SHOT Show 2015: SureFire Scores with Sure Hits
Tony Sculimbrene 01.23.15
SureFire is a company you just can’t count out. When they first started making lights, it seemed nuts to sell a product that was 10 times the price of its competitors, but they proved that quality always has a customer base.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQJA-1UHQeM
Then when the overseas brands rushed to new LED emitters over incans, it looked like they were done, but they switched over, albeit very late to the game, and made some fantastic products. Then the overseas brands started producing more technologically advanced lights, much brighter and much easier to use. That was about two years ago, and again SureFire came back and gave us great stuff like the EB1.
But SHOT 2015 announcements were important because, again, SureFire has decided not to give up ground to anyone. Their biggest announcements (the first lights shown in the product video) were EDC lights. Yep, SureFire is back to making good lights for regular folks resurrecting their amazing Titan line. Before I get too breathless, here is the again terrible product video (complete with obligatory B-movie musical score on a loop. They need Edge Observer‘s help SO badly, found here in case the embed above doesn’t work).
The first two lights are updates of a true classic. The Titan was originally released as a keychain light in a titanium body. I used a CR2 light and that light, the T1, sold for $500, a stunning price now (and then) for a keychain light. It went out of production in a flash and is a hot item on the collector’s market. They then released the T1A, an identical light that ran a CR123a battery. Both used a wonderfully simple UI, twist the head to turn on and twist again for more light. It was perhaps the perfect keychain light, but it got long in the tooth; there were 47s lights that had 4 times the output from the same battery in a smaller package for one-fifth the price. The T1A ceased production a year ago and maxed out at 90 lumens. 90 lumens from a CR123a–blah.
This year the Titan is back in two different forms: the Titan and the Titan Plus. The UI was not shown in the video, but the lack of a button or clicky leads me to believe that this light still uses the original UI. Both lights look amazing, of course, but it’s the battery that matters. Both are 1xAAA lights. Super awesome for EDC purposes. The max on the Titan is 125 lumens, while the Titan Plus hits a staggering 300 lumens. I am almost certain those are numbers taken from lithiums or rechargeables, but you never know–SureFire can do things with batteries and emitters no one else can. The Titan Plus also appears to be in a titanium body and has a washer style pocket clip. Finally, in a cue from CPF, there is a removeable lug at the end so that you can easily detatch the Titan Plus from your keys if you need to.
This alone would be pretty amazing, but there is more for flashaholics. The UM2 runs a Selector Ring and maxes out at 600 lumens with 6 presets. The PMX, another light, is a dual fuel light capable of running on either 3xCR123as or 2xAAs with an output on high of 1000 lumens when using the lithum cells. There are bunch of weird wrist lights and some weapon lights and accessories, but someone else should cover those as they are out my wheelhouse.
But oh man, the joy of seeing SureFire coming back to the EDC market is hard for a light geek to put into words. They’ll be pricey, but both Titans look like sure winners. They didn’t release a lot of stuff, but the stuff they did show rocked. Never count SureFire out.
Grade: A-
