I've had an L2 for a couple of years and I love it. I always have it in my backpack when hiking and close by at home and work. It's fun to see the reaction from friends when they see it for the first time. Usually, it's "I got to have one of those."

As mentioned, the batteries are available at low cost online.

I think the reason that the LED Surefires go out without warning is because of the power regulator. It's a circuit that prolongs the usable light at the expensive of the negligible light that occurs toward the end of a battery's life.

Cheers.