I use a flashlight for work and tried for years to find a good light. The mini-maglite didn't work out. Everytime I went to use it, but bulb was broken. Plus, it was easy to activate the light unintentionally and run the battery down. So, I went with the big maglite. I work as a paramedic and thought it was counterproductive to have a flashlight that is viewed by most people as a weapon, so I tried to stay low key and used a two D-Cell light, The two cell was the answer for several years although it still had it's disadvantages. The big one was that it was still too big to just stick in your pocket. If I needed two hands right away, there was never anywhere to put the light. I usually ended up sticking it in my back pocket, and it almost always fell out or caught on something when both my hands were tied up and I had better things to worry about.
Then one day, I was on a call and was walking through an apartment complex using my flashlight to read apartment numbers. A paramedic from a private ambulance company was doing the same thing. But, his light was much brighter than mine. When we located the right apartment, he just stuck his light in his pocket and I still had this big pipe to worry about. After the call, I asked him about his light. It was a Surefire. I immediately realized that his light was superior to mine in every respect. It was the perfect product for my job. After getting one, I realized it was the state of the art in a flashlight and all those maglites I owned were old school technology. I of course still use my maglites because I already own them, but they are an idea who's time has passed. Think about this; Since I was a little kid in the 60s, the method of having a bright flashlight was to simply stack D batteries on top of one another. This went on for 50 years. Then someone realized that more is not better and built a light with a better battery and a better bulb. Voila ! A more powerful ight in a fraction of the size. And this is a bonus to anyone that really uses a flashlight. Anyone that really uses a flashlight doesn't need more weight or bigger size; they have enough gear and equipment to contend with.
The one drawback to my Surefire Z3 is that in some cases, it is too bright. So, I now carry one of those very small LED lights on a miniture carabinier on my belt loop. I consider this a great combination of lights that fit my needs perfectly.
I was recently at a shooting school where we played around with some lights at night. The insturctors had placed some targets at 25 yards. They were those kind of targets that are like a picture; some of the targets are reaching into a purse, some have a handgun being held in such a way that it is hard to see it etc.
We stood at 25 yards and tried to identify shoot/no-shoot targets using various lights. Without getting into every light we tried, the Surefire was really the only one that allowed you to reliably identify if the target was a threat or not. The intructors did talk about the disadvantages of using too much light indoors and advised trying your own choice of light inside your home to see if it works as well as you think it will.
