A few years ago, I got caught in the hell that was the Great Blackout of 2003 in Toronto, Canada. This black out covered most of the north atlantic seaboard and parts of the mid-west of America and lasted up to three days in some areas. I new something was wrong when drivers tried to pass through intersections at the same time. A couple of my co-workers got trapped in elevators, so I guess I couldn't complain too much, but man that was a scary time. You had stranded streetcars, road rage, no gas at the pumps, people walking out of subway tunnels en masse, citizens volunteering to direct traffic (Thank YOU!), stinky restrooms via non-working toilets, and a few unfortunate deaths. You also had beautiful starry nights with all the city lights out and people got to know their neighbors better as everyone was hanging around outside to beat the heat. Some couples decided to get busy and conceived during that time too, haha.
I got stuck downtown at my sister's apartment on the 15th floor. Trying to walk down the stairs to the lobby in complete darkness was a very slow process. Luckily half way down, a guy with one of those glow sticks you see teens twirling at raves led the rest of the way. Once on the street, I met some not-so-nice characters whom I neutralized using words, instead of fists (thankfully). It's true, the freaks really do come out at night. Ever since then I told myself I'd carry a flashlight all day, everyday. I know, I'm kind of paranoid like that.
I decided, after much research, to purchase the Surefire E2D Executive Defender flashlight. This addressed three of my concerns. One is that it meets my requirement for an ultra-bright light in complete darkness. Two, it doubles as a personal security device for when I have to deal with the freaks that come out at night. Three, it's small enough to fit in my pocket.
Just under five inches, the E2D is constructed of knurled (for good traction) aluminum with a dark hard-anodized finish, and uses a domed Xenon bulb at 60 lumens for a total runtime of about 1 hour, 20 minutes using two CR123 lithium batteries. I guess you have to sacrifice the runtime for performance as this is one of the brightest in its category. The body also gets a little warm for prolonged periods but this is a normal given its power and brightness. It's designed with wedge-type bezels at the head and butt. Surefire calls this the crenellated Strike Bezel. I tested striking on a watermelon and I
definitely wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of this. I've dropped this flashlight so many times and it works like new, thanks to its aerospace-grade aluminum body that's Mil-Spec III hard anodized - whatever that means it's all good to me.
The light is so bright, it can temporarily blind and disorient a person's night-oriented vision. The button is on the butt and you can rotate the bezel to set the light always on when you press it fully. In a self-defense situation, you'd only press it hard enough to flash the light in the attackers eyes, then run out of there pronto. If you rotate the bezel the other way it's always off for when you need to store it or make sure it doesn't accidently turn on when you're transporting it. I made the mistake of not turning the bezel to always off and the button got pushed on during transport - in my fanny pack. The batteries are a pretty penny too. But all in all, I'm happy I invested $100 in this light, and the benefits far outweigh the disadvantages. This flashlight/personal security device will be in service for many more years.
www.surefire.com
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
My Review on the Surefire E2D Executive Defender Flashlight
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