True Stories

I went out for a run one night and, as always, took my 6P® Defender® with an ultra high-output P61 lamp in it. I'd been running for a while, and it was starting to get late when I noticed a car was creeping behind me slowly. I got over on the grass so it could drive by, which it did, but then it stopped about 20 feet in front of me.

Just as I was passing the car, the rear passenger door flung open, and someone from inside tackled me! Luckily, I already had my SureFire in my hand, and as soon as I hit the ground I brought it up and shined it in my attacker's eyes. This caused him to shield his face, and I used this opportunity to lash out and nail him in the forehead with my 6P Defender's crenellated Strike Bezel®. He let out an agonizing yell and crawled back into the car before it sped off.

I only had a little scrape on my arm from being tackled, and feel incredibly lucky that nothing worse happened. I know I owe it all to my SureFire. Keep up the great work, guys!

Max W.
San Marcos, TX

I had been conditioning for several weeks in a very steep mountainous environment at night. It was rough country, but provided a great environment in which to increase my endurance. One night while training, my friend and I started our descent in the pitch black with zero moon. All the way down I felt somewhat uncomfortable but couldn't explain why. I kept turning around and activating my 6P® Original but didn't see anything. After doing this repeatedly, and still only halfway down the mountain, I finally saw two shining eyes of a mountain lion—only about 100 feet away!

Immediately I started thinking about how much runtime my flashlight had left on its batteries and how a mountain lion can see six times better than a human in the dark. The whole rest of the way down, I kept turning and blinding that mountain lion, which followed us all the way down to the highway. Thankfully, my trusty 6P had enough battery power to get us down safely.

Sam B.
Woodcrest, CA

I am a C-130 Loadmaster, and I was recently deployed to Iraq. On my second flight in Iraq, I was exiting my aircraft when the base we were at came under attack. I dove for cover, landing on my 6P® Original's bezel. The next day, I noticed that the glass window was broken. I fired off an email to SurFire, asking to purchase a new window. All they did was ask for my mailing address, and two weeks later I received a brand-new bezel in the mail.

My 6P has been used every day in rain, dust, and the harsh Middle-Eastern wind without any problems. Thanks for the awesome support, SureFire.

Technical Sergeant Philip S.
Benton, AZ

I recently found my father's 6P® Original® after he thought he lost it eight years ago. I was helping him move from one house to another and was tasked with moving all the heavy, bulky items from underneath his deck on the backside of the house. I was emptying a big storm-runoff barrel with about 55 gallons of water inside. After it had been tipped over and emptied, I looked inside the drum, and on the bottom was Dad's 6P. It was covered in eight years of mud, sludge and some really nasty water.

I pulled it out, not expecting it to work, and was surprised with a shot of bright light to my eyes. I opened up the light and found, to my disbelief, not one speck of rust or a single drop of water—after eight years!

Thank you, SureFire, for making such an amazing product capable of lasting underwater for nearly a decade. You guys rock!

James W.
Burke, VA

In central Iraq, at a check point surrounded by razor wire, a semi with a "lowboy" trailer and a bulldozer drove through the check after being waved through. But the driver failed to compensate for the width of the blade on his 10-ton rig, snagging the razor wire and dragging it with him as he rolled through. The soldier assigned to my security detail was manning a fighting position opposite me. Over the roar of turbo diesels and exhaust, I heard a muffled shout and saw a green chem-light fly high into the night.

I rushed in, my newly acquired 6P® in hand, trying to get the driver's attention before he gets back on the gas and drags my soldier to his death. When he looked into his mirror and I hit him with the 65 lumens firing out of that awesome little light, he locked the brakes up then and there. I ran to the other side, praying for the best but fearing the worst. To my relief, as well as that of my soldier and the driver, the truck had stopped with about three feet left before my guy would have been dragged to his death under those giant tires.

I know this isn't the first SureFire to save a life, but I know that I will always have one or two on me—just in case I need to do it again.

John B.
Iraq

My infantry company is serving its second tour in Iraq, and this tour is all about SureFires. If we don't have them on our weapons, they're in our in our pockets.

One night, while rolling out on a mission, I was using my SureFire 6P® out a hatch of my vehicle, when I dropped it and watched the 15-ton vehicle behind us run it over. Thinking for sure it was done, I got out and picked it up. Amazingly, all the vehicle did was turn it off. It still worked just fine.

Brian Y.
Fort Lewis, WA

While working the front door at my family's bar in Riverside, WV, an intoxicated patron pulled a hunting knife on me. I immediately drew my SureFire 6P®, shining the light in my would-be attackers eyes. As he threw up his arm to shield his eyes from the light, I did a basic martial arts C-step and closed the distance. I grabbed his knife-wielding arm at the wrist and hit him three times with the 6P as fast as I could swing it. He went down and the SureFire light still works like a charm.

I still have the light. I have other flashlights, even a SureFire M6®, but my 6P will always hold a special place in my heart. It's just a great piece of gear that everyone should own.

John D.
Fayetteville, WV

I love to travel in the national parks of Thailand. I buy a lot of camping goods. I’ve been using my beloved SureFire 6P Original model for a year now. It is very compact and convenient to put in my bag everywhere I go.

My original intention for purchasing the 6P was as an attachment for my handgun, but I find it is good for traveling too.

Sakchai T.
Roi-Ed, Thailand

I served as a Humvee gunner in Afghanistan. We had many difficulties trying to keep traffic away from convoys at night. Standard-issue military flashlights just didn't cut it, so I bought a 6P® and used it as an attention-getter for the drivers in the area. More than once it saved us from being hit or having to shoot someone who wasn't paying attention. It also helped when we had to look for IEDs (improvised explosive devices). My 6P even survived a fall from the Humvee one night. I had to trade a lesser flashlight and five bucks to an Afghani local just to get it back, but it was definitely worth it.

Thanks, Surefire!

Daniel L.
Westport, IN

I am an anesthesiologist, and the one instrument that's always by my side, besides my laryngoscope, is a Surefire 6P™ Original.

Midway during a recent brain surgery, a major fire at the hospital's powerhouse shut down-both main and backup power. The operating room was plunged into total darkness. But thanks to my trusty 6P, the neurosurgeon was able to complete the rest of the aneurysm surgery in about a half hour, using just my 6P for illumination in the totally dark operating room. We were then able to negotiate the dark corridors to the recovery room with the help of my dependable 6P. My flashlight was definitely instrumental in saving that patient's life.

Dr. Joseph A.
Quezon City, Philippines

One evening my buddies and I thought it would be a good idea to go for a hike, in search of a new camping spot. Thankfully, before I left, I had the foresight to strap my G2™ Nitrolon®, in its nylon holster, to my belt. I didn’t figure I would need it, since I had a one-million-candlepower rechargeable spotlight with me, as well.

The four of us set out in the truck and drove to the bottom of the hill where we usually camp, and from there we set out on foot. We walked about four miles until we finally found a suitable camping spot. Satisfied with our discovery, we turned to go home, when the big, rechargeable, $60 spotlight went belly up. Standing there in the darkness, I heard something rustle to my left. I grabbed for my G2 and illuminated the patch of ground where I’d heard the sound. To my surprise, there was a four-foot copperhead, poised and ready to strike, no more than two feet from my leg.

My G2, paired with my .410 shotgun that I always take hiking, quickly "dispatched" the snake and easily lit up the trail for the four-mile walk back to the truck. I can safely say that, if not for my Surefire and its reliable performance, my night would have been a whole heck of a lot worse.

Lee M.
Chavies, KY

I’m in an Army EOD unit in West Virginia, and while setting up for the last shot of the day, the darkness began to creep in. I finished priming my shots and headed up-range to grab my trusty SureFire 6P™ Original with a high-output P61 bulb. I chose this light because when the fog sets in here it’s about as thick as peanut butter. So I grabbed my 6P, fired it up, and headed back downrange to see where my initiators were.

I got to the range to find my 2 initiators yelling, "FIRE IN THE HOLE!" I hear “pop…pop” and see smoke, so I drop my 6P and beat feet back up-range to the demo bunker. While I’m in the bunker waiting for a blast, I realized that I don’t have my 6P on me, but it’s way too late to go back downrange. Suddenly, a thunderous blast hit, and I saw a flicker of light about 400 meters from where the blast went off. When it was all clear, I walked towards where I saw the flicker and found my 6P lying on the ground. It looked like it was hit by rocks and frag, but when I picked it up and turned it on it fired right up and worked just fine.

SureFire flashlights are truly the finest that money can buy.

Eric Z.
Albany, NY

My 6P saved the lives of myself and my soldiers.

While on deployment in Iraq, we were doing house-to-house searches. During the day, no problem. But when night started to fall, we were using conventional four-D-cell batteries, which didn't cut it as the night got darker. When another chief told me about SureFire and how well they lit things up and temporarily blinded suspects, I ordered a 6P with an ultra-high-output P61 bulb.

One night we entered what appeared to be a very dark abandoned building in the worst part of town. We encountered many insurgents and missed many of them, due to lack of light. We started to back out of the building, when I remembered that I had my 6P with me. So we proceeded to the second level and breached the doorway. I flashed my 6P in the direction of the insurgents, and to my surprise, they were blinded long enough to avoid any injuries occurring to my men. Needless to say, all of my men are now equipped with Surefire 6Ps with ever-wonderful P61 bulbs.

On behalf of my unit, I want to thank you, SureFire, for producing such outstanding flashlights.

Donald W.
Romeoville, IL

Last December, during an ice storm, I lost my SureFire 6P® in my yard while setting up a generator. Under the circumstances, I had to leave it behind (something I normally would never do). I finally found it in early April, when I ran it over with my lawnmower. I picked it up, turned it on, and to my surprise it functioned as well as it had four months earlier.

This light had been frozen, thawed, frozen again, rained on, left to the elements for months, and then run over with a riding lawnmower. This is proof of the incredible durability of SureFires and has certainly won me over. Thanks, Surefire.

Alan F.
Lexington, KY

Since becoming a State Trooper, I've carried a SureFire 6P® Original on my duty belt.

One night, after a lengthy pursuit, the suspect bailed from his vehicle as he entered wooded area. While searching the area with my pistol, which at the time had a non-SureFire plastic weapon-mounted light attached, the switch on my weapon light failed. I immediately reached for my 6P and continued my search. My partner and I eventually located the suspect under a dead tree.

I've continued to carry the same nine-year-old 6P, and it still works as good as it did on day one. Thanks for such a dependable product. Oh, and by the way, I now have a SureFire X200® mounted on my weapon.

Officer Danny L.
Paulis Valley, OK

I returned home from a trail ride to find that my home was burning. Three fire departments did what they could, but the cause was lost. I lost almost everything I owned.

A couple weeks later I went into my burned home. I went into the room where the fire had started and used a shovel to dig through the rubble where I knew my duty gear would be. Approximately six feet from where the fire had started I found my SureFire 6P® Original and turned it on. It worked just fine and is still on my duty belt and on patrol with me every day.

Thanks for making an excellent product.

Thad W.
Summersville, MO

I'm a sergeant in a gun-truck platoon that pulls security detail on logistical convoys in Iraq. We are on the road at all hours, day and night. On our way back to our FOB (forward operating base) from Baghdad, we came upon another unit that had stopped on the main route back to Baghdad. They'd found an IED (improvised explosive device), so we stopped to help with security until the EOD (explosive ordinance disposal) unit showed up.

Before EOD arrived, we used our SureFire 6P® flashlights and our weapon-mounted Scout Lights to illuminate the roadside where the IED's command wire ran from. Our lights lit up the IED trigger man and two others helping him. Because a lot of us soldiers were outfitted with these lights, we were able to take down three insurgents that will no longer be able to harm our troops.

Thank you for your support, from all of the troops here in Iraq.

Sgt. Thomas J.
Copenhagen, NY

My wife and I were up late, watching movies, when we both got a craving for a burger from the stand across the street. It was about 1:10 a.m., and the burger stand closed at 1:30, so I grabbed my essentials- wallet, keys, cell phone, tactical knife, and my SureFire 6P®-and headed out the door.

When I got back, I parked the car under the carport and immediately noticed the security lights had gone out. I exited my car with the bag of food and began the walk to my apartment, when I sensed someone behind me. I turned to discover two men following me, both 30 feet behind me. I stashed the bag of food under my left arm, then grabbed my tactical knife with my right hand and my 6P with the left. No sooner were both items out of my pocket when the two men rushed me. I dropped my bag of burgers and lit them up with my 6P, at the same time flipping open my knife with my other hand. Both of them stopped dead in their tracks. Then one guy said to the other, "This guy's a cop!" and they both turned and ran.

I shared the evening's events with my wife, while we enjoyed our burgers, and she asked me for a SureFire of her own. Thanks, SureFire.

Louie G.
West Covina, CA

In 1992 I was traveling through Austria on a night train headed to Budapest. We were awakened by the horrible sound of stones pelting the bottom of the train and the severe jolt of emergency braking. I went to the end of the car and leaned out the window to see train personnel searching beneath the train, in vain, to determine if the train had struck an animal or a person. They were using old, anemic two-cell military flashlights with very dim outputs.

I thought to myself, "We'll be here for hours if all they have are those crappy old flashlights, so I called the conductor and offered him my SureFire 6P®, which I'd brought along for my summer in Europe. He switched it on and said, "Das ist aber hell," which means, "That's really bright." With my 6P, he made quick work of the inspection and determined that it was only a deer the train had struck. We were on our way again shortly, and he returned my 6P to me with the greatest of compliments.

What could have taken a long time was reduced to minutes, thanks to the performance of my, at that time, revolutionary SureFire 6P.

Gregory D.
Mountain View, CA

I'm a photographer, and I use many tools to help achieve a good image. There is a technique called painting with light, which I was able to achieve, thanks to my SureFire 6P®, on a recent trip to France. I was in a small town with a castle, and the sun had gone down, but I really wanted a photo of the castle with the moon behind it. By leaving the shutter open on my camera and using my 6P to "paint" the castle with light by shining the light on the stone and moving it around, I was able to get just the shot I was looking for.

My 6P has helped me out in many dark places many times. Thanks, SureFire.

Richard V.
Santa Cruz, CA

After getting dropped off at my starting point, about two hours before daylight on the first day of the elk hunting season, I began the long hike to my hunting stand. As I eased up the first ridgeline, I heard a few snaps of dry twigs. I assumed the noise was only a varmint, so I continued up the ridge. But something didn't feel quite right...I had a feeling like something was nearby.

I reached for my SureFire 6P®, fired it up, and began to pan the area around me. There, in the darkness about ten yards away, were two glowing eyes—the unmistakable eyes of a cougar! The big Tom was crouched and ready to pounce. Luckily, the intensity of the light startled him, and, after shaking his head from the confusion of my SureFire's intense beam, he took off. Needless to say, I had my light on for the rest of my walk. If I hadn't shined my flashlight when I did, I might've been that cougar's breakfast. I never go anywhere without my SureFire now.

Stacy A.
Eugene, OR

I was driving my bus at about 1:30 am on typical Saturday night in Blacksburg, VA (Virginia Tech). There were 80 drunken college students packed in my bus, wanting to go back to the dorms from a night of partying. After starting back to campus, I heard someone scream, "I said NO!" so I looked in my rearview mirror to see where the scream came from.

I located a man who had his girlfriend pressed up against the window and was screaming in her face. I stopped the bus, killed the lights, and pulled out my 6P™ Patriotic Spirit flashlight. I made my way back there, shined my light in the guy's face, temporarily disorienting him, and then threw him off of my bus. As people got off back at campus, several of them thanked me for what I'd done, and two individuals asked me what kind of flashlight I had. I told them it was a SureFire-and that I never drive without it.

Thanks to SureFire, I helped keep someone safe. I know I wouldn't have been able to handle that guy without first being able to disorient him with the blinding light of my SureFire 6P.


Bob L.
Blacksburg, VA

I'm a seven-year vet of a police force in New York state, and I wouldn't have made it more than two years if not for one of your products. I've worn a SureFire 6P®, which I bought while in the academy, on my belt for my entire career.

One day I was called to an aided case, which is when police assist an ambulance crew—usually for a combative person. I arrived at the house before the ambulance and was promptly attacked by a 250 lb. woman armed with a large kitchen knife. I used my 6P to gain compliance over her and disarm her, with no injuries to her or me. Later, I even received a thank-you letter from the woman's husband.

I've since given this 6P to my latest, and favorite, officer I field trained this past summer, and he wears it every day. I've upgraded to an M4 Devastator®, and I love it. Thanks, SureFire.

Officer Michael T. – Monticello P.D.
Newburgh, NY

Before I deployed to Iraq in December 2005, I bought a Surefire 6P® Original and mounted it to my M4 rifle. I used it everyday in sweep-and-clear and combat operations—until February 27th, 2006. On this day, my vehicle was hit with an IED (improvised explosive device).

I sustained second- and third-degree burns to 50% of my face. When I was brought down into the Stryker, my weapon was left on top to burn with the rest of the vehicle until the fire burned out. After I was medevaced, my SureFire was used in the entirety of the deployment of the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, including a four-month extension, where it was mounted to an M249 SAW.

The 172nd is now home in Alaska, and my SurFire 6P was returned to me by one of my team members. And it still works great.

PFC Daniel S.
Fort Wainwright, AK