Warum Sure Fire?

C2 doesn’t bomb in unique Iraqi starring role
I'm a U.S. Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) technician currently deployed to Iraq and have an incredible testimonial to tell regarding the strength, durability, and life-saving value of my SureFire C2 Centurion flashlight.

My team and I were once again called out to investigate a possible Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in the middle of the night. We arrived on scene and took out our robot in order to drive down to the object (remotely, of course) and recon it to get an idea of what we were dealing with. Due to the engulfing darkness surrounding us that night we were only able to get halfway to the object when it became apparent the lights we had on the robot would not be sufficient. We were quickly losing visibility and didn’t want to accidentally ditch our robot in the canal we were paralleling. We drove the robot back to our truck and formulated our next plan of attack.

At this point we had several options. We could make another attempt to drive the robot down to the object with the inherent danger of losing a $150,000 robot in the canal. We could put one of our soldiers in a bomb suit and have him manually approach the object; which is always the last possible option. Lastly, we could merely leave the object in place and come back in the morning. That option, although tempting, is just not acceptable due to the obvious danger to any soldiers driving by and to the local population. At this point I had an idea I thought just might work. What if I took my SureFire flashlight, which was many times brighter than the lights that came with the robot, and merely taped it atop the camera? This could possibly light up enough of the area to get the robot downrange and keep a human life out of harm’s way.

I took the controls of the robot and guided it back down towards the package, this time having no problem cutting through the darkness, keeping the robot out of the canal, and finding our dangerous target. I remotely opened the top flap of the box and saw the explosive cargo it held and the remote firing device sitting on top of it.

That was all she wrote. The next thing I heard was a loud detonation, just as I felt the blast wave and saw the screen go blue on the robot’s console. After realizing what had just happened, we quickly pulled out a second robot and ran that one down to ensure there weren’t any other explosive hazards on scene. Once we determined the area was clear, our team leader donned a bomb suit and walked down to the seat of the detonation to see if there were any salvageable parts left from the first robot.

What he found once he got down to the site defied any logic and completely confounded all who were there. The robot was gone, there was nothing more than a few random pieces of plastic lying around the site; that was to be expected, it was right on top of the device when it detonated. What surprised us all was the fact that my SureFire C2 Centurion flashlight was sitting about 15 feet from the detonation site almost completely unharmed (I have pictures to prove it!). The glass on the front of the flashlight was shattered and it needs a new bulb but that was the extent of the damage.

If I hadn’t carried that flashlight and used it for an otherwise unintended purpose, we would have had to send one of my fellow soldiers down range to investigate the package. We now know that would have been the last thing he ever would have done. The sheer practicality of the flashlight enabled us to use a robot that otherwise would have been useless, and in turn saved a man’s life. That, in and of itself, makes the flashlight an invaluable tool that I will never be caught without. The fact that it can withstand a large detonation from about 2 feet away just enhances its overall attractiveness.

Philip C.
Camp Victory, Iraq

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Annapurna said:

Ein Foto der Lampe gabs auf www.surefire.com.

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christophmc said:

Kommt Leute, das will doch wohl nicht wirklich jemand glauben...

Gruß

Christoph

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kaimi72 said:

Für mich sind die Berichte gute Unterhaltung.

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