The SureFire Illumination Tool

Boosting Owl Watching to a Whole ‘Nuther, Brighter Level!

By Pete Dunne, CMBO Director

SYNOPSIS: This American company has taken illumination to a bright, new level manufacturing an array of small, light, tough, super-bright illumination tools that will revolutionize the observation of nocturnal species (not to mention helping you see in the dark).  The G2 Nitrolon (member’s price: $36), at 5 inches and 4.1 oz, fits easily in a shirt (or pants) pocket and offers a whopping 65 lumens at a run time of 60 minutes–the same specs as the equally popular Z2 Combatlight at $79 (used by the FBI). 

But if you want to spend upwards of $400 for a flashlight-sized instrument that sends out a beam about as bright as an airline landing light, SureFire can accommodate that, too.

Kid Stuff

Do you remember when you were a kid and it was dark and you had a flashlight and it was about the coolest thing in the whole universe?

You could draw crazy circles on the ceiling.  Or cover it with your hand and make your fingers glow red.  Or drive cats crazy by playing the beam across the floor.

It was one of the best things in the world, a flashlight, until you grew up and had to actually use a flashlight for something more than amusement.  That’s when you discovered that the cheap, heavy, weak-beamed tube that projected a shadowy halo was hardly useful enough to help you find the fuse box in the basement.  Using a mere “flashlight” to find an owl in a tree was the illumination equivalent of using opera glasses to study hawks in flight.

That’s why we all started using those big, cumbersome 6-volt battery devices that were about the size and shape of a lunch pail and weighed more than a tool box.  The beam of light they shed was better but who wanted to carry one of these hernia-makers?   

After that Q-Beams were the rage.  They blazed with 500,000 candle power and were bright enough to melt the feathers off the backs of owls.  After everyone had purchased a 500,000 candle power unit, we learned that what we really needed was a more powerful unit.

A light that offered 1,000,000 candle power, then 2,000,000...then 5,000,000...then 10,000,000....

Oh, hell, what difference did it make?  Light travels in a straight line and the earth is curved.  You can’t see over the horizon in daylight, either.

So there we were.  The owners of a whole trunk of flashlights that were too weak, too heavy, or so powerful we felt guilty every time we trained them on anything this side of a naked Mole Rat at distances under two time zones. 

But just before going to sleep at night, didn’t you sometimes remember how much fun it was to draw circles on the ceiling with a small hand-held flashlight?  And didn’t you ever ache to have a real cool light, bright, portable light that would give you enough illumination to actually see nocturnal birds and mammals but not burn so bright it melted the retina of owls?

Didn’t you, huh?  Didn’t you?  And wouldn’t it be great to have such a utilitarian device just in time for the Christmas Bird Counts and all the dark winter nights ahead?

Oh, you bet your night vision it would.

WOW in the Palm of Your Hand

I don’t remember how or where I heard about SureFire.  All I remember is ordering one.  A Z2 Combat light.  It promised 65 lumens (whatever the hell a lumen is) and it looked pretty darn rugged (metal, waterproof) and wonderfully compact. 

Fit-in-your-shirt-pocket compact. 

I take a walk almost every morning in the dark.  I wanted a light I could carry with ease and bring to bear quickly.  The Surefire came highly recommended.  When FBI field agents graduate from the Academy they are given two things.  A Sig 226 pistol and a SureFire Z2 flashlight.

Heck, the FBI wouldn’t lie.

So I got one.  Went for my morning walk.  Stepped out of the car.  Trained my SureFire on a nearby tree (the kind that a screech owl might land in), pressed the rear mounted button.

AND THE WHOLE FREAKING TREE EXPLODED INTO LIGHT!!!

Not just a limb.  Not just a patch of leaves.  The tree!

I said something poignant but unprintable and turned around, quickly, to make sure that a car with its high beams on wasn’t coming up behind me.   No kidding, a Z2 at 5.1 inches, 4.8 oz loaded with two, small lithium batteries (yep, batteries are included!) was like carrying a car headlight in the palm of my hand.

The batteries have 20 minutes of high intensity burn time.  Used sparingly, I find I need to replace the batteries about once a month. 

When SureFire’s Stock Soared

I won’t lie.  I went illumination tool happy.  Bought SureFire Z2's by the bushel basket.  Two in my car (one with a High Output lamp; one with Ultra High Output).  One in Linda’s car.  One in the RV.  One in the kitchen.  One near the back door.  One in the bedroom–then two (one for Linda’s night table drawer, too).

Then I bought a 9P offering 105 lumens.  Then I bought the mother of all illumination tools, a M6 Guardian offering 250 lumens.

Well, actually, it was a birthday present from Linda. 

     “What do you want for your birthday?”

     “Oh, just a flashlight.”

     “What kind of flashlight?”

     “A SureFire M6.  We sell them at the Center.”

     “OK,” she said.  “If you’re sure that’s what you want.”         

Oh, you bet your rods and cones it was what I wanted.  And what Linda discovered was that there are flashlights on the market that cost about as much as a round of golf at St. Andrews.

You don’t have to pay this much for a super-illuminating light.  The cost of a G2 Nitrolon, offering 65 lumens, is only $36 (yep, it comes with batteries, too).  And if you’ve ever bought anything that uses Lithium batteries then you know how expensive the upkeep is on things that feed on Lithium batteries.

Well, realizing that this might hurt sales, those clever people at SureFire actually started selling their own batteries.  You can buy two 123 batteries for $3.60 at CMBO (I’ve paid $12 at Radio Shack) or a box of 12 for $21.00.

After it was clear to everyone (including, finally, me) that I really didn’t need any more illumination tools I started giving them as gifts.

To my father-in-law, my mother suffering from macular degeneration, the guy whose property I hunt....

Linda!  Who now uses a brand new 9P to clean Max’s gunky lab ears.

And while I love spreading light tools across the planet, my most fun comes from spreading a little light myself. 

When it comes to having the right light tool at the right time, it’s hard to beat a SureFire.

Uh, Pete.  Light, Please!

We were walking down this insect-ridden trail in Peru–we meaning me, Dale Rosselet, and about ten tour participants.  Our objective was night insects.  Night mammals.  Night birds.  You know.  Stuff you can’t see because it’s dark.

Something flew into the tree ahead of us.  Two or three people trained their wimpy-beamed little over-the-counter LED flashlights on the tree and began moving them around.  It was pathetic.

I brought the Z2 up.  Pressed the button.

You’d have thought “The Word” had just been spoken.  In that ink black jungle, the tree burst into light.  Two participants, thinking “End of the World” (as apposed to Creation) dove for cover.

For the next hour it was, “Uh Pete.  Light, please!”

Boy, I love being popular.

Four Year Test

I’ve been using SureFire’s for about four years now.  I’ve never had one break.  I’ve replaced exactly one “lamp assembly” (that’s SureFire talk for bulb).  I’ve watched scores of owls.  Scores of migrating passerines.  Foxes, coyotes, flying squirrels, bear, otter, and two slumbering teens who had unaccountably chosen to park their sedan in the salt marsh.

They were fine.  Hangover must have been pretty severe, though.

But (you are wondering) if this light is so bright, doesn’t it hurt the eyes of owls?

You know, I’ve always wondered about this (anguished, actually).  This spring, I had the opportunity to see how troubled owls are by a 65 lumens and I’m delighted to say they seemed not to be troubled at all.

This test was, and remains, one of my greatest wildlife encounters of all time.  My Z2 gets credit for an assist.

I saw the bird gliding overhead, flying toward an island of trees.

“Barn Owl,” I felt sure, almost sure.  There were Long-eared in the area and Short-eared, too.  I turned the light on the bird and was rewarded by a vent-side view of a golden-colored owl heading dead away.

This is not the view you want of an owl.

So I started squealing.  Fingers to lips.  Filled the night with the heart breaking sound of some Microtus meeting its maker.

The owl turned as fast as sound can travel, flew right back down the beam and straight at my kisser.  The bird swooped once then began to hover, full in the beam of the light, about ten to fifteen overhead.  It seemed puzzled, not at all troubled by the light.    

The closest look at a Barn Owl I’ve ever had.

You could see every feather.  You could smell the Rice Rat on its breath. 

After fifteen or twenty seconds it flew off.  Unable to believe my fortune (but being a glutton when it comes to owls) I started squeaking again and, damned if the bird didn’t return and begin hovering again.  Right overhead.  Right in the light! 

After another fifteen seconds it flew away again.  Then, with more squeaking, it came back again.

Then again.

Then again.

It didn’t seem possible.  And it wasn’t.  Fact is, there were two Barn Owls, neither of which seemed the least bit troubled by being in the beam of the light. 

I only figured this out when both of them began hovering simultaneously over my head, full in the beam of the light, so close I felt I could jump up and touch one.

When I stopped squeaking, they flew off. 

Me?  It took five minutes for my heart to stop pounding.

Caution

Any interaction with living things courts risk.  It would not be advisable to flash an owl that is, say, coming in to land.  Likewise it is ill-advised to illuminate nesting birds (World Series of Birding rules, for instance, forbid spot-lighting nesting raptors).

Likewise you should know that the beam of a SureFire will cause momentary blindness if you shine it in your, or somebody else’s face.  (In fact the instruments are also marketed for personal defense–something to bear in mind if you, like me, wander around in secluded, out of the way places in the dark).

All these cautions aside, if you are a person whose interest in nature spans day and night, a good, trusty illumination tool should be on your short list of necessary items.

Or maybe your Holiday Gift List.  Not only does a SureFire Z2 fit in a pocket, it fits in a stocking!

Why should the FBI have all the fun?  And don’t you wish, now, you had a Z2 when you were a kid?   

NOTE: The SureFire is not yet available on-line.  To order and inquire about inventory you must call the Center for Research & Education at 609.861.0700 or stop by the Center (click here for directions to CRE).