SureFire's business practices suck!

[mx124]

+1 for Fenix.

[dr texan]

Their LED run times/output leave a bit to be desired. I realize its more $$$ but look at Malkoff p60 dropins... they out perform surefire LED lights hands down. Theres a lot of room surefire can go to improve their lights, but i still use their bodies to hold all the aftermarket bulbs.

[whiterabbit05]

Other than Surefire, I like Streamlight, Fenix, and 4Sevens.

Say what you will about Chinese lights, but I like 4Sevens' business model and industry leading technology. They are becoming more and more proven everyday.

Particular interested in their Maelstrom G5 and DIGITAL remote tape switch:

http://www.4sevens.com/product_info....oducts_id=2495

http://www.4sevens.com/product_info....oducts_id=2540

No doubt about Surefire quality, but I agree, they seem overpriced sometimes. Especially when considering their outdated LED technology and lumens per dollar. (Yea, yea, I know lumens aren't everything, but still.) In my opinion, Surefire is quickly falling behind in flashlight technology, should have spent those huge profit margins on more R&D...but what do I know...

[sonrider657]

Their LED run times/output leave a bit to be desired. I realize its more $$$ but look at Malkoff p60 dropins... they out perform surefire LED lights hands down. Theres a lot of room surefire can go to improve their lights, but i still use their bodies to hold all the aftermarket bulbs.

That's the beauty of Elzetta lights. They use Malkoff drop-ins from the factory. No upgrade required. Plus you can customize the operation of the lights by selecting different tail caps.

[jsebens]

That is normal business practice. However, competing with your own dealers by stopping them from giving any discounts to customers only hurts the consumer. We would sell them for a much lower price if allowed to do so.

We are not looking for a "Cheaper" Brand we are looking for a less expensive brand that has equal quality. If there are some products that we cannot replace due to quality we will sell those and only those from Surefire. This will also allow to keep better control of stock and raise our Customer Service levels.

Surefire, like several other companies in this industry (Aimpoint comes to mind), doesn't do that at all. MAP stands for Minimum Advertised Price. You want to sell for cheaper, that's fine, but you can't offer it in print. It's their way of protecting their brand from retailers who would sell at or below cost to get customers in the door, thereby lowering the perceived value of SF lights.

As for finding a less expensive brand of the same quality (research, materials, manufacturing, service, and history), good luck. If customers thought there was one out there, Surefire wouldn't be the de facto standard for lighting options.

Oh, and when it comes to LE/MIL pricing, you guys all know that's a 20% price break from retail, right?

[Jerm]

Three-year old daughter lost mine somewhere in the house. I still cry thinking about it.

That's why I keep like six G2Ls stashed everywhere. Nobody touches my LX2 out of my sight or for more than a few seconds.

[MarkG]

Streamlight are not an option for us. Quality is too low. We are looking more for a smaller company that is producing quality equal to surefire just without that baggage that comes along with being a SureFire dealer.

we are looking at options.

The last "smaller" company to make a great light (Pentagon) was sued out of existence by Surefire.

[Impact]

yeah Surefire is expensive but there is a reason why: made in USA !
I'm local to them and I can tell you, real estate in Orange County is pricey and local engineering forces are expensive too, after all this is California..
A lot of the money goes towards R&D, they have a bunch of PHDs working for them and those do not come cheap.
Add to that: great CS, nice full colored catalogs (free), various sponsorships across America..etc..

you won't get that with a Chinese company.

my 0.02..


btw their latest G2X at $55 is awesome !

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

Uhhm, did anyone else get an email today from Surefire?

Dear Valued SureFire Customer:

In an effort to continuously improve our products and company, we are conducting a survey regarding customer satisfaction. The survey takes approximately 10 minutes to complete.

As always, we appreciate your input. Thanks again for choosing SureFire.

[hickuleas]

Yep, I also received an e-mail from SF yesterday.