I guess I am late to the party. I have two Surefire G2s. The older one is the lightbulb model, the newer one is LED. I think the rated lumens are 80 or so, which has been bright enough for my work as a volunteer firefighter/first responder. They have been used many times at 0-dark-30 car accidents, fires, medical calls and the like. Both have been very reliable. The LED is by far cheaper to run - it makes those expensie little batteries run MUCH longer than the older model. However, it puts out a bluish-white light that somehow just doesn't seem to illuminate small details a well as the older one's yellowish-white light. Might just be my eyes, dunno. I would like to have one of the smaller Surefires for pocket carry, but am too frugal/cheap to cough up the dough so far.
I ALWAYS carry a flashlight, make my wife carry one too (NRA version G2), and on the rare occasions I did not have a flashlight with me I regretted it. Even in the middle of a bright sunny Texas day, I have found it very useful, for example looking into the shadows of an engine compartment. Gun, knife, flashlight. The security device trinity.
