SUREFIRE M6 Guardian Flashlight

One of the most powerful flashlights I've even seen is the Surefire M6 Guardian. I obtained mine in a trade for a couple of two-way radios, and it is one of the best deals I've ever made!

The M6 is so bright it's hard to describe. Why would anyone need a handheld light this bright? A friend of mine, a local gun shop owner, related the following story. He became aware that there were deputies in the area searching for a missing juvenile female. They had searched the area and turned up no sign of the girl. My friend, Jim, brought his M6 out to the search area and shined it down a long drainage ditch. Where the officer's lights hadn't been bright enough to see her, the M6 had the power and range to illuminate her clearly.

My own M6 came in rather handy back in May, 2007. I was working in my garage when I heard the distictive sounds of an automobile accident on the roadway behind my home. I immediately jumped into my car and headed to the accident scene. Upon arrival, I grabbed my M6 and CERT first aid kit and headed to a Jeep convertible flipped up on the driver's side. The vehicle had dark tinted windows and the one person at the scene with a flashlight couldn't see inside the vehicle. I hit the switch on the M6 and the interior of the car lit up like daylight! I could see the lone occupant of the vehicle and where it was safe to cut to get to her. Her condition was too precarious for me to move her, but I was able to comfort her until help arrived. Once the fire and EMS crew arrived, I was able to provide light for the rescue while remaining out of the way of emergency personnel.

The only real disadvantage to this light is the rate at which it consumes batteries. With the 500 lumen bulb, six batteries (at $1.75 each) will last only twenty minutes. With the more modest 250 lumen bulb, it will burn for a full hour on a set of batteries.

At a list price of nearly $400, this light is not in everyone's budget. But if you require one of the brightest, most rugged lights money can buy, you can't find one better than the M6!