surefire plug

[woody d]

ill keep this short, but i bought a surefire 9P at a gun show recently. it was a model that had sit on the shelf, so i got a good price. NIB?, and the bulb burnt out 2nd set of batts. so i call em and try to get a bulb since everyone else is outta 9P incandescents bulbs. anyway, theyre gonna send me a bulb, some free stickers and junk, plus 3 new 123 batteries free of charge! thats why i own 5 of em, and will continue to buy their products.

[SuicideHz]

Good score!

How about an LED drop in?

[woody d]

i want an LED model, just not sure which 1. im leaning towards the G3.

[woody d]

i read some where that in case of a fire, a led model wont cut thru the smoke like the incandescant. any truth to this?

[UVvis]

i read some where that in case of a fire, a led model wont cut thru the smoke like the incandescant. any truth to this?

I really have no idea why this is, and if newer LED's with lower color temperatures will help with this. I've noticed that you seem to get a fair amount more light bouncing back at your eyes from LED lights than Incandescent lights of about the same brightness. Maybe it is the blue/green bias that LED's have sending more higher energy photons at the eye? Maybe the Red bias of incandescent lights gets absorbed more than scattered?

Still, if the smoke is heavy enough that you can't see anything without a flashlight, you are probably going to be depending on other means to get to safety and having a hard time breathing.

[Leviathan]

Just an informal observation....

In our FD (I am a FF/EMT) we have been issued several flavors of right angle lights that attach to our turn out gear. Most of them are Stream Lights or Pelican models and there is a noticeable difference between the LED and incandescent lamps. The LED's (I don't think it is brand related) DO NOT penetrate as well and their range is somewhat diminished. Bounce back can be an issue with the LED's but it has not discouraged me from using the light. I have also noticed that I have gotten a "halo effect" from the lights while actively fogging with a nozzle. Generally I don't have time to think about it, but it is noticeable.

The increased run time has been the biggest gain that has prompted me to switch. I am getting almost twice the run time from the LED model as compared to the same model with the incandescent lamp. I also picked up the ability to strobe with the LED models that I did not have with the incandescent, which is nice if in distress.

I have not taken any of my Surefire lights into an active house fire yet as my primary light, so I cannot speak to their abilities, but I would expect similar performance out of them given similar properties in LED technology. I would dearly love SF to move into that market, but until then....