covers a very large area but when it ends at the edge of the circle, it ends...like night and day. Does that make sense? You really have to see the beam to appreciate it.
One thing that might be a drawback to some is that the light comes on low first, then medium then high. This does not bother me as most of the time the low setting is more than accurate. If I need more then I have messed with this thing more than enough that I can cycle to the brightness I need in no time. The switch can be partially depressed for momentary, or clicked for constant on...a little practice and you can cycle to its brightest level in a blink.
Surefire has some new lights out like the 6PX that look very similar to this and are quite a bit cheaper. I have not tried them so I dont know what the major differences are. I do know that this S2 has a HA-III finish vs the HA-II of some of the newer models like the 6PX, other than that, anybody know the big differences that would justify the price differences?
The heads of these style of lights do not have the large teeth like striker bezel like the Defender series, and they are not perfectly smooth like the old 6P style, instead they have little micro teeth like a hacksaw or something. In a pinch the light would make a good impact weapon to buy yourself a little time to get away, but I doubt the micro teeth would contribute much to that...I have a hard time imagining why they are there, but nevertheless there they are.
A few pics.
The S2 Stratum:
The little teeth:
Beam Shot. Camera was set on auto and I dont really think the shot does justice to the light.
---I said at the beginning I would mention the warranty here. My wife has an L1 Surefire that is probably 3 years old or so and it stopped working on high. I emailed Surefire telling them I thought the tail switch was bad and they asked for my address and said give them a few weeks. As it turns out a new switch arrived in less than a week with a little note apologizing for the inconvenience and thanking us for choosing Surefire. Never had to show proof of purchase, never had to send it in and had never registered any type of warranty.
This post has been promoted to an article
