Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Expensive flashlights - why?

I've seen these in stores and magazines for a long time now, and I've always wondered what the fuss was about. Is there something about a $300 surefire that makes it awesome? Do I need one? It seems like flashlights have come a long way since the minimag days, and you can get a pretty good light for $30 or so now.

What am I missing?

Nothing is what you're missing -i got into ounce counting backpacking and the high dollar lights are a waste of money.
A $20 Energizer headlight is just as good as the expensive lights -maybe they don't have an absolutely perfect amount of light distribution -blah blah blah --paying $70-80 dollars for a light made in france is a waste of money.
Mention tacticool and jack the price through the roof and people will be clammering for them..

the $300 a Surefire costs makes it awesome. Just ask the guy who spent $300 on one.
I've been inspecting aircraft for 30+ years and have never needed (nor wanted) more than a good MagLite; one AA and one DD.
For outdoors, those Energizer headlights work great.

I have a couple of Surefire look alike's that work great. At the moment, cannot afford a C note for a flashlight, but as was mentioned, the $30-40.00 ones are pretty darned good these days.

Bright nice flashlights are the bomb, being able to see not only in a daylight lit spot but a secondary peripheral that nothing could hide or move in is incredible.

The range of types of spot illumination is wide, some have a tight beam with no spillover and others have an inner spot with a secondary lit area that isn't as bright as the spot.

I invested $8000 in about 2008 trying everything available from Romison and Sunfire directly from the Chinese factories. I was giving samples to the big police departments and security firms in California and had some substantial orders on the table. I was going to have flashlights made to my specs under my name and order container loads of them, part of the deal was me becoming these factory's US master distributor as too many people were destroying the market selling at wholesale to the public.

When the economy tanked it wasn't an option for police departments to be upgrading their flashlights.

Go in Ebay and look at LED lights, for $150 you can get a 1600 lumen light that makes anything sold on this market look tired. For $220 you can get a 3500 lumen HID that will fry the hair on your arm and light up a circle two blocks away and make it look like daylight.

I live in the country and I wouldn't think about not having a great light.

Try Fenix lights; like Anschutz vs. CZ, they are 2/3 the product of the Surefire for 1/2 the cost.

Most of the very bright flashlights and headlamps do have some utility for search and rescue, mountain biking, climbing, etc.
I have a little German made light(Lupine) that puts out 500 lumens and is the size of a couple books of matches.
VERY bright, and the battery seems to last forever.

Paid around $300 for it-worth every penny, IME.

Why spend a lot of money on a flashlight when you'll probably lose it anyway.

I got this little feller last weekend as a prize and it's become my new favorite based on it's handy size and decent light output.
It's about 2/3 the length of a tube of chapstick and only slightly fatter. It has a 2 hour run time and plugs into any 12v cigarette lighter or power point. It's no Surefire, but it's handy as all hell and has a light output similar to a 2AA mini-maglite.

some folks think a Surefire is worth the freight. Some don't. Simple as that.
If you want an inexpensive flashlight, then buy one.

One of the nice things about this kind of stuff is how the technology "trickles down", that is, you can pay $$$ for a good light one year, and a couple of years down the line you can pick up something as good if not better for a fraction of the cost.
Win win!!

yeah, the Chinese steal the technology, make a copy cat, and we fall all over ourselves buying them, and forcing the American company to go out of business.

I hunt deer late in the day and also fish in some pretty nasty rocky areas after dark. At my age, I sure don't want to get hurt or stranded because I can't see where I'm going. I don't need anything expensive (flashlights, headlamps). I'd rather take spares that weigh almost nothing and feel like I've covered all the bases. Marty

Ahhh geeze, Sam!
I hadn't thought about it that way.

FWIW, the maker of the best/brightest LED bulbs in the world is an American company-Creed, I think the name is.
That's what kind of bulbs my little German light has, at least.

I bought a Surefire for about $30 with a leather scabbard a few years back that is very bright. I don't know what a $300 newer model would offer as far as brightness if it uses the same Surefire batery as my older model?
Some lights offer the blue/white colored light but I don't care for them.

I've got four Surefire flashlights. When I'm on a blood trail in thick cover when it is black dark, I want a reliable light that will turn night into day. That is why I buy Surefire.

RS

If you carry a handgun at night, I suggust you have a good quality flashlight on your person. My needs and application are different then the majority here. I carry a light be it night or day.

I have 5 Surefires, best thing since sliced bread.

No surefires here. I've got a streamlight and a bunch of maglites around and they're plenty good enough for me.

An expensive flashlight will give you excellent quality and a dented wallet. A less ex[pensive flashlight will give you (maybe) a little less quality and just as bright a light.