SureFire specializes in essentially two things, tactical illumination and suppressors, and they are really good at them. The company was started in 1969, when Dr. John Matthews started the Newport Corporation to harness the power of lasers for industrial applications. Over a decade the Newport Corporation continued to grow and become a leader in the field. Dr. Matthews had patents made and won lots of business for his company. However, he also always had another interest and that was firearms. So, he began working on mounting lasers to firearms and quickly realized their new potential. As a result, he was the first one to patent a commercial laster sight for use on a firearm, targeting military and law enforcement use. Newport Corporation wasn’t really interested in diving into this market as it was outside of their core business interests so Dr. Matthews approached the company board and bought out the laser sight business… SureFire was born!
Today, we are looking at the SureFire E2D Defender Ultra, a true tactical flashlight. This is another light in SureFire’s Defender series which has been around for over a decade. This light packs 1,000 lumens which is a long way from the 60-lumens the first Defender series light produced 10 years ago.
The SureFire E2D Defender Ultra is constructed from hard anodized aluminum giving it a nice durable feel and good protection for the internals. Yet the light still weights only 4.2 ounces and is a solid 5.2 inches long making it very easy to carry. There is a knurled texture and a crenelated striking bezel combined with a scalloped tail cap allowing for easier movement and good hand retention. This is a flashlight that was designed for a combat zone and can take some serious abuses. It runs on two CR123A batteries and has a runtime of 2.75 hours on high or 63 hours on low. It is controlled in the form of a rear click button that allows you to hold and activate the light.
The SureFire E2D Defender Ultra uses SureFire’s famous TIR lens which stand for total internal reflection lens. This setup is allow about range and cases the 1,000 lumens a great distance without issue. The 10,600-candela beam pushes 200 meters in testing but you might get slightly more or less with that depending on your conditions. I did find the 1,000 lumen high setting to be a bit too much for the indoors but this can be addressed with a submodel, the E2DLU-A of the SureFire E2D Defender Ultra which offers a 5 lumen low setting.
I mentioned earlier that the SureFire E2D Defender Ultra was built for combat and I wasn’t kidding. This light actually doubles down as an impact weapon so if you need to use it to hit someone you can. The designed of the knurled texture and flared ends allow for it to easily fit into your fist as u hammer into whatever you need to. In testing this flashlight really excelled and I can see it outperforming pretty much any other light that is being marketed as a tactical combat light. The light output is excellent in that it’s 1,000 lumens that are clearly distributed thanks to the TIR lens. The body is constructed with a solid feel that fits in your hand like a glove and knowing that SureFire stands behind their products with a great warranty makes this one a win. If you need a flashlight that will eat up abuse and still be able to throw down in more ways than one, then the SureFire E2D Defender Ultra is for you. 9.5/10.
