Yes, surefires have advantages and disadvantages. It's a tradeoff like everything else. Personally, I like having the power of a D cell maglight in a package that fits in my pocket- 90 minutes is plenty. Batteries aren't hard to find and they're not expensive (a little over a dollar each, comparable to D cells), and for the same space and weight of a D cell flashlight with spares, I can have a surefire and a waterproof spares container with 6 batteries and an extra lamp. On top of that, I can have it WITH me at all times, not just in the vehicle. A surefire in the pocket beats a big maglight that you left in the car, just like a .22 in the pocket beats a .45 at home. (except in this case, a more accurate descrption would be "a low cap .45 in the pocket beats a high cap .45 at home")

Kept in the car for roadside emergencies is fine, I'm not dogging the maglight. I'm just saying, with the tremendous amount of gear you got there that a smaller, lighter flashlight that throws a comparable amount of light would be advantageous when it comes to weight and packing. Granted, weight isn't so much a concern when it's stored in the car, and obviously packing isn't since it's already packed, it was just a suggestion for a lighter alternative. To be honest, this is the first time where I've heard almost unanimous votes against surefires and it's pretty surprising to me.

As for "survival" I do carry other lights. I'm picking up an AA keychain LED, and have a couple of smaller LED's like photons that I'll carry on my person as well. They will sustain me for when I need a little light with a lot of duration.

As for defense, I wouldn't use my surefire as a defensive weapon unless I had nothing else. They market it as such, but only one version comes with an impact bezel, and the whole "stun them with the light!" sounds like a marketing scheme to me. Any bright light will do the same, it doesn't have to be a surefire.

In fact, the maglight D cell would make a better defensive weapon. it's like a freakin iron pipe <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> You bean someone over the head with that bad boy and they'll feel it when they wake up!

It may or may not be your slice of pie, and that's cool. Whatever works for you-

(yes, I carry a zippo too. "But burn, it's useless in the long term because it needs fuel!".... well, I do carry bics and other firestarters on my person and PSK too, so it's not like I'll have nothing once it runs out of gas. While it works though, I perfer it to the others.)