Surefire's New "Dominator" Ultra-Bright Flashlight

Surefire, a company founded in 1979 and known for manufacturing high-end tools and tactical gear for the military and law enforcement, is coming out with a new flashlight, the Dominator. They’re saying it’s the most powerful LED flashlight ever sold in the company’s history and have also labeled it as a “tactical” flashlight.

The Dominator puts out 2,400 lumens – yes, that’s bright. To give you an idea of just how bright the new flashlight is, consider the trio of lights sitting on my desk right now. The small WSU keychain light (Go Cougs!) emits 5 lumens, while the light on my Glock glows with the power of 100 lumens, and, finally, my small flashlight maxes out at 214 lumens (not a Surefire, but it does start with an “S”). So 2,400 lumens is incredibly bright, in fact, at one point LED lights weren’t able to glow that brightly.

Aside from its impressive brightness, the Dominator also has a precision reflector to help the beam illuminate areas farther away than many flashlights are able. And if you don’t want to use the light at its full power, it has seven other settings for a total of eight, one of which is a strobe setting. In addition Surefire added a “disable” feature to avoid accidentally turning the light on in situations where it could be an issue.

This is being sold as a “tactical” flashlight and is said to have an incredibly durable frame. It’s made of aerospace aluminum, which is tough but light, and is anodized with a mil-spec finish. And since the guys at Surefire understand this light is bound to get wet, it has O-ring and gasket seals to protect the electronics inside from the elements.

One of the features I find useful is the energy gauge, which is a color-coded gauge built into the flashlight that shows you how much energy is left in the battery, not unlike the fuel gauge in your car. The Dominator is actually “duel fuel capable” meaning it can be powered with not one but two kinds of batteries: one lithium-ion rechargeable battery, which is included, or twelve 123A batteries, which are disposable and not included. You can charge the lithium-ion battery using an AC wall socket or a DC vehicle socket, but if you can’t plug it in for some reason, those disposable batteries can be used instead.

This is absolutely a fantastically bright flashlight, and if it’s as durable as it appears, that would be great, because heaven knows flashlights around me tend to be dropped, kicked, stepped on, and shot. However, it has an MSRP of $1,370, so although it’s a nice light, I won’t be adding one to my rather extensive collection anytime soon.

If you want to take a look online, they’re being sold on the company’s website: www.surefire.com as well as at authorized Surefire dealers. I can’t argue, it does seem to be a terrific light; everything about it is appealing, including the name. So, would you buy one?