SureFire illumination tools are the finest flashlights in the world — compact, rugged, powerful, reliable, efficient. These flashlights are engineered for maximum performance and precision manufactured, they produce optimal beams — brilliant light with no rings, hot spots, or shadows. That’s why people whose lives may depend on having enough light when they need it, such as military, emergency, and police personnel and outdoors professionals, rely on flashlights by SureFire. Following are some of SureFire flashlights' unique features: * Anodized Aluminum Alloy Construction * Nitrolon® * Light Output: Candlepower vs. Lumens * SureFIre Xenon/Halogen Incandescent Lamps * SureFire Light-Emitting Diodes LED * SureFire HID Lamp * SureFire Electronic Power Regulation * Beam Character and Reflector Design * Tempered Pyrex® Windows With Anti-Reflective Coatings * Total Internal Reflection Lenses * SureFire Lithium Batteries * Shock Isolation and Protection * Modularity Continue reading for more complete technical flashlight information on the above topics.
Why do SureFire flashlights perform so well in the field? Because SureFire combines advanced design with superior materials and technology, delivering the finest flashlights possible for extreme situations and environmental conditions. When your life depends on having enough light from your flashlight when you need it, spend the money to get the best flashlight — SureFire.
  SureFire’s aluminum-body WeaponLights are machined from a high-strength aerospace-grade alloy, making these flashlights extremely resistant to damage from impact, crushing, or bending, and allowing each flashlight to be made as small and light as possible without sacrificing strength. Note: Some of SureFire's flashlights are made of Nitrolon — see following section.  SureFire’s aluminum-body WeaponLights and flashlights are protected by a finish called anodizing. The anodizing process used on the flashlight body (from anode, the positive side of an electrical circuit) uses electricity and a chemical bath to “grow” a layer of aluminum oxide on an aluminum surface. Aluminum oxide is the second-hardest substance known to man, exceeded only by diamond, and certain anodized finishes can be made extremely hard, such as the Mil-A-8625 Type III Class 2 military specification finish that SureFire uses on their flashlights.
Some flashlights are made of relatively cheap polymers (plastics) such as ABS. SureFire’s polymer WeaponLight and flashlight bodies are made of Nitrolon, a proprietary high-strength, non-conductive, impact-resistant, glass-filled polyamide nylon polymer. “Glass-filled” means that the polymer matrix has been mixed with fine glass fibers that add rigidity, abrasion resistance, and increased stability at higher flashlight temperatures.
 Some flashlight manufacturers (not SureFire) dramatize light output measurements by using candlepower units. These manufacturers of flashlights can get away with this because light measurement terminology is unfamiliar to most people. But the basic flashlight concepts can be explained as follows: The science of measuring light with respect to its effect on the human eye — which responds differently according to the wavelength, or color, of that light — is called photometry. Photometry includes measuring light intensity in a particular direction (in units of candlepower or candelas) and total light energy in a particular situation (measured in lumens).With flashlights, a candlepower measurement doesn't necessarily indicate total light output for that flashlight. To illustrate this, imagine representing a flashlight's total light output as a bag of sugar. If you pour the sugar onto a table to form a cone and measure the cone's height (representing the brightest part of the flashlight beam as measured in candlepower), you still wouldn't know the total weight of the sugar (representing the total light output as measured in lumens). Conversely, if we shake the table so that the cone settles and becomes rounded, the sugar's weight (lumens) would be the same but the height (brightest part of the beam) has been lowered and spread out.  Now take half the sugar from the demonstration above and put it inside a narrow conical container taller than the loose conical piles we made earlier. Even though this narrow cone's height (candlepower measurement) is greater than the previous cones, it contains only half the sugar (lumens). Reflectors and lenses are analogous to that conical container because they can create a light beam with a high-candlepower "hot spot" that sounds good in advertisements but tells nothing about total light output of the flashlight or light distribution within the beam of the flashlight.SureFire flashlights use integrating sphere photometers to measure the total lumen output of our flashlights, weighted with respect to human eye response. Other flashlight manufacturers have begun to follow SureFire's lead. For the record, a lumen is 1/4 π of the total photon (light) flux emitted by a one-candela source. One candela is the luminous intensity of a source whose radiant intensity is 1/683rd of a watt of monochromatic light of wavelength 550 nanometers per steradian. A steradian is a conical figure, or solid angle, whose intersection with a unit sphere covers one unit area. Got it?
 Incandescent lamps produce light by using electricity to heat a small coiled tungsten metal wire, which is enclosed within a glass “bulb” filled with special gases, to a high temperature — around 2,500 to 3,000 degrees Celsius — at which point the wire glows white-hot. The miniature incandescent lamps that SureFire uses in its WeaponLights and flashlights are not typical off-the-shelf products. SureFire's incandescent flashlight technology uses state-of-the-art devices with the following features: Custom Filaments — The incandescent lamps (“light bulbs”) used in SureFire's WeaponLights and flashlights are designed around a specific power supply, light output, and runtime for the flashlight. Filament performance varies according to wire diameter, filament length, filament coil diameter, total coils, and coil-to-coil proximity. Finally, the finished filament in the SureFire light must withstand the vibration and G-forces produced by firearms. Xenon Gas — The high temperature of the lamp filament causes tungsten atoms to “boil off” and migrate to the cooler glass wall of a lamp in a flashlight, where they condense to form a dark light-blocking layer. SureFire adds a high-pressure inert gas inhibits tungsten boil-off, which reduces the rate of tungsten atom deposition and lengthens the operating life of the lamp in these flashlights. The gas also permits increased filament operating temperature, which in turn increases flashlight output for a given power consumption rate. Argon and krypton are often used as the inert fill gases in flashlights, but they don’t work as well as xenon. Although xenon is much more expensive, SureFire uses it  exclusively to provide optimum lamp performance in its flashlights.Halogens — To maximize their operating life and light output, some SureFire lamps contain a proprietary mix of halogens, a family of elements that includes fluorine, chlorine, bromine, and iodine. Inside a functioning incandescent lamp in a SureFire flashlight, tungsten atoms boil off the filament, migrate toward the cooler areas near the lamp wall, and combine with halogen atoms to form a tungsten halide vapor. This vapor migrates back to the lamp filament of the SureFire, where high temperature breaks it down again into tungsten and halogen atoms. The tungsten atoms are re-deposited on the filament and the oxygen and halogen migrate back toward the bulb wall to re-combine with new boiled-off tungsten atoms in the flashlight. This continuous process, called the halogen cycle, keeps the lamp of the flashlight's glass walls comparatively clean of light-blocking tungsten deposits. Another reason SureFire utilizes this technology in their flashlights. SureFire Incandescent lamps of produce a broad spectrum of light (including infrared) and can be made to have a high maximum lumen output, but they are comparatively inefficient users of power, and their lumen output level is effectively non-adjustable.
 An LED (the acronym for Light-Emitting Diode) is a semiconductor “chip” that converts electrical energy directly into light. An LED is called a solid-state light source because it has no gas or liquid components, as do other light sources. The LEDs in SureFire flashlights consist of the emitter chip mounted on a solid base; the chip is attached to electrical leads (wires) that conduct power to it, and it is encased in a clear polymer that is shaped to either focus or disperse the LED’s light in the desired manner in the flashlight.LEDs generally emit light within a narrow spectral band. In order to produce white light, which consists of the entire visible spectrum combined (or nearly so, as far as the human eye can discern), SureFire uses LEDs that emit near-ultraviolet blue light that strikes an upper layer of phosphors. These phosphors absorb the blue light and re-emit white light, in much the same manner that fluorescent light tubes produce white light. SureFire LEDs possess some tremendous advantages over SureFire incandescent lamps. First, LEDs can last thousands of hours versus less than fifty hours for high-output incandescent lamps in flashlights. Second, Photo showing flat surface of high-  output LED and surrounding micro-textured reflector because SureFire LEDs are very robust in construction, and have no mechanically delicate parts such as glass bulbs, filaments, or filament supports, they are extremely resistant to vibration and shock, making them well-suited for the combat environment or for mounting on firearms. Third, LEDs produce virtually no invisible infrared radiation, as opposed to incandescent lamps, which emit over 85% of their output as infrared, and therefore LEDs are much more efficient in producing light than incandescent lamps — an important factor for battery-operated flashlights. And fourth, they will emit light over a wide range of power input making LEDs the natural choice for adjustable-output light sources in flashlights.As noted above, there are currently some disadvantages to LED light sources. First, most LEDs emit forward from a flat surface, necessitating more complex reflectors and lenses to produce desirable beam characteristics. Second, because LEDs are susceptible to damage from overheating they have certain thermal design requirements. Therefore, continuous-use LED sources currently have a practical limit of less than 150 lumens. Third, LEDs are difficult to manufacture without some variance in lumen output and color. For this reason, SureFire LED's are tested and sorted by the flashlight manufacturer into different “bins” according to output and color before being used in flashlights. SureFire minimizes such product variability by purchasing LEDs only from the highest-quality bins for their flashlights. Electronic Power Regulation — SureFire's LED flashlights contain a rugged, sealed electronic power regulator that supervises the operation of the LED (with the exception of the SureFire A2 Aviator flashlight, in which the xenon lamp is regulated). This flashlight circuitry assesses battery output, monitors system performance, and controls power supplied to the LED in the flashlight. Flashlight power regulation provides a more consistent light output for the useable life of the flashlight's batteries. Although any LED may continue to produce negligible light output for up to several hundred hours in a flashlight, the amount of useful light produced is of a shorter duration. Power regulation circuitry in SureFire flashlights reduces the amount of negligible output and increases the overall duration of useful light output in the flashlight.
SureFire High Intensity Discharge (HID) lamps do not use a tungsten filament, as do incandescent lamps. Instead these flashlight lamps use a clear quartz capsule (an “arc tube”) having electrodes at either end containing high-pressure xenon gas and additional chemical components. When sufficient voltage is applied to the electrodes the gas inside the tube is heated and ionized, enabling these flashlight lamps to conduct electricity in the form of an “arc” (basically a sustained electrical spark), and causing it to emit light out of the flashlight. When functioning, pressure inside the arc tube of the flashlight rises to several times atmospheric pressure. SureFire HID lamps are both extremely bright and extremely efficient — for an equal power input they produce more than twice the lumens of a tungsten incandescent lamp — and their operating life is also several times that of comparable incandescent lamps of flashlights. An additional benefit for this technology from SureFire: since these flashlights have no filament to break or burn out they are extremely resistant to mechanical shock and vibration. However, these flashlights are comparatively large, require a substantial power source to operate, and the flashlight's lumen output level is effectively non-adjustable.
 SureFire’s LED flashlights contain a rugged, sealed electronic power regulator that supervises the operation of the LED (with the exception of SureFire A2 Aviator flashlights, in which the xenon lamp of the flashlight is regulated). This flashlight circuitry assesses battery output, monitors system performance, and controls power supplied to the SureFire LED. Power regulation provides a more consistent light output for the usable life of the flashlight's batteries. Although any SureFire flashlight LED may continue to produce negligible light output for up to several hundred hours, the amount of useful light produced in the flashlight is of a shorter duration. Power regulation circuitry reduces the amount of negligible output and increases the overall duration of useful light output in the flashlight.
 Beam character determines a flashlight’s suitability for tactical use. It includes light distribution, or the way the beam’s light is apportioned from the center outward, and irregularities, such as dark spots, hot spots, and rings in the flashlight. Irregularities are caused by imprecise reflectors, improperly surfaced reflectors, filament support leg shadows, or “adjustable focusing” that only re-arranges the flashlight beam’s defects.Many flashlights exhibit inferior beam character. When directed at night on people, objects, or surfaces, these flashlights can produce a view that is confusing, misleading, or even alarming. For example, dark or bright spots in a moving beam can be mistaken for moving objects; bright rings tend to seize our attention. Hard-edged beams, like those of theatrical spotlights, can lack the surrounding light necessary for peripheral vision. Closeup photo shows beam-smoothing micro-texture on a SureFire flashlight's reflector. This latter effect worsens under stress, when the brain concentrates on central images. A further problem occurs when a hard-edged beam causes people and objects to appear suddenly out of the dark, provoking an instinctive startle response that can trigger a weapon.  SureFire reflectors are designed to produce optimum beam character. Made from CNC-machined aluminum instead of stamped metal or molded plastic, SureFire's reflectors exhibit superior strength, heat transfer capabilities, and geometric exactness, the latter permitting precise placement of lamp filaments inside the reflector of the flashlight — within .005" of optimum.Additionally, SureFire flashlight reflector surfaces are covered with tiny ripples that reflect light at slightly different angles, smoothing out flashlight beam irregularities and producing a bright central area surrounded by a gradually diminishing corona. This sort of SureFire flashlight beam is perfect for tactical applications because it clearly illuminates the main object of interest while providing enough light for the observer’s peripheral vision.
On illumination tools, the transparent covering that protects the reflector and lamp from debris and water is called the window (not “lens”). The windows in weaponlights by SureFIre — and those of most flashlights by SureFire — are made of tempered, coated Pyrex glass, as explained below. Pyrex — Pyrex glass is essentially ordinary glass with boron added, which gives it two desirable properties: it melts at a higher temperature and has a much smaller coefficient of expansion. In flashlights, the latter quality helps resist cracking when one part of the flashlight window is heated more than another, as when a flashlight is turned on, or when the flashlight is suddenly cooled, as when splashed with water. Tempering — After performing any cutting, shaping, and drilling required to achieve its final shape, a piece of glass is tempered by heating it above the annealing point (about 1,100°F) and then quickly cooling it with forced air. The resulting surface compression stresses give the SureFire piece several times the structural strength of common slow-cooled, or annealed, glass. Anti-reflective Coating — The windows of SureFire illumination tools have a thin coating of material that reduces reflection losses at the glass surface of the flashlight, which increases the net lumen output of the SureFire WeaponLight or flashlight.
 The SureFire X300A LED Handgun WeaponLight uses a total internal reflection (TIR) lens that is precision molded from a special cyclo-olefin polymer. The SureFire lens surrounds the SureFire LED, gathering virtually all of its light, which it reflects and refracts forward in an exceptionally tight beam that cannot be duplicated with a reflector.
As a commitment to Surefire's customers and products, SureFire sells its own brand of quality 123-type lithium batteries for flashlights at a very low price. SureFire's WeaponLights and non-rechargeable flashlights use these SureFire lithium batteries because of the batteries' advantages over alkaline flashlight batteries. These advantages are:  Shelf Life — At room temperature, SureFire lithium batteries can be stored 10 years and still supply about 70% of their power. Alkaline batteries have a significantly shorter shelf life and are less than ideal - especially considering that flashlights are usually relied upon for safety. What happens when a flashlight is needed in an emergency situation, but the battery is dead? This is much less likely to happen when SureFIre lithium batteries. Temperature Tolerance — SureFire Lithium batteries function over a wide temperature range (-60° to 80°C, or -76°F to 176°F), although power is reduced at the extremes. In contrast, alkaline batteries function poorly below freezing and at higher temperatures (how many times are flashlights used in either of these two scenarios - usually quite frequently!). The temperature tolerance of lithium batteries in flashlights also benefits the batteries' shelf life. Storing alkaline batteries at higher temperatures can kill them in a few months, but lithium batteries stored for years at similar temperatures can still function effectively. Power Density — For a given size (volume), SureFire lithium batteries produce much more power than alkaline batteries. For example, given same-sized batteries and the same power load, it would take about 2.5 alkaline batteries to match the power output of one lithium battery in a flashlight. Weight — For a given size (volume) lithium batteries weigh about half as much as alkaline batteries. For example, an alkaline battery the size of a SureFire SF123 battery would weigh about twice as much. Voltage — Terminal voltage for lithium batteries made by SureFire is 3 volts compared to 1.5 for alkaline batteries. Voltage Maintenance — A SureFIre lithium battery maintains fairly constant voltage for up to 95% of its life, depending on discharge rate. At moderate to high discharge rates, alkaline battery voltage drops rapidly due to internal battery resistance, which wastes flashlight power. The large reaction area provided by a lithium battery’s wound-plate construction provides very low internal resistance, ideal for high current loads.
Certain SureFire illumination tools, such as SureFire's Special Operations Series flashlights, feature shock-isolated lamp assemblies. This shock isolation acts much like the suspension in an automobile, using springs and dampers to help prevent external forces from damaging lamp parts — particularly filaments. Additionally, a machined-in barrier prevents flashlight batteries from slamming forward into the lamp assembly. Note: SureFire flashlights that use LED light sources don’t need shock isolation because SureFire LEDs are inherently resistant to shock and vibration damage.  For exceptionally hard-recoiling weapons such as 12-gauge shotguns and larger caliber rifles, where batteries may be damaged by slamming together, LumensFlashlights.com recommends special shock-resistant battery sticks made by SureFire. These SureFire battery sticks consist of two, three, or four batteries assembled inside a heat-shrunk polymer sleeve, with each battery physically separated from the others by a load-bearing fiber washer, but electrically connected by a welded metal conductor. For low-recoiling weapons, such as 5.56mm self-loading rifles, standard SureFire SF123 batteries function perfectly in flashlights. 
A fundamental benefit for users of SureFire flashlights is modularity. This means that many flashlight components can be used on different models of flashlights, and that certain product models can be reconfigured with available accessories to meet changing needs in the flashlight industry. back to top previous page SureFire Store Why SureFIre? 60-Day Trial  About Stories Site Map Contact HomeLumensFlashlights.com © 2001 - 2006 Copyright SureFire, LLC. |
 |