I'm thinking that one of those less powerful options might be more handy in a smoky environment. I'm thinking of the back scatter effect when driving in fog with your high beams on - no good. You obviously want a little more power than a Photon II to cut through the smoke but less than a high intensity white that just creates glare. Seems to me when I was a VFD type our flashlights had diffuser lenses on them to help with that. I'm not saying a Surefire wouldn't be handy in some scenarios but if you're worried about a smoke filled subway then there might be better options