The New SureFire EDC-DFT Lights: A Total Win

Introduction

SureFire has recently released their new series of Turbo handhelds, the EDC1-DFT and EDC2-DFT. These lights are the latest in the market’s trend of high-candela flashlights, and as such compete directly with the Modlite OKW and Cloud Defensive MCH HC.

Background

The EDC-DFT handhelds are a continuation of SureFire’s candela craze, which started with the Scout Light Pro DFT head and continued into the X300-T. Now they’ve applied the same technology to handheld lighting, and we’re excited to see the results.

First Impressions

The DFT lights are very long given the respective battery sizes. This is due to the ultra-deep reflector which gives these lights such high candela. For me, this is not an issue, and the light rides just about even with the bottom of my wallet in my left pocket. For some, though, this may be uncomfortable.

These lights are also incompatible with the Thyrm Switchback, which has been my method of carry for a couple years now. While hesitant at first, I’ve come to enjoy the steel pocket clip for how sleek and low-profile it is.

One of my favorite features of this light is its low mode. The light always comes on in high, which is a must, and then can be bumped down to low mode. This is a nice addition for administrative use and sets the SureFire apart from its competition.

Manufacturer Claims and Specs, Competitive Analysis

	SureFire EDC1-DFT	SureFire EDC2-DFT	Cloud Defensive MCH HC	Modlite OKW 18650
Head Diameter	32mm	32mm	30.5mm	30mm
Overall Length	121mm	150mm	131.5mm	134mm
Waterproofing	IPX7 (Waterproof to 1 Meter)	IPX7 (Waterproof to 1 Meter)	IPX8 (Fully submersible to 100 feet for 24 hours)	Not on product page
Battery Type	Protected 18350, or 1x CR123A	Protected 18650, or 2x CR123A	Unprotected 18650, or 2x CR123A	Protected 18650, or 2x CR123A
Lumens (with included battery)	650	700	1,100	680
Candela	95,000	100,000	71,000 (80,000 for more recent lights)	69,000
Runtime	45 Minutes	2.75 Hours	75 Minutes	75 Minutes
Price	$259	$309	$239.99	$309

Note the cost of the DFT lights — for the first time in a while, SureFire is competitive in both output and price.

Judging by manufacturer claims, we should expect the SureFire to produce a very tight hotspot, with less spill than the other lights on the market.

Nothing’s for free: flood will always come at the cost of throw, and vice versa, if lumens remain constant.

Into the Lab: Lumens, Candela, Runtime and CRI

Lumens

While sheer lumen output isn’t the focus of this light, plotting the data can help us understand its overall runtime and how it steps down over time.

Here are the DFT lights compared to their closest competition:

Let’s get a closer look at the first ten minutes:

Overall, the SureFire exhibits nice regulation throughout its runtime. It produces a lot of light for a minute, then steps down and produces a constant amount of light for hours.

Unfortunately, since ANSI-Plato lumens average the amount of output from thirty seconds to two minutes, the quick stepdown hurts the SureFire’s rating in this category.

The EDC1-DFT comes out to 561, falling short of its 650-lumen claim.

The EDC2-DFT comes out to 586, falling short of its 700-lumen claim.

Despite this, I still find the output of the DFT lights to be quite usable.

Runtime

The EDC1 produces 330 lumens for 50 minutes, then begins to taper off. After the initial stepdown, its lumen output is very similar to the Modlite OKW, and significantly higher than the Cloud Defensive.

The EDC2 produces 340 lumens for an hour and 45 minutes, then begins to taper off. After the initial stepdown, it produces higher lumens than any of its competition for over two hours.

ANSI-Plato runtime is defined by how long a light can run in excess of ten percent of its maximum claimed lumens. This would be 65 lumens for the EDC1, and 70 lumens for the EDC2.

The EDC1 comes out to one hour and five minutes, which exceeds its 45-minute claim.

The EDC2 comes out to two hours and thirty-nine minutes, which is just a bit short of its 2.75-hour claim.

Since it’s rare that I run my lights for extended periods of time (typically only two or three minutes to walk out to the car at night, or run the dog), I find that my batteries can last for a week or more. That said, I much prefer the extended runtimes and higher output of the EDC2.

Candela

ANSI-Plato spec is to measure candela at thirty seconds, but lights often produce more candela at the moment of activation. Here are the DFT lights, compared to a ton of other handhelds on the market, at the moment of activation:

Note: there are two samples of the EDC2-DFT represented here. One was brand new, and one I had been carrying for about a couple weeks. Hence, it’s labeled “Shan’s.”

And here is the same group of lights, after thirty seconds had elapsed. This measurement is the true ANSI-Plato candela.

The candela for one sample of the EDC2 is 97,300, and 96,550 for the other. While this falls a hair short of the 100,000 candela claim, this is totally within an acceptable margin.

The candela for the EDC1 is 85,280, which does lag a little further behind its 95,000 candela claim. Still, given how tiny this light is, that’s an impressive number.

Both of the DFT lights have outstanding candela. This makes them useful for projecting light great distances, punching through tinted windows, or blinding people at even medium range.

Beamshots

Beamshots allow us to visualize how these lights distribute and concentrate light.

In less scientific terms, the SureFire lights hurt my eyes a lot, and the Modlite HOG hurt my eyes a ton. I was standing about forty feet away from the lights.

Light Temperature and CRI

The SureFire is not aiming to be a warm or high-CRI light, but it’s still nice to get a reference:

We can see that the SureFire has a color temp of ~6250K to ~6700K, and its CRI is right around 70. This is what we’ve come to expect from modern, high-output LED lights, but I look forward to future when we can get both high-CRI and high output.

Takeaways

If you’re in the market for a high-candela handheld made in the US, this is the best option hands-down. While some may not like how small the hotspot is, I don’t find it to be an issue, and the addition of a low mode makes this light just about perfect for me.

Here are some pro’s and cons of buying the SureFire:

Pro	Con
Industry-leading output Dual fuel (18650/CR123A) 2.5+ Hour Runtime Straightforward UI SureFire Warranty and CS Tail-switch Designed and Manufactured in USA	150mm Overall Length Expensive