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Reviewer's
Impressions:
So, you want to impress your friends, eh? Wait till one of
them whips out their little 2 AA minimag to light up the car
door and then you pull out your E2 and light up the whole
parking lot! For its size, the E2 is by far one of the brightest
lights available. You really need a 3 or 4 D Maglight to compare
with the brightness of this little pocket spotlight!
The beam quality is fantastic. The E2 projects a nearly perfect
spot at any distance. It is designed for close to medium ranges,
however. It will not project a tight enough beam for distance
spotting.
After running the light for a short time, you will notice
the head of the light becomes rather warm. The E2's components
are designed to withstand this heat and it has no problems
running hot with no damage. Do note, however, that if you
carry it in a nylon sheath and it turns on without your knowing
about it, it may just melt the sheath!
For an extremely intense light that you can carry almost
anywhere, you will find it hard to beat the E2.
The 123a camera lithium batteries can be quite expensive.
They can cost up to about $5 each at Wal-Mart! Luckily, Surefire
has recently reduced the price of their batteries to $15 for
a box of 12. The Surefire batteries are supposed to be specially
formulated for the high drain lights. This is a very good
price and makes owning a Surefire rather affordable. Two of
these batteries will give you 60 minutes of runtime. Order
them from Surefire.com.
Runtime of E2, E2e, and E2d, 2 cells, MN03 bulb:
Runtime
completed with "Titanium"
brand batteries. More information on runtime plots is available
HERE.
In the pictures above, the E2 is seen resting between a MiniMag
and a Brinkmann Legend LX. Compared to the E2, the MiniMag's
light output is a joke. The Legend LX has similar beam quality
to the E2, brighter output (but shorter run-time), similar
anodized finish and yet costs less than half the price of
the E2. However, you won't find a more pocketable light this
bright. If the Legend LX had a smaller bezel and a clip, it
would be serious competition for the E2, but since it doesn't,
the E2 is in a class all its own.
The light is advertised as being bright enough to momentarily
surprise an opponent in a low light situation by flashing
them in the eyes. Based on our testing, I believe this is
accurate.
The E2 should survive a dunk without damage. The only place
water can work its way into the body of the light is around
the lens, bezel, or the momentary tailcap switch which is
the most evident point of water resistance failure. By turning
it on and off by twisting the tailcap instead of pressing
in the momentary switch, the seal should be maintained and
water should not leak into the light. Pressing in the switch
would break the seal created by the spring pressing the rubber
switch cover in place. Even if the tailcap pressure switch
is used, there is another O-ring seal inside pressing against
the barrel of the switch assembly to try to prevent water
from leaking in which gets in around the rubber tailcap. Surefire
labels these lights as "water resistant".
Note that Surefire has affirmed that all current Surefire
lights should be waterproof to about 33 feet/10 meters. Some
reviews were posted before Surefire made the affirmation that
their lights were watertight to 1 atmosphere depth. Any new
Surefire lights you purchase now should be considered waterproof
to 33 feet/10 meters.
I would recommend that if you can afford an E2, and the cost
of the batteries, you should go out and buy one. In all likelihood
you will not be disappointed. A truly amazing little light.
+ + + Pluses: Very small and bright, nice fit and
finish, easy to carry almost anywhere, perfect spot of light
- - - Minuses: High initial cost, not waterproof,
cannot stand on end
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